This is an observation I made while extensively testing certain gametype settings during custom game nights.
When the base movement and jump settings are increased to 110, damage increased to 110, zero bloom, melee decreased to 75 and the AA off spawn is Sprint, players are less inclined to actually use Sprint since they can traverse the map significantly faster/better due to the increased movement traits. Since walking around faster with the gun at the ready and kill times quicker than normal, sprint is really only used during down times to engage in combat quicker.
The kill time with ZB is significantly faster and more reliant on individual skill when compared to default Reach. Coupled with the faster movement and jump, strafing as well as bunny hopping play a much more significant part during encounters. In every instance that sprint is used to run away, since the activation time is the same, it is easier to prevent a user from running away from battle. Since ZB allows for absolute precision and the increased damage takes less bullets to kill to the body, these elements punish the defensive use of Sprint to escape from battle.
One problem plaguing Reach is the herp a derp. For those of you who don’t know, the term comes from the act of running into an enemy with Sprint and using the shield system to your advantage by recklessly going in for a melee and killing your enemy despite any bullets you ate in the mean time as long as you still had shields. The lowered melee damage ensures that the only way you can effectively kill an enemy is if they have at least one shot to their shields before you melee otherwise you must attack them when they are completely unwary of your presence at which point an assassination may be the best approach. The weaker melee completely discourages herp a derp and coupled with the faster kill time, punishes any reckless use of Sprint with death.
Due to all these factors, players subconsciously prefer to move around the map with their gun at the ready to be able to engage in the quickly decided engagement. Sprint is really only used on larger maps when looking for enemies or trying to get to a location quickly but there is much more risk than usual due to the time it taking to get out of Sprint already putting the player down 2-3 shots in the event they get shot at. This makes Sprint only really used when it is absolutely safe and, whenever used in a defensive manner, can be punished thanks to the increased damage to the body as well as being able to chase a Sprinter better while walking. Sprint therefor is really only used offensively but can be quickly punished if used improperly allowing for more frequent engagements and an inherit skill gap to using the AA.
What does all this have to do with Halo 4? Well, Halo 4 looks like it will have Sprint by default but also has significantly faster movement and higher jump than default Reach. What can be concluded is that the psychological effect outlined in the rest of the post will transfer over resulting in an increased skill gap with faster paced, more balanced, and more exciting gameplay.
TL;DR
Faster movement + higher jump + weaker melee + increased damage + zero bloom + Sprint = gameplay that is fast enough to the point where players tend not to use Sprint due to the risk of not being able to shoot while moving. Herp a derp is punished with the weaker melee which only requires 1 shot for the melee to kill in 2 hits and the increased damage allows you to kill a player running away with one less bullet to the body. This makes it so Sprint is only used during down time in order to find the enemy faster or traverse a large area quickly. Sprint is mostly used offensively and cannot be abused nor improperly used b/c it will be punished due to the fast kill times.
