As someone who has watched for information on the changes to each consecutive Halo game since the time of Halo 2 to Halo 3, the general demeanor I have had for ever piece of information has been that of pure excitement. I look to all the things that are being added to the game, and jump up and down excitedly as I can’t wait for the release date. Halo 5 has broken this trend, because for every moment that 343 does something I am so happy with, they take away a mechanic to the series that has been a cornerstone to what is considered Halo.
-We are giving you an amazing 4v4 combat, but we aren’t going to give you any Big Team Battle Maps until DLC, and you will need to make due with Warzone.-
-We are going to give you free DLC, so that we keep our community on the same maps, but we are going to remove the option for you to choose which map you play-
-We are going to give you the most amazing campaign of any of the Halo games, but you can’t play it with your friends and family on the same screen-
-We are going to make all the pre-order DLC acquirable without pre-order, but we are going to add micro-transactions-
-We are going to add a game mode that applies AI to the combat like Titanfall, but we are going to not give you any firefight, spartan ops-
There are so many more, but let me go over why these things I talk about are bad changes, and not me just whining:
Warzone without BTB:
Warzone is being advertised as a game mode that isn’t meant to be competitive, that it is more for enjoyment which is great… but when you have large communities that are looking to be competitive and keep together, rather than split up, you will have these people going to Warzone. Warzone, which should be treated as a casual gaming experience will be tainted with people eager to grief other players, just camping bosses and objectives with a sniper, not really working to win the game, but play denial to others. Yes it is a legitimate strategy, but one that will tarnish the experience of Warzone. While this will be fixed eventually, it’s a situation that shouldn’t be allowed to occur by a triple A game company.
No Democracy in map choice:
While it may seem like a good idea, in that maps should be played with a more average percentage, what this is doing is making it so that more people will avoid playing matchmaking without that choice, or worse, people will go into matchmaking, and leave the moment they don’t get the maps they want. Halo 5 doesn’t apply ‘drop-in games’ this means that in situations of smaller numbers games (like the game’s prized 4v4) if someone drops out because they don’t like the map, then their team has a massive disadvantage. What this does, is it makes a further gap between MLG and pro-playing groups, and those of standard community members, not based on skill, but based upon what the two groups have in terms to work with. You can also claim that if all the maps are good, then there shouldn’t be a reason to quit a game. That’s true, but if you tell me that there hasn’t always been 1-2 maps in a Halo game that have been ignored because it wasn’t loved by the community, then you are lying. This could easily be fixed, if they made ranked playlists incapable of voting, forcing people to work to be flexible with strategy, but I personally don’t feel like trying to waste 30 minutes to play the one map during my 1 hour of relaxation.
No Split-screen:
I understand why it wasn’t applied in the game, based upon some things they talk about, but it doesn’t make it right. This is one of the cornerstones of a Halo games that 343i have removed. This will destroy playing the game with friends socially, it takes a step away from games being something that can be a social interaction with families, it CRIPPLES machinimators out there… In total it put’s a huge dent into a game that has always been couch friendly. I am willing to cope without it, but 343 is stupid if they can’t see how this one feature has destroyed their profits.
Micro-Transactions:
This is a much lesser issue, but to me micro-transactions to me is like a cancer to a series. It isn’t extra enjoying content that we get for money, it is paying money to acquire something in a game we could have through playing the game, but we didn’t want to play the game to get it. This brings two indefensible points to the floor:
1.) If you didn’t want to acquire the item through playing the game, then why are you playing the game?
2.) If the game has moments to it that make people want to use microtransactions to avoid playing a game to acquire something they want, then why did the developers create a situation that people wanted to skip other than to milk us for cash?
I am more than happy to give my money to a game that I love, and know that the game had so much love put into it, that it is easily worth more than it’s pricetag, but I’de rather go about doing that by other means, either buying the game for someone else close to me to enjoy playing the game with them, and bringing them into the Halo universe, buying the music for the game, or even just through donations. Microtransactions simply from them being in the game to me, means there is a need for them, and a need that was generated because a company wants more money.
Warzone isn’t a substitute for Firefight/Spartan Ops:
Before I begin this, I am not hating on Warzone, it is simply not a spiritual successor to either of these PvE game modes. Warzone is something that is advertised as a ‘whole package Halo experience’, with enemies of both human, and AI basis, with a blend of competitive and casual gaming elements. To myself personally, PvE gamemodes have been either something you do when you want to play more casually, or if you want to work to hone your skill with game mechanics (not to be confused with skill for PvP, but basically ingraining how long it takes for shields to recharge, how long do we need to run before doing a Spartan slam, grenade arcs, ect.). PvE game modes also give the players something they can typically play without a connection, giving the game an extended play time without the campaign becoming something dull and repetitive.
It’s true that there is also differences between Firefight, Spartan Ops, and Campaign, but I would think Halo 5 is in desperate need of Firefight over Spartan Ops for the following reasons:
1.) Spartan Ops focused more on story, and with Halo 5 being doted as one of the biggest campaigns in the series, I think we will already be sated by story needs
2.) Warzone isn’t something that can be played without a connection, or without an opposing team (at least yet, hopefully for both). The game needs to apply something more to it other than Campaign in terms of PvE (PvPvE being ignored), no other Halo game has been without a second PvE option since Halo 3: ODST.
3.) Nathan Fillion’s character Buck has always been in Halo games that was paired with Firefight… how is this not being continued?!
Warzone for as amazing, or poor as it may be though, isn’t a substitute for a method to test the player against ever increasingly difficult enemies. The campaign will be static in it’s skirmishes (which can’t be fixed easily, and don’t expect that to be fixed), and my personal craving for PvE demands more.
In Summary:
Halo 5 has broken a long standing trend of excitement in the series as I wait excitedly for it’s release date. It has changed excitement into fear that I shouldn’t be spending my money on Halo 5’s xbox, but instead on other games.