Post by Blade Runner 07 on Apr 8, 2015 21:57:32 GMT -5
So between streaming it, new trailers, reading about it, and discussing it on this forum, it's safe to say that I have Halo on the brain once again. I can't say i like it. The thought of continuing to play the steadily declining franchise past the 12-year mark makes me alittle edgy. I mean, it's not like it's changing for the better. It's barely changing at all. This fact had me asking the question "what would the next Halo game need, to get me excited?" and after alot of thought, I've whittled it down to five key things that would pull the franchise off the COD clone path and into something unique and exciting again.
1. Greater freedom of movement:
So, I played Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare last year. It was pretty much more of the same accept for a few functions brought about by the Exo Suit the soldiers wore in the game. I bring this up for a single feature of which needs to make it's way to Halo and that is the boost jump. In Advanced warfare, taping the A button has you jumping as you would expect but another tap and your launched several feet into the air making most vertical obstacles optional. I loved having this kind of vertical freedom. You could run a straight line to most places on a map by simply jumping over anything that got in your way. It made you a target sure, but once you get used to it it's hard not to fall in love.
Considering the ever advancing suit of armor the Spartans wear in the Halo universe it's about time something like this is implemented. It's jarring to say the least when you go back into the likes of Halo 4 and you're faced with level geometry that you can see over but can't jump over to have you clumsily walking around. After all, the Master Chief is supposedly wearing a suit of some of the most advanced technology in the universe. This should extend to the other nice touch present in the latest COD, infinite sprint. Cmon, would infinite sprint (without a shield penalty) really break the game? Were on Halo 5 now and the abilities of a spartan haven't evolved since Halo: Reach. It's been 5 years in both the in-game universe and real time. Isn't it about time Spartans feels powerful again?
Loving this mobility!
2. Improve the gun game.
First of all, a minor thing. Get rid of the cool down time for turrets. I know that it's something that was added to Reach for realism but it serves no real purpose beyond that. Constantly firing unlimited ammo from a turret was a blast in early games and having that overheat/cool-down time just interrupts the action and makes the mere presents of turrets irrelevant. I've never seen anyone dominate a multiplayer game by staying on a turret the whole time. It's a pointless element. Be gone with it.
This next one is a big one. Okay, so in getting the Mark VI suit at the beginning Halo 2 the Master Chief gained the ability to accurately aim two weapons at once. Yeah, we know this is dual wielding, and thats the in-universe explaination as to why the functionality was absent in Halo:CE and Reach. Those spartans had Mark Vs and would suffer a seveare dip in acuracy if they tried to dual wield. Gotcha. So where was it in Halo 4, and where is it in Halo 5? Through Halo 2 and Halo 3, dual wielding became one of the basic fundamentals of the Halo sandbox. Crossing a plasma pistol with an SMG was a great combo and it should be brought back. It goes without saying that this should come to solve the annoying ammo scarcity that was present in Halo 4 with an abundance ammo for the spray and prey style that duel wielding encourages.
Also, enough with the ADS. Yeah, ADS was practically there already for scoped weapons like the Battle Rifle, DRM, ect. so I could see those weapons naturally evolving into the popular ADS mechanic found in every other FPS these days. In Halo 5, everything from the Assault Rifle to the SMG, to the Plasma Pistol has ADS and it's absolutely ridiculous that ADS is the most prominent change to the gameplay formula. This is clearly just to cater to the COD crowd, and despite what the fanboys will tell you it DOES effect accuracy.
ADS Forever?
3. Bring back the old Halo music:
Not too much to explain here. Sorry, but the score present in Halo 4 was just plain forgettable. They should really try sampling a bit more from the past installments in the franchise. I'm not saying they have to recycle every note ever heard in the original Halo trilogy, but wouldn't it be nice to get a few familiar audio cues? It would go a long way into tieing in with the roots of the series while simultaneously allowing the composer to develop new twists on familiar tunes and meld the Halo 4 themes with the pre-existing music to present a more natural progression throughout the series. The sound effects should always be tweaked with fan feedback in mind but for the most part, no gripes there.
We Need more music like this.
