This is a long one. Basically this is a dissection of the ideas present in Halo CE and the search for their place in Halo Reach. This thread will take much knowledge of the Halo Trilogy and the current unanimous opinions of the Halo Community. [quote][b]WEAPONS[/b][/quote] [b][u]Halo: Combat Evovled[/u][/b] Weapons in Halo CE were far more limited than in previous series. But many of you know they were powerful, accurate and first and foremost unique to each other. Each weapon had its own place in the game, and its own nuances that characterized it: - Assault Rifle: health eater, blinds enemies, fastest melee. - Pistol: Headshot, mid range, TSK. - Plasma Pistol: Freeze, charged bolt, rapid fire. - Plasma Rifle: Fast firing, freeze, shield remover/group mop-up. - Needler: Homing, Supercombine, bypasses shields. Looking at these weapons, they all have their own place in the sandbox. But if you notice, the heavy intricacies and differences between them make them extremely difficult to pit against one another. Each one would have a clear advantage over several of the other weapons depending on situation. This is a result of arbitrary balance. The weapons worked well, no doubt, but considering the quickly built multiplayer experience and the over-dominance of the Pistol in the game you can assume much of this chemistry was by chance. All the weapons performed identical to their campaign counterparts (doctored MP experiences usually do not share this quality) which is indicative of a campaign, not multiplayer, focus. [b][u]Halo: Reach[/u][/b] Halo Reach is very similar in this aspect. Looking back on Halo 2, many of the weapons were given race based counterparts. The Pistol became the BR/Carbine, the Assault rifle became SMG/PR/Brute PR, the Sniper became Sniper/Beam Rifle and the Shotgun became Shotgun/Sword. With that also came the removal of many of the initial unique qualities of the weapons in the first game. This small things are essential to the chemistry of Halo. The biggest one being Plasma Freeze. Plasma weapons were deadly in Halo CE due to their ability to ambush. They punished enemies who didn't check their backs and rewarded you with the kill for sneaking up on them. Covenant weaponry was tactical and situational while human weapons were more broad and flexible. This contrast is what defined both sides and gave each weapon its unique quality. Halo 2 destroyed this, and Halo 3 carried it further. But our interest isn't either of these games, but Halo: Reach and how it has corrected this mistake. Halo: Reach has taken a page out of Combat Evolved's book and literally embedded it into the new weapons' philosophy. Even with their counterparts. - DMR: Pistol counterpart, slow ROF, mid-long range Pistol: Pistol successor, high ROF, short to mid range Assault Rifle: eats health, quick melee Plasma Repeater: PR successor, no clip, degrading ROF, increasing accuracy, freezes Sprint. Plasma Pistol: eats shields, medium ROF, EMP Needler: super combine, homing Plasma Launcher: Laser counterpart, charging/homing explosives, tracks players Needle Rifle: Fast ROF, super accurate, automatic, supercombine Looking at these weapons, they all have their nuances, where Halo 2/Halo 3's weapons had minimal to none at all. These small nuances make each weapon its own and give them all purpose and situational advantages. This is the chemistry that Halo needs, and is exactly why the new weapon set in Reach reflects far more of CE's original gameplay than any Halo before it. [quote][b]BLOOM[/b][/quote] [b][u]Halo: Combat Evolved[/u][/b] Yes, it existed in CE although not in the same fashion. Bloom in Halo CE literally had an on/off switch in a sense. The key was semi-auto fire. This literally turned off bloom. It is definitely an interesting way to do it, but also an obvious conclusion to make for any player. So obvious, that most people have forgotten the Pistol could even be fired full automatic. Even so, there were still benefits to full auto as oppose to semi on most weapons that used the feature: ROF or Rate of Fire. The Pistol, from what I have observed, can fire faster when held down. The limit is actually set a bit higher on a semi-auto player so they actually have to wait longer between shots than someone who fires fully automatic. The same is obvious for the Assault Rifle. Halo 2 was the first game to completely remove Bloom from their primary pinpoint weapon and this continued on till Reach. To this day the only "non-power weapons" which did not succomb to some sort of bloom are the BR, Carbine and Plasma Pistol. All Pistols and AR-like guns had some form of bloom in the entire Halo Trilogy. [b][u]Halo: Reach[/u][/b] So, why does Reach's seem so different? Specifically: - Its visual - Its more apparent in gameplay - There is no off switch These three things bring about the seemingly overbearing arm of the bloom in Reach. Especially the fact that there is no off switch. All weapons deal with it all the time and as a result you can't ignore it anymore. [quote][b]DAMAGE[/b][/quote] [b][u]Halo: Combat Evolved[/u][/b] More. Damage in CE was far higher. On top of that, shields regenerated faster. Players wonder why Halo's kill times have slowed down. Well that's easy to answer: to give players a chance. Well, Bungie has said that and it really doesn't mean anything. I'll explain. In Halo CE many weapons, if you didn't fire first, would kill you. You had little chance to react (especially with grenades in the mix) to practically anything and many weapons even prevented you from doing so (plasma weapons, sticky grenades and the needler). Even though kill times were longer than most games, the outcome was pretty much the same. Weapon power ensured that regardless of what you do, if you aren't prepared for an enemy in the slightest, you would lose no matter what. The Pistol was the only exception to the rule, and thats because it could kill faster than anything else could, and at any range. But then again, that is exactly why it was overpowered. Its quick kills and enormous flexibility made it the go-to weapon. But, like any weapon, it is only a matter of time before you figure out the right way to use it. Once that happens, the game really became cake. Most weapons didn't stand much of a chance unless in a small space or in an ambush. The only redeeming factors was that killing a player with another weapon took literally no brain while the Pistol took a bit of work. But the fact it could dominate was reason enough to nerf it in the second game. And many players agreed. [b][u]Halo: Reach[/u][/b] Damage is less in Reach, we all know this. But that has to do with the primary differences in Reach's gameplay to Halo CE, specifically shield and health mechanics alongside movement speed and aim assistance/bullet magnetism. Players move slower, recharge shields slower, take longer to grab health and have hitscan weaponry. But the biggest reason for longer kill times has already been stated: inability to react. Bungie has been trying to get this game into a different realm. They have been pushing back kill times to keep player ability to tactically defeat other players through map knowledge, weapon knowledge and awareness of the situation. In Halo CE, if someone got the drop on you, you died. In Halo Reach, if someone gets the drop on you they better know what they're doing or they aren't going to succeed. The whole game prioritizes the players ability to react to a situation and that in itself is far more skillful than who shot first or who got unlucky with their spawn/enemy spawn. This is THE core difference from the original game and it is a necessary one. [quote][b]MELEE[/b][/quote] [b][u]Halo: Combat Evolved[/u][/b] Melee in CE was nearly nonexistent. The double melee was useful in rare situations but a majority of the time you wouldn't use it. This had to do with the already sufficient killing ability of the weapons and the fact hitting was just unbelievably difficult. Halo 2/3 brought in a good solution but the solution was exaggerated. What we ended up seeing was players lowering shields and then smacking each other for the win. This had much to do with Halo 3's reduced weapon damage AGAIN from Halo 2. Halo 2 saw little of this although beatdowns were far easier to perform. [b][u]Halo: Reach[/u][/b] In Reach, a player can no longer rely on melee in such a fashion. Memorizing the exact number of AR shots needed to be able to melee someone to death is no longer pivotal. It is all about who's shields are down or not. The whole reason for this is to make melee less rewarding while not nerfing it to the point of uselessness like in CE. Of course, we all know about double melee being anything but nerfed. However, Bungie has stated this will be fixed. I also attribute this to the Sprint armor ability.