Here I go.
1.) Playability.
Is game play balanced for everyone? Are the maps original and fun?
Halo Reach:
Is game play balanced for everyone?
In call of duty, (And no, im NOT suggesting that Halo does anything like call of duty) its difficult to select perks for a class. That’s because they are all beneficial to the player, but not having one does not make anyone more powered than everyone else. However, I am here to talk about Halo, which is (used to be, at least) a, personally, funner game.
In halo reach, I am afraid that this is not the case. One person might have sprint, and another armor lock. Who is going to probably win?
What if someone has armor lock and another has jet-pack? what if one has sprint and another has jet-pack? What if a person has gained control of part of the map, only to have that control broken by jet-pack? Drop shield? turns the game into a melee fest. Sometimes, two people might have sprint, but often that is not the case. Armor abilities are just too arguable and for the better of the game should just be removed. Keeping it simple keeps everything easier to balance.
Are the Maps original and fun?
Do I even have to say? The maps aren’t very original, are they? Most of them are knocked from the campaign (and some rather poorly, I might add) and a decent amount are just forged in forge world. That is not to say that they are not fun though. Spire is a great map, I never imagined anything like that added in a multi player, no matter how un-original it is. Sword base is a pretty fun close quarters map (not for living dead, though is it?) A decent amount of maps are fun to play on, no matter how bland the scenery is and how unoriginal they are. 343 did a great job with highlands also, I might add.
2.)Weapon and Vehicle balance and interaction.
Are weapons balanced generally? Are vehicles useful? How about the interaction between vehicles and weapons?
Are weapons balanced generally?
Kind of? It really depends on the weapons placement of the map. Unfortunately, Many of Reach’s players decide to camp and abuse weapons with more…eh…firepower, and that ends up wrecking game play in some situations. However, I do think that there is a good balance between how powerful a weapon is and how much ammo it has. A few things though. The sniper has NEVER been an anti vehicle weapon in any video game, For a good reason, too. I don’t know why they decided to do it in Reach. Generally, I have enough to worry about with a rocket launcher, or a Spartan Laser, Plasma Launcher, Plasma Pistol, or Grenade Launcher hitting me, Why should i have to worry about a weapon designed for taking out primarily PEOPLE! that was the purpose of the sniper!
Also, the DMR is a big one. I love the weapon itself, but it is ruined by the much argued over bloom (recoil) and its range.
Imagine a map like Hemmorage (did i spell that right?). Its supposed to be a Blood Gulch remake. If i remember Blood Gulch properly (which believe me, I do, I play halo Custom Edition very often) people would often run through the map, down the middle, through the tunnels, using the tele’s to get to their enemy base. However, in Hemmorage, the middle of the map is barely used. I believe this is because of the DMR. It’s range makes people generally stay in cover instead of playing halo as it should and always has been played. I don’t know what should be done about it…but something should be done about it. Anyway, I will carry on.
Are vehicles useful?
Is “rofl” a good term to use here? They are too easy to hijack (I have a video of me on a running riot in a banshee and someone takes a good 10 FT hijack on me.) There are way too many anti vehicle weapons, with the addition of the sniper and the DMR into the mix.
Making the sniper and DMR not damage vehicles nearly as much would greatly increase their use.
It seems the banshee and the Scorpian (I apologize for my awful spelling of a few words) are the two really useful vehicles. The scorpian has an almost broken aiming system. Tanks should not and are not able to SHOOT PEOPLE OUT OF MID AIR. Make its shell more like in halo CE (only because it was more fun for everyone this way) where there is a greater spread and it takes a good second or two for the shell to get from point A to point B. Oh, and the mongoose is often worthless because the warthog is just as fast…so yea.
How about the interaction between vehicles and weapons?
I’ve pretty much already explained this one. The vehicles are too easily destroyed.
3.) re-playabilty
Does the game want to make me, well, keep playing?
Halo reach? Sort of. While it does annoy me very much at times, It has its moments and for some reason I find myself playing it quite often.
4.) conclusion
Halo reach is a very strange game. It has its ups and downs. Armor abilites are just too argued over, meaning they should be removed. Halo should always keep the simplicity of core gameplay that it had in halo CE. That, of course, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t bring something new to the table as well.
Oh, and one or two things really fast:
Living dead: Replace the long range pistol with a medium range weapon. Plasma Pistol? problem solved.
Arena: remove community maps.
A couple of other things, but I am tired of typing by now, so…
Sincerely,
Drewdude1234 aka joeysmashed