TAWPGUN's IMPRESSIONS
Played a day and a half and I guess I'll write down my thoughts.
Art/Aesthetics
I don't like. Too much of that 343 haze going on. Everything just blends in, there's no visual clarity. When I start on red or blue on Truth I have no idea which direction Pink Tower is because everything looks the same. Also, the spartans blend in super well in each of the bases. I completely overlooked a red guy crouched in red base when I was at Car for the longest time.
Empire is also very busy visually. Due to the strong lighting in the level and the industrial human aesthetic. But much clearer than Truth due to less bloom/haze from the lighting.
I think if you load up Heretic in H3 MCC it looks better than Truth.
Gunplay
VERY solid. With a few exceptions. Sniper seems off. The zoom in animation is weird and it has a strange overlay on the scope. While I don't REALLY mind the ADS on the AR, I think it should just be removed. Reduce aim assist on the AR if possible.
Maps
Truth is good. Big, but I guess it has to be now. Aesthetics are bad though like I mentioned. They could also use a carbine at carbine tower.... I think having a shotty spawn bottom mid to counter the sword would be good too.
Empire: Could use SOME geometry tweaking. I don't really like the sightlines. Too narrow, especially with everyone having sprint/thrust.
Also, it's cool having one snipe spawn, but the other power weapon should be something else. 2 snipers on that small map? Nah.
Spartan Abilities
Sprint: Would prefer it gone like many people but it really doesn't bother me. Shield recharge mechanic on it is good. If it's here to stay... I guess its not so bad.
Slide: Pointless. The one ability I haven't found a use for. Maybe it would be good with the shotgun for closing the gap? That's the only reason I could see myself use it. Maybe if you could use it without reaching max sprint it would be good. Meaning if you need to gtfo and get low in a hurry you can hit sprint and crouch and the spartan would do a slide.
Hover/Stabilizers: Turn them to manual BY DEFAULT. While on Manual I love them. I've been able to use that extra time in the air to get shots off. I really like what it adds to your combat options. Might even be cool to be able to activate it while not zoomed in.
Ground Pound: I'm indifferent but something needs to be done so I can ghandi hop and crouch jump without activating this. At any high level play I think it's a dumb move all around. But damn is it satisfying to pull off. It's one of those things that the risks kinda outweigh the rewards, but the style points are huge. If someone pulls this off in a tournament the crowd would go nuts. I've started to be able to use it a lot better.
Clamber: Thought I would hate it. Just kinda indifferent. It gets rid of timing and skill jumps but it makes movement SO much more fluid. Keep it imo. Perhaps add some skill to it by making it so if you land a jump and you just BARELY miss it, the clamber is really fast. But if you missed it and are like waist/reticle level with the ledge the clamber will be slower as you pull yourself up. This way people who land the jumps right will be rewarded. Just a thought.
Thruster: SO GOOD.
Smart Scoped: On traditionally scoped weapons, I really don't notice it. Yes even on the DMR. It truly is cosmetic. I can dig it on the SMG since its a pick up that shreds people at close-mid. On the AR, I really don't feel annoyed by it, I just think it's silly and the new AR is powerful enough without it. Remove it off the AR, but overall Smart Scope ain't nothin to worry about.
Movement
Love the new movement options in this game. I think base speed could use a 5-10% increase. Haven't had as much luck using the classic strafe.
Medals and Steitzer
Both need to calm down. I LOVE some of the medals and the steitzer that goes along with it. Perfect is an awesome medal. I like reversal too. Others are just silly. Hard Target, Big Game Hunter, Cliff hanger. Airborne Snapshot.... I'm ok with these being medals but Steitzer doesn't need to say them.
Spartan Chatter
Needs to be toned down, and it will be according to Frankie. I like the enemy and POWER weapon call outs. But the "YOU"RE A MACHINE KEEP IT UP" and "I PICKED UP A DMR" are dumn and pointless. Even the friendly fire and grenade spam ones are silly considering there is no friendly fire. If there was I would appreciate it. I guess if FF can be turned on they'd be nice to have.
Kill Cam
I think Kill Cams can be interesting, but they shouldn't play right away or should be optional. I hate how it goes to kill cam immediately after death so you can't even see if the guy you were shooting was cleaned up or if you got a kill beyond the grave. Ideally, it should be the classic Halo death cam, with a "press X to view kill cam" prompt if you are really curious.
Needs to be a final kill cam also. Would be preferable to spartan dudes fiving each other.
Ranks
Can we get a more in depth conversation on these? I do not understand the metrics behind them. What the performance increase/decrease amount is and how it is calculated. What qualifies a person for their starting tier. How does it change once you get to Pro or Semi Pro.
Sound
I actually don't hate all the beeps but I do think its a bit of sensory overload sometimes. Sometimes I can't tell when my shields have popped.
Miscellaneous/Bugs
Party system/UI is messed up. MM crashes a lot. Active Roster is wonky. Duplicate names in lobbies. The lobby itself looks super barren. Armor during customization won't render properly.
I think the BR/DMR/SMG and those tier weapons on the map need a Halo 2 Anniversary Icon to help me find them.
The game chat is all messed up too. It won't load in until after the game is all matched up
And where is the classic halo respawn sound? Beep beep beep BEEEEP. 343 will kill Halo if this isn't added in.
OVERALL: I love it. Has its issues but I really like it. They doin goooood.
