Neat Ideas For the Future of Halo

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

For starters, I want this thread to be safe place for people to come and spitball cool ideas to each other. I do not want this to become some 343 hate thread or a place where people come to pine for the long-gone days of yesteryear.

That said, I thought it would be a fun idea to take our minds off the pain of the quasi-functioning Master Chief Collection by making lists of various gameplay features, story turns, characters, game modes, etc. that would be cool to see in future Halo titles. I’ll start:

  • UNSC and Elite joint operations in campaign

  • Actual space battles (reminiscent of the Halo Reach mission Long Night of Solace) in campaign, and perhaps even multiplayer similar to Star Wars Battlefront

  • A rekindling of the Human-Forerunner War wherein the Elites take up arms with humanity to fight the Forerunner forces helmed by the Didact

  • A departure from the Flood. I would like to see the universe and its characters develop, something that basically gets put on hold when the Flood shows up. Give that aspect of Halo a break for a while and bring it back later.

  • More Spartan vs Elite multiplayer modes, with actual differences in the playstyle of each team (like Invasion in Reach)

  • Two separate multiplayer menus (Like Ranked and Social on Halo 3), only one being a training simulator such as War Games from Halo 4, and the other being actual conflict with Spartans and Elites.

  • At least one multiplayer mode with Prometheans and/or Forerunners as a playable team.

  • Large-scale objective-based multiplayer modes to rival those of Battlefield, wherein a team of Spartans/Elites fights a battle against a team of Forerunners/New Covenant Elites.

  • New vehicles. Possibilities include: offensive air vehicle, transport air vehicle, new type of warthog, new type of tank (would love to see a Grizzly)

  • Skill-based ranking systems like TrueSkill from Halo 3, as opposed to the linear progression systems of Reach and 4.

  • Larger emphasis on objective-based game modes. (I personally find Slayer boring, and get tired of never playing anything else because everybody just votes for Slayer gametypes)

  • When mounting a small ground vehicle, a choice to either board and commandeer as usual, or dig your heels in the dirt to bring it to a grinding halt, then chuck the vehicle in a direction of your choosing.

  • Dual wield. And to take it a step further, take the energy shield from a dead jackal and dual wield it with any one-handed weapon (yes, even the energy sword)

  • Bring back certain pieces of equipment from Halo 3. Things like the bubble shield, trip mine, and deployable cover. But keep them extremely limited in multiplayer (maybe even completely out of the smaller arena gametypes)

  • Spartan Ops, but more connected to the story. Maybe even Elite/Forerunner Ops that tell events from their perspective. Things that happen in parallel to the campaign (i.e. Master Chief leaves or passes through a battlefield to accomplish some other objective, so a Spartan Op could be partaking in that battle. Or, Chief needs a team to strike a separate objective simultaneously, so the Spartan Op would be you doing that.)

What do you guys think?

2

In response to some of your ideas:
-I wouldn’t like duel-wielding to return. It breaks the weapon sandbox too much (though holding an energy shield sounds… pretty awesome actually).
-I’d love to see Juggernaut return with the Jug being a Promethean Knight.
-I know Mega Bloks shouldn’t be the one-stop-shop for conformed aspects, but since Locke is included in the new Vulture set… crossing my figers for Halo wars vehicles in H5.
-Totally in for larger-objective types.
-I hated the Spartan Ops constant formula. If it was to return, make it more like the campaign levels.
-Flood are pretty much guaranteed to return. There can still be character development with it.
-A total YES to space battles. Even in multiplayer.

-I personally want there to be more dynamic map elements. That’s my biggest want for H5 multiplayer.

3

A lot of ideas that OP posted have been posted before and that is because they are good ideas and should be stressed and repeated.

However, dual weilding, I’m not totally sold on, especially with a jackal shield. I’m not saying it won’t work, but I would like to see some ideas of how the gameplay mechanics would work while holding the shield.

