-Scarabs and/or something new that is huge and challenging to fight (be it Forerunner, Covenant or Flood). I want huge and epic battles again, and the less scripted the better (as in, like Halo 3’s Scarab and not like Halo 4’s Lich).
-Dual Wielding. That was one of the things that made Halo great and unique when compared to other shooters. Both Bungie and 343i have so far given up on it because they think it’s too hard to balance and just creates half-weapons, but I think that significantly decreasing accuracy and increasing recoil will balance it out well without having to make the single weapons useless. This also invites the return of many fan favorite weapons (SMG, Plasma Rifle, Spiker, Mauler…).
-Non-Linearity. I really want Halo 5’s campaign to be open. No more box canyons, narrow cliffsides or kill boundaries. Give us huge maps for the campaign and reward exploration with Easter Eggs, Skulls, Terminals, secret goodies and maybe even optional objectives. Make a campaign that has tons of replayability.
-Better Maps!!! Make a lot of them with interactive options like in Zanzibar and make the maps feel less static and more real. For the love of god, place weapons on the map- they give each map it’s own identity and play-style and Ordnance Drops are too few and too random to be a good replacement.
-The Return of Gametypes. Assault, Juggernaught, One Flag (and one-sided games in general), Invasion, Headhunter, Territories, Race, HaloBall and Stockpile. Bring them back, along with everything in Halo 4, and maybe even more. Give us the variety that Halo Reach offered.
-An amazing Forge/Custom Games experience that takes notes from other map editors such as Trials Evolution (which can easily become much more than a motorcycle game), Far Cry 3 (which allows people to create beautiful maps and canvasses all on their own) and Project Spark (which does it all and much more). Give the Community the tools to create something truly awesome, and we will love you for it.
-Don’t try to attract other communities at the expense of your core. Give us at least one Legendary playlist at launch, and have in game CSR (visible at least for the player himself) in certain playlists.
EDIT: Bring back some classic soundtrack. It was awesome. It was Halo. It’s missing. It’s been two main games now, it’s time for the return of the iconic tracks (you know what they are, and if you don’t just pick up Halo 2 and Halo 3’s OSTs, listen to them and pick the best). As awesome as Halo 4’s soundtrack was, the main Halo theme and many other tracks were not there, and the game didn’t get better for it.
