To All Halo Fans, Supporters or Opposers of Change

Games Halo 5: Guardians
#1

As a long time player of Halo, who started in CE and eventually made a small splash in the competitive scene during the Halo 2/3 days, I believe I have a generally good idea of what makes a decent Halo.The basis of competitive Halo is to have all player, of varying skill, compete, all with the same abilities, and evenly matched. To my knowledge, Halo 5 has followed this doctrine to the letter. All players have Spartan abilities. All players have the same loadouts, without exception. Ordinance has been removed. Sprint has been balanced (somewhat, I’ll touch back on this later). Everything, once again, between all players, is in equilibrium. A balance, if you will. I will proceed to go through most of the arguments that people have used against Halo 5 and attempt to refute them. Please, if you see any other issues outside of the several mentioned, feel free to reply with your issue and stating how you believe it is destroying Halo’s legacy. I will reply to these comments within the next day, and again attempt to refute the argument in a reasonable and logical manner.

#1: Smart Scope:
This is probably the single largest source of backlash that I have so far witnessed, rivaled only maybe by the re-inclusion of Sprint. And yet, people argue that 343i has ruined Halo, even while they don’t understand what this mechanic is. It zooms in, just as it has with other weapons that lacked scopes in previous Halos. Let me rephrase this: It’s only function is to zoom, nothing else. It was confirmed that it has no effect on gameplay; the only difference now is that you maintain some peripheral vision.

#2: Sprint:
People hated the Sprint mechanic since it’s introduction. It makes the maps larger, I will yield in this department. However, it does not in fact take away from map control. It has been better balanced than in prior iterations, with the intertwining of Sprint with shield recharge. However, this is not enough, even in my forgiving eyes. I believe it should function like the de-scope mechanic. Once you are hit, you are forced out of sprint, therefore resolving the issue of players surviving when they don’t deserve to, at least in the vast majority of cases.

#3: Clamber:
I honestly don’t see the issue with this mechanic. You make your jumps easier, which does ease the punishment of newer players, I suppose, but I do not feel that this drastically narrows the skill gap.

#4: Thruster Pack (And all associated movement abilities):
Again, I will refer to what I said about equilibrium. All players have access to this. Using this to be able to dodge hostile fire and outplay other players will further widen the skill gap, dwarfing the change made by the clamber mechanic, while also not being able to be spammed. This will make general movement around the map smoother, and speed the game up, but intelligent players still have a chance to take a moment to think about what they are going to do, and how to implement this mechanic, and others, into tactical use.

#5: Ground Pound:
Ah yes, the infamous ground pound. People seriously have an issue with this? Yes, it can provide a OHK, but only with a direct impact. Yes, it has an AOE, but this is negligible, and even decent players who are affected by this light damage can easily mop up whoever attempted the attack. Plus, you must maintain an altitude above a player for about a second, leaving an easy opportunity to get teamshots and quickly knock the player to the respawn screen. Secondly, while in the animation of the ground pound, the Spartan cannot retaliate to other direct attack from other Spartans, including his/her target, again providing an opportunity that is practically begging to be exploited.

#6: Thruster Charge:
I can honestly once again say, I don’t see the problem with this. It’s not a OHK unless you hit an enemy from behind. It’s really redundant and pointless, however, their isn’t a good reason to say it breaks the game. But, I digress.

All of these points were just off the top of my head. All of us here are fans of Halo. All of us here want what’s best for Halo, be it with 343i or without. I was disappointed with Halo 4 too. It fundamentally revolutionized Halo, changing too much to the point where it couldn’t truly be defined as Halo. But Halo 5, at least to me, looks like an evolution of Halo. The fundamentals are still there. Just with some new bells and whistles to attract a larger audience (it is a business endeavor, after all). With former Halo pros like Bravo and Ghosty working at 343i on this game, people who know Halo indisputably better than we do; not to mention with numerous other legendary Hal pros (Pistola, Flamesowrd, Walshy etc.) all saying good things about the direction Halo 5 is taking, I have a measure of confidence in 343. I believe they have learned from their mistakes. After all, the CE in Halo CE stood for Combat Evolved. Now, here we are, so many years later, complaining about combat evolving again, even though we haven’t even played the game yet. This isn’t fair to Bungie’s legacy or 343i; Much more, this is an injustice towards the legacy of Halo itself.

