Spectrum

They were pretty damn awesome.... But no, most are different, some slightly, a lot drastically. I think we saw an evolution of the Elephant in the trailer (someone please correct me if I am wrong), the ghost has a new colour scheme (look at the jets in the trailer), Besides, Reach was meant to be the hub of all humanities technological hopes, so it only makes sense that the prototypes have become the norm. Not sure about the reasoning on keeping the Reach-esque banshee style model, but I have to admit, I like it.

Possibly not have to, but you can see veritable situations in which perfectly good players can suffer. Oh, and yes I did miss that post. But by giving everyone some sprint, just a little, it allows those who truly excel at the game to succeed more, by giving them the oppurtunity to use it when they need it, and only then. It's like with sniper bullets. You can have someone who can get a sniper, and kill around 10 people with it before they lose it. Others may only kill 2, or at worst, accidentally betray someone, get brutally beaten down, and booted out of the game in the time it takes to make a bowl of cereal.

You do realise that means no sprint right? Meaning this competitive gameplay, will actually be slower than all of the other playlists.

Awesome, like the flying vehicles in the background. Also, if you can't kill a scorpion, use a plasma pistol. Or grendades. Or just run up to it, it can only aim in one direction at once, and the rotaions isn't particularly fast. The thing is a sitting duck in Reach, it's harder to kill a banshee, as for that you need an EMP weapon, as opposed to it being helpful.

Isn't there already the obvious downside to Promethean vision? Everybody is under the impression that this vision is one way. It's not. It acts like a beacon, so whenever you use it, you not only find out where enemies are, you announce your position to them. If used incorrectly, you just announced where you are to four other players who are now coming to kill you. Also, skill based on k/d is a terrible idea. It did not work with CoD for obvious reasons, i.e. camping, demoting the value of teamwork etc. How would that even be fair in objective based gameplay? Even in normal Slayer it's unfair, as Assists would count for squat, and you'd be left at the end of a game with a good few kills than what you would have got if say, you took the Br instead of the plasma pistol, but your team would have done worse. Also, splitting the community is not the best idea you could have. You call unlimited sprint a perk (every player has it, not a perk, base power, just like your shields and the abiltiy to beat the crap out of anything), but yet you acknowledge the need for players to go faster, suggesting that they increase player speed. What logic is this? Because objectively, someone has to go negative on a team to win. Kinda harsh to exclude people on the same team from gaining a bonus for winning. Who's going to rush for the power weapons? Distract the enemies? Stick the sword guy? Drive the warthog? You get the point. Besides, it would promote passive playing, and that would slow down gameplay far more than any of the new features.

If I were to guess, I would say it's gonna be multiple Johns. After all, I believe the first level takes place in Forward Unto Dawn? So unless someone is gonna play as Cortana (yell the enemies to death possibly), I think we're back to the Halo 1 scenario. Hopefully we'll be different colours though. Else it might get confusing during four player co-op.

Wait, why did the UNSC think it was a good idea to privatise their most powerful asset in military technology? Meh, I guess it doesn't matter. I'm looking forward to see what Orbital is. Hopefully, it's an EVA lookalike. If it's back, I will wear it constantly when I get it.

To hopefully see the Arbiter. And possibly see some comedic cameos from various groups. "Spartan, how have you been? It is I, the Arbiter, I see you managed to survive even the most perilous situation. How did you do it?" "lololololol, I roflcoptered my way out of ther Arbituh."

Finally, we need more volcanos on Halo maps. Oh and good luck in your GCSEs.

Hey, he may be using paint, or paint.net. Unlikely, but possible. Speaking of which, I don't suppose you'd happen to have a template? Just something to mess around with.

Yes, Campaign will be at least two people offline sharing (rarely four, as I believe there were some visibility issues), Custom Games will be four splitscreen, same for matchmaking or 'War Games'. Hell, they may even have 16 player system link, like they did for Halo CEA.

