Disclaimer: I am simply an avid Halo fan and consistent player of its online multiplayer arena. I am not a pro player. I was granted early access to the Halo 5 Beta via the “Xbox Preview Dashboard” app. The following are my general thoughts surrounding specific elements of the game that could be tweaked to make the gameplay experience that much better.
1. Thruster Pack
I have over 100,000 kills in Halo 4’s online matchmaking and 95% of the time I loaded out with the thruster pack armor ability. The general theme I’m noticing with Spartan Abilities is their being limiting in some way, but also situationally useful. Sprinting doesn’t allow your shields to start regenerating, ground pounding gives away a height advantage, ect. Thruster Pack is not limited in almost any way (bar its brief cooldown period). It does not noticeably effect your shield recharge and is ridiculously useful for dodging incoming grenades, evading the Prophet’s Bane (i.e. energy sword), and completely escaping otherwise certain death. The bottom line? The thruster pack needs to be limited in some way so people do not automatically spam it in close-to-death scenarios. I can consistently run circles around players who do not know how to use the thruster pack. It is a very useful and skilled spartan ability (one of the best to be implemented into Halo thus far).
My Suggested Fix: Link the Thruster Pack spartan ability to the player’s shields, but not in the same way as sprint. Simply put, if the player has no shields, disable the thruster pack ability. If the player has any shields at all, the thruster pack works as normal. Players can already sprint away from loosing battles and don’t need the additional help to escape a bad push or terrible map-movement decision that the thruster pack can provide. Additionally, a second or more could be added to the thruster pack’s cooldown period making it an even more situational and specifically useful ability.
2. Volume Controls
It goes without saying that Halo has had some stellar audio balancing in previous games. Regardless, volume controls should be present in most current generation games, especially those console exclusive titles literally expected to sell the system they’re being made for.
My Suggested Fix: Any music that plays inside multiplayer games or while sitting on menus should be a toggle-able on/off option. I would much rather be able to turn the music off completely than just reduce its volume. I really don’t think a repetitive in-game sound bite that plays every time you die is useful to players in any way. It just adds further disorientation to an already delightfully chaotic and noisy battlefield. Sound bites directly after a win/loss or right before the game’s start are fine and serve as audio “guideposts,” marking the beginning and inevitable end of games. Anything else that encroaches audio-wise mid-game during an intense online match is sprinkles on an already loaded cake.