Introduction
This is my first time as an insider and also first post on waypoint. As the title suggests, I have really liked everything they have done with this build except a few issues.
Now lets dive in.
Performance and Servers
This is the single worst aspect of the entire build. This should come as no surprise to devs as they probably knew this. Even for an early build it is pretty bad. I have a gtx 1650 and R5 4600 and still I get the same 30-50 FPS know mater how much I change the settings from low to ultra. The minimum I get around is 30 but the max I got it 55 FPS. I cant understand how lowering settings doesn’t improve FPS. Considering devs plant towards 120FPS on series X and also not quite “next gen” graphics I really hope they will do some good optimization and make it possible for the most common graphics that is GTX 1060 and GTX 1650 to achieve 100 FPS with a mix of medium to high settings or even just high settings without using some upscaling tech like FRS(which they definitely should implement as soon as possible). And I hope they will optimize(though not drastically compressing everything to a mere 2GB like in witcher 3) textures as well and not specify 6GB or more as recommended and set the 4GB VRAM as the baseline for at least “high” preset. 1080p 120FPS is the norm now so please guys optimize the game as much as possible so that most will be able to achieve 120fps without sacrificing too much gfx fidelity. Also load times are very very slow. Unacetably slow. i installed the game on my NVMe SSD and it takes minutes to load the game and way too much time to load a match.
On a positive note, there havent been any crashes so far. Most of the issues i faced have been log outs from my MS account and some disconnections.
Speaking of servers, I’m quite impressed. As I’m from Sri Lanka, in most games we get second class treatment and have to wait in long queues and join 100ms + ping servers in EU or 80+ in SEA servers. This time though matchmaking is very quick and connection is very stable.
Please launch South Asian and Middle East servers, especially as MP is F2P.
Gunplay and Gameplay
I dont know what magic you guys did but the gameplay feels so good. The weapons and shooting is sooo good. The hit feedback is nice. They sound really really good too. I love the BR and AR sounds, though I wish the latter could be a bit louder and thump-ier. I also think that guns are pretty balanced too, but BR might be a bit OP but I’ll have to play more before commenting more on that as I couldn’t find BR much. Although new guns are new and interesting, I didn’t find much use for them except spiker which is my new favorite weapon in Halo. 9/10.
Movement, also as important as gunplay, feels amazing as usual. Running, sprinting, sliding and vaulting - everything is polished, smooth, fluid and most importantly very responsive. Grappling as its a new mechanic feels like you guys hit the sweet spot. There are no cons here. Really. 10/10.
Equipment is pretty good too. I love the grappling hook. The camo and overshield is working as expected. And the use animation is nicely done. My only nitpick is that deploy shield feels quite underwhelming and looks ugly as well. I think a more transparent shield without gridlines looks better and maybe you guys can improve shield’s hitpoints.
Maps
Both maps are great and feel like they will be fan favorite. I don’t really know how to analyze maps or levels so that’s all I have to say.
Graphics and Aesthetics
They looks great but I still feel like it could be better. Texture is good but could be better, especially weapon models. Lightning feels natural. Ambient occlusion could be better, even at Ultra I didn’t notice much difference. I can talk more about all other settings but all of it boils down to this - its good but could be better.
Aesthetics - I really love the new art design. Feels like the best combination of classic Halo and something new. It feels like a natural evolution of classic Halo. And everything looks really clean and detailed without looking cluttered. I also like the new UI too. Pretty clean and the blue and white combo is pleasing. The new italic font s some texts is great too.
The menu and armory background looks awful. They look low res and anti aliasing is not working as expected. Needs improvement there.
Battle pass
It is detailed and good but I cant say anything much until they reveal the monetary aspects like in game currency and their price.
I can confidently say that the devs have done an amazing job and the Halo we remember and love so much is back with a bang! Keep the amazing work guys. Postponing the game has been best decision so far, and I can’t wait to join future flights and play this gem at launch.