Promethean vision, while allowing the player to see the location of others, also acts like a giant beacon. If you've noticed gameplay footage of someone using Promethean vision, you'll notice that when they use it, every person on the other team somehow knows where they are. Thus, because of this, it is a good anti-camping device, and promotes combat, thus increasing speed of gameplay. Not to mention it is extremely useful in team situations, as you can act as the lookout for the rest of you team if you use it properly. Active camo allows players to use stealth instead of strength e.g. taking time to aim with a more powerful precision weapon such as the sniper. However, the way in which it slows down gameplay is made completely redundant by, guess who, Promethean Vision, and such is a poor ability for a camper. The hardlight shield is a weak shield, and thus incomparable to invulvnerability of armor lock. It allows the player to fight off power weapons momentarily, and is also useful in doubles situations, where players can act as distractions for one another. While this tactic may seem cheap, stealth has been a fundamental part of halo, ever since the tunnels of Blood Gulch. Not to mention it probably doubles as an anti-vehicular ability, something which was badly required in previous halos. The thrusterpack allows a toned down evade, which I believe allows players not only to enter combat situations more quickly, thus speeding up gameplay, but allowing for an evolution of the fundamental starfing tactic that exists in Halo, and is thus very valuable in the assets of a key player. Onto your next point on the hologram, while it can be used poorly by players, so can the majority of armor abilities, weapons, and even map knowledge. Building on your point, the more skilled you are with it, the better it is, and while spamming does get annoying, it promotes the Halo ideal of best player wins, in this, by being able to distract players. I've never actually seen the problem of the Jetpack. While it's benefits are obvious, increased mobility for instance, so are the disadvantages (highlighted by several episodes of Arby n the Chief), such as highlighting yourself as a giant bullseye in the sky. I could see players using it well, and using it poorly, and it does nothing to decrease skill gap. Perks have been here since the beginning of Halo, such as overshield cubes on Blood Gulch. Your post suggests it detracts from 'Halo' itself. I argue against this point, as I believe it allows all players to have equal abilities with the use of the Ordnance. While I would prefer it if Ordnance drop spots were tactical positions on the map that you have to control, as the weapon appears at the nearest one, I like 343's effort to give everyone equal footing, as it allows us to see who actually is the better player. Your post on sprint irks me on several levels. Primarily, a game rarely needs an element to make it fun, as otherwise games would often be boring if you chose to go without, something that is often the case in an FPS. Imagine if you needed the plasma in Halo 3 to promote fast gameplay. The reviews would be terrible! However, the plasma pistol does make it that bit better, and aids a variety of tactics. Also, if you are unable to shoot someone fleeing away, you probably lack the skills to play. While it does promote the use of the Sword, simply run past them to get your killing reward. If your opponent be irksome, and often be bashing, simply strafe away, and prevent your armor from mashing. Also, I do notice you refer to 'Ranked playlists'. By these I assume you mean the ones in Halo 3. As you are probably well aware, the formula for calculating skill was... poor to say the least, allowing you to reach Skill 50 with three games, and stay at Skill 13, even though you have been improving for quite some time. This promoted the trading and selling of accounts, something that neither Bungie, Microsoft, or 343 particularly approve of. As I have said before, bloom has been in every single halo game, admittedly strengthened in Reach in an attempt to balance medium to long range weapons. I do like those map suggestions though. Gotta love those trees on Guardian... P.S. That no-scope medal is highly... unneeded? Unnecessary?

The blood spatters look slightly different to me... Deeper in places, paler in others, more of a brown-red than a dark crimson. I dunno, let's see what it's like when the game comes out.

Probably not. Unless they use the actual game footage as a cutscene, which is entirely possible.

I don't like the new grenade launcher. It looks useless at far range, and ripe for abuse at close. Personally, I prefer the Reach model. Gotta love those bouncy grenades, and that EMP. It was the only proper anti-vehicular/support gun in the game... Ah well. Everything else looks great

I'm merely surprised that it didn't blow the Chief to pieces. Maybe the Didact has a case of Bond villain syndrome.

Nah. Whenever you use it, you announce your position to everyone on the map. I think it's a very clever anti camping device.

As long as they don't give us a "Cortana" (I quite liked it, but it was definitely the worst level in Halo 3), I'll be good. I'm excited for Spartan Ops though. Finally, lava!

Yes. Even if it is later in your multiplayer game.

Because Ninjas are better than pirates.

So... he copied himself? He killed Johnson and lived on through a copy. HAX, I call hax! Well, at least I'll enjoy using a Spartan Laser to burn him again.

Wait, I like how the Prometheans are in this game, but aren't they pretty much the warrior snobs of the Forerunner Race? They were removed from the Council exactly because of their poor political decisions, and rashness. Do you think we'll see any Builders? (Ones actually responsible for the creation of the Halo Arrays).

Is it actually confirmed? From what we have seen, the person using the BR wasn't the best shot (to be fair, the enemy was jumping and shiz). As long as it's balanced with the other weapons, I don't mind.

Hold on, hold on. It can't have been the Librarian, as she was revealed to stay on Earth (Halo 3 terminals), and I believe the Didact killed the Timeless One (?). Plus, the Didact never struck me as one who would hate humans, unless he went mad with grief. Are these facts right or wrong? I would be really pleased if someone could correct me.

Yeah... didn't read the books, can someone explain this too me? Guilty Spark is dead. He's definitely dead isn't he? Or should I go look for those final terminals in Halo CEA again? But seriously, he was lasered to death. And then he exploded ("You've really got to stop doing that", Pegasus). There was more left of Johnson than 343.