One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards Off A Cliff

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I’m a big Halo fan. In fact I dropped five hundred dollars less than a week ago just to play Halo 5. Now first off, the game is fantastic in so many ways! But 343, there is a lot of talking we need to do.

First off, I am going to refer back to Halo: Reach at some point as I believe it to be the best Halo in terms of structure, content, and balacing.

STORY
There isn’t much I can say here besides good job 343. This was probably the best story any Halo has had. I had a blast playing through it on solo and co-op on legendary and still love watching the gorgeous cut scenes. My only gripe is that there is no reward for multiplayer from doing the story at all. Gamerscore is cool, but not as cool as armor that says “I walked through hell and lived to tell the tale.”. Which this gripe sort of leads into multiplayer where my entire issue with this game lies.

MULTIPLAYER
When did Halo become synonymous with Call of Duty? This is all I see when I play multiplayer. You gutted the core mechanics of Halo and even structured unlocks after Advanced Warfare. The Req system is easily the worst multiplayer system to have in a game. I don’t want random chance giving me armor and weapons. I want to earn something to say that I earned it. “Hey man, how did you get that awesome Linda Helmet?”…“Oh, I got a gold req pack dude.”. The idea that I could play multiplayer for hundred of hours and still not get the armor piece I want is discouraging. This system needs to be scrapped ASAP.

The entire unlock system in multiplayer is based on blind luck. This is the same thing Advanced Warfare did with unlocks which is why many quickly abandoned that game. Destiny as well, give me every exotic weapon except the one I want to use. There is only so much time you can put into a game before you get bored of not getting the weapons and armor you actually want. Now here comes Halo: Reach talk.

Credits and Rank. That’s what you needed to customize your spartan in Reach. You could see what requirements you needed for that armor you loved. There was no playing multiplayer for ten hours and hoping an RNG will give you that helmet you want. You could visibly see what needed to be done and work towards it. As well, the lack of customization in Halo 5. Why would you remove the ability to individually customize pieces of your spartan? Half the armor in this game looks like an inbred Beluga whale human. Some armor will have a cool chest piece then you see the shoulders and just say “I’ll stick with Recruit”.

Lastly is the pacing for multiplayer. It feels too much like COD. One hit melees, power weapons spawn to fast, and needing to stop for shield recharge is stupid.
There has never been a problem with Halo shields recharging while you ran in ANY Halo, so why change that now? Halo is generally regarded as one of the most competitive video games in the world and never has this been a concern of players but more a tool to help survive. If it wasn’t broken, why fix it? (Same goes for the radar, 10m is such a useless radar distance. You don’t see people on it until they are close enough to assassinate you.)

FORGE
There is none, nothing else to talk about except the fact that it should be a staple of Halo at this point.

I put more time into Forge World than I did the last three Call of Duty’s, so did most of my friends.

FINAL POINT (TL:DR)

An amazing story with a terrible structured multiplayer that has a pace similar to call of duty. Gut the Req systems and bring back Credits and Rank just like Reach. As well, no forge. This is disappointing to a lot of long term Halo players.

We understand that you want more players because that is more money. Mimicking Call of Duty only pushes away the players that would stick with you in the long run. We want Halo, not COD <3 so fix the multiplayer.
I can’t see myself sticking to much to this game with the way multiplayer feels. I know this game came out only a short while ago but I can only hope 343, that you listen.

QUICK UPDATE:
This thread has taken off surprisingly fast! I want to clarify that I do not hate this game as so many seem to think. This is constructive criticism. I am simply an individual stating his opinion on the state of the game. We all have one, you may think mine stinks, but the fact remains that we are entitled. Halo 5 has promise, it is fun, but many people agree the Req system is wack among other things.

I care deeply for Halo. It’s been a part of my life for awhile now, and I want 343 to succeed with it which is why I want them to hear how a Halo veteran feels about this game.

2

Newsflash: HALO 5 multiplayer is NOTHING like COD’s.

If it were, then I wouldn’t leave HALO 5 multiplayer so soon.

