Halo: Reach brought with it a very unique and fresh gametype with Invasion. However, I think we can all agree that it can be taken a step further in Halo Xbox One. By this, I mean allowing a group of S-IVs to defend/destroy an objective while fighting off another team taking the form of various Covenant/Promethean units.
This would be accomplished with use of a point system for the Covenant team, in which you receive points for kills, assists, damage to objective, etc. These points could then be used to ‘purchase’ a different unit to play as at your next spawn (not unlocking permanently, only for the one time). There would be a selection of two or three starter units that require no points to be, but are not as effective as the larger ones. These starters could be in the form of:
a Grunt (potentially Suicide Grunt with a ‘Kamikaze mode’ as the equivalent of an armor ability). Armed with a Plasma Pistol or Needler, has helmet similar to Grunt Ultras in Reach (so it would require 2 headshots to kill), and the aforementioned Suicide ability.
a Jackal with Covenant Carbine and Plasma Pistol. As a possible ability, this unit could activate a Jackal Shield, which auto-equips the Plasma Pistol.
Elite Minor, with relatively weak shields, armed with Plasma Rifle or Storm Rifle. Ability could be a return of Evade from Reach.
Of course, the better units would include things like: Hunters, Elite Zealot (with Energy Sword and Active Camo), Brute Chieftain, and Promethean Knight. There would also be an intermediate tier, with units like Elite Rangers, Brutes, etc.
There could even be certain maps where its S-IVs vs Covenant and others with S-IV vs Prometheans, to make it more diverse like how Reach had a few where the Elites were defending the objective (this could also give way to new variants of existing Prometheans, like Suicide Crawlers).
As for the S-IV team, they would either start out with ARs and Magnums or have predetermined loadouts according to which stage the round was on (like Reach). While I’m normally against ordinance, I think this gametype would be the most applicable for its inclusion. Whereas the attackers gained more powerful forms, the Spartans would be better equipped as a reward for kills and what not. Obviously, each match would consist of two rounds, allowing for each team to play as both sides of the conflict.
What do you think? Have any ideas for units or scenarios for maps to accommodate for this proposed gametype? What kind of objectives would the Covenant/Prometheans be after?
That’s a great addition: a variant where it pits the S-IVs against a real Flood outbreak (time to see if all those simulations will pay off). That would be a good scenario for the Spartan team to be on the offensive, fighting their way into the cause of the outbreak while fighting various Flood forms. Starter units could include: a Carrier variant with splash damage when killed (take role of Suicide Grunt), a Human combat form with a BR (taking place of the Jackal), and an infected Brute or something (to serve as the basic infantry, like Elite Minor for Covenant). Larger forms could be of Elite combat forms, as well as the Tank Form and so on.
They would need to have minimal AI components to control the Infection forms, but if that could be accomplished in Reach on the 360 (Firefight and Firefight Versus), it is more than possible for the Xbox One to handle it.
> i’d like this to be a variant of invasion if not just its own gametype. i like this idea but i also wanna be able to play classic invasion.
Invasion Classic would be easily made with the additional units being removed and instead allowing different Elite roles. Its always a good idea to keep a “classic” variant of an expanding gametype. If only 343i had done that at launch in conjunction with Infinity Slayer…
> > i’d like this to be a variant of invasion if not just its own gametype. i like this idea but i also wanna be able to play classic invasion.
>
> Invasion Classic would be easily made with the additional units being removed and instead allowing different Elite roles. Its always a good idea to keep a “classic” variant of an expanding gametype. If only 343i had done that at launch in conjunction with Infinity Slayer…
i feel ya, experimenting is a good thing and i hope they continue to do so but you gotta have you classic variants and play to fall back on in case its not recieved well.
The problem with Reach’s Invasion was the lack of maps. It’s not a fault of the game or the devs, but the fact of the matter is that Invasion maps don’t really work with any other gametype, and vice versa. It’s kinda hard to make enough good content that covers all the bases, so Invasion got screwed.
Dominion was meant to be a form of Invasion that worked on standard maps. Didn’t really work out that way.
The way I see it, Dominion is going to evolve in one of two ways: it will either become asymmetrical with regards to team traits, or it will develope phases that become bigger and more chaotic as the game goes on.
> The problem with Reach’s Invasion was the lack of maps. It’s not a fault of the game or the devs, but the fact of the matter is that Invasion maps don’t really work with any other gametype, and vice versa. It’s kinda hard to make enough good content that covers all the bases, so Invasion got screwed.
>
> Dominion was meant to be a form of Invasion that worked on standard maps. Didn’t really work out that way.
>
> The way I see it, Dominion is going to evolve in one of two ways: it will either become asymmetrical with regards to team traits, or it will develope phases that become bigger and more chaotic as the game goes on.
They could put more emphasis on it this time around, not to mention the potential from better Forge maps that may appear in Halo Xbox One. They could even flesh it out with a narrative of some sort, like they did with the cutscenes at the beginning of every Spartan Ops mission (not the CGI ones, but in-engine).
I think this is the kind of thing that many people would replay more than Spartan Ops, which told a story the same way every time, whereas this gametype would allow us a new perspective from the eyes of the enemies that we’ve had to fight and play differently due to players’ choicer of what units to be changing gameplay every time. Imagine having a DLC with several different, original maps that are made specifically for this gametype, each one set with its own selection of what Covenant/Promethean/Flood units the Spartan-IVs must face in that mission. Adding a short narrative to make it apparent from the start what your objective is will make it easier for people to get into.