Alright so after watching hours of H5 gameplay I have some opinions and thoughts on the abilities 343 has added to the game. I am in no way, shape, or form an expert and could be misinformed. This is completely based on my opinion and just want to see what the community thinks as well. Also I have never played the beta, just watched gameplay so my opinions could very well change a month from now.
Thruster Pack: Loved this is H4. Adds a whole new dimension to people’s strafe. The movement is nice I just don’t like how it works. Personally I want this to be limited to a few times a life and wouldn’t mind it also being limited to going left and right.
Ground Pound: Wasn’t a fan at first, but after hearing that it isn’t the easiest kill to pull off I’m fine with it. Wouldn’t mind seeing some sort of animation like we have seen before with assassinations.
Clamber: If I understand this ability the way I think I do I hate it. This gets rid of the skill gap that jumps make. I spent hours going on YouTube studying what jumps I could make and then going on all the maps to practice those jumps. I want someone to be penalized for not being able to pull a jump off and I want the same person to be rewarded for making a jump. Clamber eliminates this by allowing people to pull of jumps that they probably weren’t going to make.
Slide: Not much to discuss here, just a slide. Don’t see anything bad or overpowered about it yet. Opinion could definitely change once the beta is out.
Charge: Haven’t heard too much about the effects of this other than shields can be taken off the victim and can also be an instant kill from behind. Don’t know if it does but I hope this ability will knock back the people you it. Also what happens when two people charge at each other? Also would like some kill animation just like I suggested above for Ground Pound.
Sprint: Perhaps the most controversial thing about H5 multiplayer (besides maybe the next topic). Going back to the pre-sprint Halo games and then to the game with sprint doesn’t feel much different pace wise. Yes, you get around the map faster with sprint, but so does everyone else. I was in just as many gun fights with sprint when compared to without it. I don’t really want it in H5, because I feel like it is unnecessary, but I can live with it. A reason I don’t want it is because I feel map design is hurt just to compensate for sprint and also the skill gap is weakened. No one has talked about the skill gap that I know of so I will. This kind of relates back to my clamber discussion. Sprint some what eliminates the purpose doing jumps to find quicker routes due to the fact that you can simply sprint everywhere. Why learn a complex jump that probably isn’t that much quicker and takes a lot of practice anyway when you can just run to your destination. I want to be able to take advantage of people who don’t know the jumps and use it against them. It makes the game more competitive and more fun. If it stays, which I expect it to, I would suggest another nerf to it on top of the no shield recharge. I don’t know if this currently happens, but when you get shot while sprinting I feel you should be forced to stop sprinting. This would create a poke effect. You see someone sprinting across the map, shoot them to slow them down and to just mess with them. Stopping the sprint might be too harsh of a penalty so I would be fine with at least a speed decrease while being shot. I do believe, however, that by raising normal movement speed, sprint wouldn’t be needed.
Smart Scope: The internet blew up when they saw ADS was in Halo. Smart Scope isn’t that, but a lot of people think it is. From what I know is this ability is simply the same zoom in mechanic we have had in previous games, except with a different animation. I do have some issues with it though. First off I don’t like how it is on every weapon. I really liked how they had it before. With no scope, close range weapons really feel restricted to close range which I like. Also, I’m not a fan of the BR’s animation. Looks weird to me and just bothers me. This is something I wish they just left it the way it was, but isn’t too big off a deal since its basically just a cosmetic change.
Well there you have it, my thoughts and suggestions for the Spartan Abilities Pre-Beta. Once again, these are my opinions based on what I have seen and read. Don’t agree with me go ahead and bash me for what I think, I don’t care. That’s kind of the point to this post, to see where people’s thoughts are on the abilities. Please post any thought or changes you hope will come to the Spartan Abilities. If enough people discuss this, I will make another post for my Post-Beta thoughts.