This topic was brought up among me and my roommates, and I just wanted your thoughts and insights, and I apologize if this has been discussed before.
To get to the point: I think multiplayer is influencing campaign to the point to where it may take away potential experiences, such as giving us unique weapons vs. redundant ones.
To support, in Halo 1 the game seemed to be primarily designed with campaign in mind, and multiplayer secondary. The pistol was mega OP, the plasma weapons were very effective against taking out shields (killing Covenant), and the human weapons were very good at taking out flesh opponents (Flood). Obviously these weapons weren’t fully balanced in multiplayer, but it allowed us to get really unique weapons such as the Needler and Plasma Pistol because they were alien/cool, and in campaign, balancing weapons probably isn’t as big of a deal.
With Halo 2, we got dual wielding, boarding vehicles, and the Sentinel Beam. Sure that beam was crap in multiplayer, but it was fun to play with in campaign! With Halo 3, we got the Flamethrower back – but why did the heavy weapons start slowing us down now, is this due to multiplayer balancing?
Fast forward to Halo 4 – I love a lot of things about this game, but I was severely disappointed with the creativity of the Forerunner weapons and I feel that multiplayer has a lot to do with it. I would be okay if there were toys and guns that exists in Campaign and not in multiplayer if that’s what it takes for us to have true fun weapons and vehicles and whatever in Campaign. It’s been done before in the Halo franchise (no Wraith in Halo 1 multiplayer, no Fuel Rod Gun in Halo 2 multiplayer, no Pelican in Halo 4 multiplayer, etc.)
I have had this damn suspicion in the back of my mind for a long time.
It really sucks to see the Needler become this instant kill weapon (worst of all, it doesn’t even seem to be very viable in MP). It all began with H2, but I wanted H4 to not only restore it’s killing potential, but it’s killing art. There is a lack of Covenant response. Even the sticky detonator does not procure such reaction. In H1, not only Covies but also marines, would try to get it off (when stuck with many needles). I wish for that to return.
> I have had this damn suspicion in the back of my mind for a long time.
>
> It really sucks to see the Needler become this instant kill weapon (worst of all, it doesn’t even seem to be very viable in MP). It all began with H2, but I wanted H4 to not only restore it’s killing potential, but it’s killing art. There is a lack of Covenant response. Even the sticky detonator does not procure such reaction. In H1, not only Covies but also marines, would try to get it off (when stuck with many needles). I wish for that to return.
I definitely agree. It has to be the fault of multiplayer in regards to those specific changes to the Needler. Does the Needler honestly belong in multiplayer? It seems like we keep trying to make it useful when in the end, it always gets thrown to the side. Though I will pick it up in a map like Haven, where there are a lot of long hallways.
> > I have had this damn suspicion in the back of my mind for a long time.
> >
> > It really sucks to see the Needler become this instant kill weapon (worst of all, it doesn’t even seem to be very viable in MP). It all began with H2, but I wanted H4 to not only restore it’s killing potential, but it’s killing art. There is a lack of Covenant response. Even the sticky detonator does not procure such reaction. In H1, not only Covies but also marines, would try to get it off (when stuck with many needles). I wish for that to return.
>
> I definitely agree. It has to be the fault of multiplayer in regards to those specific changes to the Needler. Does the Needler honestly belong in multiplayer? It seems like we keep trying to make it useful when in the end, it always gets thrown to the side. Though I will pick it up in a map like Haven, where there are a lot of long hallways.
Let’s not forget about the plasma pistol. While it’s standard shots are still viable, they suffer from spread and a lot of battery drain. Overcharged shots are even worse, half of my shots will likely miss if I don’t lead them.
The CE plasma pistol in comparison was so versatile, I could immobilize and kill enemies with the charged shot and kill multiple enemies very quickly with standard shots before overheating.