4

I love it when this thread makes it’s round around the Forums. I started the last one with these suggestions:

  • Gametypes that fuse Firefight with Slayer (two teams face off in a battle of PvP and PvE, with actual players interspersed with AI)- Maps that play around with Halo’s physics (Large areas of zero gravity?)- New weapons from previously unexplored parts of the Canon, (Like a Flood claw that functions like an Energy Sword and turns the corpse of the enemy into a Flood combat form, or perhaps a Flood Carrier grenade that releases Flood Infection forms everywhere?)- Map manipulation/playing as an aniclla? You walk up to a terminal, stick your AI chip in it and take control of doors, turrets, shields, grav lifts, and other objects on the map- Trading weapons with other Spartans- More playable races, (Brutes, Hunters, Grunts, Elites [again] Forerunners? Flood? Prophets??)I would also add:
  • Spaceship combat a la Star Wars Battlefront. Players spawn in one of two Capital Ships, maybe even over a BTB map, and from there decide how to plan their attack, utilizing the offensive capabilities of their Starship and whatever vehicles/weapons/powerups/AI buddies? are at their disposal.- Forerunner Telekinesis/Gravity Field-or-whatever-the-Yoink-it’s-called: A powerup in the center of the map that drastically limits mobility but allows user mastery of Halo physics, or the control of Sentinels/Promtheans/whatevsNow about old stuff returning.
  • I’d be okay with AAs if they were similar to Equipment like Halo 3.- If dual wielding is implemented, I’d like it in one of two ways. Either you have one gun and some form of equipment in your other hand, say a shield, OR, have guns that come in pairs and are always used together. Instead of having one SMG, you’d have a pair of SMGs. This might mess up the idea of dual wielding, but eh.- Brutes. I’d like them to be playable, with this little gimmick: they have an AA akin to their implementation in Reach and 4 that triggers the classic Berserk mode. Upon using it, they’d drop their gun, double their speed, halve their damage resistance, and get a one-hit KO. It would last a super short time, but it would get longer for every kill you get, meaning chain attacks would be important. It’d have a massive cool-down also, to discourage camping with it. Basically, it would reward suicidal use.Anyway. These are mah ideas.
5

> 2535421619942348;4:
> I love it when this thread makes it’s round around the Forums. I started the last one with these suggestions:
> - Gametypes that fuse Firefight with Slayer (two teams face off in a battle of PvP and PvE, with actual players interspersed with AI)
> - Maps that play around with Halo’s physics (Large areas of zero gravity?)
> - New weapons from previously unexplored parts of the Canon, (Like a Flood claw that functions like an Energy Sword and turns the corpse of the enemy into a Flood combat form, or perhaps a Flood Carrier grenade that releases Flood Infection forms everywhere?)
> - Map manipulation/playing as an aniclla? You walk up to a terminal, stick your AI chip in it and take control of doors, turrets, shields, grav lifts, and other objects on the map
> - Trading weapons with other Spartans
> - More playable races, (Brutes, Hunters, Grunts, Elites [again] Forerunners? Flood? Prophets??)
> I would also add:
> - Spaceship combat a la Star Wars Battlefront. Players spawn in one of two Capital Ships, maybe even over a BTB map, and from there decide how to plan their attack, utilizing the offensive capabilities of their Starship and whatever vehicles/weapons/powerups/AI buddies? are at their disposal.
> - Forerunner Telekinesis/Gravity Field-or-whatever-the-Yoink-it’s-called: A powerup in the center of the map that drastically limits mobility but allows user mastery of Halo physics, or the control of Sentinels/Promtheans/whatevs
> Now about old stuff returning.
> - I’d be okay with AAs if they were similar to Equipment like Halo 3.
> - If dual wielding is implemented, I’d like it in one of two ways. Either you have one gun and some form of equipment in your other hand, say a shield, OR, have guns that come in pairs and are always used together. Instead of having one SMG, you’d have a pair of SMGs. This might mess up the idea of dual wielding, but eh.
> - Brutes. I’d like them to be playable, with this little gimmick: they have an AA akin to their implementation in Reach and 4 that triggers the classic Berserk mode. Upon using it, they’d drop their gun, double their speed, halve their damage resistance, and get a one-hit KO. It would last a super short time, but it would get longer for every kill you get, meaning chain attacks would be important. It’d have a massive cool-down also, to discourage camping with it. Basically, it would reward suicidal use.
> Anyway. These are mah ideas.

