Halo 5: Guardians Beta - Early Access Thoughts

I have been given early access to the Halo 5: Guardians Beta. This thread is where I'll be sharing my thoughts and opinions on it. I know that the vast majority of us are Halo fans, and ones that like different games for different reasons. If there is something you are curious about, or want to know, just leave a request in a reply, and I'll do my best to determine the nature of it/if it exists in the Beta. [url=http://xboxclips.com/Onyx81#]My Gameplay Clips (Only watch the 'Upload Studio' clips)[/url] ————————————————————————————————————————-- [b][u]DAY 1[/u][/b] [quote][b][u]First Game:[/u][/b] Given the fact there are 5 brand new abilities, I neglected to really use them, giving me a good idea of what the base game plays. So, the movement of the game feels a lot like Halo 4. Even with Clamber in, the jump height has been increased. The jump is probably as floaty/weighty as Halo 4's despite it being slightly higher. Strafing seems to be at a Halo 4 level,as is the movement speed. The shooting mechanics are very nice. The least amount of autoaim since Halo CE. There doesn't appear to be any bullet magnetism except for getting headshots. Either that, or the hitbox for the head is fairly large. It's not too much of an issue. I found it comparable to Halo 2. In short: Movement = Halo 4 Gunplay = Halo 2 w/o autoaim [b][u]Spartan Abilities:[/u][/b] The most familiar of them is obviously Sprint and Thruster Pack. Sprint has been nerfed quite a bit. It's less maneuverable. I won't talk about it's relationship with shielding because I'm sure you all know about that. However, it's not enough. It is however, in the right direction. There were numerous occasions where I forgot the severe penalty for sprinting and absolutely destroyed myself. My proposal to nerf it even more, is to have it so if you are shot while sprinting, you "de-sprint". That removes the ability to run away if you are being engaged. Making it so attempting to flee results in death. The thruster pack is very natural and fits in very well. It's extremely fluid. I really have no complaints about it other than it can be chained together with sprint for concerning maneuvers. Yes, it empowers the player greatly, and makes it feel great, but often times the player chooses it to aid themselves in escaping. There needs to be some kind of relationship between sprint and thruster pack that limits their use together. I know Ghandi had some interesting ideas. So there's that. Let's see. Lets talk about Clamber. Didn't really know what to think of it. On one hand, yeah, it casualizes the shit out of jumping and such, but on the other, it opens up so many angles of attack, and creates much, much more vertical maps. Makes some very interesting combat scenarios that I enjoyed a lot. It almost seems counter intuitive, but I would suggest to put clamber spots that aren't so obvious to allow for some skill involved. There spots like that on Truth actually. Took me 10 or 15 matches on Truth to find them all. Partly because they'e not in the main view of the map's flow, which is perfectly fine. Smart Scope. It's literally just scoping in with a fancy UI. Only one that isn't is the AR, which I think has a slightly slower look speed. Which I don't mind considering it's a weapon that rarely even needs it. Slide is literally useless. The range is far too short, and it's too slow. Needs to be buffed. Charge is actually pretty good. Fairly hard to pull off, and the fact you need to be sprinting for a while to do it makes it pretty high risk. Probably does about 65% to 70% damage. Here's the most controversial ability. Ground Pound. Early on, I determined it was balanced, but by the end of the day, I realized that it's still too powerful. Too easy to hit your target. Aiming reticle needs to be smaller, and the mechanics adjusted accordingly. Another possible way to balance it is to make it so it is only one hit kill when it has been charged up fully. The damage should scale proportionally for how long you've been charging it as well. [b][u]Final Game:[/u][/b] By the end of the day, I had integrated the new abilities into my Halo repertoire. It really makes you feel powerful when you know when to use them. I can't really tell you if they fit in Halo's formula or not. It's obviously up to you to determine that. But I will say that these abilities don't feel like Armor Abilities. They are much better integrated into the gameplay. And in my opinion, they are honestly better because everyone has the exact same ability. The visual cues for each of them are easy to spot as well.