Now, let me start off with the weapon sandbox of previous halo games ( halo 1 - reach ), in a nutshell :
- One main , dominant, easy to use weapon, that is hard to master when killing other players that also have the same weapon. In halo 1, this was the pistol. In halo 2 and 3, this was the Battle Rifle. In halo reach, this was the Dmr. - If you wearn’t skilled enough to use these weapons, you have to resort to weapons that are vey easy to use, easy to master, but are laughable in firepower, compared to that one dominant weapon. In halo 1, this was everything but the pistol. In halo 2 3, this was the smg / assualt rifle.Due to the sandbox of these games, the majoriy of players simply preferred to play gamemodes which consisted in Br / Dmr Starts, and the reason for that is straight foward ; in a ar / smg start gametype, if the other team acquires that one dominant weapon before yours, your out of luck. As a side note, combatting power weapons would be very difficult, and isnt always worth the struggle.
Furthermore, No matter what the gametype, however, every map had weapon variety that was insignificant because of how outclassed pick - up weapons (excluding power weapons) were against the one dominant weapon.
Now, lets talk about the halo 5 weapon sandbox.
And no, I am not going to bash on it.
- Weapons are now near - perfectly balanced. The assualt rifle is now a viable weapon against a precision weapon, including the Battle Rifle and Magnum for example, in close to almost - mid range ; the same range the assualt rifle fell short against in the previous halo titles mentioned at the start of this post ( halo 1 - reach ). However, a perfect kill from a precision weapon, firing at its highest rate of fire, will always defeat an assualt rifle, although this dosent arguably quite happen unless a match is of higher level play. - Weapons that were considered useless, are now … Useful. The plasma rifle, or should i say , the Storm Rifle, is now a great weapon, for example, having the lowest time to kill of all automatics, even out - pacing the precision weapons, in close to almost - mid range. - Automatic weapons are essentially powerful up to close to almost mid - range. This is considered perfect. Anywhere longer than that, then the automatic weapon, such as the smg, will be beaten by a precision weapon.Weapon variety, is now significantly increased, due to virtually every non - precision weapon being able to match, in some cases prevail, against what used to be that one dominant weapon. Assualt rifle start gametypes now promote weapon variety, which has been what these types of gametypes are for. They had little meaning in the previous halo games. Now, they do .
The problem that a significant amount of players have (and i say significant, because this is a common complaint in arena matchmaking ), is that many players adored the weapon sandbox of halo 1 - reach, and are displeased to see automatic weapons being able to persistently outkill a precision weapon in close to near - mid range, as this was almost never the case in previous halo titles. This explains the immense complaints on automatic weapons in halo 5 mulitiplayer. Also, it explains why some players view this game as taking less skill, because there isnt that one dominant weapon you had to be good with. It is the weapom balance formula which most veteran halo players liked, and what made halo gunplay unique and interesting.
I say “veteran” halo players because this consisted of those who’s first halo game was from halo 1 - reach , arguably just halo 1 - 3 . And apparantly, most of the player fanbase are veterans, having been played halo as late as halo 3 - reach, as early as halo 1, and are still interested in the franchise. Im proud to be one of them (:
To these types of players, this popular concept they grew up with is thrown out the window and replaced with a more modern, typical based gun balanced sandbox that many other games on the market share. They prefer the old halo gun balance
To other types of players that have are relatively new to halo, have started playing for a few years, or players from halo 1 - reach that adored weapon variety and disliked the old weapon sandbox, they prefer halo 5’s gun balance, and theres nothing wrong with anyones opinion.
I suggest a playlist that caters to the old halo weapon sandbox, while other playlist will remain unaffected.
This way, both sides of players preferring their style of gun balance are equally satisfied without having both to play something the other half dosent like. In this case, this would be players who prefer the one dominant weapon sandbox , playing halo 5’s completely diffierent weapon sandbox, and vice versa.
And please, dont suggest " learn to adapt ", as halo reach had a playlist ( team slayer pro ) which excluded armor abilities, which was a significant part of the game, that a great amount of players liked, and disliked, which is a direct relation to the gun balance of halo 5, compared to halo 1 - reach, with two sides into this ; one favoring the other, as to reach , with one side favoring armor abilities, as an example.
And also, dont suggest " play the mcc ", as it is in a rather poor state in terms of playability, lets not dig into that.
And as a player that is favored for halo 1 - reach sandbox, and has also been playing halo ever since halo 1, as many players have, please do not suggest “get better at the game”.
I have a 1.4k/d in arena as an onyx player against others in that tier. I have hit onyx in slayer , team arena and ffa at least once in the past few seasons every time, except last season , havent played for a month , and preseason, so please, dont think of judging anyones player skill and relate it to their post, no matter the player, it is rude.
Anyways, thank you for reading this post, it was rather long, and i appreiciate the time spent you gave. Feel welcome to share your opinions on this matter. Thank you once again, have a good one!