I’m not advocating for starts to be peashooters like in halo 2 or 3, but when starting weapons are too lethal on their own it deemphasizes halo’s core pillars; map control and power weapon control. in infinite I never really feel pressured to hold onto certain areas or rush for power weapons, I’m usually just meandering around the map getting easy reliable kills with the assault rifle and sidekick.
the tug of war between teams for the strongest toys and powerups, while still exists, doesn’t feel as prominent anymore and that takes a lot away from halo’s identity. running around fragging with the assault rifle and sidekick makes me feel like i’m playing a generic twitch shooter. they have too much range and feel too reliable in every situation.