The movement speed, jump, crouch, abilities and strafe of Halo 5 are very well tuned e.g. slide+jump+thrust or crouching to dodge headshots etc . I'd like one or two less abilities as there's a lot to get your hands and mind around when playing 5 say versus 2/3/4. Generally I'd be very happy if they kept quite a lot of Halo multi and stopped reinventing the wheel with each game. It feels like the shooting, movement and player controls are pretty bloody spot on. 343 should be focusing more on the gamemodes, maps and content than the actual tuning at this point. Set a standard for launch and we all know how much tweaking goes into these GaaS FPS post launch.
Look at 4 and 5, they completely missed launch windows of staple and expected content e.g. 4v4/5v5 light vehicle combat and objective modes. You know the old default Halo, not MLG/esports based and not WZ based. The entire segment of what "default" Halo was in social and ranked playlists was thrown out. They chased esports, which has made great strides for player controls, movement, shooting, engagements but they have sacrificed focus and resources on maps and modes that aren't MLG/esports focused. Bring on burial mounds, relic, terminal, coagulation, Valhalla, high grounds and more. All light vehicle and small team focused that work for slayer or objective very well. A real cornerstone of Halo was lost. Put resources into this 343 for Infinite.
Now moving forward I've had enough of Bungie and especially 343 in this regard that the innovation wasn't really pushing e.g. warzone ate a lot of resources and cut the packed lunch of the above default Halo, as did esports focus. The REQ system and various modes it brought we're brilliant. Now bring the population back further and gain new fans with the core of Halo that was always more popular than esports or MLG and likely WZ. Push into new areas e.g. Firefight was great and really enables another layer of players with PvE content that don't transition from campaign to multiplayer. Give rise to new PvE modes and squads, we've seen how popular games like Destiny 2 or Fortnite coop etc can be. Halo is missing huge elements of modern games. Destiny took on PvEvP with Gambit, that's innovative alright.
I'm sure they have some surprises in store with Infinite but to me there are key areas of 343 that have to focus and dedicate resources to cornerstone default Halo and PvE modes going forward. I'd kill for Halo to do what Destiny has done with strikes and raids and loot. My mates would too, most of them dropped off Halo from 4 and 5 due to the details in this post. If they keep this tight focus on esports based maps and modes they'll alienate a huge percentage of players again, the skill and team aspects are too high for players to stick with the game. What ends up happening is an initial population bubble and then the decades long Halo skilled teams dominate and turn players away. Games like Apex Legends have more than just MLG team skills or reflex shooting 1v1s, there is a wealth of abilities and loot and support roles that are mixed so fucking well that players of all ages and skills mix together. Halo needs to strike this balance in modes, maps and mechanics if it truly wants to return to former glory.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
