Halo 5 - Multiplayer

[Jazzy]

Hey guys, this is my view of how Halo 5's multiplayer could be.

 

I believe this would be the best way to make most of the Halo fans happy, from the fans of the original trilogy that dislike the changes in Halo 4, to the fans who do like the way Halo has changed over time.

 

Please take the time to read all of this and comment, I am interested in what everyone thinks, including both Halo 4 haters and Halo 4 fans.

 

 

Armor abilities

 

I believe that a lot of the hate for armor abilities is misplaced. 

While I agree with the people who think that armor abilities do not work well in Halo, and promote unbalanced game play with the way they are currently implemented, I do not believe that getting rid of them from the game entirely is the best solution.

 

The way I see it:

 

.          They should NOT be a part of the loadouts. Instead, there should be only 1 on each map, and they should be something you have to work for.

.          They should not last forever and they should have only a few uses in them.

.          They should be cleverly chosen and specific to each map.

 

I imagine a map like Sandtrap having a jetpack an equal distance from each team. 

It would not give the team who was using it a huge advantage in terms of kills, because if you were to fly up on such an open map as Sandtrap and shoot someone, you would be exposed and it would be very risky. 

Instead, it could be used to help get from the lower parts of the map, to the higher parts.

 

Here are some more examples I imagine:

 

Haven - Promethean vision (would be helpful when running around the perimeter)

Solace - Thruster pack (help to escape grenades on the top part of the map)

Exile - Hologram (to trick people walking in or out of the narrow caves)

Ragnarok - Regeneration field (safety for players trying to hold down the middle hill)

 

You get the idea! This would mean that they wouldn't be missed (by fans of armor abilities), but also would not ruin the game for people who highly value balance in their Halo experience!

 

To help you see what I am getting at with this, think back to the days of team rockets.

You remember how most people did not like team rockets and would veto it? Yet when playing normal slayer on a map with rockets, most people would love to pick them up and would do what they could to get them!

 

That’s because there’s a huge difference between everyone starting with something, and everyone having to work hard in order to obtain it.

When everyone starts with something, the novelty wears off very quickly.

It is no different with armor abilities.

 

 

Loadouts

 

I am one of those people who values balance in their Halo experience and thinks that everyone should start out on equal terms, so you might be expecting me to say that loadouts shouldn't exist at all, but this is how I view it.

 

I actually enjoy being able to customize and choose my weapons in Halo 4, but there is 1 thing that can ruin this completely, and that is weapon balance.

In Halo 4's current state, I believe that the Carbine, BR, Light rifle and DMR are too unbalanced to work together in the way they should.

As we all know, the majority of people choose DMR, there is almost no point in choosing any other weapon for your primary because you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

I don’t think powerful weapons like boltshot should be in the loadouts, neither should Plasma pistol as this makes it far too easy to take down vehicles, I think that a weapon that can easily stop or destroy a vehicle should be something you have to pick up.

 

 

Sprint

 

I really don’t have a problem with everyone having sprint as a default, it is something that I miss when playing older Halo games.

I think that as long as it is fast enough to be useful, but not so fast that it can easily be abused, then it isn’t really a problem.

 

 

Ordnance drops

 

This is one of my least favourite additions to Halo 4, simply because it promotes too much randomness and throws off the balance of the game.

But instead of saying it should go completely, I am trying to think outside of the box.

Before you dismiss my ideas here, take the time to actually visualize it happening in a game.

 

First of all what is bad about ordnance drops?

 

1.     Randomness – One team might be getting needlers and grenades, while the other is getting binary rifles and incineration cannons, purely based on luck.

2.     Frequency - Ordnance drops come up too often (in my opinion).

3.     Power weapons – Something as game changing as power weapons should not be provided to one team only, but should only ever appear on the map in the same spot so that both teams have an equal opportunity to obtain it.  

 

So what is my solution?

 

1.     Take away randomness, so that the same things come up for both teams.

2.     The frequency of the drops should be reduced to about a half or a third of what it is now.

3.     Power weapons and power ups should be taken out.

 

Let me take this further, and here is where people may disagree with me if they don’t visualize it first.

 

I think weapons should not be in ordnance drops at all, I think that ordnance drops should have an ammo refill option and a grenade refill option.

The grenade option would give you back whatever grenades you use, and the ammo refill would give you more ammo in both your weapons.

