Ive been playing halo for 14 years now. Halo 2 is by far my favorite.
Now, after playing the beta for 5 hours, my opinion.
I like a lot of the changes. Dashing is a nice addition, tying sprint to your shield was a great idea. Clamber is probably something I could live without, but it’s here at least until dlc maps. Stabilzer is a non factor for me once I figured how to turn it off. Ground pound is funny so see people attempt it and is situational at best. I’ve yet to see anybody get killed by the shoulder charge thing
I’m seeing a lot of people complaining about sprint still. I rarely see people running away from fights as one particular forum member would like every one to believe. First off, you can’t run when you are getting shot if you have no shields. Secondly, your shields take forever to recharge if you sprint. Sure you might get away, but you are going to get killed by somebody else.
The nerfed aim assist took a little getting used to, but is a good addition to the game.
Weapons wise, I feel the BR is a little underpowered at medium ranges, the AR is probably a tad OP at medium ranges and the pistol needs to have a ROF limit or a bloom increase because it is way too good on midship and at close ranges. I’m not a fan of the new sniper scope and find the new FOV and dark layers restricting and I would much prefer the old style.
ADS is something that I actually enjoy. I always thought it was kind of strange that the AR never really had anything like that, especially since some of the books mention the smart scope. Also believe it or not, the smart scope has been around since halo 1. The pistol, whenever it has had the ability for a zoom (1,reach,4) has been linked to the spartans helmet via smart scope. 343 has just taken their own aproach to it, and added an ADS in a way that still feels like Halo. The AR is no longer a gun that people just use until they find a new gun. It can actually hold it’s own at medium ranges now.
On some of the art styles, like the impending changes to the godly looking halo rocket, I absolutely despise. Why would you change one of the most iconic weapons in the halo universe. The new sounds are growing on me, but I still prefer the deeper original sounds of the shield alarm, but this is me just being nit picky
Overall, Im really enjoying the game and I think this is definitely a step in the right direction for the series after halo 4’s missteps