4. Simplify the enemies.
The enemies don't have to be a push-over by any means but I can't help but think of Reach and how blissfully free it was of annoying filler enemies. You know, the kind that either come at you in groups of 20+ and rush you like the flood, or the ammo wasting bullet dodgers that are pretty much the entirety of the Promethean armada. I think whats so endearing about your basic squad of Covenant is how straight forward they are. Elites can dodge but are predictable in their movements, Jackles have shields but are slow to fire, and Grunts cower when their superiors are killed. It's a beautiful system and complemented by the Hunters which serve as mini bosses and the Brutes which feature the toughness of a hunter but the agility of an Elite. Anything else just feels like padding. Yeah, I'm referring to those lame, Drone sections of any Halo game. Anyway, what I'm saying is that it's imperative to have enemies you don't have to chase around like scared chickens or waste clips upon clips of ammo on simply because they are too fast, or require the death of an ally to defeat ala watchers. Any common enemy where your bullets have no effect unless shot in the right place or worse, in the right order ends up feeling like your jumping though hoops and that's not only frustrating, and annoying, but it reaks of cheap game design.
No warning!
5. Player Customization:
Being able to customize your helmet, forearms, shoulders, chest, legs, etc. in Halo Reach was a great way to show off your accomplishments. It was simple enough. Play the game, earn credits, buy armor. It was a slow process but an attainable piece of armor was always in sight. That Mark VI helmet, or gold visor was never more than a few days of challenges and multiplayer games away. This was done away with in Halo 4 in favor of challenges in the form of commendations that often required either grinding, boosting or a bit of both. Needless to say, the customization system felt a bit out of touch in Halo 4, and that's an issue nobody wants to see repeated in future installments. For example, one of the coolest sets of armor in the game was the Venator armor. It required you to get 50 assassinations in matchmaking which could take weeks or even months of playing each day, focusing on sneaking behind an enemy for an assassination. This usually meant 90% of the players wearing a rare armor probably cheated to obtain it and through that, all value of said armor was lost. It's not a HUGE thing, but it's an unlockable to shoot for when your friends arnt around to play with and it actually being obtainable without having to severely modify your play style or flat-out cheat is key.
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
So there you have it. Alot of this just looks like they need to roll back the franchise to about 2010 but in all fairness I tried my best not to make the Halo purist in me influence this article. For better or worse Halo is going to evolve with the genre. 343i is just taking the franchise in the wrong direction. They should be innovating and building upon what worked in the past rather than trying to adhere to the gameplay conventions popularized by their main competition. Ten years ago Halo was untouchable. It was the best in the genre at the time, rivaled only by the Likes of Half-Life 2. If imitation is truly the deepest form of flattery, then 343 Industries has gone to imply that the FPS throne truly belongs to Call of Duty.
1. Greater freedom of movement:
So, I played Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare last year. It was pretty much more of the same accept for a few functions brought about by the Exo Suit the soldiers wore in the game. I bring this up for a single feature of which needs to make it's way to Halo and that is the boost jump. In Advanced warfare, taping the A button has you jumping as you would expect but another tap and your launched several feet into the air making most vertical obstacles optional. I loved having this kind of vertical freedom. You could run a straight line to most places on a map by simply jumping over anything that got in your way. It made you a target sure, but once you get used to it it's hard not to fall in love.
Considering the ever advancing suit of armor the Spartans wear in the Halo universe it's about time something like this is implemented. It's jarring to say the least when you go back into the likes of Halo 4 and you're faced with level geometry that you can see over but can't jump over to have you clumsily walking around. After all, the Master Chief is supposedly wearing a suit of some of the most advanced technology in the universe. This should extend to the other nice touch present in the latest COD, infinite sprint. Cmon, would infinite sprint (without a shield penalty) really break the game? Were on Halo 5 now and the abilities of a spartan haven't evolved since Halo: Reach. It's been 5 years in both the in-game universe and real time. Isn't it about time Spartans feels powerful again?
Loving this mobility!
2. Improve the gun game.
First of all, a minor thing. Get rid of the cool down time for turrets. I know that it's something that was added to Reach for realism but it serves no real purpose beyond that. Constantly firing unlimited ammo from a turret was a blast in early games and having that overheat/cool-down time just interrupts the action and makes the mere presents of turrets irrelevant. I've never seen anyone dominate a multiplayer game by staying on a turret the whole time. It's a pointless element. Be gone with it.
