As much as I enjoyed the multi-player in Halo 5, the short radar range is the primary reason I couldn’t stick with it for the long term as opposed to every other title before it. I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. The current radar being compromised in the same way is a detriment to every player who wants to enjoy these core modes and actually use their radar tactically.
There’s no reason that at times on these small arena maps, an entire team should be able to sneak up on a player because of how limited the range is. Personally, enemies that are right in front of me whom I’ve engaged in firefights at no more than short-medium range (literally I front of me or right around a corner) wouldn’t show up at all because they were too far for the current radar to discover. It feels pointless and if it were there and if we were testing competitive modes, I wouldn’t care, but we didn’t.
It’s understandable and appreciated that 343 responded to the community to change how it worked in the previous flight (even though I personally didn’t think it was bad), and I’m happy to see the old radar back, but to put it simply, it feels like more of a hindrance to the player to put it back AND have this low range of 18m. If sprint is going to remain in the series, that’s understandable too, but why have the radar range decreased rather than increased even to make up for that. I feel it just causes imbalance and at the least should remain what its been for players of a grand majority of Halo games, 25m.
I hope someone at 343 sees this and understands what an important issue this is to the core gameplay and I hope it gets changed. I hope more players pay closer attention to how this short range might be affecting their gameplay too and find this post to express the same concerns. Personally, I found my gameplay improve when I stopped using it altogether, and that makes no sense at all for these casual, social playlists. It’s there for a reason, and it should at least be useful. I believe 343 has done a solid job with Infinite mixing the old with the new and bringing a seemingly worthy and natural successor to this beloved franchise, even amidst all the controversy, but this feels like a big oversight I hope to see fixed. I’m curious to know who else agrees here? Oh, and putting the arrows back on the radar to better indicate verticality would be a great update too. Apologies in advance if this isn’t the proper place to express this issue and have it been seen or heard. If not, I’d definitely appreciate some guidance. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this. I love Halo and I can’t wait to play the final product.
TLDR: 343, thanks for the old radar but please increase radar range from 18m to at least 25m like most every Halo has had. The current one seems useless and even detrimental. It’s frustrating and an important factor that shouldn’t be lost or ignored amidst other changes.