I love the brute berserker idea! Awesome times could be had with that.

I do think that if dual wielding returns, it has to be done differently than it was before. I don’t know specifically how, but it would be neat to see it return in some capacity. Maybe like you said, certain weapons are only dual wielded. But not SMGs or any other existing gun, maybe bring in dual machine pistols like in Spartan Assault.

Everyone seems to be in agreement about the battlefront idea which is nice to see. Multiplayer matches where it’s flagship vs flagship with the options of going to ground combat (fighting for AA guns or teleporters to the enemy ship or something) or straight up space fights.

I was was also thinking about that map manipulation idea, wherein you insert an AI datachip into a console which takes over certain aspects of the map like turrets, doors, and bridges.

Gravity play lay would be awesome too. Similar to Long Night of Solace on Reach where it’s zero gravity on the corvette’s surface, but the gravity activates once inside the ship.

6

> 2533274974457747;2:
> In response to some of your ideas:
> -I wouldn’t like duel-wielding to return. It breaks the weapon sandbox too much (though holding an energy shield sounds… pretty awesome actually).
> -I’d love to see Juggernaut return with the Jug being a Promethean Knight.
> -I know Mega Bloks shouldn’t be the one-stop-shop for conformed aspects, but since Locke is included in the new Vulture set… crossing my figers for Halo wars vehicles in H5.
> -Totally in for larger-objective types.
> -I hated the Spartan Ops constant formula. If it was to return, make it more like the campaign levels.
> -Flood are pretty much guaranteed to return. There can still be character development with it.
> -A total YES to space battles. Even in multiplayer.
>
> -I personally want there to be more dynamic map elements. That’s my biggest want for H5 multiplayer.

It seems like we’re pretty much on the same page with other. I don’t want the same dual wield as before, but I would like to see it return in some form (I’m glad you liked the jackal shield idea).

Obviously the Flood does have to return at some point, but I’d like to have 1-2 more games with a complete absence of Flood. To me, the story just kind of gets put on hold so everyone can deal with the Flood (which to be fair worked beautifully in Halo 3, cementing the friendship between Arbiter and Chief).

I do like the dynamic map elements idea. I liked what they did in H2A. It wasn’t anything like battlefield that changed the map entirely and could wipe out half a team, just little stuff like waterfalls obscuring lines of sight and icicles over painful camping locations. I’d want them to keep that in tact and not turn Halo into Halofield.

I agree with you on Spartan Ops. I loved the idea of a four-player co-op mode that’s separate from campaign, but I thought it was poorly executed and very repetitive. They would definitely have to “beef it up” and give it more substance. Make it more story-driven, give us more environments and more objectives. The “go here, kill that, now destroy this” got really boring after a few episodes.

I’d also like to see Firefight make a return.

7

> 2533274795233660;3:
> A lot of ideas that OP posted have been posted before and that is because they are good ideas and should be stressed and repeated.
>
> However, dual weilding, I’m not totally sold on, especially with a jackal shield. I’m not saying it won’t work, but I would like to see some ideas of how the gameplay mechanics would work while holding the shield.

I’m glad you phrased it that way. It might seem silly, but thanks for keeping the friendly spirit of this thread in tact.

With the jackal shield mechanic, I feel they would have to severely limit mobility. Take away sprint while holding it, slower turn speed, and slow movement speed to a crawl when crouching behind it for cover. There could be two separate “states” of the shield. The first would be offensive, where you move at close-to-regular movement speed but without sprint and a hindered turn speed. You can aim your gun more accurately in this state, but you’re also more open to attack. The second state would be defensive, and you would hold a button (let’s say LT) to raise up and crouch behind the shield. You’re much more difficult to hit in this state, but you move slower than a crouch walk and your turn speed is even more hindered than in offensive mode. Shooting your gun becomes the equivalent of blind-firing over a barrier. Your arm is simply poking out through that cutout in the shield and you fire away with no reticle (more for suppression than anything).

As far as dual-wielding goes, I think we all agree so far that if it does return, it needs to be different. I like L377UC3’s idea of having weapon “sets”, weapons that are only dual wield. Bringing in the machine pistols from Spartan Assault would be a good idea.

