Disclaimer: This is not going to be a post slamming 343 in a negative manner, rather it is a post about how to make H5 better. This does involve pointing out some less than desirable aspects of the current game, please keep that in mind while reading.
H5 had the potential to be the best (yes BEST) halo ever made multiplayer wise. Many people did not like the campaign for reasons that are understandable, but the multiplayer has so much potential that isn’t being utilized it is insane, so that is what I’m going to focus on. Here’s what 343 should do.
Implement more forge maps into matchmaking. Absolute best Forge mode to date. There’s so many objects and configurations we only dreamed of having in H3. Unfortunately we don’t see many forge maps in playlists like Arena, Slayer, Swat.
Implement H2 BRs as starting weapon and nerf autos for RANKED only. There is a huge sandbox with plenty of weapons for every type of player. This would be good in any other game, but traditionally Halo has been all about precision weapons over anything else (except power weapons). Whether it was the Halo CE Pistol, Halo 2 BR, Halo 3 BR, or Reach DMR, precision aiming has always been the staple of MM game play. The fact that the Storm rifle and AR are actually a viable weapon to use changes the whole dynamic of halo even more so than armor abilities. In the past, it was about whoever had the best raw skill in regards to aiming and strafing, now it is much different. There are whole 20+ page threads on this topic alone so I think you guys are familiar with this stance. The H5 BR is actually pointless to have in the game since they brought in the H2 BR. A nerf to automatics would be ideal and I would say they should implement H2 BR starts in “Ranked” playlist. Halo would be so much more fun for newer and older players alike.
Implement a Ranked and Social split. I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but it’s really not that hard to see. 343 should learn from the Halo 3 MM formula (the most successful halo game to date) and implement that into H5. Sometimes people don’t want to play against a competitive Team of 4 in Team Slayer, sometimes they want to goof off with friends in Social Slayer. People often say “the population is too low for split”, the population is already low, but you can still find a match quickly anyway because of the dedicated servers. Why force a playlist style that the majority doesn’t want? I remember someone from 343 tweeting he doesn’t “believe” in a split, well I don’t think it’s about what you believe it’s about what’s fun for the people that actually purchase the game. On the other hand, I think they should keep the current ranking system. As we all know H3 had a huge problem with derankers and boosters and H5 currently does a good job of mitigating that.
Add Doubles, Team Snipers to Ranked, Action Sack and Social Slayer to Social. Yeah.
Implement more unlockable armor through campaign achievements. Contrary to popular belief, there is a way for 343 to get their micro transaction money AND for players to feel the satisfaction of earning armor similar to H3 system. Maybe the REQ system could grant you certain environmental styles for armor (think pestilence in Halo Reach) while you can unlock the actual armor by completing challenges in the campaign. This will not only give players an incentive to play the campaign again, but also would give players that fun feeling of earning armor similar to how fun it was to get Hayabusa or Recon.
Good job 343 for making the blueprints for an amazing game. I truly hope we can see some changes being made soon.
Simply put… the gameplay. It is one, if not the best FEELING Halo to play. All of your shots hit when they should, 60 FPS is buttery smooth… the game mechanics, as a whole, are a blast.
The game just needs quality content, playlists, and community support! And the next game needs to have the proper support at launch to kick the life of the game off in a healthier way.
343 has done a LOT of things right with H5… they just need to get all of the points in line, as they pretty much were in H2 and H3. And that’s what makes it so frustrating… they were given Halo with all of the proven points of success, they just chose to go their own way with it.
That’s why long-term fans like myself are so vocal! We have seen every up and down in Halo’s lifetime and we care about the game… The evolved gameplay of H5 is great… but just get the game back to its winning formula! The variety in both RANKED and SOCIAL modes, the maps that all offered vastly different experiences from each other, and artistic/environmental themes… we need more content that directly effects gameplay and enhances the game. Not more rehashed REQ’s and game assets!
I agree with you apart from point 2. Don’t nerf the autos, because not many would use them anymore and it would ruin the perfect balance of this game. I get with what you mean with older Halo’s having to rely more on the precision weapons, but the BR’s took less skill to use than now! In fact that goes for all precisions as the autos stood no chance by a good shooter, so it is better to have the current version where the precision weapons require more skill to use, but rewards those who know how to use it effectively and have good shots.
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> I agree with you apart from point 2. Don’t nerf the autos, because not many would use them anymore and it would ruin the perfect balance of this game. I get with what you mean with older Halo’s having to rely more on the precision weapons, but the BR’s took less skill to use than now! In fact that goes for all precisions as the autos stood no chance by a good shooter, so it is better to have the current version where the precision weapons require more skill to use, but rewards those who know how to use it effectively and have good shots.
The plasma rifle should never be able to beat the BR up close. It would be fine if autos weren’t in TS or TA but the fact that they are a go to weapon in playlists that are “competitive” breaks the game
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> Simply put… the gameplay. It is one, if not the best FEELING Halo to play. All of your shots hit when they should, 60 FPS is buttery smooth… the game mechanics, as a whole, are a blast.
>
> The game just needs quality content, playlists, and community support! And the next game needs to have the proper support at launch to kick the life of the game off in a healthier way.
>
> 343 has done a LOT of things right with H5… they just need to get all of the points in line, as they pretty much were in H2 and H3. And that’s what makes it so frustrating… they were given Halo with all of the proven points of success, they just chose to go their own way with it.
>
> That’s why long-term fans like myself are so vocal! We have seen every up and down in Halo’s lifetime and we care about the game… The evolved gameplay of H5 is great… but just get the game back to its winning formula! The variety in both RANKED and SOCIAL modes, the maps that all offered vastly different experiences from each other, and artistic/environmental themes… we need more content that directly effects gameplay and enhances the game. Not more rehashed REQ’s and game assets!
Wholly agreed. I have no clue why they just didn’t follow Halo 3s success formula it was right there laid out for them. All 3 Halo games that have tried to change it since then didn’t really connect with the community as much as it once did.
It’s too far into the development to be anywhere near ‘potential’ to the best, things like no offline mode or split-screen is part of the reason why this will never be considered to be the best, well the general game doesn’t feel balanced enough yet, which is part of the reason why I don’t enjoy the game as much as previous Halo games.