Hello Waypoint,
Earlier today a thread was started saying if 343 had listened to the fans, Sprint would have been removed. My video was linked in that thread.
Now I do believe the OP had good intentions when he created it, but unfortunately he presented it in a way that was off putting and dismissive of people who legitimately enjoy the mechanic.
Now some of you better know me from my youtube channel Favyn, and if you haven’t heard of me then that’s ok because I won’t be linking any of my content here and it isn’t overly important. ( If I do this will be banished to the realm of Community Creations)
Now I myself have been aggressive when it comes to this topic, but I realize now that there are a lot of people who like the mechanic. So for those people who don’t get it. For those people who think someone like me should just go away, I just want to briefly talk about why I and so many other continue to fight for an eventual No Sprint Halo.
Firstly why am I still here?
I’m still here because Halo changed my life. It is the series that ignited my passion for video games. It was almost ethereal and otherworldly with how it presented itself, and I couldn’t help but lose myself in its world. Over the years, as other games tried to catch up, Halo continued to sit atop its throne constantly pumping out innovative ideas and differentiating itself with the creativity it afforded its players.
It was simple. Anybody could pick it up and play it, but it had the depth so that if you chose to spend enough time with it, you could reach exponential heights with its gameplay.
Now we could argue forever on which game changed what and which game is ultimately responsible for Halo’s downward shift, but fact is no matter what game you blame the shift on, Halo simply isn’t what it used to be.
And it isn’t just sprint. Its Everything. Its the tone, its the art style, its the overall direction. Sprint is just the conduit we use to encapsulate our frustration with all of these things. Sprint is the catalyst for our rage, simply because it is the most easily recognizable and understandable difference between the trilogy and the post Reach Halo’s.
Sprint does more than just change the speed. It does more than “make you feel like a spartan”. It changes the game at a fundamental level. And I won’t go in to how it does this because it will take forever and I’ve made multiple videos on it. But you just have to understand that when you say all it does is make you faster, or all it does is make you feel more like a Spartan, that objectively is not true from a game design perspective. Now it is an opinion whether or not you think each respective style is better, but they are factually different and if you refuse to accept that then nothing I say will have any effect on you anyway.
For those who say why does it matter? If Halo 5 is fun, If it’s a good game then shouldn’t that be all that matters?
And I would just like to tell you, as someone who has a deep appreciation for game design, that it isn’t a matter of something just being good. It’s about what sort of experience am I getting.
I can get a lot of " good" experiences from multiple games. I’m playing through Dark Souls 3 right now and I’m loving it. It’s a unique franchise with unique storytelling and gameplay that I can’t get anywhere else.
The problem is that I can’t get that classic Halo formula I crave anywhere else either, and the series that I originally relied on for it doesn’t provide it anymore.
You see I might like Halo 5. But I LOVE Halo 1-3. I want a game in that style. I want to have new experiences using that formula, and because Halo 1-3 were so unique in what they did, I can’t just go “play another game”. The thing with Sprint and Enhanced Mobility, is that I can go play a multitude of other shooters on the market right now that offer the same thing. And while its true Halo 5 has even starts, and weapon pick ups and that differentiates it. The things that differentiate Halo 5 from everything else are things Halo already had. The NEW THINGS that Halo 5 incorporated and chose to innovate with are the same things every other game at this point chose to innovate with, and while yes it may be good, it’s good for different reasons than it was before. The only difference is I can get that high mobility experience in a multitude of games right now, but I can’t get that harmonious classic Halo gameplay anywhere.
That’s why I fight for it. Halo was already special. Halo had gameplay that no other game had, and looking around at the market right now, that’s still the case. Some will look at Doom and think it’s comparable with classic Halo, but honestly it isn’t. It’s completely different and yet despite the obvious differences people still compare the two because thats how few comparisons the style actually has right now.
I don’t want to start arguments. I don’t need you to tell me what style you like better, or tell me that sprint has to be in the game to sell and all of the arguments that have been used time and time again.
I just want you to understand why some of us feel the way we do.
A Halo without sprint is a different experince. And it’s one a lot of us loved very much.
Thank You
Edit: this post is 10 pages long now and I still see people ignoring the post and saying the same things I tried to address. For those who don’t want to read, here is a video I made explaining some design principles. I spent a lot of time compiling these thoughts and if you are not willing to listen, don’t leave a comment making the assumption I say something I dont.