The REAL Problem with Halo 5 (and it isn't 343i)

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Wanna know what the real problem is with Halo 5?

It’s the “fans”.

These so called “fans” trash the game for a variety of reasons, but many that I see on the forums and elsewhere claim that:

  • The mechanics are different - It’s not like previous Halo’s. - Campaign doesn’t feature enough Master Chief - Lack of content/varietyI’m sick of people claiming to be long-term fans abuse what I believe is such a great addition to the series. I’ll be offering counter points to the points given above.

  1. The mechanics are different…
    I honestly believe that the changes 343i has made to Halo 5 in terms of how your Spartan moves, the ADS, and the overall gameplay are fantastic. Sprint was introduced in Halo 4, and was well received, so why in the Hell are people complaining about it? Maybe they’re getting killed to often because they sprint too much? That’s no one’s fault but their own. The ADS brings some well deserved changes to how gun mechanics worked in Halo. Just because the game didn’t have them before, or they looked different, doesn’t mean you should automatically oust this game. If you can’t get kills with them, DONT USE IT! I get plenty of kills with the AR the good 'ol fashioned way (without aiming). Being able to camber and thruster to get to new places is perfect! Now there’s easier and faster means of getting to places and objectives quicker than ever before.

  2. It’s not like other Halo’s…
    And of course it’s not! It’s called Halo 5, not Halo 3. They’re going to implement new features and mechanics. Why you ask? Because despite contrary belief, Halo needs to constantly evolve to compete with the wealth of FPS games on the market. They want old players to experience new ways of playing the game and they want new players to do the same! People (like myself) get bored with the same old, stale gameplay. That’s why I don’t play Battlefield 4! Because despite all the maps and game modes, its still the same old engine with the same old mechanics. Halo decided it was time to catch up to the modern age of FPS to make it new and better than ever.

  3. Campaign doesn’t feature the Master Chief enough…
    You all understand that the reason they did this was so they could develop Locke as a character right? If they focused on the Master Chief the whole campaign, it would have been dull where segments of Osiris we’re being played. While I will agree with some that the campaign wasn’t super great, the whole point was to set up for Halo 6. Halo 2 did this exact same thing (albeit, a bit differently).

  4. Lack of content/variety…
    Developers for games have deadlines they need to meet. They have limited resources and people to get this accomplished. While I’m just as surprised as you guys that more maps weren’t available on launch day, 343i offered to follow it up with 15+ free maps, along with new armor and weapon skins. and for those who claim that there weren’t enough game types to play with, think about this; If they released every game type ever to be released with a Halo game, chances are, you’d never find a game. (Just go back and play Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 and tell me how long it takes to find a BTB or Action Sack game).

2

To all of the complaining, stubborn people out there whining on the forum: Halo needed a big evolution, and fast. It probably would be dead by now if 343 hadn’t taken such a big step.

3

> 2533274927400238;2:
> To all of the complaining, stubborn people out there whining on the forum: Halo needed a big evolution, and fast. It probably would be dead by now if 343 hadn’t taken such a big step.

I couldn’t agree more. And I guarantee that if Bungie was making these changes, people wouldn’t complain about it.

4

For me, it’s not Halo if there’s no vehicle outracing epic doom. So yes, games like Halo Wars and Spartan Assault don’t count as Halo to me.

5

“The thread is gonna say ‘the community’ isn’t it?”
Opens Thread
“Well, I was close enough.”

> I honestly believe that the changes 343i has made to Halo 5 in terms of how your Spartan moves, the ADS, and the overall gameplay are fantastic.

Yeah, well obviously not everyone feels that way, but good for you. It’s not like I feel the need to create threads calling anyone who likes Halo 5 an idiot, but apparently we absolutely need one of these threads bashing “purists” every other day.

> It’s not like other Halo’s…

Isn’t this you just repackaging the first point?

> 3. Campaign doesn’t feature the Master Chief enough…
> You all understand that the reason they did this was so they could develop Locke as a character right?

