After I played through Halo 5 and got my own opinions of the game I immediately went online to find see what reviewers and other people thought of the game. The lowest score I saw for the game was a 6/10 and the highest was a 9/10, and reviewers were pretty consistent with what a liked and disliked about the game. So after seeing these reviews and have had first hand experience with the game, it became clear to me that Halo was great game, but one with pretty jarring issues. Being a long time Halo fan I wanted more than anything for this game to one of the best games in recent years, so I thought to myself: What can be done to Halo 5 post-release to make it better? I thought longer and hard about this, and constructed my own lit of changes which I will now share with you.
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Local Co-Op
While there are many differing opinions about the Halo 5 campaign, the general consensus is the gameplay was fun and enjoyable, but the story was not as good as previous Halo games. Reguardless, the campaign and story of the game are something that cannot be changed in post-production, so I am instead going to talk about one of the most controversial things in the is game, the lack of Local Multiplayer Co-Op. This is a feature that has been a staple of the Halo franchise since it’s inception, and the latest installment not having it is borderline blasphemy. And the excuse that 343 Industries did not want to downgrade the graphic from a split-screen campaign is a load of B.S. Anyone Halo fan will tell you that the smaller screen in split-screen co-op is more than worth it for the enjoyment of being able to play with friends who might not own the game or the console. This is something that need to patched in ASAP. And yes, I know that 343 Industries has stated that it is impossible for local co-op to be patched into the game, but they also said that it was impossible for the Xbox One to be reverse compatible, and now they’ve developed a patch for the system that allows Xbox 360 games to be played on the Xbox One. So if they can patch in reverse compatibility for the Xbox One, then they can, and should, patch in local co-op for Halo 5. -
Casual Multiplayer
I am just going to go out and say that I love the Halo 5 multiplayer, specifically Arena. It feel like a return to the multiplayer of the original Halo trilogy with brand new gameplay mechanics and features to keep it fresh. One of those being the newly added ranking system. Now, to me Halo has always had a competitive feeling. Requiring more strategy and thinking than twitch shooters like Call of Duty, so it makes sense for 343 to add a competitive multiplayer into Halo 5. The problem is, with the exception of Warzone, there is only a competitive multiplayer in Halo 5, and I would hardly consider Warzone as a gamemode that is friendly for casuals or new players. With there being only competitive matching in the multiplayer it severely limits the game type variety and map variety, as gamemodes have to be serious enough for competitive play and the maps have to be tailor made for one or two gamemodes. I when first got on to Arena I was sad to see Griff Ball and Flood missing from the gamemode list. And, while I am glad to see 343 is adding back Big Team Battles, I believe a more permanent solution to people’s problems with Arena is to make a non competitive multiplayer for those who just want to have fun. Call it War Games like in Halo 4 and add in all the crazy and fun gamemodes Halo fans have come to love. And I know something like this is possible because 343 has stated that the money gained through the REQ system will go towards funding addition maps and content for Halo 5 Multiplayer. -
Direct Purchasing of Armor/Helmets.
Speaking of the REQ system, remember how I said the lack of a local co-op was one the most controversial things regarding Halo 5? Well perhaps the only thing more controversial is the REQ micro transaction system. Now, whether you are a new gamer or a veteran, young or old, casual or hardcore, you probably have notice the micro transactions have been popping up more and more in Triple-A-Games. You also probably know that the internet hates this with a burning passion. And sadly, it appear our beloved Halo is the latest victim of the ever growing micro transaction plague. In 343’s deference, though, the system they have implemented in pretty non-invasive, and the money is going towards funding future content rather than just lining the pockets of the developers’ parent company (I’m looking at you Activision and EA), though I’d imagine that Microsoft is taking at least some of the profit for themselves. I honestly don’t have much of a problem the REQ system as is, but to do share other peoples concerns that this could grow into a worse and more invasive problem in later Halo installments. And, while in a perfect world I would like to see the REQ system completely removed from the game, 343 has made in clear that the REQ system is here to stay, at least in Halo 5. So, instead I want to propose a change to the REQ system that addresses some of what people do not like about it, and that being the armor unlocks being completely random. I have never played the original Halo 3 multiplayer so I don’t know how it handled its spartan customization, but in Halo Reach and Halo 4 armor pieces were unlocked by ranking up through experience points and then purchasing them with said experience points. This system was great because when you saw an enemy on the battlefield with the top rank armor set you knew that that person was an experienced bad–Yoink- who went through hell and back to get that armor, and if you saw an armor that you really liked, all you had to do to get it was save up your experience points and purchase it. In Halo 5 armor sets are randomly found in REQ packs so you have to get lucky if you want the armor set you like, and the rare armor sets are no longer a badge of honor that is earned, but rather a show of how lucky you are, or how how much money your willing to spend. My idea to change this is to make the armor sets directly purchasable with REQ point. The weapon skins and emblems can remain as random REQ pack drops to entise people to buy them, but allow players to buy the armors they want without having to prey to the RNG gods. And just so there is sill a way to 343 to make money off the armors, include the option to purchased the armor immediately with real money.
So these are the things that I believe 343 should do post-release to make Halo 5 a 10/10 game. If you agree/disagree with my ideas or have ideas of your own leave a comment, and thank you from taking your time to read my thoughts and opinions on the latest game in a franchise I love so much.