This will be quite an interesting read.
You’ve just put in your vote for the next map. It gets confirmed for play. It’s a four on four Slayer game. Your ranks are similar to your team, so are the opponents. You don’t know what to expect since you and the other seven people are about to play their first game of Match Making.
The game loads. The screen dims. Then it brightens up. You see the map! But that’s not all; You catch a quick overlook of the map layout. Power weapons are scattered on the map in respectible locations, even with a timer explaining how frequent they respawn. You whisper, “That’s convenient,” and you see what else is different.
You notice there are still loadouts, but only three. In the first you see the Battle Rifle, graphically updated and glimmering beautifully. In the second, the deadly Marksman Rifle with a sleek new design. Lastly, the Carbine sits with astounding colors of green and purple. A nostalgic feeling washes over you, and you pick the Battle Rifle.
Bing! A small noise clicks as you select the weapon. Then the selection stretches out. What’s this? It says to select your secondary weapon! You see the Magnum, the Plasma Pistol and a BoltShot. Feeling curious, you decide to select the BoltShot and see what 343 did with it.
As the game starts, you notice you didn’t get a choice to pick Grenade Type, Armor Abilities, or Perks. You see the HUD. The Shield Bar has some odd bar surrounding it. You have two frags, a radar, and an ammo counter that also shows your secondary weapon icon. Now for the action!
You see a waypoint for one of the powerweapons and make a path toward it. As you walk forward, you notice your movement speed is quick, responsive. You suddenly try to strafe.
You strafe.
Then you freak out at the absolute awesomeness of how well you CAN.
Responsive movements! Quick direction change! Effective strafing!
And best of all… NO SPRINT.
The powerweapon is in sight. Then suddenly two opponents appear. In the split second that you face them, you notice one is carrying a DMR, the other a Carbine.
You think to yourself, “Should I take them on?”
Your epic strafe inside you screams “HELL YEAH!”
You open fire on the DMR user, strafing with all your might. He strafes too, but not as effectively. He hits three shots, but gets too close. Your thumb reaches for the melee button.
Wham! Right in the chest! He flies backward, getting in his ally’s view for a split second. You take this opportunity by lobbing a frag at the Carbine user’s feet. By now he has shot you several times and your shields are gone. You suddenly notice that the bar covering the shield bar is a Health Bar! It’s halfway empty! But then–
BOOM! The frag explodes! The enemy’s shield flashes and sparks! You aim the trusty BR at his visor.
B-B-BAM!
“DOUBLE KILL!”
You won the battle, snatch the powerweapon, and run to catch up to your teammates. You see the Health Bar instantly refill, and the Shield Bar steadily recharges to maximum. “Visible Health? Meh, I can live with it,” you decide.
As the game continues, you try the other loadout selections and make a brief summary of how the weapons work in your head as you take a breather:
-The BR is still a five shot, but has a quicker rate of fire.
-The DMR has little aim assist hipfiring, but more with scoping.
-The Carbine is a seven shot kill and is more accurate.
-The Magnum is a six shot kill, with 12 shots in a mag. It has no bloom.
-The Plasma Pistol single fire bolts are more powerful. The charge is the same.
-The BoltShot has stronger single fire shots. The charge is gone.
You also discovered that the Assault Rifle, Storm Rifle, and the Suppressor are also in the loadout selection.
-The AR fires more accurately and kills faster, so the mag was reduced to 30.
-The Storm fires in a circular trajectory pattern, and melts shields quick!
-The Suppressor fires incredibly fast, and has a 60 shot mag. (HCE AR Shout out)
Four minutes into the game, the scores are tied. Your team has a Shotgun, the other team a Beam Rifle. You try to make a plan to flank. But before you can commence, the announcer shouts!
“Ordnance Incoming!”
The next minute, you see waypoints forming across your HUD. A Railgun spawns near you, a Hammer spawns near the other team, and an Overshield icon appears at the middle of the map. You head towards the OS.
A teammate follows behind, Assault Rifle clutched in his hands, and you an him tread towards the middle. The Overshield is in view! It has a new design; A green cube floating and rotating slowly. In your struck of awe as you gaze at the interesting design, you let your guard down. The teammate rushed towards the OS without thinking.
KRAK-KAM!
Your ally has been sniped! You catch a glimpse of an enemy Spartan just as he switches out his Beam Rifle with a Gravity Hammer. Your only chance now is to grab the Overshield! You get close, and press the button to activate it!
This all happens in three seconds. The camera zooms out to Third Person. You see your Spartan make a mighty stance as he is enveloped in green. Your shield bar doubles in size! Then your Spartan stretches his arms out, creating an air wave that pushes the enemy away from him when he got too close!
Back to first person; You shoot your BR accordingly as the Hammer freak tries to recuperate. The hammer strikes! You’re pushed back slightly, but you only took half damage with the Overshield. You finish off the opponent easily and grab his Beam Rifle, leaving the Hammer.
Your team is up by six kills. There’s five minutes left. Now the announcer shouts something else.
“Equipment Incoming!”
“Equipment?” You think to yourself. “Like from Halo 3?”
Three icons appear on your HUD that you’ve never seen before. The nearest one catches your attention. The enemy is preoccupied, so you grab it without worry.
On the side of your HUD you see an icon and the words, “Aquired Dash Jets.”
You decide to try it right away, just to see what it’s like. You face a long hall, and press the Equipment button.
Third Person again. Your character zooms incredibly fast towards the end of the hall! Then he hits the wall with powerful force! The equipment is gone. One use.
Back to first person. That was cool! Now you finish the match.
After the game, you look up more info about stuff you didn’t know about until now.
-Dash Jets zooms the player in a straight line until he hits a wall or halts.
-Jump Pack makes a player jump three times higher.
-Drain Bomb makes a player toss a bomb that EMPS players and vehicles.
-Regenerator from Halo 3 returns.
-Hardlight Shield gets buffed and appears in front of a player for 10 seconds.
-The Light Rifle has been buffed and is now considered a semi-powerweapon.
-Active Camo returns as a Power Up.
-Damage and Speed Boost are now Power Ups.
-New powerweapons join the fray, but you don’t know what they do. Yet.
Discuss.