Wow guys, it has been a pretty amazing weekend. We have seen a lot of what is in store for the future of halo. there is a lot of stuff I want to talk about and I just decided to put it all in one post.
First of all the TU changes.
The big deal here is the removal of bloom. With a few exceptions, everyone is pretty excited for this including me. bloom was just a mistake in my opinion. I love Reach, but bloom was the center of my frustration. There are a million threads talking about why it is bad, so i won’t waste my time.
Next change is the pistol. Not only has its bloom been removed, but it has been turned in to a 3sk weapon. Your immediate thought becomes, the weapon is far to overpowered. Well how about this answer
" I agree with you, and I do not care"
Thats right. An incredibly accurate, 3 shot weapon with a high ROF, and I am OK with it. Why? Because it is just plain fun. I think the Halo community had become so fixated on every weapon filling a niche, that we almost lost some of the fun in using weapons. Its why bloom was implemented in the first place. I applaud 343 for giving fans a weapon that is not only fun to use, but extremely powerful.
That doesn’t mean this new pistol is completely dominant. Think about it…
The AR now has bleedthrough, which means it doesn’t suck nearly as bad as before.
The DMR is more accurate, has longer range and has a larger magazine capacity.
( Have not seen the NR)
Obviously weapons like the Rockets, Shotgun, Sword, and nade launcher all keep their functions and the pistol doesn’t really compare to them in their respective rolls.
Plasma Rifle: Watch the damnation gameplay and see how fast this thing takes someone out.
plasma pistol: Still keeps its job of taking shields down and stunning vehicles.
Sniper Rifle: Obviously it wins at long range, but there will be some pressure added on a snipers shoulders.
Point being, yes, the new pistol can kill someone very quickly. But its user must be very accurate and also very careful with there shots. If you just spam the weapon you may kill someone, but you are gonna be out of ammo and vulnerable. Also the reticle on the magnum is larger and less accurate than the DMR’s making the DMR the go to gun at mid-long range, with magnum excellent in close- mid.
Next armor lock. Everyone hates it, and it getting nerfed. When you take damage in AL, its power drains, and you can no longer shed sticky nades. I like the changes.
Active Camo, I never really though AC was a big deal. But these changes are meant for the camo snipers, and I don’t really mind it. But i am not just thrilled with the changes.
Sword Block. It is gone, rejoice.
Thats all i really want to talk about when it comes to the TU.
Now the maps
Ridgeline ( Timberland): Wow, I am stunned by this map. I have always been a fan of " canyon maps". I love the 2 base style with foliage and terrain sepperating them. I love the layout, the skybox, pretty much everything about it. Also, because I never played it on original PC, its like a brand new map to me.
Penance (Damnation): It looks incredible first of all, and the layout is incredible as it always has been. I also agree with the changes they made to the bridges.
Battle Canyon (Beaver Creek): Very excited to see this coming back. I love symetrical maps like that and the additions they made are all pretty cool. It looks pretty awesome to boot.
Installation 04: As soon as I heard they were making a firefight map I instantly thought it would be from the mission Halo. It was exactly what I was expecting and I think its pretty awesome. Not a huge firefight player, but I welcome the addition of AI characters.
Solitary ( prisoner): Im gonna be honest with you. i did not want prisoner to return. Not because it was a terrible map, I just felt there were others that should have been remade instead. Prisoner was very small and boring asthetically and i didn’t really know what they could do to make it interesting and worthy of a next gen remake. Not to mention, it was easily forgeable. ( The one I have is pretty accurate.) But after seeing it, I must admit, Im impressed. They took a small confined space and did some amazing things. The asthetics and the art style make the map very interesting and looking through the windows gives a sense of scale and epic proportions. I no longer regret 343 picking prisoner.
The other 2 maps are confirmed to be Headlong from Halo 2, and Hang Em High from CE. Both awesome choices.
Those are my thoughts on Halo fest so far, what do you guys think?