Hydranockz said:
I hate to be 'that' guy but unless you can give us some credible proof, chances are, people will think you're just making it up
I'm going to keep my impressions pretty broad, because there were a few surprises in there that I didn't expect, and although I'm sure they will be spoiled by tomorrow, I don't want to be the one to do it. I think the guys at Bungie have worked too hard to have someone spoil the fun, so I just want to add something in a positive way.
I will just say that im 'pretty good' at Halo, as in I've had my fair share of first places in each iteration of the game, so take that as you will.
Impressions:
Menus are slick
Good assortment of new symbols for the spartans, as far as I can tell all the old ones are still there.
Once you are in the actual game, it is SMOOTH.. i mean i felt like i was flying when i was running between rooms. I've been playing BFBC2 a ton lately, so I'm sure that affected my perception of it.
The new loadout system is great. My favorite 'perk' was the sprint function, just for mobility alone. Using the other perks made me feel a little gimped because I couldn't start running when I wanted to.
Jet pack is what you would expect. If you jump a little before you take off, you get a lot more momentum than if you just blast off from a standing position.
Hammer Lock is pretty sweet. It's not my cup of tea, but i thought it was cool seeing people randomly pop it off during firefights. I did kill a guy in Hammerlock one time with two melees to the back, but im not sure if it was just because he was coming out of it at the time.
Cloak worked as expected too, although it did throw me for a loop for a second when all the 'ghost pings' popped up on my radar.
General Gameplay:
The game feels 'heavier' to me than Halo 3.. which is a good thing in my opinion. The weapons sound and feel meaner. It felt like the player is rooted more naturally in the world, ala BFBC2 as opposed to previous Halo games. I was really digging just the general feel of the game.
Firefights seem to last a bit longer on average.
The general Halo tactic of softening up someone while you run towards them, then finishing them off in close quarters is still the way to go. I'm impressed that the core of the gunplay and combat is so unchanged, even with all these new bells and whistles.
The BR replacement is gonna be bit of an adjustment for some people I think. When I first picked it up, my first instinct was to go into BR mode and pop off 3-4 shots in a rhythm, which was pretty ineffective. The cross hair gives great feedback, and you can really get a feel for how to time your shots. It is a much more fun and interesting weapon than the BR in my opinion.
One little cool thing I noticed (thanks to a loading menu tip) is that the motion sensor is tilted slightly now to include elevation. Cool stuff.
All in all, it's a definite step forward in the combat department, the new loadout system introduces a heap of variety into the mix, which is a great thing.. and while the graphics are not terribly improved, nobody is gonna care when they jump in and start blastin fools. Anyone whose played Halo before will feel right at home. Reach is gonna be number 1 on XBL for a long long time.
There is some more things I saw, but I dont wanna spoil it, so... that's it!
tl;dr: Before I played the beta, I was lukewarm to the game, now I'm day one.
