PC Specs:
GPU: Geforce GTX 1060
CPU: i7 7700HQ
RAM: 16gb DDR4
Monitor: 2560x1080 60hz
Performance:
My PC is a bit older, and has some dated specs, so the game ran quite poorly even on low settings, the fact that my monitor is an ultrawide didn’t help much either. I think I averaged at around 40fps on lower settings, and had quite a few stutters.
Gameplay:
Absolutely fantastic, the gameplay is truly a homage to Classic Halo, with modern additions that don’t feel like they cloud the overall feel of the game. The movement and physics play perfectly together, and I love that sprinting and sliding don’t speed up the gameplay too much like they did in Halo 5.
The kill times with certain weapons may need a little balancing, but overall all of the weapons are very fun to use and feel very rewarding.
The bots were a blast to play against, however one issue I found is they somewhat lack object permanence, there are times where I’ll get their shields down, run away past a corner for a couple seconds, and come back to start shooting at them and it’s like they forgot I was ever even there, whereas an actual player would be more likely to follow me around that corner, or prepare themselves for me to come back around. Overall I think the gameplay is very, very fun, and I’m definitely excited to see where it goes next in the following flights.
Graphics:
I mentioned before that I had to play on lower graphics settings, so yeah the graphics weren’t really much to look at, actually it looked quite terrible to be honest, but that’s only because of my PC specs. I did end up playing the flight on Xbox Series X as well and the graphics were phenomenal. One small gripe I have though is the outlining of teammates and enemies, I like the overall idea of it as it enables more customization and allows you to choose the colors you actually want, however it would be nice if there were settings to change how thick the outlines are.
Character Customization:
The overall designs of the armors look very clean and sharp, I like the option for prosthetic arms and legs as well. I’d like the option to change your character’s voice though, as well as some way to preview what armor pieces might look like together even though you have none of them, for example: I only got to Battle Pass 7, but I really wanted to know what the Battle Pass 20 helmet would look like with the Battle Pass 13 visor on my spartan would look like, but there was no way of previewing them both at the same time.
Bugs:
I experienced one hard crash, and the audio bug that other users most likely mention happened every couple games.