I'm firmly on the fence for this one:
Complaints about lack of playlists
Yes, to an extent. But anyone who has played Halo for long enough knows that after the initial launch player base starts to dip a little, many of these playlists become empty wastelands. Ther eis such thing as TOO many playlists. I'd say the 10 that Reach launched with was too many, and you end up just spreading players too thin.
Progression
Maybe it's just because I'm old, but progression doesn't mean anything to me. I really couldn't care less how my Spartan looks. That being said, it does suck for people who fork out for the battlepass to not be able to unlock stuff without seriously grinding. The way that you only earn XP via challenges makes no sense
Lack of maps
Yes, to an extent. Halo 2 launched with 9 maps. Their quality was certainly higher, although Infinite still has some really solid ones. You can't use Reach as an example because Bungie went down the laziest route they could and just recycled maps from SP for MP. Hence why Reach had some of the worst maps in the series.
Infinite's biggest issues right now are a lack of Forge, lack of co-op and a crappy UI. The good news is, the core gameplay is the best it has been in almost 15 years. Reach had fundamental issues that were never going to be fixed. If the rumours about just how powerful this new Forge tool is going to be are true, we are in for some pretty incredible longevity. The introduction of co-op gives me a great reason to revisit the Campaign again, which is something I never do. And fingers crossed the UI/game customisation get fixed.
Once/if these three things are sorted, you could easily contend Infinite is the greatest Halo out there. I still put 2 up as the absolute pinnacle, but this one feels damn close already.
Complaints about lack of playlists
Yes, to an extent. But anyone who has played Halo for long enough knows that after the initial launch player base starts to dip a little, many of these playlists become empty wastelands. Ther eis such thing as TOO many playlists. I'd say the 10 that Reach launched with was too many, and you end up just spreading players too thin.
Progression
Maybe it's just because I'm old, but progression doesn't mean anything to me. I really couldn't care less how my Spartan looks. That being said, it does suck for people who fork out for the battlepass to not be able to unlock stuff without seriously grinding. The way that you only earn XP via challenges makes no sense
Lack of maps
Yes, to an extent. Halo 2 launched with 9 maps. Their quality was certainly higher, although Infinite still has some really solid ones. You can't use Reach as an example because Bungie went down the laziest route they could and just recycled maps from SP for MP. Hence why Reach had some of the worst maps in the series.
Infinite's biggest issues right now are a lack of Forge, lack of co-op and a crappy UI. The good news is, the core gameplay is the best it has been in almost 15 years. Reach had fundamental issues that were never going to be fixed. If the rumours about just how powerful this new Forge tool is going to be are true, we are in for some pretty incredible longevity. The introduction of co-op gives me a great reason to revisit the Campaign again, which is something I never do. And fingers crossed the UI/game customisation get fixed.
Once/if these three things are sorted, you could easily contend Infinite is the greatest Halo out there. I still put 2 up as the absolute pinnacle, but this one feels damn close already.