I wouldn’t say any of the characters were significantly developed, but beyond that you don’t need to give a character 80% of screentime just to develop them.

> 4. Lack of content/variety…
> Developers for games have deadlines they need to meet. They have limited resources and people to get this accomplished.

Bungie and Activision don’t seem to have any significant problems meeting deadlines. There’s only so far you can go to defend them on this. I realize it’s not a perfect world and being a developer can suck -Yoink-, but at the same time you let developers get away with murder and you end up with Steam where games are on “early access” for two years straight.

6

> Yeah, well obviously not everyone feels that way, but good for you. It’s not like I feel the need to create threads calling anyone who likes Halo 5 an idiot, but apparently we absolutely need one of these threads bashing “purists” every other day.

I’m not calling anyone an idiot, just simply that I’m tired of seeing people complain about every little thing in this game. I haven’t seen any post like the one I made, so I figured it would offer a good debate, such as the one we’re having now.

> Isn’t this you just repackaging the first point?

Yes and no, I’ve seen people say both argument 1 & 2 for completely different reasons. Also, my 1st point is more about mechanics, whereas my 2nd point deals with how changing the mechanics creates a different game from past Halo games. But I realize they’re one-in-the-same.

> Bungie and Activision don’t seem to have any significant problems meeting deadlines. There’s only so far you can go to defend them on this. I realize it’s not a perfect world and being a developer can suck -Yoink-, but at the same time you let developers get away with murder and you end up with Steam where games are on “early access” for two years straight.

As far as we know. Perhaps they (Activision and Bungie) don’t meet deadlines. It’s not public knowledge. I understand we can’t let these developers get away with some of these things, but constantly riding them for it? I don’t think that’s fair, and this post argues that point.

7

I do agree with what ya said, all these people complaining about something silly most of the time with Halo 5, be it the mechanics, the maps( I will admit the quality of them could be better but graphics wise they aren’t the absolute worst), the new aiming feature(I can never get a day on the forums where I can’t find somebody new complaining about the new aiming system), or something of that nature. Though for single player, I would have liked to play as The Master Chief for 1 or 2 more missions, but it is what it is.

But on a comical note I do find it strange how some people bag on this game and hate it in less than a month after it’s released, and I’m playing the game like:“Ok I need to get X amount of req points next game for a gold/silver pack…oh I should sell some of these spares mongooses/needlers/saws I’m not using”. I mean Halo 5 has its moments where it gets me aggravated, but it happens, other than that I don’t hate the game, and I’ve been a halo fan since Halo 3.

8

> 2533274912536998;7:
> But on a comical note I do find it strange how some people bag on this game and hate it in less than a month after it’s released, and I’m playing the game like:“Ok I need to get X amount of req points next game for a gold/silver pack…oh I should sell some of these spares mongooses/needlers/saws I’m not using”.

Haha seriously. I play it every chance I get and I’ve been playing since launch! I think it’s a great addition to the Halo family, despite some of its flaws.

9

> 2533274826111928;8:
> > 2533274912536998;7:
> > But on a comical note I do find it strange how some people bag on this game and hate it in less than a month after it’s released, and I’m playing the game like:“Ok I need to get X amount of req points next game for a gold/silver pack…oh I should sell some of these spares mongooses/needlers/saws I’m not using”.
>
>
> Haha seriously. I play it every chance I get and I’ve been playing since launch! I think it’s a great addition to the Halo family, despite some of its flaws.

Well said. No game will never be perfect, but if the game makes ya happy despite its’ flaws, Play hard…win hard…and let the haters keep on hating.

10

1&2 are understandable and I like these changes. 3&4 Didn’t appeal and I’m allowed an opinion.

My main concern is customs/forge so I guess you can’t tar me with that brush. ?

11

All I see on these forums is people with legitimate complaints and issues being attacked repeatedly by rabid fanboys who THINK they love halo. There are more of these “The real issue is you!” threads than people actually complaining. Stop attacking people who are having issues, we all want the best halo possible, threads like these do nothing but present false divides in the community.