Well, thanks for reading if you made it this far. Through what is not 5185 characters of my opinion. Much appreciated for actually taking the time to read and understand what I have said, instead of reading the first sentence and immediately saying “stahp trying to turn halo in a cod game -Yoink-.” Please, leave comments, and if you have any other issues with Halo 5 that you would like to discuss, feel free to leave them, and I will try to reply in a timely manner.

Thanks for reading.

#2

That was a good read and I don’t disagree with most of the individual points you make.

I think that most of the negativity is coming from the idea that while Smart Scope, Sprint, Clamber, Thruster pack and Ground pound may not be the end of the franchise (that remains to be seen) they were additions many of which it was very clearly indicated from Halo 4’s limited lifespan did not need to be there.

Why must we now several years down the track be debating about how they aren’t the end of the world.

That is to say if you take all the enhancements they’ve made graphically and gameplay enhancements they’ve made since Halo 4 minus the following, you’d have a game with more appeal to halo fans and longevity generally:

  • Sprint (this is the main culprit but it’s not going anywhere clearly);- Smart Scope (the traditional BR scope should be optional);- Clamber (I’m not really against this, maps are being designed around it so I’ll have to see how it plays in the beta);- Thruster pack (once again, this had its merits in H4 but if I had to choose to keep or remove I’d remove it and bring back traditional BR battles); and- Ground pound.

I don’t think I disagree with that at this point.

As for the positivity of Halo 4 pros - we see that with every new Halo and I dare say it has more to do with those pros wanting to protect any income sources they can for as along as possible.

#3

> 2533274840166174;2:
> That was a good read and I don’t disagree with most of the individual points you make.
>
> I think that most of the negativity is coming from the idea that while Smart Scope, Sprint, Clamber, Thruster pack and Ground pound may not be the end of the franchise (that remains to be seen) they were additions many of which it was very clearly indicated from Halo 4’s limited lifespan did not need to be there.
>
> Why must we now several years down the track be debating about how they aren’t the end of the world.
>
> That is to say if you take all the enhancements they’ve made graphically and gameplay enhancements they’ve made since Halo 4 minus the following, you’d have a game with more appeal to halo fans and longevity generally:
>
> - Sprint (this is the main culprit but it’s not going anywhere clearly);
> - Smart Scope (the traditional BR scope should be optional);
> - Clamber (I’m not really against this, maps are being designed around it so I’ll have to see how it plays in the beta);
> - Thruster pack (once again, this had its merits in H4 but if I had to choose to keep or remove I’d remove it and bring back traditional BR battles); and
> - Ground pound.
>
>
> I don’t think I disagree with that at this point.
>
> As for the positivity of Halo 4 pros - we see that with every new Halo and I dare say it has more to do with those pros wanting to protect any income sources they can for as along as possible.

I suppose you are correct about the pros. However, with Halo pros working at 343, I feel like things will be different. I don’t believe that 343 deserves the reputation of “destroyers of Halo” as Halo 4 was their first attempt. I have a measure of confidence. Anyways, thanks for the read.

#4

> 2533274840166174;2:
> That was a good read and I don’t disagree with most of the individual points you make.
>
> I think that most of the negativity is coming from the idea that while Smart Scope, Sprint, Clamber, Thruster pack and Ground pound may not be the end of the franchise (that remains to be seen) they were additions many of which it was very clearly indicated from Halo 4’s limited lifespan did not need to be there.
>
> Why must we now several years down the track be debating about how they aren’t the end of the world.
>
> That is to say if you take all the enhancements they’ve made graphically and gameplay enhancements they’ve made since Halo 4 minus the following, you’d have a game with more appeal to halo fans and longevity generally:
>
> - Sprint (this is the main culprit but it’s not going anywhere clearly);
> - Smart Scope (the traditional BR scope should be optional);
> - Clamber (I’m not really against this, maps are being designed around it so I’ll have to see how it plays in the beta);
> - Thruster pack (once again, this had its merits in H4 but if I had to choose to keep or remove I’d remove it and bring back traditional BR battles); and
> - Ground pound.
>
>
> I don’t think I disagree with that at this point.
>
> As for the positivity of Halo 4 pros - we see that with every new Halo and I dare say it has more to do with those pros wanting to protect any income sources they can for as along as possible.