3

“Hey man, where’d you get that sick helmet?”
“Oh, I got it by wasting about a year of my life grinding out the credits.”
But seriously, Halo is in no way COD, it’s not even remotely comparable.
The REQ system might seem difficult at first, but did you read the description of it? You are GUARANTEED 2 permanent unlocks, so you will eventually exhaust all the options in the same manner as any other Halo game.
Also forge, is coming in a month, and if you spent that long in the old forges, you will be spending far, far more in this one.

4

halo 5s multiplayer is closer to the original games than even reach was…and really? bring back the “ranking” system from reach, where your rank is only equivalent to how long youve played?

Oh and if you literally read anything about the game youd know forge comes out in 2 months and its leaps from previous games.

5

> 2535472175656268;2:
> Newsflash: HALO 5 multiplayer is NOTHING like COD’s.
>
> If it were, then I wouldn’t leave HALO 5 multiplayer so soon.

You wouldn’t, but everyone else would.

6

> Lastly is the pacing for multiplayer. It feels too much like COD. One hit melees, power weapons spawn to fast, and needing to stop for shield recharge is stupid. There has never been a problem with Halo shields recharging while you ran in ANY Halo, so why change that now?

-One hit melees? I think you’re confused, the only melee-based attack capable of a one hit kill is a ground pound (with the obvious exception of assassinations).
-Power Weapons spawning fast is a GOOD thing.
-Um, yeah, it was and still is a significant problem. The change was an attempt to alleviate the plague of people just constantly sprinting away.

7

> 2535472175656268;2:
> Newsflash: HALO 5 multiplayer is NOTHING like COD’s.
>
> If it were, then I wouldn’t leave HALO 5 multiplayer so soon.

Well it’s definitely not like the Halos I grew up playing. Looking at your service record, Halo 4 was your first Halo which is also generally regarded as the worst Halo multiplayer in the series so far. Original Halo 2, 3, and Reach were the most fun I ever had on Xbox Live.

8

> 2533274804097655;7:
> > 2535472175656268;2:
> > Newsflash: HALO 5 multiplayer is NOTHING like COD’s.
> >
> > If it were, then I wouldn’t leave HALO 5 multiplayer so soon.
>
>
> Well it’s definitely not like the Halos I grew up playing. Looking at your service record, Halo 4 was your first Halo which is also generally regarded as the worst Halo multiplayer in the series so far. Original Halo 2, 3, and Reach were the most fun I ever had on Xbox Live.

please dont bring peoples gamertags into this. ANyone who plays xbox live knows that many people have to go through multiple gamertags for various reasons, and the one they are posting from is not even remotely indicative of their halo experience.

9

I’d like to point out that Forge is going to be included - they stated it’ll be released somewhere in December.

10

> 2533274819302824;6:
> > Lastly is the pacing for multiplayer. It feels too much like COD. One hit melees, power weapons spawn to fast, and needing to stop for shield recharge is stupid. There has never been a problem with Halo shields recharging while you ran in ANY Halo, so why change that now?
>
>
> -One hit melees? I think you’re confused, the only melee-based attack capable of a one hit kill is a ground pound.
> -Power Weapons spawning fast is a GOOD thing.
> -Um, yeah, it was and still is a significant problem. The change was an attempt to alleviate the plague of people just constantly sprinting away.

Fully charged spartan charge one hits, so that makes two. People sprinting away was a viable strategy, it allowed you to recover from getting snuck up on. If you died while in pursuit or killed the runner, then you were the more skilled player. Now I win a fight, try to take cover (but can’t sprint because my shield countdown will reset!) then got shot in the back across the map because I’m moving at tortoise speed towards cover.

11

> 2533274854205681;8:
> > 2533274804097655;7:
> > > 2535472175656268;2:
> > > Newsflash: HALO 5 multiplayer is NOTHING like COD’s.
> > >
> > > If it were, then I wouldn’t leave HALO 5 multiplayer so soon.
> >
> >
> > Well it’s definitely not like the Halos I grew up playing. Looking at your service record, Halo 4 was your first Halo which is also generally regarded as the worst Halo multiplayer in the series so far. Original Halo 2, 3, and Reach were the most fun I ever had on Xbox Live.
>
>
> please dont bring peoples gamertags into this. ANyone who plays xbox live knows that many people have to go through multiple gamertags for various reasons, and the one they are posting from is not even remotely indicative of their halo experience.

