[quote][i][b]Note - This thread is about my issues with Reach, and possible fixes for said issues. Much of it is my opinion on the game; please treat it as just that, an opinion.[/b][/i][/quote] [quote][b]Thread Overview[/b][/quote] This thread is going to cover 7 different topics in Reach. Here's how they'll go: - Campaign - Multiplayer (Matchmaking - Customs) - Firefight - Forge - Theater - Game mechanics - What was good [quote][/quote]Okay, here we go.[quote][/quote] [quote][b]Campaign[/b][/quote] I had a few issues here. [b]Canon[/b] First off, the campaign broke canon, which is a kick in the nuts to fans of the novels. I don't see why they couldn't just create a campaign that flowed [i]with[/i] the novels, or maybe, one that was even about TFoR (that would've been tough though, I don't blame Bungie for not doing that). [b]Characters[/b] Secondly, the character development for the campaign was less than satisfying. Here's what I thought of the characters: Jorge - Awesome. Kat - Annoying -blam!-. Carter - He's alright. Emile - Douche who doesn't know how to watch his motion tracker. Jun - Didn't care for him. Noble Six - Not nearly as badass as the chief. I didn't care much for any of them, except Jorge, who also happened to be the first to die (leaving you alone with the rest of noble team and their inherent lack of depth). Noble team was also quite generic. Here's how they go. Jorge - Heavy weapons guy, but get this . . . he has a big heart. :D Kat - Tech specialist and the chick of the team. Carter - The great team leader. Emile - Badass with a skull on his face. Jun - That sniper guy. Noble Six - The [i]silent[/i] badass. [b]Fun Factor[/b] Thirdly, where are the hyper memorable, large scale assault missions like The Ark? Tip of the Spear felt like a failed attempt at this (awesome opening cutscene, boring mission). Long Night of Solace was very similar; Sabre combat was suppose to be awesome, but it ended up being to short and boring. In other words . . . there weren't any truly memorable missions. Conclusion on campaign. - It broke canon. - Generic characters with lack of depth. - No memorable missions. [quote][b]Multiplayer[/b][/quote] [b]Maps[/b] Maps . . . Reach has the worst selection of maps to ever graze Halo. Case in point, Swordbase (AKA, yellow lift map). There are others though, including Pinnacle (they defiled Ascension), Hemmorage (they pinnacled Blood Gulch and Coagulation), Boardwalk, etc. Not to mention the game only shipped with nine true maps (Forge World maps don't count), which is far too few. [i]Sidenote - Condemned and Highlands look great.[/i] [b]Gameplay[/b] I personally feel that Armor Abilities ruin gameplay, however this could be partially fixed with the upcoming Classic Playlist. They would however have to eventually include BTB Classic, Objective Classic, and FFA Classic (the more playlists, the better) in order to truly come close to pleasing us (there would still be many less than satisfying game mechanics, but I'll get to those later). Gameplay in general feels to slow. Factors that contribute to this are: - Slow movement speed. - Low jump height. - Bloom. - The terrible Armor Lock. - Underpowered weapons. - Armor Abilities in general. - No bleed through melees. [b]Customs[/b] Customs are a bust. - Infection is broken (there [i]is[/i] a fix incoming, but I'm still including it). - Where's V.I.P.? - Many other gametypes are broken as well or lacking customizability. While Armor Abilities don't fit well in competitive gameplay, I think they would work well in social matchmaking (Action Sack) playlists/customs. [i]Sidenote - I've gotta say, Action Sack is sounding pretty kick ass.[/i] [b]Imbalance[/b] Unbalanced weapon sandbox: - AR vs. Plasma Repeater. - DMR vs. Needle Rifle (in terms of effectiveness against vehicles). - Sniper vs. Focus Rifle. - AL vs. every other AA. - OP Nades. - Etc. [b]Ranking System[/b] Reach's Ranking system . . . 