Let me start off by saying that I have been playing Halo since CE, and from that day I first played, I knew something special had been created. What do you know? I, along with many others, were right. When Bungie parted from Halo, I felt a little sad. When I heard that 343i was taking over, I was skeptical and wasn’t sure how a new developer would handle Halo. After playing the game at launch, though, I can say that I am extremely impressed at what 343i has accomplished. This doesn’t mean that the game is without faults. Nothing is perfect, and no game is perfect either. Keep in mind that these are my opinions on the game, and I’m sure some of you agree or disagree with me on some of the points below.
Likes:
The Campaign (I’m going to leave out story details, for obvious reasons): I thoroughly enjoyed the story, from start to finish. It truly was, to me, the most engaging and exciting Halo campaign since Halo 2. The environments were stunning, and practically encouraged you to simply stare in wonder at the massive and beautiful Forerunner architecture. The characters and voice acting were, simply put, beautifully done; seeing their emotions really shine through is one of the highlights of this game for me.
Multiplayer: To me, in terms of overall movement speed and combat, I feel like I am playing an updated version of Halo 3, which is fantastic. The spawning system feels better, if only slightly, from previous installments. There is the occasional time where I am spawned a few feet from enemies, however, when compared, to Reach, it is a vast improvement. I feel that the load-outs were implemented in an excellent fashion, with most of the weapons having great balance (more on this in dislikes). I don’t really like calling them “perks,” but these add some flavor to the game, allowing people to fine-tune their experience in the battles. Armor abilities are perfect, and are no longer being used to get an unfair advantage (anyone else glad that armor lock is gone?).
Dislikes:
Maps/map selection: 343i, you have this wonderful tool called “Forge.” I really, really, encourage you to utilize it now, or implement community created maps. Most of the default maps in multiplayer are great, but there is a severe lack of variety at the moment. With the three new Forge tailored maps, there is no reason not to use one of the most valuable tools known to Halo. Another way to potentially remedy this situation is to add in random map selection, similar to how Halo 3 handled it. If the players don’t like the map that shows up, allow them to veto it. Another concern I have about the maps are weapon spawns. I like the system of weapon drops, but I honestly feel that static spawns would allow for some more exciting battles against the opposing team.
Weapon balance: Nearing two weeks of owning the game, I have noticed only one crucial issue with the weapons: the DMR. I understand that it is a long range weapon, and should be utilized as such. However, it is being used within close ranges, and you know what happens? It dominates everything that is intended to be used in close to mid-range (AR, SR, Suppressor, BR, Carbine…), due to it having the fastest kill time. This is simply unacceptable, and should be addressed soon. Some simple ways to fix this may be:
A) Reduce it’s rate of fire (the other weapons already have fast enough kill times, slowing the DMR to put it on par with the BR won’t hurt anything)
B) Add bloom (make it similar to Reach; encourage people to pace their shots instead of spamming it)
or
C) Give everything a buff (I feel this is completely unnecessary though, as everything else is balanced very well)
Conclusion:
I find myself enjoying this game a lot, even more so than Halo 3, and I definitely feel that the goods of this game outweigh the bad. However, there are some issues that need to be addressed in the future, and I’m confident that 343i will listen to their community. Though I was skeptical at first, I can honestly say that 343i has crafted an excellent addition the Halo series, and I am truly looking forward to the years to come.
If I had to give it rating as of now, it would be a solid 9/10.