Overall, 343i, well done!
Both Reach and H4’s multiplayer was terribly unbalanced but I believe you humbly recognized their problems and were willing to adapt. H5 truly feels like Combat Evolved, yes it is different and faster paced but we once again all have the same equal opportunity regarding weapons and abilities! This bring me to the first of my Pro’s and Con’s list below:
Pro’s
- Most importantly you returned to an equal playing field! - You brought back the equal opportunity of classic Halo. Regardless of how we feel about weapon balance or spartan abilities at least we all start with the same tools; we all have the same weapons, same abilities, and we all have the same opportunity to pick up more powerful weapons. I believe this equality is pivotal to Halo gameplay and what makes it great when compared to the inequality of COD for example.- Map design (thus far) is great - Symmetrical maps are my favorite, again for the equal opportunity. You expanded the size of the maps for the sake of sprint but they don’t feel too large. You added new jumps for clamber and sprint and it’s fun to discover them! (Like clambering up to the DMR after spawn on Truth and sprint/thrust to the sword.)- Sprint causes shields not to recharge, this is good. - I have discovered that I can still pick off people running away and that I myself get killed frequently when trying to escape. This makes sprint an ability that helps me jump further or gets me to the fight faster rather than a cheap evasion tactic.- Thruster pack. - Dodging grenades/bullets with thrust is awesome. Using thrust to jump further is fun.- Clambering - Makes maps feel more vertical, and adds completely new routes to objectives or enemies, I like it.- Smart Scope - It seems to be purely cosmetic which I like however it should not increase the range of sword lunges or decrease the spread of bullets (like it appears to).- Ground Pound - I don’t particularly like it but I do like that it is not easy to pull off.- Thruster Pause in Mid-Air - Awesome, gives me a few more seconds to put a couple more shots on someone but makes me vulnerable at the same time.- Pistol - It’s great, gives a little range and precision on spawn but takes more bullets to kill a target, very nice.- DMR + BR - They feel like they connect well and they are located all over the maps, this is wonderful.Con’s
- The AR is powerful enough to to make one not even consider picking up a BR or DMR which is a bad thing. It’s difficult to understand why an AR being sprayed at mid range will out gun a DMR or BR on many occasions. You spawn with the AR, it sprays bullets and you simply have to aim in the general direction and hold down the trigger… why then is this more powerful than a weapon like a DMR or BR which you have to locate, maintain precision aim, and rapidly press down the trigger multiple times in order to be successful? The weapon which must be located and requires more skill should always overpower a spawn weapon that simply sprays… unless you are at very close range.- The SMG seems OP. It’s even more powerful than the AR, which makes sense considering you have to pick it up but it’s very frustrating to be mowed down at mid range by these bullet hoses. Keep it super powerful at close range sure, but its power should diminish greatly at mid-range as the bullets spread out.- The charge feels a little cheap. Why even pick up a DMR and sword when you have an AR and charge? Charge should simply have the same damage as a normal melee, it would still be surprising when someone charges up to you quickly and it still would give you an advantage if you are chasing someone.- Hit boxes seem to be a little too forgiving. Some shots are clearly hitting air and not my body yet I died. Additionally shooting an ankle (for example when one thrusts out of the way) should not have the same damage as chest shots.- Ranking based on wins / losses is ok but personal performance needs to be considered. You should not lose quite as many skill points if you do well with kills/assists but your team loses. Halo is both a team game and personal performance game, why even list personal stats after a team match if this is not true?- Spartan callouts and music, they are not necessarily bad but you should be able to turn these off.- Silent ammo pickup - No sound is made when I walk over a weapon and pick up additional ammo, I want to hear it to know I successfully acquired additional bullets.- Screen flashing or screen flickering and unable to join network issues - the only solution I have come up with when I am unable to join and the screen flashes is to power cycle not only my Xbox but my modem and router as well. My NAT is OPEN and all appropriate ports are forwarded yet if I back out or quit the beta I will not be able to rejoin matchmaking until I power cycle my entire network.Thank you for taking the time to consider my observations and thoughts regarding the Beta above. Overall I am sincerely enjoying the beta and am thrilled to know we are headed in the right direction finally! Happy New Year!
**I will update the list above as the beta continues during the coming weeks.