12

> 2533274826111928;1:
> Wanna know what the real problem is with Halo 5?
>
> It’s the "fanboys like me"
>
> These so called "fanboys like me" sing praises of the game for a variety of reasons, but many that I see on the forums offer realist reasons as to why this isn’t so, but I choose to ignore and flame them instead.
>
>
>
> - The mechanics are different
> - It’s not like previous Halo’s.
> - Campaign doesn’t feature enough Master Chief
> - Lack of content/variety
> I’m sick of people claiming to be long-term fans abuse what I believe is such a great addition to the series. I’ll be offering counter points to the points given above.
>
> 1. The mechanics are different…
> I honestly believe that the changes 343i has made to Halo 5 in terms of how your Spartan moves, the ADS, and the overall gameplay are fantastic. Sprint was introduced in Halo 4, and was well received, so why in the Hell are people complaining about it? Maybe they’re getting killed to often because they sprint too much? That’s no one’s fault but their own. The ADS brings some well deserved changes to how gun mechanics worked in Halo. Just because the game didn’t have them before, or they looked different, doesn’t mean you should automatically oust this game. If you can’t get kills with them, DONT USE IT! I get plenty of kills with the AR the good 'ol fashioned way (without aiming). Being able to camber and thruster to get to new places is perfect! Now there’s easier and faster means of getting to places and objectives quicker than ever before. (sprint was certainly not well received, and it was introduced in halo reach as an armor ability. Ever since sprint was introduced maps have been artificially getting bigger to accommodate the faster speed of Spartans, but in Arena maps they are tiny, leading to constant encounters with very little strategy in some situations, leading to sprinting, grenading, spawn killing fests. I accept sprint as I know it’s not going anywhere, but it’s easy to see the concessions the game design had to make to accommodate it.)
>
> 2. It’s not like other Halo’s…
> And of course it’s not! It’s called Halo 5, not Halo 3. They’re going to implement new features and mechanics. Why you ask? Because despite contrary belief, Halo needs to constantly evolve to compete with the wealth of FPS games on the market. They want old players to experience new ways of playing the game and they want new players to do the same! People (like myself) get bored with the same old, stale gameplay. That’s why I don’t play Battlefield 4! Because despite all the maps and game modes, its still the same old engine with the same old mechanics. Halo decided it was time to catch up to the modern age of FPS to make it new and better than ever. (seriously it’s not new features that people are angry about, its USELESS new features like ground pound, spartan charge (which is pretty much the armor lock equivalent in this game), and other gimmicky additions. Instead of having a normal motion tracker and a mode with no motion tracker, they introduced “useless” motion tracker in arena, which is pretty much the same as nothing. It’s little things like this that urk the old fanbase. Needless changes.)
>
> 3. Campaign doesn’t feature the Master Chief enough…
> You all understand that the reason they did this was so they could develop Locke as a character right? If they focused on the Master Chief the whole campaign, it would have been dull where segments of Osiris we’re being played. While I will agree with some that the campaign wasn’t super great, the whole point was to set up for Halo 6. Halo 2 did this exact same thing (albeit, a bit differently). (locke is JUST as boring, literally has no more insight then when you see him in Halo 5 adds versus him at the end of the game. Seriously you thought he was interesting?)
>
> 4. Lack of content/variety…
> Developers for games have deadlines they need to meet. They have limited resources and people to get this accomplished. While I’m just as surprised as you guys that more maps weren’t available on launch day, 343i offered to follow it up with 15+ free maps (that are all forged and lazy as crap, and look like crap), along with new armor and weapon skins. and for those who claim that there weren’t enough game types to play with, think about this; If they released every game type ever to be released with a Halo game, chances are, you’d never find a game. (Just go back and play Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 and tell me how long it takes to find a BTB or Action Sack game). (really, halo 3 had a MULTITUDE of game-types and that did just fine. This mentality that more gametypes will divide the population is asinine. Sure 30 gametypes might be a bit much, but adding social slayer, objective, and big team are all sorely needed and there’s a TON of people who’d play, and are waiting for these quintessential games to return.)
>
> If you disagree with the game or me, then just stop playing Halo 5. (because if you disagree you DON’T get to play anymore, my word is GOD) Just go back and play your same, boring-as–Yoink-- Call of Duty or your soon to be repetitive Star Wars Battlefront.

