As a former Legendary Exalted member of Bungie.nets forums but only sporadically active there, (mostly just to rant about matchmaking gametypes), I’d like to thank 343 Studios for taking the mantle, and giving me a place to meddle from time to time going forward.
So briefly, here is my take on the Halo CE Anniversary Matchmaking:
As a Halo player from day 1 over XBC before the advent of Live, I (and many others) have come over the years to identify a large aspect of Halo gameplay from an objective strategy perspective. It was somewhat dissappointing to discover the multiplayer for Halo CE Anniversary was going to equate basically to a map pack for Reach but worse that its just about completely slayer for anything other than BTB.
I can understand the reasoning behind the remakes not splitting up the community and using the Reach engine. The maps are also very enjoyable, and the mix between classic and ability options works to an extent. I do however have some grave reservations about the way the gametypes are currently arranged.
It is like pulling teeth to get an objective based game. It might as well be called Halo CE Anniversary: Slayer Edition. It is unforgivable not to include CTF Blood Gulch (hogs only) on any multiplayer that even attempts to claim the old school heritage of what Halo 1 multiplayer meant to a huge audience of gamers, the founders, the pioneers.
To make matters worse, generally I will have a party of 4 to 6 gamers in my lobby. I will switch between Anniversary and Squad playlists with some BTB thrown in. There is only ONE gametype for a party larger than 4 and then you are thrown into a massive lag / quitfest of 16 gamers! 6 vs 6 HAS ALWAYS been the objective game sweet spot. Please consider including more 6 vs 6 group gameplay options.
Which brings me back to CTF. Since the powers that be have decided not to include Hemmorage for now, Ridgeline is turning out to be a spectacular map for CTF and surprise not just for BTB slayer. On that note, Headlong is also an outstanding assault map (memories from Halo2).
To summarize:
- Give us CTF and then more CTF with the occasional Bomb or Ball.
- Stop overemphasizing slayer on non slayer gametype lists. Seriously, stop, Halo started out as a RTS, put some objective strategy back.
- Give us 6 vs 6 group options. This is where you will really see some organized teamwork shine.
Thanks for your time, I hope you find this feedback valuable.