Many does not mean all. Many people have also had the same gamertag for the entirety of Xbox Live.

12

> 2533274804097655;10:
> > 2533274819302824;6:
> > > Lastly is the pacing for multiplayer. It feels too much like COD. One hit melees, power weapons spawn to fast, and needing to stop for shield recharge is stupid. There has never been a problem with Halo shields recharging while you ran in ANY Halo, so why change that now?
> >
> >
> > -One hit melees? I think you’re confused, the only melee-based attack capable of a one hit kill is a ground pound.
> > -Power Weapons spawning fast is a GOOD thing.
> > -Um, yeah, it was and still is a significant problem. The change was an attempt to alleviate the plague of people just constantly sprinting away.
>
>
> Fully charged spartan charge one hits, so that makes two. People sprinting away was a viable strategy, it allowed you to recover from getting snuck up on. If you died while in pursuit or killed the runner, then you were the more skilled player. Now I win a fight, try to take cover (but can’t sprint because my shield countdown will reset!) then got shot in the back across the map because I’m moving at tortoise speed towards cover.

fully charged spartan charge does NOT one hit.

sprinting was not a viable strategy. Sprinting was literally robbing people of their skillfully earned kills (in a way similar to armor lock) , and at least now thats slightly aleviated.

13

> 2533274834958753;9:
> I’d like to point out that Forge is going to be included - they stated it’ll be released somewhere in December.

Well that’s fantastic! I can cross that off my fix list!

14

Its actually really funny how adamant that the multiplayer is not like COD. It really is, to a disturbing level.

15

> 2533274854205681;12:
> > 2533274804097655;10:
> > > 2533274819302824;6:
> > > > Lastly is the pacing for multiplayer. It feels too much like COD. One hit melees, power weapons spawn to fast, and needing to stop for shield recharge is stupid. There has never been a problem with Halo shields recharging while you ran in ANY Halo, so why change that now?
> > >
> > >
> > > -One hit melees? I think you’re confused, the only melee-based attack capable of a one hit kill is a ground pound.
> > > -Power Weapons spawning fast is a GOOD thing.
> > > -Um, yeah, it was and still is a significant problem. The change was an attempt to alleviate the plague of people just constantly sprinting away.
> >
> >
> > Fully charged spartan charge one hits, so that makes two. People sprinting away was a viable strategy, it allowed you to recover from getting snuck up on. If you died while in pursuit or killed the runner, then you were the more skilled player. Now I win a fight, try to take cover (but can’t sprint because my shield countdown will reset!) then got shot in the back across the map because I’m moving at tortoise speed towards cover.
>
>
> fully charged spartan charge does NOT one hit.
>
> sprinting was not a viable strategy. Sprinting was literally robbing people of their skillfully earned kills (in a way similar to armor lock) , and at least now thats slightly aleviated.

Skillfully earned kills? As in my teammate just got beat in a 1v1, I walked in while the enemy tried making it to the door with out shields. He walked to the door as I put one shot into him as he was very easy to hit in the head while walking. Sprinting hasn’t been an issue with shield recharge. If you want people to not have recharging shields while sprinting then just remove sprinting, as the maps are so small that enemy can reach any angle on you in about 5 seconds after spawn because they too can sprint.

16

> 2533274804097655;7:
> > 2535472175656268;2:
> > Newsflash: HALO 5 multiplayer is NOTHING like COD’s.
> >
> > If it were, then I wouldn’t leave HALO 5 multiplayer so soon.
>
>
> Well it’s definitely not like the Halos I grew up playing. Looking at your service record, Halo 4 was your first Halo which is also generally regarded as the worst Halo multiplayer in the series so far. Original Halo 2, 3, and Reach were the most fun I ever had on Xbox Live.

