343 still has no idea what they're doing. They need to fire whatever market research firm they're using, because someone from the top is clearly advising them to do the exact opposite of what Halo fans want.
The apparent overemphasis on small team slayer maps is troublesome. The Halo I know has maps like Blood Gulch, Zanzibar, and Sand trap. Small maps for team slayer is fine, but an overemphasis on team slayer is concerning. Hell, the Halo 2 multiplayer e3 reveal was a fantastic mid/large maps designed for objective based gameplay. Objective games like CTF, bomb, and oddball have always been a significant part of what makes Halo fun to play with friends.
Furthermore, nobody wants sprint or any of the power ups. Nobody wants Halo to turn into Unreal Tourney. The people that think Halo is a fast, twich-reflex shooter, with people flying around maps, have clearly never played Halo 1, 2, or (to some extent) 3. Halo is about teamwork and controlling power points and weapons on a given map. Not running around aimlessly getting into 1v1 battles.
Additionally, where the hell are the scripted events in multiplayer? Most of the Halo 2 anniversary maps have scripted events like triggering waterfalls, powering EMPs to disable vehicles, and the original Zanzibar has always had amazing switches, bridges, etc. to control the flow of the battle. Hell, the scripted stuff is even incorporated into the Forge in MCC. Bridges, and doors are great, and they are seemingly non-existent in Halo 5.
As far as I can tell, most Halo 5 maps look like glorified laser tag arenas. This probably goes hand-in-hand with the misguided emphasis on "e-sports."
In short, 343 has no idea what they're doing. Consumers will continue to buy the Halo product anyway until the franchise is run into the ground... or until Halo 6 comes out and they finally learn that to sustain an active community in multiplayer you need to do more than just pander to what your "market research" thinks gamers want. Halo used to be innovative, now it's just pandering.
Geez, what did I just read?
It's obvious why 343i is showing off the smaller, team based arena's first. They want to get the competitive aspect of the game down. Weapon balance, movement, ADS, etc. Small arena style maps are best at showing that. And yes, e-sports. FINALLY, after fucking Halo Reach & Halo 4, Halo is going back to it's competitive roots. Thank you 343i for making an attempt.
As for any of the new additions. I disagree. Sprint is very arguable, you can look at the various threads. I'm willing to give it a chance here. Idk if it'll work or not because it results in increased map size, but we'll see.
Thurst is VERY welcome. Completely new movement that will be very useful gameplay wise.
Clamber seems cool, correct me if I'm wrong but it's basically a ledge grab that replaces crouch jump? Seems fine to me.
Ground Pound I'm iffy on. It's going to have to be balanced.
I'm sure after the Beta they'll see what works and what doesn't.
What they are doing right is giving these features to ALL the players, which puts them on an equal footing. No more every person has a different unknown power up/load out/perk.
As for teamwork/power weapons/etc. Did we.. did we watch the same video? Static weapon spawns back in, timers, etc. Kill times were fine. I mean, why do you think this isn't an emphasis anymore?
"Laser Tag Maps".... One map... One Map looks like a Laser Tag Map. One. Midship, or any of the other maps shown off don't. And considering the matches in Halo 4 & Halo 5 take place in a training/war room it's a pretty cool I think.
We've seen how many maps? 4? And your complaining this game has turned into only an arena shooter.
343i is obviously going to put large maps/BTB into the game. We just haven't seen it yet. Chill.
Edit: And personally, 4v4 Halo is best Halo. Lockout, Midship, Hang em High, Chill Out, The Pit, etc.