Halo 4’s lifespan was ruined by an all-too-easy ranking system. Seriously, it was the same amount of XP for every high rank. At least in Reach, the XP needed went up as you ranked up.

#5

My issue with these these abilities is that I feel they are dumbing down the game. The game will be much more forgiving now - if you can charge in and realize you shouldn’t have pushed so far, you can just thrust or sprint quickly to get away. I’m not against falling back when you are under fire, these things happen. But the introduction of these movement abilities appears to widen the margin for error, appealing to the less skilled players.

Without these abilities, you need to be more thoughtful about your movement (ie. Halo 2 & 3). It’s funny how ‘modernizing’ and ‘progressing’ the movement in this way is actually dumbing down the game. I suspect this will be the case with the clamber ability too, which seems like it will eliminate skill jumps which is very disappointing.

I don’t understand this obsession of speeding up the game. One of the things that differentiates Halo is it’s slower but more precise firefights, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that. I guess we’ll have more of an idea when the beta comes around.

#6

Halo 5’s problems are orders of magnitude below those that plagued Reach and Halo 4:

  • No Loadouts- No class system- No Armour Lock
    The fact the most-hated change is a purely visual affair only strengthens 343’s case that they’ve cracked how to make a good Halo.
#7

> 2533274823737085;5:
> My issue with these these abilities is that I feel they are dumbing down the game. The game will be much more forgiving now - if you can charge in and realize you shouldn’t have pushed so far, you can just thrust or sprint quickly to get away. I’m not against falling back when you are under fire, these things happen. But the introduction of these movement abilities appears to widen the margin for error, appealing to the less skilled players.
>
> Without these abilities, you need to be more thoughtful about your movement (ie. Halo 2 & 3). It’s funny how ‘modernizing’ and ‘progressing’ the movement in this way is actually dumbing down the game. I suspect this will be the case with the clamber ability too, which seems like it will eliminate skill jumps which is very disappointing.
>
> I don’t understand this obsession of speeding up the game. One of the things that differentiates Halo is it’s slower but more precise firefights, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that. I guess we’ll have more of an idea when the beta comes around.

As far as getting-away-cheaply goes, Sprint is far worse than Thrust, because the attacker has to sacrifice his ability to shoot to give chase. By contrast, you can Thrust right after a fleeing opponent and not be penalized for wanting to use your gun.

#8

> 2535420014591908;7:
> > 2533274823737085;5:
> > My issue with these these abilities is that I feel they are dumbing down the game. The game will be much more forgiving now - if you can charge in and realize you shouldn’t have pushed so far, you can just thrust or sprint quickly to get away. I’m not against falling back when you are under fire, these things happen. But the introduction of these movement abilities appears to widen the margin for error, appealing to the less skilled players.
> >
> > Without these abilities, you need to be more thoughtful about your movement (ie. Halo 2 & 3). It’s funny how ‘modernizing’ and ‘progressing’ the movement in this way is actually dumbing down the game. I suspect this will be the case with the clamber ability too, which seems like it will eliminate skill jumps which is very disappointing.
> >
> > I don’t understand this obsession of speeding up the game. One of the things that differentiates Halo is it’s slower but more precise firefights, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that. I guess we’ll have more of an idea when the beta comes around.
>
>
> As far as getting-away-cheaply goes, Sprint is far worse than Thrust, because the attacker has to sacrifice his ability to shoot to give chase. By contrast, you can Thrust right after a fleeing opponent and not be penalized for wanting to use your gun.

Yeah you’re probably right. I wanna see them add a de-sprint thing when you are shot whilst sprinting.

#9

IMO, from what we’ve seen so far, it’s completely unfair to write off Halo 5. 343i have managed to make it an Arena game again (unlike whatever you want to call 4 and to a lesser extent Reach). Is it different? Yes, but why is that bad? The game looks damn fun, the mobility is new and exciting, things like Charge and Ground Pound are not any different than assassinations (they are all just as risky as they are rewarding) and they even play off eachother really well- if someone is charging or Ground Pounding at you, quickly Thrust sideways and they are yours for sure. Clamber comes with newly thought out map design, and it’s bound to give us some cool short cuts to get around the map quicker (and that’s no different than trick jumps, except it’ll be easier). Slide is really great as well, and doesn’t seem to have any sort of negative effect on the gameplay.

