And by constructive criticism I mean actually being constructive and not just complaining or whining.
So far I am really liking Spartan Ops as a story. The rendered episode we watch at the beginning is fantastic and I look forward to watching more. However some things about the actual gameplay falls kind of short, at least so far. I don’t have a problem with them being short missions but more variety in where we fight would be nice. Episode 1 was fine because it was the first time we played on those levels, but then in Episode 2 we just end up going back to those levels all over again. Only one level was actually new.
In some cases I can understand this. Some of the missions required us to go back for story reasons, but for some it just doesn’t work. Sniper Alley is a good example of this. It made perfect sense the first time but after our Pelican is shot down we just so happen to land there again? We couldn’t have crashed in a new area? Sniper Alley, as well as a few others, are also taken directly from the Campaign. I know this was done for a reason but couldn’t they at least get a make over like Fortress?
Fortress is a level which reuses the bases from the Campaign level “Forerunner.” However they are placed in a completely new environment so it feels fresh. It gives it the feel of being the same type of Forerunner structure, but we’re in a completely different part of Requiem and not just in the same location as the Campaign. More levels should be like this. We can revisit old buildings and architecture but at least dress them up to look new. Of course if the plot means we are meant to be in the same area as the Campaign then so be it but like the example of “Pelican Down” where we just randomly end up in Sniper Alley it just feels a little cheap. The buildings could be the same but make it a Jungle with the buildings illuminated Blue or Orange or something. The original Halo: Combat Evolved was heavily criticized for this, please don’t let Spartan Ops fall into the same criticism.
Another thing that could help out is maybe change the time of day. I don’t know if Requiem actually has a day or night cycle, which is a detail about the construct I’d like to know, but if we do have to return to an area like Sniper Alley again then maybe we can return there at night or something. Refuge is a night map as you can see it when you over look the rest of the land. Again I don’t know if it has a day or night cycle or if parts of the construct are just always day or always night, but it would be great if we returned to an area at night, just to see it look a little different.
I would love to see some larger levels as well which allows for more vehicle use. Quarry is a good example in Episode 1 where we use Ghosts, Wraiths and Warthogs to kill enemies, but how about eventually doing missions where we use Scorpions or the Mantis as well? Maybe a big level where we get into a Banshee fight or if you really wanted to get crazy, maybe a Broadsword battle above Requiem? Stuff like that would be absolutely fantastic, IMO. The Campaign has excellent balance when it comes to ground missions and different types of vehicle missions so I hope Spartan Ops can get a similar level of balance.
Another thing I was really hoping to see was our Spartans in cut-scenes. I know for obvious reasons they can’t be in the fully rendered cinematics but I mean just basic scenes at the start or end of the level. We have already seen this done with Marines as they walk around, talk on the radio and just do things on the map. So why can’t we see our Spartans in the same manner? That was one of the good things about Reach because we could see our custom Noble Six in cutscenes so it was something I really wanted to see in Spartan Ops with my Spartan-IV.
It doesn’t have to be fancy or long but maybe at the beginning of the level we see the Pelican fly away and our Spartans take a few steps forward, looking around and then proceed inside where we, the player, take control. When the mission ends and Marines show up they could show us salute and board a Pelican or something as we move on to other areas. Maybe when we target and blow up an area we can be seen over looking it and admiring our work. I just think it would help us immerse ourselves into the story a little better and make us feel like an actual squad, especially when playing with friends or family.
From the beginning I had always assumed that was the way it would be because of this picture. It clearly shows a scene similar to this one from the Campaign but the Chief is replaced with a Recruit Spartan-IV and Del Rio is replaced with a different officer. He looks like Lasky but his rank is wrong so it could just be a random officer. Still, a scene like that with our custom Spartan would be pretty cool but again, it doesn’t have to be overly fancy. I just want to see us working side by side outside of the basic gameplay.
Another thing that is missing is Theater. I know this was already addressed in the last bulletin, I just hope we hear more about it sooner rather than later. A mode like Spartan Ops just begs for Theater mode where we can take images and video of our custom Spartans fighting together. I already had a few scenes which were either epic or simply hilarious but I couldn’t go back and watch it because Theater doesn’t support it, yet.
Other than that I do really like Spartan Ops. It has tremendous potential to be extremely awesome and I’m curious to see what direction the story is heading in. I hope we can get some cameos from characters like the Master Chief, Blue Team, Lord Hood or even the Arbiter at some point as well. This is going to bridge the gap between 4 and 5 so hopefully it gets the love it deserves.