8

> 2533274810150284;7:
> With the jackal shield mechanic, I feel they would have to severely limit mobility. Take away sprint while holding it, slower turn speed, and slow movement speed to a crawl when crouching behind it for cover. There could be two separate “states” of the shield. The first would be offensive, where you move at close-to-regular movement speed but without sprint and a hindered turn speed. You can aim your gun more accurately in this state, but you’re also more open to attack. The second state would be defensive, and you would hold a button (let’s say LT) to raise up and crouch behind the shield. You’re much more difficult to hit in this state, but you move slower than a crouch walk and your turn speed is even more hindered than in offensive mode. Shooting your gun becomes the equivalent of blind-firing over a barrier. Your arm is simply poking out through that cutout in the shield and you fire away with no reticle (more for suppression than anything).

This is actually a really good idea.

Now for the big question, what other pieces of equipment could be used in place of the Jackal shield?

9

> 2535421619942348;8:
> > 2533274810150284;7:
> > With the jackal shield mechanic, I feel they would have to severely limit mobility. Take away sprint while holding it, slower turn speed, and slow movement speed to a crawl when crouching behind it for cover. There could be two separate “states” of the shield. The first would be offensive, where you move at close-to-regular movement speed but without sprint and a hindered turn speed. You can aim your gun more accurately in this state, but you’re also more open to attack. The second state would be defensive, and you would hold a button (let’s say LT) to raise up and crouch behind the shield. You’re much more difficult to hit in this state, but you move slower than a crouch walk and your turn speed is even more hindered than in offensive mode. Shooting your gun becomes the equivalent of blind-firing over a barrier. Your arm is simply poking out through that cutout in the shield and you fire away with no reticle (more for suppression than anything).
>
>
> This is actually a really good idea.
>
> Now for the big question, what other pieces of equipment could be used in place of the Jackal shield?

Now it would have to be balanced out, and it may be hard to do, but… what if another piece of that equipment… was the hunter’s cannon arm?

10

If I hear one more space battle suggestion…

11

> 2535460843083983;10:
> If I hear one more space battle suggestion…

…You’ll petition 343 to do it? :smiley:

12

Return of the elephant and new team based land/air vehicles.
large scale battles with AI and it would be spartans vs elites and brutes. (Playable elites and brutes)
Invasion
Underwater/space battles
Interactive wildlife (predators could attack u and stuff like that)

13

> 2533274950690255;9:
> > 2535421619942348;8:
> > > 2533274810150284;7:
> > > With the jackal shield mechanic, I feel they would have to severely limit mobility. Take away sprint while holding it, slower turn speed, and slow movement speed to a crawl when crouching behind it for cover. There could be two separate “states” of the shield. The first would be offensive, where you move at close-to-regular movement speed but without sprint and a hindered turn speed. You can aim your gun more accurately in this state, but you’re also more open to attack. The second state would be defensive, and you would hold a button (let’s say LT) to raise up and crouch behind the shield. You’re much more difficult to hit in this state, but you move slower than a crouch walk and your turn speed is even more hindered than in offensive mode. Shooting your gun becomes the equivalent of blind-firing over a barrier. Your arm is simply poking out through that cutout in the shield and you fire away with no reticle (more for suppression than anything).
> >
> >
> >
> > This is actually a really good idea.
> >
> > Now for the big question, what other pieces of equipment could be used in place of the Jackal shield?
>
>
> Now it would have to be balanced out, and it may be hard to do, but… what if another piece of that equipment… was the hunter’s cannon arm?

Exactly. As I was reading your post, “hunter cannon arm” immediately popped into my head. I’ve always thought that t would be amazing to kill a hunter and rip his cannon off and walk around with it like a beefed up turret. Which is exactly how I could see it working, maybe slow down the movement and turn speed even more than a regular turret. There could be the two different versions, the single explosive shot and the continuous beam.

Just a a spitball idea here, but maybe something along the lines of a power fist. Like a big metal glove that you can charge up for a one hit melee. Have it lunge a bit shorter than an energy sword and take about 2 seconds to charge up. Hitting without charging would be like the new Spartan charge mechanic, in that it does more damage than a melee and sends the victim flying.

