My buddies and I have been playing the beta as a team for a solid week now and I have to say that 343 has done much to fix the matching making problems in that one week(Wish they would have been able to do that with the MCC). The first week of slayer was pretty solid on both maps as both offered a good variety of gameplay. The AR was a solid start which required team planning to distribute the weapons on the map to the most capable player. The games went at about the same pace as Pre H4 slayer matches. The ranking system is similar to Star Craft 2. It has been a fun beta but there are some issues.
- BR starts. The Battle Rifle is easily the best weapon in the game atm and having it at the start totally defeats the purpose of map control. It turned a good back and forth map like Empire into somewhat of a camp fest center on the two Sniper Rifles. Regret has become a map where teams sulk around and the sword has become a nonfactor since it isn’t really that good against a team of BRs and is more trouble than it is worth. Everything the first week did right with slayer was dismantled by the BR start. The only thing that really stands against the BR on these maps is the DMR and even then, that is only at a decent range. BR starts have always done this which was fine in the pro scene but it made for a boring game in standard matchmaking and eliminated the viability of most weapons.
I would love to see a SMG start with the AR being a map upgrade you can pick up. Really though, I think the AR is the best starting choice and does more to create more variety. It does have its faults which leads me to…
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The AR. This gun seems really inconsistent. I don’t mean that when it comes to bloom or accuracy. Rather, I mean damage. It is probably just lag but it honestly feels like it kills faster than other times at close range. Idk how it works so an explanation would be nice.
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The bounce on grenades is really inconsistent when they hit the same surface. I have tested this and I keep getting varying results. Some times the grenade does the standard bound while other times it does a small bounce and hit the ground like a rock. Other times it is like a bouncy ball for the 99 cent store and bounces way further. It is a really annoying.
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The hitbox needs work because the Sniper is way too easy to use. I am hitting people in the chest and shoulder and getting headshots. Either that or the reticle will be off their head and I will somehow get a headshot. I am loving the sniper but as it stands it is just way too easy to use.
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Ground Pound. I honestly have never seen this used aside from a giggle here and there. It isn’t very useful and the setup is time you could spend doing something more productive. Most of the enemies I see try this just get shot out of the air before they can do anything. Either this ability needs to be reworked or it just needs to be removed because it isn’t all that useful.
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A bit more explanation for the ranking would be nice. I have dealt with this ranking and the odd “randomness” about it but never quite understood how it work. My team will beat a full team a rank ahead of all of us and get 6 points, yet we can beat a team of all silvers and golds and get 22. Why?
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The SMG. I don’t really have much of a problem with this gun and I love using it but I feel like it is somehow out of place. It is too inconsistent against the AR and utterly worthless against the BR. It really only becomes good against the sword and ambushing people. I wish it could get a little attention to become more than a gimmick weapon.
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The appearance of the Rocket Launcher in the trailer. Why did it need to be changed? There isn’t any reason for it. It had an iconic look to it and the new one doesn’t do anything different enough to justify a new look. I don’t get why they would change it.
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The mode Breakout. This mode sucks. I was stoked because I thought we were getting Warzone from Gears of War. Instead, we got the map Wet Work from Call of Duty. The low health pool means that once you know the spawn paths, you can kill half the team with grenades before the fight even starts. It is too easy and not rewarding at all. Melees killing in one hit alongside a lack of radar is awful. The BR becomes absurdly OP. The regular health and shield pool would be fine for this style of game. I don’t get why they felt the need to make it so low for a mode like this to the point where it isn’t all that competitive.
Aside from those issues, I haven’t had many problems with the beta. I would like to try some of the non-human weapons at some point to mix things up(I don’t mean the sword). I wish they would let just test the vehicles a little since that was a huge problem with Halo 4’s multiplayer and to a lesser extent, Halo 3. I would rather they fix problems with vehicles now instead of a couple of them being useless or too overpowered and ignored in mulitplayer after release.