1-50 may not have been perfect, but it was a helluva lot better than the CoD style (not that I have anything against CoD) ranking system we have in place right now. In Halo 3 we could actually tell who was good by looking at their rank, not anymore though. Bring 1-50 back (at least for certain playlists) . . . that's all I'm gonna say on that. [quote][b]Firefight[/b][/quote] [b]Maps (again)[/b] Not much to say here . . . the maps are copy and pasted from the campaign, and are bad as a result (ODST somehow had good maps using this technique . . . odd). Not enough vehicle warfare on these maps either. [b]Intensity[/b] Firefight in ODST could get extremely intense because there was that feeling that you absolutely had to survive (Vid Master - Endure). In Reach's case, there's no intensity whatsoever. You have infinite lives! Whats it matter if you die?! Yes, you can change that in the custom options, but it'd be neat if it were doable in matchmaking. [i]Sidenote - Unearthed looks sweet![/i] [b]Customizability[/b] This is were Firefight is great. Lots of customizability. It could use some more options, but it's pretty good right now. [i]Sidenote - Where are my Red vs. Blue Firefight voices?![/i] [quote][b]Forge[/b][/quote] [b]Forge World[/b] The only map you can truly forge on is Forge World. Forge World is [i]okay[/i], but I find it to be very bland. [b]The Other Maps[/b] Unlike in Halo 3 . . . you can't truly forge on any of the other maps (except Tempest, which is just Forge World 2.0). In Halo 3 I saw some crazy forge variants on maps such as Last Resort, Avalanche, and Sandtrap. Similar feats aren't possible on maps such as Powerhouse, Zealot, or Countdown for example. [b]Forge 2.0[/b] Pretty good, although it's very glitchy at the moment. Hopefully these glitches get fixed in a TU. [quote][b]Theater[/b][/quote] [b]No Upgrades[/b] Where's my ability to [i]truly[/i] rewind, and why can't I watch other people from their first person POV? [b]Just Downgraded[/b] I really enjoyed watching films with friends of mine in theater in Halo 3 . . . not possible in Reach. [quote][b]Game Mechanics[/b][/quote] [b]Armor Lock[/b] This is why Armor Lock is the worst game mechanic ever . . . of all time. *You outplay someone and he Armor Locks on you right before death* A few things can happen here. A.) You kill him right when he comes out of Armor Lock. [i]So[/i] . . . all AL did in that situation was slow down gameplay, which makes for boring non Haloesque gameplay. B.) The guys team mate comes around the corner after he should have been dead already and kills you. [i]So[/i] . . . you got cheated out of a kill that you earned, just because the other guy had a rechargeable invincibility button that takes no skill to use, and you can spawn with at anytime . . . good gameplay right there. /Sarcasm? Yes. C.) You run away and lose a kill that should have been yours. Yeah, Armor Lock sucks. [b]Bloom[/b] I personally think that this game would be a lot better if there were no bloom at all on precision weapons, and that they would instead just slow the rate of fire on those weapons (or preferably just buff the rest of the weapon sandbox in order to balance out the faster firing weapons, while speeding up the pace of gameplay). However, it wouldn't be such a big deal, if bloom were at least implemented correctly. Case in point, DMR bloom. The DMR is the primary weapon in Reach, and because of how bloom was implemented on it, it's more effective to spam the trigger. This results in random, derp-worthy gameplay. Don't you think that the person who paces their shots should win against a spammer [u]every single time[/u]? That's not the case though. [b]No Bleed Through Melees[/b] This completely destroys the whole point of shooting in close quarters combat. Why shoot when you can run in for the melee? Derp. [b]Title Update[/b] These are [i]The Big 3[/i] that [i]need[/i] to be eradicated in a title update. One last one though . . . what happened to the vehicle physics? [quote][b]What Was Good[/b][/quote] [b]Graphics[/b] I'm split on this one. The graphics are pretty damn good, but at the same time, the aesthetics don't really feel like Halo to me . . . but I don't know, that's just my opinion. [quote][b]In The End[/b][/quote] Reach still has potential, but it needs a TU and a bunch of other changes. The campaign is irreparable though . . . at least in my opinion. Feel free to comment on this entire OP, or just certain parts. TL;DR - Good for you, kid. Signed, [i]-The Embodiment of Awesome[/i] [Edited on 05.23.2011 10:13 PM PDT]