Then we’re left with Smart Scope and Sprint. The former is mearly a visual reskin with options for all weapons (and an interesting hover ability)- the only problem I have with it (aside from finding the previous aesthetics more appealing) is that the default button layout will make people use it like ADS even though it isn’t that. Sprint is better than it has been before, with the lack of shield recharge- and to be frank, I never understood the whole “it makes maps bigger” argument. So what if it makes maps bigger?

Halo 5 looks, mostly, like a great evolution to classic Halo gameplay. The Beta will help 343i iron out balancing issues (such as what will probably be an OP Ground Pound, until they nerf it), and when the game ships, it’ll be glorious.

PS: not to stomp on your hopes and dreams, but Custom Loadouts will almost surely be in Halo 5, just not in the Arena playlists (which the Beta focuses on). Various people at 343i have said that the Beta represents a small portion of what the full game will offer. That said, without AAs and probably without perks, Custom Loadouts will be miles better. I also expect some sort of scope customization feature. Anyway, it’s great that 343i are devoting the core and competitive experience of Halo 5 to Arena gameplay (to the point of leaving everything else out of the Beta).

#10

> 2533274823737085;8:
> > 2535420014591908;7:
> > > 2533274823737085;5:
> > > My issue with these these abilities is that I feel they are dumbing down the game. The game will be much more forgiving now - if you can charge in and realize you shouldn’t have pushed so far, you can just thrust or sprint quickly to get away. I’m not against falling back when you are under fire, these things happen. But the introduction of these movement abilities appears to widen the margin for error, appealing to the less skilled players.
> > >
> > > Without these abilities, you need to be more thoughtful about your movement (ie. Halo 2 & 3). It’s funny how ‘modernizing’ and ‘progressing’ the movement in this way is actually dumbing down the game. I suspect this will be the case with the clamber ability too, which seems like it will eliminate skill jumps which is very disappointing.
> > >
> > > I don’t understand this obsession of speeding up the game. One of the things that differentiates Halo is it’s slower but more precise firefights, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that. I guess we’ll have more of an idea when the beta comes around.
> >
> >
> >
> > As far as getting-away-cheaply goes, Sprint is far worse than Thrust, because the attacker has to sacrifice his ability to shoot to give chase. By contrast, you can Thrust right after a fleeing opponent and not be penalized for wanting to use your gun.
>
>
> Yeah you’re probably right. I wanna see them add a de-sprint thing when you are shot whilst sprinting.

Exactly what I said. It would be great if you were forced out of sprint as soon as you were hit.

#11

Abilities make the game to inpredictable. Many pros etc like halo because you can have map control which you really can’t in many other games.

#12

  1. ADS is just awful, an aesthetic change which removes one of the most well known aesthetic features of halo, just to appeal to a different base of players

  2. i don’t like sprint, i wouldn’t use the word fact to describe its effect on control, HOWEVER if it cannot be used as a defensive mechanic more effectively than halo 4 thrusters and actually does get punished hard then there isn’t a heavy issue like what it once was…THOUGH it does seem sprint kills vertical play and definitely has shifted design focus to more horizontal maps.

  3. if clamber had a long animation time then it’d be a problem, dunno if this will support or undermine the trick jumping community

  4. the current problem with thruster pack is FREQUENCY, from pro player lethul on teambeyond he said it could be used every 4 seconds, that is too frequent, if it was 6 or 7 then it would be more balanced with gameplay, in its current form it is too defensive of a mechanic

5 & 6. i’m not really a fan of slide and charge, don’t really have a reason, i’m just not a fan.

  1. ground pound, as long as it’s A. hard to use and B. requires a sufficient charge before using then it’s cool, though i’d rather have it as a pick-up.

the 2 key things that i don’t want to see is the combination of these things allowing for a large amount of defensive gameplay and that they are certain they’re good enough and solid enough to keep them in the future.

halo does too much chopping and changing with features, they remove good ones and leave bad ones lingering…if you have a solid concept then go for it, expand it, make it more dynamic and allow a great sandbox and competitive game to remain both competitive (more emphasis on offensive style gameplay, risk/reward, control etc) and free of limitations to the player allowing new communities to spring up and the old communities such as

  • speedrunning
  • trick jumping
  • tournament
  • forging
  • custom games
  • playlist based (BTB, snipes, grifball, dubs, swat)
  • mongoose launching
  • montaging
  • leaderboard

to flourish, instead of creating mechanics and features which make the player play how you want them too, removing their control and input on what they choose to do in the game.

