INTIAL POST: In my opinion, this game has a really high chance of bringing back the classic gameplay so many old Halo fans have adored! I am so pumped for this!
THREAD GUIDELINE: Considering the size of this thread, I strongly urge future commenters to not simply state which side of the debate you’ve chosen. You add nothing to this already large discussion if you merely exclaim, “No, don’t remove sprint!” or “Sprint ruined Halo, it needs to go.” Explain why you feel Halo has become better or worse with the new mechanics, and provide reasons to support your argument. Thank you.
- PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING - A few points that have already been thoroughly discussed, in favor of the removal of sprint, as said by commenters in this thread:
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Just because sprint is not present does not mean the game is going to be slow. There are many ways to give the player a feeling of speed without the inclusion of sprint, such as higher field of view, smaller maps, or just an increase in the base movement speed.
In terms of BTB-sized maps, the designers could be encouraged to implement more creative ways to traverse the map on foot, like the previously used teleporters, man-cannons, speed boosts, and vehicles, making each map far more unique than if they were all wide-open planes you simply run across to reach your destination. Sprint is arguably the laziest and least entertaining form of map traversal. -
You can’t just split the game in half, with one ‘modern’ side that has enhanced mobility and a ‘classic’ side that does not. The difference between the two are far too large to reuse any assets; there would have to be separate maps, extensively tweaked weapons and enemies, and much more. The massive differences essentially create two games in one, and 343 would not be able to support either side enough to satisfy both.
That being said, you also can’t create a game around Spartan Abilities and then provide a little playlist that just doesn’t have them. The balancing of the game around the enhanced movement will not flow smoothly if they just removed the abilities, when explosion radii are balanced around players thrusting out of the way, and tracking weapons to more strongly track to counter constant movement. -
Sprint isn’t required to make an FPS in this day and age successful. Common examples of popular games without sprint include DOOM, Counterstrike, and Overwatch.
However, providing a list of modern games without sprint should not be necessary, because Halo shouldn’t be trying to copy everyone else to begin with. There is clearly a lack of innovation in the game industry when a developer can only implement a unique mechanic if enough other games in the market have already attempted it and succeeded. That is commonly called ‘chasing trends’, which we should be mostly avoiding. -
“Go play MCC if you want classic movement” is an invalid argument, because those in favor of its return could just as easily tell their opponents to go play Halo 5 if they want advanced movement.
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The removal of sprint does not necessarily mean the game will be “dumbed down” from its predecessors and strip options from the player. It would, in fact, add more options, since one can now attack and move at max speed in all directions at all times. Sprint forces the player to choose whether to move or to shoot, when both areas of gameplay could be easily united if sprint is removed.
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To expand on point 5., removing sprint does not mean we want another Halo 3 in terms of movement. New mechanics can be implemented, as long as it doesn’t result in separation of movement and combat. Thrust is generally friendly to the ‘guns always up’ philosophy, and many in this thread wouldn’t mind seeing its return.
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Sprint does not need to be present in the game just because Spartans have sprinted in the canon and expanded universe. Spartans have also been shown to run at full speed while still being able to shoot, as seen in a repeatedly-referenced Halo Legends episode. Excusing sprint for the sake of canonical consistency could also lead to the inclusion of many other abilities that stray even further from the original gameplay formula, all for the sole purpose of ‘feeling like a Spartan’.
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“Just don’t sprint if you don’t like it” is an invalid argument, because the entire design of the game, from map length to bullet magnetism, essentially requires you to sprint if victory is truly your goal. Refusing to sprint leads only to disadvantage as you are actively playing against the design of the game, so not sprinting is not as easy a decision as makers of this argument seem to think.