We all know 343 is not completely getting rid of AAs and Sprint, so we should find the right way to handle both in the game. Instead of having Sprint as a default and then a bunch of AAs, they should completely get rid of sprint but they can keep AAs in the game. The new AAs would only be movement based ones, as a replacement for sprint. These AAs would be a ONE roll Evade, and a Thruster Pack that only works while OFF THE GROUND. This is a good way to have both TP and Evade because one is used on the ground as a 1st person ability, and one is used in the air as a 3rd person ability. These AAs are more interesting/gameplay-enhancing than sprint and are TOGGLE-ABLE, unlike a default Sprint mechanic. Discuss.
I really see no point in having both evade and thrusters. Given the choice, I would say thrusters should stay.
That said, no problem with doing stuff like that in customs.
> I really see no point in having both evade and thrusters. Given the choice, I would say thrusters should stay.
> That said, no problem with doing stuff like that in customs.
Even if one is on the ground and one is in the air? It creates an opportunity to use both in a dynamic and effective way.
Personally I think Armor Abilities really hurt the competitive future of the game in a VERY bad starting with Reach and going forward into H5/H6, and I’ll tell you why - they are fun but they don’t make the game competitive on a skill level basis, and from a strategy perspective it’s a little like adding new chess pieces to chess - it messes up the action and presents too many forks. (Good news! Kings and Pawns can sprint now, they go 3 spaces instead of 1!)
I’ll give you an example. I use Jet Pack a lot, almost all the games I’m in. It’s a great AA. It can be fun and save your -Yoink- - it has some downsides like getting your -Yoink- shot in all directions but generally speaking it’s great from a map control perspective.
The result? I hardly ever use my jumping skills anymore. Which in certain modes like Legendary are kinda important. It’s not that I hate Legendary, but I never play Legendary because I’m so unused to the different style of play it feels like I’m in a totally different game - and it doesn’t translate to the popular hoppers like Infinity Slayers where 75% of the players are at any time. In other words, the Infinity Slayers aren’t necessarily more popular because of the ordinances and AAs and whatnot, but because those games were what we played at the start of H4 and Legendary is just too different (and IMO probably the population is so small it’s basically loaded with pro style players so you feel you can’t even compete).
As someone who has played Halo since CE but mostly H3, I’ll just say that some of the best skills in H2/H3 were jumping abilities. Halo Reach and H4 completely took away those aspects (in social play). Starting with reach, people no longer focused on hard to reach places and jumps. (“Hey I can just use the friggin jet pack!”) Some of the best things in H3 were the hard jumps, like Gold 1 to Gold 2 in Guardian. They distinguished the good from the awesome.
Meanwhile for H4, pro gaming leagues were like ‘OK I have like 300 possible options for the hardcore players, which do I even like/choose?’
Evade and Thruster Pack are in line with Jet Pack as far as I’m concerned.
The point is, what I liked most about H3 was that you felt as a player you could transition your abilities in H3 almost directly to the competitive arena - MLG or whatnot. That kept players interested in the game - it meant people who weren’t really good enough to be playing professionally still played often enough to feel they could put their skills to a test. It also kept the game very stable and removed randomness and imbalance - which is a VERY GOOD thing.
How is it now? Well let’s say you’re in your standard social slayer mode with AAs. In MM play, will you play a team with all jet packs, a bunch of camping invis guys, guys with hardlight shields, with an odd mix of those? (Or my favorite, will your whole team map strat just get ramrodded by insta-spawn and some a hole with a random-ordinance SAW?)
Also, once you have sprint, well, you’re stuck with sprint. The maps are built around sprint because of the size. As someone who has occasionally gone back to H3, walking feels like you are moving through molasses.
My point is, the base line of H5 needs to be the removal of the “fun” options - those options should at best stay in the big team or action sack kind of arena. Personally I favor getting rid of Jet Pack entirely because of the map control issues.
Multiplayer should be very basic, because that’s what Halo is about - if I wanted Call of Duty I’d buy Call of Duty.
I have a feeling most of my rant here is going to fall on deaf ears.
I like sprint, and I think it should be a basic ability like it is in Halo 4. As for armor abilities, I think they should return as map pickups, and work on a “fuel” system. This would allow for one-use and muti-use equipment.
> I have a feeling most of my rant here is going to fall on deaf ears.
Absolutely not on deaf ears! …er at least last time I checked.
I agree with a lot of what you said, and can relate on many of those gripes in your “rant.” Halo 3, by the way, is just slow as molasses by default, but the funny thing is that walking speed is actually faster in Halo 3 than in Halo 4. So I almost feel forced to sprint in Halo 4. If I didn’t sprint, I would just put myself at a huge disadvantage anyway because everybody has it.
Armor abilities just feel gimmicky to me. Some of them are severely overpowered as a spawnable entity, namely the infamous Jetpack and Active Camo. I always enjoyed losing a player that was tailing me by utilizing creative and skillful jumping tactics… something that is almost nonexistent with the introduction of the Jetpack in Reach.
As for competitiveness, I feel that was lost after Halo 3. Even with the Arena in Reach, the games still felt off somehow with game/map-breaking abilities like Jetpack and Armor Lock. The key here is something that I fear 343i will not realize until it is too late. Less is more when it comes to Halo. I feel like I’m jumping into an arcade shooter when I boot up Infinity Slayer. If I wanted that style of gameplay, I’ll go hop into Action Sack. I can’t believe that Halo 4 was built around Infinity Slayer as the baseline.
So trust me, your opinions did not fall on deaf ears.