This next one is a big one. Okay, so in getting the Mark VI suit at the beginning Halo 2 the Master Chief gained the ability to accurately aim two weapons at once. Yeah, we know this is dual wielding, and thats the in-universe explaination as to why the functionality was absent in Halo:CE and Reach. Those spartans had Mark Vs and would suffer a seveare dip in acuracy if they tried to dual wield. Gotcha. So where was it in Halo 4, and where is it in Halo 5? Through Halo 2 and Halo 3, dual wielding became one of the basic fundamentals of the Halo sandbox. Crossing a plasma pistol with an SMG was a great combo and it should be brought back. It goes without saying that this should come to solve the annoying ammo scarcity that was present in Halo 4 with an abundance ammo for the spray and prey style that duel wielding encourages.
Also, enough with the ADS. Yeah, ADS was practically there already for scoped weapons like the Battle Rifle, DRM, ect. so I could see those weapons naturally evolving into the popular ADS mechanic found in every other FPS these days. In Halo 5, everything from the Assault Rifle to the SMG, to the Plasma Pistol has ADS and it's absolutely ridiculous that ADS is the most prominent change to the gameplay formula. This is clearly just to cater to the COD crowd, and despite what the fanboys will tell you it DOES effect accuracy.
ADS Forever?
3. Bring back the old Halo music:
Not too much to explain here. Sorry, but the score present in Halo 4 was just plain forgettable. They should really try sampling a bit more from the past installments in the franchise. I'm not saying they have to recycle every note ever heard in the original Halo trilogy, but wouldn't it be nice to get a few familiar audio cues? It would go a long way into tieing in with the roots of the series while simultaneously allowing the composer to develop new twists on familiar tunes and meld the Halo 4 themes with the pre-existing music to present a more natural progression throughout the series. The sound effects should always be tweaked with fan feedback in mind but for the most part, no gripes there.
We Need more music like this.
4. Simplify the enemies.
The enemies don't have to be a push-over by any means but I can't help but think of Reach and how blissfully free it was of annoying filler enemies. You know, the kind that either come at you in groups of 20+ and rush you like the flood, or the ammo wasting bullet dodgers that are pretty much the entirety of the Promethean armada. I think whats so endearing about your basic squad of Covenant is how straight forward they are. Elites can dodge but are predictable in their movements, Jackles have shields but are slow to fire, and Grunts cower when their superiors are killed. It's a beautiful system and complemented by the Hunters which serve as mini bosses and the Brutes which feature the toughness of a hunter but the agility of an Elite. Anything else just feels like padding. Yeah, I'm referring to those lame, Drone sections of any Halo game. Anyway, what I'm saying is that it's imperative to have enemies you don't have to chase around like scared chickens or waste clips upon clips of ammo on simply because they are too fast, or require the death of an ally to defeat ala watchers. Any common enemy where your bullets have no effect unless shot in the right place or worse, in the right order ends up feeling like your jumping though hoops and that's not only frustrating, and annoying, but it reaks of cheap game design.
No warning!
5. Player Customization:
Being able to customize your helmet, forearms, shoulders, chest, legs, etc. in Halo Reach was a great way to show off your accomplishments. It was simple enough. Play the game, earn credits, buy armor. It was a slow process but an attainable piece of armor was always in sight. That Mark VI helmet, or gold visor was never more than a few days of challenges and multiplayer games away. This was done away with in Halo 4 in favor of challenges in the form of commendations that often required either grinding, boosting or a bit of both. Needless to say, the customization system felt a bit out of touch in Halo 4, and that's an issue nobody wants to see repeated in future installments. For example, one of the coolest sets of armor in the game was the Venator armor. It required you to get 50 assassinations in matchmaking which could take weeks or even months of playing each day, focusing on sneaking behind an enemy for an assassination. This usually meant 90% of the players wearing a rare armor probably cheated to obtain it and through that, all value of said armor was lost. It's not a HUGE thing, but it's an unlockable to shoot for when your friends arnt around to play with and it actually being obtainable without having to severely modify your play style or flat-out cheat is key.
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
So there you have it. Alot of this just looks like they need to roll back the franchise to about 2010 but in all fairness I tried my best not to make the Halo purist in me influence this article. For better or worse Halo is going to evolve with the genre. 343i is just taking the franchise in the wrong direction. They should be innovating and building upon what worked in the past rather than trying to adhere to the gameplay conventions popularized by their main competition. Ten years ago Halo was untouchable. It was the best in the genre at the time, rivaled only by the Likes of Half-Life 2. If imitation is truly the deepest form of flattery, then 343 Industries has gone to imply that the FPS throne truly belongs to Call of Duty.