Ok this halo does feel radically different, in fact most people will probably scoff at me for saying this feels like halo. I have a logic too it: lets track big changes from halo three to halo 4, and list a few grievances.
halo 3:
-forge introduced:
-new brute weapons introduced
-Zombies introduced as an official game type:infection.
-equipment added
-forge
Grievances: None personally, halo three was my favorite (though i like h2 anniversary more currently)
halo reach:
-Armor abilities introduce: only one can be used at a time.
-shields slightly weaker:fall damage
-vastly upgraded forge and flle share system.
-vehicles generally weaker from previous halo’s, particularly to small arms fire.
-New gamemode: invasion, with maps that felt designed around it.
-firefight added as an official game mode.
grievances
-some of us, i’d say most of use didn’t like the weaker shields
-Armor abilities had major balancing problem:
-----sprint just didn’t feel like it should be an armor ability, i need special armor to run? some people just don’t like the idea of sprint (i’m a fan).
-----amour lock: became the primary means for small vehicle destruction: with brutal effect. additionally, it awkwardly stalled firefights dead in there tracks, and gave a dying player a chance to equal out a loosing fight with the EMP effect, fighting someone with armor lock was not fun.
-----camouflage- useful, but typically not as much compared to sprint.
-----jetpack: useful for getting around the map yes, awkward to control, most of the time it just made you a flying target, so almost useless.
-----hologram:practically useless: a spartan just blindly walking into combat doesn’t really fool people often
-----evade- same as sprint mostly, not to many differences in combat use.
-----drop shield: almost useless in close close quarters combat, a surprise bubble shield can mess me up in H3, but if you expect it, you can play around it. almost game breaking in the invasion map spire.
halo 4
-armour abilities added/changed: evade(removed) sprint (removed) thruster pack, jet pack, regeneration field, hard light shield replaces bubble shield.
-Load outs introduced- along with major changes accompanying it:
—tactical packages introduced
—support packages
—even weaker shields.
—promethien weapons
—ordanance drops.
Grievances:
**-**armor abilities: generally improved i think. HOWEVER most people used one incredibly useful one, promethean vision. if your only using one, your broke the game.
-support packages-hmmm feels an awful lot like perks from COD
-tactical packages-perks anyone?
-ordnance drops- creates an uneven playing field, the more kills a place gets, the more ordanance drops the player gets, which means more power weapons…
-loadouts in general- created an unequal playing field. some loud outs might be better against a another load out, or better for a game type. Thats not necessarily bad thing, there is skill in creating load outs, but it is a major divergence to everyone starts equal style of halo 1-3.
-weaker shields? why!
-it felt like a confused game; am i call of duty, or am i halo? it felt like neither, and it didn’t feel good.
what reach and 4 did wrong but 5 did right.
The big difference between halo’s 1-3 and reach and halo 4 is obvious if you read what i stated above. It’s not a level playing field. in both games you will go up against a player that has something you don’t, typically an amor ability you don’t have equipped. this makes for some very asymmetric firefights across all game types. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, call of duty and battlefield have used this formula to great success. However halo has maintained a spawn with a clean slate, and all power ups, weapons, anyone can pick them up and use them, from noob to proI !
Thats what 343i has done with five: given games a clean slate. everyone has the same armor abilities, everyone can get the same weapons, as long as you get there first. Bungie changed that basic formula with reach: in a firefight you didn’t know if the person had evade, armor lock, etc. halo 4 made things worse by giving players slight advantage because they could buy more packages with time, giving people slight advantages with play time, plus it allowed particular load out to give greater advantage in certain situations.
the amor abilities added have made for new ways to move around the map, get the jump on enemies, evade enemies, and thats fun! and we all have these abilities, every last one of us. we start each game equally, it’s all skill.
The last big changed not rectified: health/shields. NOT SPRINT.
The last big change started in halo reach, made worse in halo 4, and continued in 5 is sprint. Halo has always been the odd duckling of the three big console FPS when it comes too how fire fights play out. they are slow, halo three takes an entire AR clip to take down someones shields. head shots don’t kill, just do more damage to shields. And no load outs. Compare that to COD and battlefield: one shot head shots (sometimes two because they count a helmet) three shot body kills with some weapons, never half a clip needed. Halo was the scify space shooter that was weird, slightly off-putting to some players, but felt totally different.
fast fire fights are fun: but i want halo the be the odd duckling. halo showed how slow firefights can be really fun. I love how i can jump onto ledges quickly, boost over shot gaps, body slam into opponents (though that doesn’t feel right yet) get the jump on my enemy in so many different ways. thats an improvement over the throw grenades around the corner, crouch to not be seen on motion detectors, and have a scary weapon, the three big ways to get a jump on people in earlier games.
Please though, let halo be the odd duckling, look at the enthusiasm to see halo 2/3 multiplayer back? give us a slow fire fights back.
(sprint doesn’t ruin the game guys, it slightly speeds up fire fights, but mostly it just means i don’t have to walk everywhere)