My Halo 5 Feedback by SepheusIX of Section 3.

Greetings fellow Spartans!

In this thread I will be documenting my thoughts, feelings and opinions on the latest set of war games simulations known as the 'Halo 5: Guardians Beta'.
These opinions are my own and may include some of the opinions, thoughts, feelings and anecdotes who played along side me.

During the beta I played in varying configurations from solo to full party. The people I was playing with in my party were varied in their skills and ranked Iron through Onyx. Playing solo had the least success rate and playing as a full party had the highest success rate (understandably!).

Service Record - Image

Games Played: 256
Games Won: 155
Time Played: 1d 15h
Medals Earned: 7366
Spartan Rank: 32
Kills: 3712
Deaths: 1784
Assists: 1347
KDA Spread: 8.6
Highest Slayer Rank: Onyx Rank 3
Lowest Slayer Rank: Gold Rank 3
Highest Breakout Rank: Gold Rank 2
Lowest Breakout Rank: Gold Rank 2
Highest Strongholds Rank: Gold Rank 3
Lowest Strongholds Rank: Gold Rank 2
Control Scheme: Recon, auto-stabilize off, toggle crouch, sensitivity 5.

Alright, let's get to it!

Spartan Abilities

Thruster Pack

　　Feels like a natural move for the series to me. I exclusively used the Thruster Pack in Halo 4, no other AA felt worthwhile. I was quite glad that they chose to adopt it as one of the core Spartan Abilities. I love dash mechanics in games such as Armored Core, Titanfall and Hawken so I got right to using this ability at every moment possible.

　　It feels more natural to deploy my Thrusters than simply bounce away as we would in previous titles. The extra dimension of movement is most welcome.
　　
　　Strategically it allows us to perform feints and distractions or reach better positioning. Offensively we can mix it up in a firefight by thrusting off in an unexpected direction and defensively we can use it to efficiently pop back into cover.

Ground Pound

　　At first ground pounding does not seem to flow with the parkour idea. The ground pound makes you stop and hang in mid-air for a few seconds which brings your tempo of play down a bit. However, as I became more accustomed to the mechanic I began to see more and more opportunities to use this on an unsuspecting foe. It is not a reliable method of dispatching an opponent for sure; sometimes I'll land and just bump them to safety.

　　Other times I will get myself killed due to my over-eagerness to splat someone below me that hasn't noticed me. I like to ground pound if the match is drawing to a close and we have a safe margin or if I am in such a situation where a quick ground pound is the cleanest solution. There's certainly bugs that need to be worked out but when it works it's great.

　　I don't mind the ground pound controls as they are but they are subject to change in which case I would perhaps like to see the ground pound assigned to holding the jump button in mid-air. I did not see as many people using ground pound as I thought I would and even less people using it successfully. I suppose it may be awkward to do on some control schemes.

Clamber

　　This is another mechanic that feels natural. This ties in with Ground Pound in that it allows us to have taller structures than before so we can ground pound off of them but we are also still able to traverse them. Not sure what causes the periodic 'double clamber' bug, whether that is lag or just a glitch I suppose we will have to wait and see. This ability flows nicely with sprint and thrust.

Slide

　　Strange one. On the surface it seems to have rather limited utility. There were no shotguns available during the entire beta so I have no idea how the shotgun-slide would have worked out. Sliding behind cover did not really seem to do much in Breakout - Thrusting would have been just as effective. However, in saying that, I would have missed it had it not been present. It feels natural that if you crouch whilst running you will slide.

　　One use I discovered for this ability was making quick 180° turns when picking up a power weapon. Sprint full speed toward the weapon, slide into it and turn to convert the momentum.

Charge

　　This ability killed me more times than failed ground pounds. It sounds good on paper, melee at full speed to do a shoulder bash type thing - that's great!. However... the reality is that it does not have very much magnetism so you will often times smash into a wall beside the enemy or if you do make contact you will just bounce him to safety where he can headshot you.

　　I assumed shoulder charging someone directly would instantly kill them but it would seem it only de-shields an opponent. Not worth it for the trade-offs. It will insta-kill to the back, but a regular smack would have done that anyway.

Sprint

　　This basic ability makes an expected return. I was pleased to see the return of sprint and a focus on making it practical on the battlefield. I think not allowing the shields to recharge until sprinting is halted is a fine compromise between infinite sprint and disallowing escape.

　　At the moment the mechanic seems to be a little glitchy - sometimes people will run through shots with no impediment and other times I will not be able to run at full speed despite not being shot (odd limping animation?).

　　The increase in mobility of Spartans allows for flanking manoeuvres like never before and I look forward to seeing these tactics developed. I also like the fact that I can link up with my team much quicker if I get spawned far away. I would like it if sprint would force a descope.

Smart Scope/Stabilizers

　　Much was made of this new Smart Scope system but it seems almost functionally identical to zoom, just with some fancier graphics. I've seen that it tightens the spread on the automatics, which is fine with me.

　　My friend [REDACTED] fell into the trap of thinking it was 'ADS', he came into the beta pretty much blank and picked up the default controls. Seeing zoom on the trigger he assumed that he had to aim down the sights in order to hit anything accurately. Several losses later he was wondering why everyone was so difficult to kill (eventually he figured it out). It would perhaps be best if people playing with zoom on the trigger had to re-hold it after being descoped otherwise quite a few people will fall into this trap!