Actually, the Master Chief Collection is the first HALO that I’ve ever played (and I just finished HALO CE Campaign and haven’t played the MCC multiplayer at all).

In fact, this is my just my 2nd gaming console (XBOX ONE), with my first being the PS4.

Had I known that HALO multiplayer catered towards pro gamers and the like, then I wouldn’t have bought HALO 5 or an XBOX ONE.

Shame on me for not conducting a proper due diligence. It’s not a total loss though, as I can give both to my colleague’s children.

17

> 2533274856723140;14:
> Its actually really funny how adamant that the multiplayer is not like COD. It really is, to a disturbing level.

Besides thrusters, which were in Halo 4, sprint, which was in Reach and every other game ever, and ground pound, I simply can’t discern the logic in this statement.

18

If you don’t like the REQ system, then don’t play Warzone. It is that simple! And the shield recharge, I don’t see how that has anything to do with CoD. There is literally no analogy to compare it with CoD since it doesn’t have shields to begin with. It actually makes sprint more balanced. As for armor customization, I don’t see what the big deal is. I like a lot of the armors, and I personally wouldn’t go crazy over it if it were bad, considering you don’t even see your Spartan during gameplay.

19

> 2533274804097655;15:
> > 2533274854205681;12:
> > > 2533274804097655;10:
> > > > 2533274819302824;6:
> > > > > Lastly is the pacing for multiplayer. It feels too much like COD. One hit melees, power weapons spawn to fast, and needing to stop for shield recharge is stupid. There has never been a problem with Halo shields recharging while you ran in ANY Halo, so why change that now?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -One hit melees? I think you’re confused, the only melee-based attack capable of a one hit kill is a ground pound.
> > > > -Power Weapons spawning fast is a GOOD thing.
> > > > -Um, yeah, it was and still is a significant problem. The change was an attempt to alleviate the plague of people just constantly sprinting away.
> > >
> > >
> > > Fully charged spartan charge one hits, so that makes two. People sprinting away was a viable strategy, it allowed you to recover from getting snuck up on. If you died while in pursuit or killed the runner, then you were the more skilled player. Now I win a fight, try to take cover (but can’t sprint because my shield countdown will reset!) then got shot in the back across the map because I’m moving at tortoise speed towards cover.
> >
> >
> > fully charged spartan charge does NOT one hit.
> >
> > sprinting was not a viable strategy. Sprinting was literally robbing people of their skillfully earned kills (in a way similar to armor lock) , and at least now thats slightly aleviated.
>
>
> Skillfully earned kills? As in my teammate just got beat in a 1v1, I walked in while the enemy tried making it to the door with out shields. He walked to the door as I put one shot into him as he was very easy to hit in the head while walking. Sprinting hasn’t been an issue with shield recharge. If you want people to not have recharging shields while sprinting then just remove sprinting, as the maps are so small that enemy can reach any angle on you in about 5 seconds after spawn because they too can sprint.

you should always be aware of where people on both teams are if possible. If you ran into an area that was populated with more than 1 person all by yourself, you should accept the consequence that you are probably going to die if you cant dispatch at least one perfectly. youre saiyng that if you kill one person, you should be entitled to not dying.

20

> When did Halo become synonymous with Call of Duty

When did “doing something that’s been around in the genre for quite some time” become an impossibility for Halo? When did Halo become so special that it couldn’t look at what other things were doing and adopt them for its own devices.

It worked for Call of Duty, and it certainly worked for the early days of the Halo franchise (see. where all our gametypes and multiplayer format game from). I know your post is making a specific issue of a specific system but take those points for their own merit. Throwing around an inapt comparison like that (Halo’s in-game req system is more a hybrid of Titanfall’s burn cards and Section 8’s deployables. Actions count towards points which go towards calling in [Section 8] a limited out-of-game resource [Titanfall].) just clouds the argument you’re trying to make (particularly when the more appropriate comparison just places Halo in the more specific realm of the modern Sci-Fi FPS. What the hell is wrong with that?)