343i has done a great deal to evolve Halo’s gameplay. They have gotten all sorts of feedback, negative and positive on every change that’s been made and it’s obvious that they’re sticking with Spartan abilities. All these changes they have made have a huge impact on the game and I’m not going to say this is good or bad, it’s been done to death and they most likely already have their minds set on the final version of the game.
The biggest thing I feel I have to say is about the weapon sandbox because there is no real right or wrong answer with their two options.
The way I see it, 343 is going to make the AR a much more viable weapon and make the game AR starts by default. That’s option A.
Option B would be to stick to Halo’s tradition of BR starts being the “true” competitive way to play Halo and to just play it in general.
I’m no expert but I believe that, 343i, your best choice is to keep the Assault Rifle about as effective as it was in the Beta. The BR should always have a place in Halo and there should be BR starts playlists. There’s potential for Halo that hasn’t quite been tapped into yet. The game shouldn’t entirely be a one gun game. There’s nothing really “wrong” with BR starts, it’s just that it shouldn’t be the only way to play the game.
I hope you make Halo 5 a diverse experience for players but also don’t completely forget the old school players. The Battle Rifle is forever a part of Halo. You have to respect it but also realize that it can cast a shadow over the rest of the sandbox.
See you on Launch Day.