[/quote] [b][u]DAY 2[/u][/b] [quote]Let's talk about the weapons. [u][b]MA5D ICWS (Assault Rifle)[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 32 Rounds Accuracy: Medium-High Thoughts: Easily the best Assault Rifle in the franchise. It is highly accurate, and dishes out quite a bit of damage. Starting off a battle using Smart Scope will ensure a nice lead in the amount of damage dealt due to the great accuracy bump. Something I noticed is that the trade off for using Smart Scope is higher recoil (reticle shifting up) Suggestions: Lower the STK by 1, and I think the weapon will be perfect. [u][b]M6? PDWS (Pistol)[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 12 Rounds Accuracy: High Thoughts: An extremely useful pistol that requires a great deal of skill to use. One of the few weapons where the auto-aim is so low, it might not even be there. 2x Smart Scope allows for slightly extended engagements, but is obviously not suitable for cross-map ranges. The high rate of fire combined with the large magazine size leads to a decent kill time, but anyone who masters this weapon will be able to absolutely dominate the beginning of the match. Suggestions: None that I can think of. Weapon is very fine tuned and balanced in my eyes. [u][b]BR85HBSR (Battle Rifle)[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 36 Rounds Accuracy: High Thoughts: My favorite weapon to use. It absolutely dominates at medium range. A very satisfying and well rounded weapon at 4 STK and low auto aim,it makes it very satisfying to pull off a 'Perfect Kill' or 4 shot. Suggestions: None. [u][b]M395 DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle)[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 14 Rounds Accuracy: Very High Thoughts: This DMR has a higher rate of fire than previous iterations. Often times found myself losing DMR duels, until I realized that I was pacing my shots at a Halo 4 level. This is another weapon that has such little auto-aim I'm unable to tell of it's really there during combat. I'm also certain that this weapon has no bullet magnetism at all, making it only really useful during cross-map engagements, unless you are amazing at aiming. I really like what they've done to the weapon. Really sets it's niche at long ranges. Suggestions: Add the tiniest amount of bullet magnetism? (May be my noob side speaking there) [u][b]M? SMG (Sub Machine Gun)[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 60 Rounds Accuracy: Medium Thoughts: This is possibly the first time the SMG has been useful. This thing absolutely shreds at close range. Using Smart Scope makes it able to contend opponents at the default range of the AR. It's also the most accurate SMG in the franchise. Suggestions: As long as it's never used as a starting weapon, keep it at it's near power weapon status. [u][b]SRS99-S5 AM (Sniper Rifle)[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 4 Rounds Accuracy: Very High Thoughts: This sniper has no noticeable bullet magnetism or auto aim. Making it very hard to land body shots. Only got my first true 'Snapshot' today. These traits change quite a bit while using Smart Scope. Auto-aim is at a low setting, and bullet magnetism is at a setting comparable to the Halo 2 sniper rifle. Suggestions: Lower the auto-aim in Smart-Scope. It's too easy to achieve headshots. [u][b]Prophet's Bane[/b][/u] Magazine Size: 100% (10 Uses) Accuracy: N/A Thoughts: I can't remember the name 343i is using to classify these unique weapons, but I've been calling them super weapons. This thing is an absolute over powered monster. Just having it out increases your movement speed by 130%. The weapon has a normal lunge range, probably similar to a Halo 3 level. When using Smart Scope, the lunge range triples at the cost of no sprinting. Enemy players are unable to de-scope you while using this weapon's Smart Scope. Suggestions: Turn down the brightness on this weapon. Way too bright in first person. Keep it bright in 3rd person though, such a powerful weapon needs to be easily seen. Note: I am not a PC gamer. My interpretations of "no auto-aim or bullet magnetism" may be biased as a result. The gunplay in this game is fast, punchy, and has quite a skill gap with the very low aim assist. It's easily the best part about the game in its current iteration.[/quote] [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/86323068/0/0/1][b][u]DAY 3[/u][/b][/url]