I received my copy of the game yesterday and I've played up until the first couple of checkpoints on Truth and Reconciliation. Honestly, I'm somewhat disappointed with the game. A lot of the changes make it feel off while the gameplay is just as fun as it's always been. I haven't really compiled my thoughts well enough to write a couple cohesive paragraphs so I'm just list stuff for now.
Things I dislike
-New sound effects and unnecessary changes; I hate the way the Pistol and the Sniper Rifle sound and the sound effect the AR makes when switching to it is straight up gone
-Everything is too bright; the ambiance once set by the music and darker visuals is hurt by how well lit everything is. It's so bad that there's absolutely no need to use the Flashlight or Night Vision on the Sniper
-Unnecessary visual changes; things like the shape of doorways have been changed for no apparent reason and most of the Forerunner architecture is too intricate and doesn't match up with what we've seen in previous games. And I miss the bluish tint that the environment had in the original. It really made Halo feel alien and unlike Earth (which is what it looks like now). [Yes, I'm aware that this is an ironic compliant considering the following point.]
-Too much blue; along with dark areas now being well lit, if not fully lit, there's an excessive amount of blue glow coming off Forerunner architecture.
-Human characters look weird; this goes for Johnson and Keyes.
-The UI looks archaic; the UI used for the menus is bland and archaic and uses a mish mash of different UI sound effects from different Halo games. Why weren't any new features implemented like being able to see if your friends have completed campaign, etc.
-Re-used assets; there are a lot of re-used assets in this game like the Covenant and Marine models which reeks of laziness. And oddly enough, older assets are not used in places where it would make sense. Like say, the doors in the Truth & Reconciliation.
-Decorators are an eyesore due to lack of AA; so far this has only been an issue with the grass on the second stage.
Anyway, there's a lot I don't like. The game itself is okay but I don't really see myself playing to completion. I'm more inclined to jump into the Anniversary playlists instead and enjoy the remakes. Oh and there's one thing I noticed about one of the remakes; Certain Affinity has an obsession with making all their Hang 'Em High remakes brown, apparently. It's a huge turn off in today's world where almost every current gen game is brown all over.