#13

Thanks for the reasonable post, it’s like a light in a dark room. I agree almost to the T with everything you listed. Although I don’t understand the need for Smart Scope (it’s really only there to appeal to the CoD/Battlefield/Destiny players of the world) I can see how it’s not that big of a deal since the classic reticules are still involved. I really like the direction 343i is heading in in terms of power weapon control and even starts again, it shows that they’re willing to go back to the basics in terms of the skeleton of the game while still adding new and exciting things. I’m really looking forward to the Beta, it should be interesting.

Plus, Breakout is the Counter-Strike/Halo crossover I’ve always dreamed of :stuck_out_tongue:

#14

> 2533274836395701;12:
> 1. ADS is just awful, an aesthetic change which removes one of the most well known aesthetic features of halo, just to appeal to a different base of players
>
> 2. i don’t like sprint, i wouldn’t use the word fact to describe its effect on control, HOWEVER if it cannot be used as a defensive mechanic more effectively than halo 4 thrusters and actually does get punished hard then there isn’t a heavy issue like what it once was…THOUGH it does seem sprint kills vertical play and definitely has shifted design focus to more horizontal maps.
>
> 3. if clamber had a long animation time then it’d be a problem, dunno if this will support or undermine the trick jumping community
>
> 4. the current problem with thruster pack is FREQUENCY, from pro player lethul on teambeyond he said it could be used every 4 seconds, that is too frequent, if it was 6 or 7 then it would be more balanced with gameplay, in its current form it is too defensive of a mechanic
>
> 5 & 6. i’m not really a fan of slide and charge, don’t really have a reason, i’m just not a fan.
>
> 7. ground pound, as long as it’s A. hard to use and B. requires a sufficient charge before using then it’s cool, though i’d rather have it as a pick-up.
>
> the 2 key things that i don’t want to see is the combination of these things allowing for a large amount of defensive gameplay and that they are certain they’re good enough and solid enough to keep them in the future.
>
> halo does too much chopping and changing with features, they remove good ones and leave bad ones lingering…if you have a solid concept then go for it, expand it, make it more dynamic and allow a great sandbox and competitive game to remain both competitive (more emphasis on offensive style gameplay, risk/reward, control etc) and free of limitations to the player allowing new communities to spring up and the old communities such as
>
> - speedrunning
> - trick jumping
> - tournament
> - forging
> - custom games
> - playlist based (BTB, snipes, grifball, dubs, swat)
> - mongoose launching
> - montaging
> - leaderboard
>
> to flourish, instead of creating mechanics and features which make the player play how you want them too, removing their control and input on what they choose to do in the game
>
> > 2533274836395701;12:
> > 1. ADS is just awful, an aesthetic change which removes one of the most well known aesthetic features of halo, just to appeal to a different base of players
> >
> > 2. i don’t like sprint, i wouldn’t use the word fact to describe its effect on control, HOWEVER if it cannot be used as a defensive mechanic more effectively than halo 4 thrusters and actually does get punished hard then there isn’t a heavy issue like what it once was…THOUGH it does seem sprint kills vertical play and definitely has shifted design focus to more horizontal maps.
> >
> > 3. if clamber had a long animation time then it’d be a problem, dunno if this will support or undermine the trick jumping community
> >
> > 4. the current problem with thruster pack is FREQUENCY, from pro player lethul on teambeyond he said it could be used every 4 seconds, that is too frequent, if it was 6 or 7 then it would be more balanced with gameplay, in its current form it is too defensive of a mechanic
> >
> > 5 & 6. i’m not really a fan of slide and charge, don’t really have a reason, i’m just not a fan.
> >
> > 7. ground pound, as long as it’s A. hard to use and B. requires a sufficient charge before using then it’s cool, though i’d rather have it as a pick-up.
> >
> > the 2 key things that i don’t want to see is the combination of these things allowing for a large amount of defensive gameplay and that they are certain they’re good enough and solid enough to keep them in the future.
> >
> > halo does too much chopping and changing with features, they remove good ones and leave bad ones lingering…if you have a solid concept then go for it, expand it, make it more dynamic and allow a great sandbox and competitive game to remain both competitive (more emphasis on offensive style gameplay, risk/reward, control etc) and free of limitations to the player allowing new communities to spring up and the old communities such as
> >
> > - speedrunning
> > - trick jumping
> > - tournament
> > - forging
> > - custom games
> > - playlist based (BTB, snipes, grifball, dubs, swat)
> > - mongoose launching
> > - montaging
> > - leaderboard
> >
> > to flourish, instead of creating mechanics and features which make the player play how you want them too, removing their control and input on what they choose to do in the game.
>
> If we keep everything good from previous Halos and bring nothing bad, how will Halo change? New things need to be brought in at some point, even if they original formula still is solid, and even if in their first iteration, the new features are broken. What you’re suggesting is exactly why CoD is declining now.