Another thing I imagine is that when you get an option for an Ordnance drop, it is on a timer of about 1 to 2 minutes (or whatever turns out best), so that it cannot be saved until the end of the game.

This would reduce the chance of getting a power weapon and refilling it whenever you want.

 

I think that having ordnance drops work this way would encourage more teamwork and communication, because a grenade or ammo refill might benefit someone else on your team more than it does for yourself.

 

The conversations would be more like, “Ok I’ve got an Ordnance drop, does anyone need a grenade refill? I’ve placed them in the yellow corner”.

With Ordnance drops in Halo 4, when you get one it is like, “Oh sweet I’ve got a saw! Time to destroy the other team”.

 

 

Tactical packages and support upgrades

 

I honestly don’t have much of an opinion on these and I really can’t tell if they actually change the balance of the game in any noticeable way. They seem subtle enough not to really matter.

 

It seems to me that the community overall are quite indifferent to tactical packages and support upgrades, as most of the complaints are about other things like weapon balance and ordnance drops.

 

So I personally don’t think it matters whether they keep these in Halo 5 or not, they seem to be more for the novelty of being able to customize, which I have no problem with.

 

 

 

Thank you for reading if you managed to get through it all!

 

So I want to ask the people who do like Halo 4’s multiplayer, do you think my ideas sound good? Would you still enjoy Halo if it was this way?

 

To the people who dislike Halo 4’s multiplayer, do my ideas sound like they would make Halo multiplayer good again? If it still doesn’t sound ideal, what would you tweak to make it even better?

[EpsilonXReAcH]

Ok first up, armor abilities. I disagree, I did think they were unblanced in reach, but in halo 4 I think a fair job was done to make sure they didnt play a huge effect in battle. They should stay how they are.

 

Second is loadouts. I agree, I like the larger sandbox of weapons you start with. Using the same weapon constantly gets tedious. However, as you said, the weapons are not very well balanced at the moment.

 

Third, everone loves sprint. Well, mostly everyone.

 

Fourth is ordnance drops. I agree up until you said take out power weapons and powerups. That would make them pointless. There are grenade spawns all around the map and you already get 2 everytime you spawn. And you get plenty of ammo off of dead bodies.

[KRUS4DE]

I think sprint should be something you have to pick up. Of course you miss it in older halo games, because your used to it. But it is NOT halo esque. COD yes, halo, no. Think about how lockout played in halo 2. Think about how it plays in halo 4. Which was more fun? exactly. Why? Because sprint changes the game entirely. The formula was already perfect.

[EpsilonXReAcH]

Not really cod... Most games allow you to sprint.

[Jazzy]

Ok first up, armor abilities. I disagree, I did think they were unblanced in reach, but in halo 4 I think a fair job was done to make sure they didnt play a huge effect in battle. They should stay how they are.

 

Second is loadouts. I agree, I like the larger sandbox of weapons you start with. Using the same weapon constantly gets tedious. However, as you said, the weapons are not very well balanced at the moment.

 

Third, everone loves sprint. Well, mostly everyone.

 

Fourth is ordnance drops. I agree up until you said take out power weapons and powerups. That would make them pointless. There are grenade spawns all around the map and you already get 2 everytime you spawn. And you get plenty of ammo off of dead bodies.

 

Thanks for replying, I respect your opinions but I have some points to make.

 

First off, I am not saying that the main problem with armor abilities in loadouts is balance, I am saying that it is not as fun as having to work for them, when everyone just has them it gets boring fast. 

This is why I gave the example of team rockets vs picking rockets up.

 

Second, I don't think everyone loves sprint to be honest, as much as I love it, I wont pretend that everyone or most everyone else does.

 

I have to disagree about ordnance drops with grenade and ammo refills being pointless, I think you are not imagining it the way I am, which is fair enough but let me try to show you from my perspective.

 

I am not imagining them being useful for just your primary and secondary weapon, but instead for weapons you may pick up around the map that you do not get as often.

That's why I use the example of communicating with your team, seeing who may have picked up a sniper and is running out of ammo, because he/she can't just spawn with one if they die. 

As for the grenades, people don't always die before they've used their grenades, have you never been on a killing spree in Halo 4 and wished you had grenades on you? I have had this many times, and picking them up off the map isn't always an option.