Fixed that for you.

13

Thats what the Halo community is dawg. I will admit, lots of these complaints are valid imo. You should’ve seen the Bungie forums back in the day. That was hell.

14

> 2533274800766392;11:
> All I see on these forums is people with legitimate complaints and issues being attacked repeatedly by rabid fanboys who THINK they love halo. There are more of these “The real issue is you!” threads than people actually complaining. Stop attacking people who are having issues, we all want the best halo possible, threads like these do nothing but present false divides in the community.

^this right here

15

> 2533274805578773;10:
> 1&2 are understandable and I like these changes. 3&4 Didn’t appeal and I’m allowed an opinion.
>
> My main concern is customs/forge so I guess you can’t tar me with that brush. ?

Of course! Everyone is allowed an opinion. That’s what makes debates so interesting! As for Forge and Custom Games, I don’t usually use either, and the last time I did was in Halo: Reach. Of course, 343i is bringing Forge back in December (or some time in the future), and from what I hear Custom Games offers a lot of different options not previously seen in other Halo games…

I’ll agree that Forge should have been release at launch, but if it’s as big as 343i is saying, it will be worth the wait and I’m eager to see what’s in store for it.

16

Your argument has no substance to it, OP. “Halo needed to evolve” and “the mechanics feel great to me” hold absolutely no weight. If you’re going to convince us of this, you’d need to break down all the changes and explain how they affect the gameplay in a positive way, instead of just making excuses for 343 and resorting to “it just feels good”.

17

> 2533274800766392;11:
> All I see on these forums is people with legitimate complaints and issues being attacked repeatedly by rabid fanboys who THINK they love halo. There are more of these “The real issue is you!” threads than people actually complaining. Stop attacking people who are having issues, we all want the best halo possible, threads like these do nothing but present false divides in the community.

I can’t say I’ve seen too many threads like mine, but then again, they probably get buried under the heaps of complaint/343 fix this threads.

18

> 2533274826111928;17:
> > 2533274800766392;11:
> > All I see on these forums is people with legitimate complaints and issues being attacked repeatedly by rabid fanboys who THINK they love halo. There are more of these “The real issue is you!” threads than people actually complaining. Stop attacking people who are having issues, we all want the best halo possible, threads like these do nothing but present false divides in the community.
>
>
> I can’t say I’ve seen too many threads like mine, but then again, they probably get buried under the heaps of complaint/343 fix this threads.

There have been a lot over the past few days. Do you not see the irony in complaining about people complaining?

