I’m going to preface this by saying I have been playing this game since 2006, I played 10,000 plus games of Halo 3 on the 360 and some more on X1’s MCC. My fav game was Halo 3 and as I have been playing Halo 2, I respect that game entirely though I prefer Halo 3. I decided I hated Halo Reach in the first hour. I loved Halo 4’s campaign but could not get into the game, especially after being disappointed in their approach to ranking, which they mentioned pre-launch. I hated the discrepancies and inconsistencies of Halo 4 and Reach’s multiplayer. There was no level playing field and there was always too much randomness. Predictability is key in the competitive landscape and those two games had none. The ordinance packages in 4 were too much for me and I rage quit the game and played BLOPSII instead.
But I love this game. Why? Even starts. Everything makes sense. The maps are good. 343 understands what Halo MP is supposed to be. They know how and where to make improvements in the gameplay sphere.
Naysayers will say. The AR is too powerful. The pistol is too powerful. The shields are too low and you die too quick. They’ll ask WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? They will use gross language and make absurd threats to the families of 343. They will do this without actually understanding the game and why they made these decisions. Let me answer you Mr. Naysayer. Why is this happening? Sprint.
Sprint needs to be in the game. The way they designed it mandates it. You cannot have all these cool new armor abilities and mechanics without sprint. And with sprint, you cannot have weak weapons like in Halo 3. The weapons need to kill enemies quickly. So when you think to yourself “Gosh darnit, these weapons are way too powerful!” Think about the new additions and how they might resolve your problems. I have a 2.4-3.0 K/D spread after 5 hours. I understand the game. It makes sense to me. I get it. I still suck at the sniper because 60 fps is blistering fast (though I love it).
People will argue that they did not need to add anything to the game. All they had to do was add new maps and just “go with it”. No, they need a marketing point. You clearly have never sold a product. You cannot sell a game (unless it is a remastered classic) without a huge marketing point. Halo 5 has that with these new additions and its classic appeal to the hardcore crowd as evidenced by the Beta Trailer.
That being said, there are problems that I have with it. I do not like the announcer. The way they did the audio just ruins how the announcer used to be. I am nostalgic for that, but I am glad that they retained an announcer. Finally, matchmaking with a party is difficult. They still need to figure out networking solutions, but it is already working way better then Halo MCC and I have never once played on a PvP server. Every game has been lag-free and has ran perfectly once I got into the game.
I love how simple the maps are. Midship only has a sword and a whole ton of rifles scattered around it with some stickies where the shotgun would be. Empire only has two snipers and a bunch of rifles around the map. I love the AI call-outs. I think the call-outs will help in games where you’re playing solo with a random party. You’ll never need to listen to Pipsqueak Magee.
I also think Spectate Mode (on every player in the lobby) will change the landscape of games forever. I think that’s the Theater Mode (Halo 3) and the Matchmaking System (Halo 2) of this game. It will revolutionize multiplayer if it works as its supposed to.
Like I said, I love Halo and this game’s speed and overall feel has me excited. I hope it has you excited to. Furthermore, I hope when you rage all over this site you actually think to yourself about how this was designed as a whole. I hope you think about the thought process that 343 underwent in providing a next generation Halo experience. I hope you consider ways to resolve your problem in-game. I got this beta today, heard the ODST news, then I heard the Relic news and I got super stoked on Halo. I think we’re back, especially when MCC is fully functional.
Maybe I am an optimist and optimism is a failing philosophy in the realm of gaming, but I love video games. I love Halo. I love this game and the work that 343 is putting into the franchise in trying to rejuvenate it. Thank you 343. I may sound corny as BLAM! but I do appreciate you trying to appeal to the hardcore crowd. Thank you. Despite my overally hatred for sprint, you have convinced me of its value through the TTK of the weapons and the other armor abilities. This relationship is fragile, but you have figured it out well. Thank you.
TLDR: i basically suck up to 343, love beta, hate announcer, hate matchmaking (tho better than MCC), excited for Halo, stop being jerkfaces to everyone and think about how you can resolve your problems before you post. <3