14

> 2535421619942348;8:
> > 2533274810150284;7:
> > With the jackal shield mechanic, I feel they would have to severely limit mobility. Take away sprint while holding it, slower turn speed, and slow movement speed to a crawl when crouching behind it for cover. There could be two separate “states” of the shield. The first would be offensive, where you move at close-to-regular movement speed but without sprint and a hindered turn speed. You can aim your gun more accurately in this state, but you’re also more open to attack. The second state would be defensive, and you would hold a button (let’s say LT) to raise up and crouch behind the shield. You’re much more difficult to hit in this state, but you move slower than a crouch walk and your turn speed is even more hindered than in offensive mode. Shooting your gun becomes the equivalent of blind-firing over a barrier. Your arm is simply poking out through that cutout in the shield and you fire away with no reticle (more for suppression than anything).
>
>
>
> This is actually a really good idea.
>
> Now for the big question, what other pieces of equipment could be used in place of the Jackal shield?

A couple ideas are hunter arm cannons (both single explosive shot and continuous beam versions) that work along the same lines as the detached turret mechanic, chargeable power fist with a lunge mechanic just a bit shorter than an energy sword, and maybe something ranged like a spear that you hold LT to aim and throw (just off the top of my head).

Another cool thing would be the ability to pick up physical objects in the environment like crates and barriers and hold them in front of you like a shield or throw them at enemies.

15

> 2533274977797582;12:
> Return of the elephant and new team based land/air vehicles.
> large scale battles with AI and it would be spartans vs elites and brutes. (Playable elites and brutes)
> Invasion
> Underwater/space battles
> Interactive wildlife (predators could attack u and stuff like that)

…!

Why didn’t I think of that?? That’s a really great idea if implemented well. Halo’s always had kind of a dodgy relationship with interactive wildlife though. They were gonna be in CE, then they weren’t so they were gonna put them in Wars, they didn’t get there either, but there were those…two missions in Reach! Those two missions that felt kinda cobbled together. I could’ve sworn I was gonna fight at least twelve more Gutas by the end of Reach. It was only two. :frowning:

OT: Flyable Pelicans and Phantoms. It’s been 15 years 343. It’s time.

16

> 2535421619942348;15:
> > 2533274977797582;12:
> > Return of the elephant and new team based land/air vehicles.
> > large scale battles with AI and it would be spartans vs elites and brutes. (Playable elites and brutes)
> > Invasion
> > Underwater/space battles
> > Interactive wildlife (predators could attack u and stuff like that)
>
>
> …!
>
> Why didn’t I think of that?? That’s a really great idea if implemented well. Halo’s always had kind of a dodgy relationship with interactive wildlife though. They were gonna be in CE, then they weren’t so they were gonna put them in Wars, they didn’t get there either, but there were those…two missions in Reach! Those two missions that felt kinda cobbled together. I could’ve sworn I was gonna fight at least twelve more Gutas by the end of Reach. It was only two. :frowning:
>
> OT: Flyable Pelicans and Phantoms. It’s been 15 years 343. It’s time.

Yeah, its neat ideas like these that are actually innovative yet never make the cut.

17

I completely agree with the departure from the covenant, the appearance of Sangheili in multiplayer, the idea of a coalition Human-Sangheili, the space battles, the Forerunner as playable and the dual wielding.
I’m going to add the posibility of choosing between Thel 'Vadam and Locke when playing their segments or in coop, and the return of the race gametype (I had a lot of fun with my younger brother) which could also be set in space if they implement the space battles.

18

side story where you could play as ancient human soldier perhaps?

19

> 2533274890014309;18:
> side story where you could play as ancient human soldier perhaps?

I completely forgot to mention this in my OP!

I’ve always thought it would be amazing to have a Halo game set during the Human-Forerunner War. They could do it in the style of Halo 2 where they show the journey of a human soldier and the journey of a forerunner soldier, and how they wind up intersecting.

20

Sweet ideas! Though I can’t see playable Prometheans working. Also, I would LOVE to have Halo 3’s Equipment back. It was so much better than AAs, added more strategy to the game, and it was just freaking awesome to drop a Bubble Shield.