#15

> 2533274883561809;13:
> Thanks for the reasonable post, it’s like a light in a dark room. I agree almost to the T with everything you listed. Although I don’t understand the need for Smart Scope (it’s really only there to appeal to the CoD/Battlefield/Destiny players of the world) I can see how it’s not that big of a deal since the classic reticules are still involved. I really like the direction 343i is heading in in terms of power weapon control and even starts again, it shows that they’re willing to go back to the basics in terms of the skeleton of the game while still adding new and exciting things. I’m really looking forward to the Beta, it should be interesting.
>
> Plus, Breakout is the Counter-Strike/Halo crossover I’ve always dreamed of :stuck_out_tongue:

Much appreciated. I just feel like this community has become so toxic to any form of change after Halo 4, which is understandable to an extent. However, if Halo doesn’t change at all, and just maintains the same old formula, it’ll decline faster than it is now.

#16

> 2533274836395701;12:
> 1. ADS is just awful, an aesthetic change which removes one of the most well known aesthetic features of halo, just to appeal to a different base of players
>
> 2. i don’t like sprint, i wouldn’t use the word fact to describe its effect on control, HOWEVER if it cannot be used as a defensive mechanic more effectively than halo 4 thrusters and actually does get punished hard then there isn’t a heavy issue like what it once was…THOUGH it does seem sprint kills vertical play and definitely has shifted design focus to more horizontal maps.
>
> 3. if clamber had a long animation time then it’d be a problem, dunno if this will support or undermine the trick jumping community
>
> 4. the current problem with thruster pack is FREQUENCY, from pro player lethul on teambeyond he said it could be used every 4 seconds, that is too frequent, if it was 6 or 7 then it would be more balanced with gameplay, in its current form it is too defensive of a mechanic
>
> 5 & 6. i’m not really a fan of slide and charge, don’t really have a reason, i’m just not a fan.
>
> 7. ground pound, as long as it’s A. hard to use and B. requires a sufficient charge before using then it’s cool, though i’d rather have it as a pick-up.
>
> the 2 key things that i don’t want to see is the combination of these things allowing for a large amount of defensive gameplay and that they are certain they’re good enough and solid enough to keep them in the future.
>
> halo does too much chopping and changing with features, they remove good ones and leave bad ones lingering…if you have a solid concept then go for it, expand it, make it more dynamic and allow a great sandbox and competitive game to remain both competitive (more emphasis on offensive style gameplay, risk/reward, control etc) and free of limitations to the player allowing new communities to spring up and the old communities such as
>
> - speedrunning
> - trick jumping
> - tournament
> - forging
> - custom games
> - playlist based (BTB, snipes, grifball, dubs, swat)
> - mongoose launching
> - montaging
> - leaderboard
>
> to flourish, instead of creating mechanics and features which make the player play how you want them too, removing their control and input on what they choose to do in the game.

Once again, I don’t see the problem with smart scope. Sprint, I agree, could use a bit more balance, which is why I really like the de-sprint idea, as it will stop undeserving players from situations in which they should have died. With clamber, I feel like it’s just a method just to speed up the game to get it close to what it was in CE. I also believe that if thrust had a seven second cooldown, most player would simply forget to use it. From what I’ve seen, ground pound does look like it’s hard to aim. As for the old communities, the only ones negatively affected by the new abilities are trick jumpers.

#17

> 2533274798556327;11:
> Abilities make the game to inpredictable. Many pros etc like halo because you can have map control which you really can’t in many other games.

Map control has not been removed from what I’ve seen. From that pro match on Truth, both teams had fluctuating control of spawns and power weapons due to their equal skill, not the unpredictable abilities.