19

> 2604313713106098;12:
> > 2533274826111928;1:
> > Wanna know what the real problem is with Halo 5?
> >
> > It’s the "fanboys like me"
> >
> > These so called "fanboys like me" sing praises of the game for a variety of reasons, but many that I see on the forums offer realist reasons as to why this isn’t so, but I choose to ignore and flame them instead.
> >
> >
> >
> > - The mechanics are different
> > - It’s not like previous Halo’s.
> > - Campaign doesn’t feature enough Master Chief
> > - Lack of content/variety
> > I’m sick of people claiming to be long-term fans abuse what I believe is such a great addition to the series. I’ll be offering counter points to the points given above.
> >
> > 1. The mechanics are different…
> > I honestly believe that the changes 343i has made to Halo 5 in terms of how your Spartan moves, the ADS, and the overall gameplay are fantastic. Sprint was introduced in Halo 4, and was well received, so why in the Hell are people complaining about it? Maybe they’re getting killed to often because they sprint too much? That’s no one’s fault but their own. The ADS brings some well deserved changes to how gun mechanics worked in Halo. Just because the game didn’t have them before, or they looked different, doesn’t mean you should automatically oust this game. If you can’t get kills with them, DONT USE IT! I get plenty of kills with the AR the good 'ol fashioned way (without aiming). Being able to camber and thruster to get to new places is perfect! Now there’s easier and faster means of getting to places and objectives quicker than ever before. (sprint was certainly not well received, and it was introduced in halo reach as an armor ability. Ever since sprint was introduced maps have been artificially getting bigger to accommodate the faster speed of Spartans, but in Arena maps they are tiny, leading to constant encounters with very little strategy in some situations, leading to sprinting, grenading, spawn killing fests. I accept sprint as I know it’s not going anywhere, but it’s easy to see the concessions the game design had to make to accommodate it.)
> >
> > 2. It’s not like other Halo’s…
> > And of course it’s not! It’s called Halo 5, not Halo 3. They’re going to implement new features and mechanics. Why you ask? Because despite contrary belief, Halo needs to constantly evolve to compete with the wealth of FPS games on the market. They want old players to experience new ways of playing the game and they want new players to do the same! People (like myself) get bored with the same old, stale gameplay. That’s why I don’t play Battlefield 4! Because despite all the maps and game modes, its still the same old engine with the same old mechanics. Halo decided it was time to catch up to the modern age of FPS to make it new and better than ever. (seriously it’s not new features that people are angry about, its USELESS new features like ground pound, spartan charge (which is pretty much the armor lock equivalent in this game), and other gimmicky additions. Instead of having a normal motion tracker and a mode with no motion tracker, they introduced “useless” motion tracker in arena, which is pretty much the same as nothing. It’s little things like this that urk the old fanbase. Needless changes.)
> >
> > 3. Campaign doesn’t feature the Master Chief enough…
> > You all understand that the reason they did this was so they could develop Locke as a character right? If they focused on the Master Chief the whole campaign, it would have been dull where segments of Osiris we’re being played. While I will agree with some that the campaign wasn’t super great, the whole point was to set up for Halo 6. Halo 2 did this exact same thing (albeit, a bit differently). (locke is JUST as boring, literally has no more insight then when you see him in Halo 5 adds versus him at the end of the game. Seriously you thought he was interesting?)
> >
> > 4. Lack of content/variety…
> > Developers for games have deadlines they need to meet. They have limited resources and people to get this accomplished. While I’m just as surprised as you guys that more maps weren’t available on launch day, 343i offered to follow it up with 15+ free maps (that are all forged and lazy as crap, and look like crap), along with new armor and weapon skins. and for those who claim that there weren’t enough game types to play with, think about this; If they released every game type ever to be released with a Halo game, chances are, you’d never find a game. (Just go back and play Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 and tell me how long it takes to find a BTB or Action Sack game). (really, halo 3 had a MULTITUDE of game-types and that did just fine. This mentality that more gametypes will divide the population is asinine. Sure 30 gametypes might be a bit much, but adding social slayer, objective, and big team are all sorely needed and there’s a TON of people who’d play, and are waiting for these quintessential games to return.)
> >
> > If you disagree with the game or me, then just stop playing Halo 5. (because if you disagree you DON’T get to play anymore, my word is GOD) Just go back and play your same, boring-as–Yoink-- Call of Duty or your soon to be repetitive Star Wars Battlefront.
>
>
> Fixed that for you.

Thanks bud, next time I need my post “fixed” I’ll let you know. I’m entitled to an opinion and you’re entitled to yours.

  • I would argue to say ground pound and Spartan charge are actually quite tactful and useful. It’s about implementation and timing.
  • Spartan Locke is quite the interesting character. You can tell he’s reluctant to “hunt” the MC. It adds depth to the story.
  • And sure, Halo 3 had a multitude of game types and it did fine, but also think about player population in relation to that. I would think that Halo 5 doesn’t have nearly the same player count as H3 did at launch. Trying to use the same formula for this installment would not work in the same way.
20

Fair enough OP.

But as long time fans shout (seemingly to the heavens themselves) that the Waypoint community is toxic and completely dangerous for Halo, take a good long look at which one of us they are actually talking about.