Wow, looking back on the Pre-Reveal forums and posts, there were so many dying to hear news of the Falcon’s return and this was pretty much only because of the ONI card, and the fact that the update was reach themed (and for some more invested fans, and detail released before halo 5 was launched, stating that there will be not UNSC air vehicles at launch.).
Now, we rest in our state of dismay as we get a variant of the phaeton, blowing everyone’s mind, and not in a good way. We were all so dang ready to believe that we were going to get a UNSC air vehicle, the Falcon, for this update, it seems very few people were actually taking the time to consider how poorly it would be in the sandbox. It takes off slow, had no “Special abilities” (Banshee: Boost & Flips, Phaeton: That little slide/teleport thing, i dunno, but it looks cool.). Truth be told, Falcons would end up being little more an a quick way for enemy’s to rack up those rocket or Splaser commendations, even if it was the campaign variant, with the nose-mounted gun for the pilot.
We also need to consider that creating a new asset for a sandbox takes time. Thus far, everything has merely been a cosmetic & stat’s change for pre-existing weapons, even Jorge’s turret is just the normal turret with a fancy (and extremely beautiful) new 3d model in it’s place instead of the old one, and a couple of extra effect to the weapons ability (Explosive rounds and a speed boost, if I remember correctly.) In fact, it seems to me that the most difficult thing added to the sandbox post-launch is the brute plasma rifle, but that’s mostly just new animations and effects, as most of the weapons functionality is similar to the Storm Rifle. Adding a falcon would mean adding a ton of new animations, a large 3d model that needs to be animated, another new turret design, more HUD elements, new Sound FX, and needing to find a way to make it so it isn’t the worlds easiest triple kill for Splasers. Even the more combat effective Air vehicle, the Hornet (on account that it’s armed more heavily, is far more agile and swift, and is a significantly smaller target), would take a long time and a lot of resources to produce.
Looking forward to the 'Hog Wild Update, the Falcon was referred to as the “Warthog of the Skies” so if you really want to keep your hopes up for something that’s unlikely to happen, there you go, since the only other thing I can think of them adding that is related to the name is the Troop 'Hog.In fact, if there really is a UNSC air vehicle destined to be in Halo 5, it’s likely that 343 would need to create a whole new vehicle, due to the fact that neither the Falcon nor the Hornet have the durability or evasive capabilities of the Banshee or Phaeton, and in term of firepower, only the Hornet can compare to the Banshee or Phaeton. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. “The Hornet / Falcon could take out Banshees just fine in other games.” Keep in mind, those banshees didn’t have shields, there were no Sword or Ultra variants, and most of the time, you weren’t combating the opponent in multiplayer, but in the Campaign, where the effectiveness of a vehicle is skewed to make the game more enjoyable, because imagine in Halo: Reach, while flying on your way to the hospital, if the squad of banshees that attacked you were manned by players, and had shields, some of them upgraded with extra armor or even explosive rounds. You’d be down real quick, especially without that nose-mounted turret.
If we are to have an air vehicle, I’m willing to bet that it’s going to be something new, because it needs some way to evade oncoming attacks, needs formidable firepower like the rest of the air vehicles thus far, and live up to the standards set by the Hornet and Falcon.
The real issue here is we’re thinking that the Falcon is better than it actually is because that’s how we want to remember it. I don’t know about you, but operating a falcon successfully was very difficult on multiplayer, due to the lack of communication (assuming not every occupant was actively using a headset), and much like the warthog, communication is key, but even more so since the risk is greater, and without it, the players operating the Falcon’d side guns may be too focused on the ground, and other air vehicles could easily get the drop on Falcons by attacking from above, that’s if you’re lucky enough to get a fully loaded Falcon.
We, as a community, can’t lie though, our hype was unreal, and when time came to see the content reveal, and we saw a Phaeton, 343 got us. Hook, Line, and Sinker.
TL;DR - Making new things in a game takes a long time, especially vehicles, and even if it was a Falcon, it would just be an easy triple kill for Splasers. A Hornet would be a better choice, but 343 would probably have to make a whole new vehicle that can actually compete with the Banshees and Phaetons. Stop letting the sweet nostalgia cloud your vision, and think for a minute.