Tackling One Facet of the Game at a Time
I’m trying to open a formal discussion about the aim-assist in the Halo 5 Beta, for my own education and to provide 343 with feedback from the community. If this goes over well I might make more threads in this manner.
Three aspects of aim assist commonly used in console shooters to adjust for the generally poor dexterity of control sticks:
– Reticule draw guides the reticule to targets; can be strong or weak.
– Hit-boxes provide the area on and around an object that allows for shots to register; can be larger than the object to provide a bigger target.
– Magnetism guides bullets towards an intended target; can be strong or weak.
These are all pretty common practice for shooting on console games, but the argument lies in the degree to which these mechanics should assist the gamer. It seems I’m getting mixed messages across the population about where the Halo 5 beta lies within that spectrum. The inquisitive side of me is wanting to find clarification as to how these operate. Granted it is tricky at this point since there is no theater mode and one or two anecdotes amount to little more than here-say. Being a beta there could also be issues with lag or hit detection bugs. From what 343 has said, the game is intended to give less assistance in shooting, although I’ve never seen specifics as to how each of these three mechanics have been tweaked for Halo 5, many of the game testers and professionals have agreed that it is considerably harder to aim. On top of that, I would like to compile testimonies of the people who have played the beta and determine a general majority (or at least a plurality) about how we perceive the game to be playing at this point. I would also like to hear whether people like how they perceive aim assist in Halo 5 and what they would like changed, but please keep it courteous.
Starting with my own:
I’ve played maybe 15-20 matches so far. I immediately noticed that the reticule does not draw as well to targets like most of the previous Halos. About the closest iteration to it seems, to me, to be Reach. I often find my reticule shooting past enemies which would corroborate the testimonies of the initial game testers.
As far as hit-boxes go I have yet to have any instances where I seemed to be hitting a target that my reticule was not over. Like I said, I can’t go back into a theater to revisit particular instances. But for my own part I have not seen anything that would indicate an oversized hit-box. Kill cams, on the other hand, often show shots registering when the reticule is not on target, but sometimes they are so far off base I can’t help but think this this has more to do with connection issues rather than the actual hit-boxes.
Bullet magnetism is something I generally only notice in Halo for plasma based weapons. Automatic weapons such as the AR or SMG are hard to determine because their reticules are often larger than what you are trying to hit. Precision weapons appear to be within the range of other Halo games.
I’m trying to be as honest as possible but sometimes it’s hard to watch for these things in the heat of battle. I have been and am continuing to keep these mechanics in mind while I play so that I can try to observe them myself. If anybody else has their own point of view to share I would greatly appreciate it. Any other threads or articles addressing this matter would also be nice. If there is any empirical evidence or official detail of these mechanics that would make my post unnecessary, please bring the forward. I don’t mind this thread dying if it gives me and others decisive information.
Thanks and happy gaming.
Edit:
– If anyone is confused by the title, it was simply met to imply a specific focus on the aspects of aim-assist
– Someone below corrected me on the proper use of the terms magnetism and aim assist. Sorry for the misnomers.