Bungie refers to the “weapons-grenades-melee” format as the “Golden Triangle of Halo,” which has remained fundamentally unchanged throughout the trilogy… Until Halo 5 and even Reach. Why is this ruined in Halo 5? Well lets start with The original Golden triangle back in Halo 3**. And please, actually read this, I’m not ranting about how 343i sucks or anything, I just want people to understand what really makes Halo “Halo”. Also take in mind that the last very successful Halo game, at least in the aspect of multiplayer, was Halo 3, and any successors didn’t exceed.**
- Well first off, what made Halo 3’s sandbox so great? Take in mind I’m comparing Halo 3 to Halo 5, and even Halo 2. So in Halo 3, what weapons had extreme range? Well there were no primaries that had extreme range, that’s obvious, and the most powerful power weapons in the game were the sniper and the laser, mostly because they had extreme range compared to the other weapons. Besides those weapons, why was Halo 3’s sandbox balanced better than other Halo games? Well in my opinion it’s because there were no long ranged primaries.
- So why does having no long range primaries help the sandbox? Well lets look at the golden triangle. So weapons-grenades-melee, that’s what the golden triangle is, and guess what, how many of your kills in halo 3 averaged out in that order? For most people, melee was used in Halo 3 quite often, especially combined with close quarters weapons. The AR for example, was extremely useful when engaging in close quarters and finishing the kill with a melee. Now why is this aspect not apparent in Halo 5? Well it really does come down to the fact that the BR, or at least precision weapons, are extremely accurate in Halo 5. Now why does this affect other weapons?
- If you increase the range on the main precision weapon, then what happens to the other weapons? In Halo 3, the BR did not have range, especially compared to Halo 2, and why is that a good thing? Well the BR’s range in Halo 3 did surpass the AR, but it was not to the extreme like in Halo 2 and instead, it forced the BR user to engage enemies, and in turn made the CQC weapons a viable choice. Whether or not you liked the Halo 3 BR, it at least made the BR not a god tier weapon, which in Halo 2 it was. The thing interesting with Halo 2 though, was that it didn’t make the other weapons have extreme range, like the SMG or pistol. So what did Halo 5 do different?
- Halo 5 added range to every weapon, not just the BR. This is so easy to figure out and yet either 343i is blind to it or they literally don’t care, but when range is added to all weapons, melee becomes used substantially less. This in turn, effects the Golden Triangle that was in the Original Halos. And since the AR was made to flow with melee, now that the range on everything is increased, melee isn’t an option, so then the AR needs a damage buff, to counteract that, which it definitely got in Halo 5.
- Now, that is the most important reason Halo doesn’t feel like halo anymore, beside core things like aim assist and bullet magnetism, but there are also the new things that also mess with Golden triangle, for instance thruster pack makes grenades extremely easy to evade, and more importantly, used to escape certain death.I guess the only message I can really send to 343i, is to fix the golden triangle, and anything that makes a major change to it, needs to be left out. Thank you for reading.
Alright, after listening to about half of replies state that they think Halo 5 still contains the golden triangle, or, the golden Rectangle anyways.
PLAYER FREEDOM
Does Halo 5 allow as much player freedom as previous Halo’s? Well I can argue that it does not. So I already talked about the golden triangle and range, but what do the armor abilities do to it? Well first off, it isn’t a triangle now, it’s a rectangle. I do not agree with this though, the triangle should remain, and not change, that does not however, mean that things can’t be added via weapons, melee, and grenades.
- Sprint, sprint offers faster movement at the cost of the player going straight forward, not having his weapon raised, and in Halo 5 you do not regenerate your shield. - Thruster, thruster allows for you to have an instant change in direction, not only getting you out of trouble but also allowing completely random movement that can’t be anticipated by the enemy. - Spartan charge, not a big deal, leaves you looking like an idiot when rushing towards anyone, but can also be used as a thruster to get around corners faster. - Slide, again, not a big deal, and honestly I don’t think it changes gameplay enough to even have. - Ground pound, not a big deal, but will probably end up being very annoying because it’s an instant kill.So sprint, thruster, spartan charge, slide, and ground pound, the new abilities everyone has.
First lets talk about sprint. Sprint can be used to get closer to an enemy, but at the cost of not being able to shoot or recharging shields. This means that the camping player has a huge advantage over the sprinter, the sprinter can’t fire back, while getting shot, and his shield won’t recharge, but the enemy shooting him will be doing damage, have full control on his movements, have the better position (most of the time) and able to recharge his shields. Sprinting is not a good option, in other words. And everyone saying that you can easily get melee kills, no, if you are versing a decent team melee will not hardly ever be a factor in Halo 5.
Now lets talk about thruster pack. Thruster pack allows for you to instantly evade an incoming grenade, and also allows to evade someone shooting at you, especially when you are camping by a corner. This allows for easier camping strategies and is obviously very cheap.
Now what the poop does this have to do with player freedom? Some of this stuff sounds like it allows more? No, it doesn’t, and here’s why.
The maps in Halo 5 are huge, whether or not it’s because of sprint, but sprint is still in the game, and weapons still have extreme range. So if you see a guy camping in the back of the map, you either get closer or stay back. Staying back allows you to be safer, next to your corner with thruster pack, engaging leaves you more open and you will be easier for the enemy to engage you. Well that’s why you have sprint, so you can run really fast to the enemies location and get melee kills like in Halo 3… Nope, sprinting towards your enemy just leaves you even more open, and you can’t fire back, nor recharge you shields, and that’s not the worst part, the worst part is that the enemy can thrust behind his corner, even if you hurt him, he will still hurt you more. So… when weapons have extreme range and the maps are huge there is no reason to engage. The only reason to engage is if the gametype is an objective, which is not as popular as slayer.
That’s why player freedom is lessened, even though there may be more things to do, most of them are not the viable choice, and will end up with the enemies crotch on your face. This is just one of the situations I can come up with, but I can guarantee that thruster will be a super cheap factor later on, and I can also guarantee that camping is the best choice easily over 50% of the time.