 

I think the problem here is that if we get given too much too fast (armor abilities in loadouts, ordnance drops without having to use map control to secure the weapon), we become used being spoon fed, and it seems to me to be something that can only get worse if people just accept it.

By the time Halo 6 arrives, I can imagine people moaning if they can't spawn with rockets and shotguns, just because using a DMR or BR is too much like hard work. This is a Halo I never want to see, and it is why I have made this post, because I feel like if the Halo community doesn't speak up, then 343i wont know there's a problem. Although I do feel some people could be more constructive. 

 

I think sprint should be something you have to pick up. Of course you miss it in older halo games, because your used to it. But it is NOT halo esque. COD yes, halo, no. Think about how lockout played in halo 2. Think about how it plays in halo 4. Which was more fun? exactly. Why? Because sprint changes the game entirely. The formula was already perfect.

For me personally, what makes Lockout in Halo 2 more fun than in Halo 4 is not the lack of sprint, but because the gameplay overall is much more balanced and less hectic.

I will say that I wouldn't complain if it was taken out of Halo 5 (as long as it was still in campaign), I can live with or without it and be happy, but I lean slightly more towards keeping it.

[Firellight]

I would make loadouts based on race. Humans get human weapons and elites get covenant weapons. Other than that, let it be an ultimate sandbox. Except for having power weapons. It's hard to balance. But if someone chooses to use a spartan laser and a rocket launcher, so be it. As long as it doesn't put you at an unfair disadvantage. A team that uses spartan lasers and rocket launchers? Oh no, what do we do now? That's when things get unbalanced.

 

I like your idea for ordnance drops, but I would modify them. The thing about ordnance drops is that they consist of almost all of the game fails for Halo 4. I like watching Machinima and RoosterTeeth videos and when 9/10 fails on Fails of the Weak are just ordnance drops landing on banshees, it doesn't get any more exciting than that.

 

So my addition is to have the ability to edit the spawns of ordnance drops - basically giving them a more campaign feeling when ordnance arrives. In Halo 3 when weapons and ammo arrive, they usually come with a pelican drop with troops and a warthog. In Reach they seem to be coordinated on your visor that this is what you need to pick up at this location, which is an objective. In Halo 4 they just magically appear in front of you...

 

What kind of sense is that? Lol let's put this to detail; you can place in forge the spawns of ordnance. There are two kinds of ordnance: ammo, and weapons. They will be coordinated on your visor. On default maps the ordnance drops will spawn near the defaulted spawn points - and in the game, the spawn point nearest to you at the moment of dropping. In forge this makes immersive battles, because people can decorate their ordnance spawn with crates and stuff near it, so when you get ordnance it's like a refill station. Except for dropping form the sky that is. Maybe we can be able to change that in forge, as well. the crates could be the ordnance.

 

And the option to take out ordnance completely would make for great custom game variants.

Ordnance = On/Off

 

I would also make the option to turn off sprinting, too. Back in the days of Halo 3, one of my favourite things to do was to play on Sandtrap with my friends with super speed and jump, and give ourselves swords and/or rockets. We'd either have sword fights or rocket battles, or both. I'm pretty sure others out there in the world liked to do the same thing. But sprinting makes modified speed almost completely obsolete in Halo 4. There's no sense in it. It also restricts the feeling of being chased by your friend with a sword, which was one of the most invigorating feelings in all of Halo any of its players would have while playing multiplayer. Especially with infection!

Sprinting = On/Off

 

Oh and, the custom option to have sword assassination animations should be added, as well. I said this in another thread. It slows down gameplay when having sword battles. Slicing them in the back was the way to go in Halo 3. That way you wouldn't die yourself, because assassinating someone just makes you a vulnerable target to other enemies nearby. I also enjoyed dying right away when getting assassinated, because you'd react to it faster and better than say, you are given an extra second that allows you to relieve you from the ungratefulness your friend just performed.

Sword assassinations = On/Off

 

And all assassination animations should join in, too. Just for the players' preference.

Assassinations = On/Off

 

___

Then there come armour abilities. I'm with you on that one, but it doesn't allow jetpack users the freedom to use their jetpacks. So I would make for a Halo 3/4 mix, by adding in equipment such as the bubble shield and stuff, and have the armour abilities. Some things should be able to spawn with you, some shouldn't. It depends on your loadout options. I have no idea right now how this could be done, but those are my thoughts.