　　Stabilizers are a small addition but circumstantially useful. I have no idea why anyone would want auto-stabilizers on but on manual they're pretty effective, 9/10 times when sniping. It just gives you that extra vantage point whilst also putting yourself at risk. Pretty balanced. In my placement matches I saw a great deal of players with auto mode on and they were shot to pieces almost instantly.

Slayer Maps

Eden

　　Weapons on Map (Estimated)
　　3x BR, 4x SMG, 2x LR, 2x DMR, 4x AR, Energy Sword and Sniper Rifle

　　With BR Starts
　　Red Nest/Red Outside are the power positions to be in. If you're in the Tower or in Blue you're likely on the defensive. If you are in a full party and communicating
　　well you can keep that side of the map locked down and you generally won't have any incentive to leave the area. Chances are the enemy attacking from blue
　　will bring over the sword with them.

　　With AR Starts
　　It plays fairly well, definitely more movement and map flow compared to the BR starts. I counted three BRs on map, two of which are nearer the Red side.
　　Chances are you will end up holding Red down again and will likely gain total control once everyone has a BR, it will be hard for the opposition to flip the setup.

　　Strategy
　　Get the sniper as soon as possible and keep getting it. From Red, if you time your thrust right you can fly straight through the window onto the weapon pad. From Blue,
　　grab the BR on your way in and headshot everyone who was likely caught in some random grenade. Red has to be fast to get the sniper. Once that is out of the way
　　simply hold Red/Red Nest until victory.

　　Thoughts
　　I enjoyed playing on this map. I found jumping from catwalk to catwalk quite fun and the dynamic cover on the outside is an interesting mechanic for fighting off attacks.
　　There was one window I could not seem to jump out of, but that was the only problem I found.

Empire

　　Weapons on Map (Estimated)
　　6x BR, 4x SMG, 3x DMR, 2x AR, 2x Sniper Rifle

　　With BR Starts
　　Quite similar to Eden, really. You can pick either Red Outside or Blue Outside and lock it down. There's plenty of cover and ways to jump to safety and a great deal of
　　BR/DMR ammunition around. The team on the defensive is probably coming from Tower or the opposite Outside. Watch these sight-lines with the sniper.

　　With AR Starts
　　Not much different from AR starts. There are six BRs all within easy reach.

　　Strategy
　　Snipe the people visible at Tower, snipe the people coming round the Outside opposite you. Keep hold of Red Base or Blue Base and you should have a pretty good
　　time. Be sure to take down the opposition sniper ASAP. Usually seen peeking out of the Tower mere moments after the pick-up.

　　Thoughts
　　This was the first map I played on, at first I wasn't sure two snipers would work but it works out better than expected.
　　I think an alternating sniper between the two sides would have mixed it up more. Or a shotgun on one side and an energy sword on the other.
　　The middle parkour routes open up a lot of ground pound possibilities!

Orion

　　Weapons on Map (Estimated)
　　2x BR?, 2x DMR?, Hydra, Sniper Rifle, Energy Sword

　　With BR Starts
　　If you spawn Blue, I just recommend punching your way through to the Hydra and Sword. Pick up that DMR on the Blue roof and give your team-mate some cover fire
　　whilst he snags the Hydra. Red has an easier time of securing the Red side with the Hydra on it, so I think Blue may be at a disadvantage here overall.
　　Once things shake out, if your side didn't get the Hydra you want to have the Sniper to counter it. BRs will generally restrict movement to both sides staring at each other
　　from Red and Blue.

　　With AR Starts
　　With this, you will have more movement options available.
　　Again, Blue side have one guy provide covering fire with the DMR and have another guy run in to get the Hydra.
　　Blue can be much more aggressive in their push across to Red - knowing that they won't be shot to pieces by four BRs.

　　Strategy
　　Hold Red, with the Hydra. If you have the Sword and the Hydra up there in Red it's a very difficult setup to break. BRs or no BRs. The Hydra is an absolute Demon on
　　this map and you can mortar bomb Blue all day long. See that sniper over at Blue? Just get a lock and shoot skyward, he has no chance.
　　If you have the Hydra and happen to be on Blue - you can shoot directly into Red House if you gain a lock and shoot 90° out to sea.

　　Thoughts
　　For me, this map is defined by the Hydra. Being so open, the Hydra is just incredibly lethal.
　　If the enemy team isn't working to make sure the Hydra is in their hands or at least not in ours; they're going to get splatted by rockets from all over.
　　Also, that Sun is too bright!

Pegasus

　　Weapons on Map (Estimated)
　　2x BR, 2x DMR, 2x LR, ?, ?, Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle

　　With BR Starts
　　Hold Red Base/Upper Shelter and Blue Bend/Sniper. If you can hold both of these sections it is very hard to lose.
　　The opposition will be forced to spawn across the other side of the map with little chance of obtaining power weapons.

　　With AR Starts
　　You have much less control over Red Base/Upper Shelter in particular. All you have for ranged engagements is a Light Rifle.
　　You may spend time dipping into the Blue side to snatch up precision weapons. I could only ever seem to find a couple of BRs and DMRs.
　　Perhaps there are more but I did not spend time in the lower sections. Expect to have your setup flipped more often.

　　Strategy
　　Two Spartans in Red, two Spartans by the Sniper. This will force unfavourable spawns for the opposition. Sniper should watch rockets when the timer comes up to
　　prevent sneaky grabs. Looking over rockets toward Blue you will often have people spawn right in-front of you.
　　This can lead to some instant spawn deaths for the enemy.

　　Thoughts
　　Spawn system seems a little broken on this map. I am sure that will be fixed if this map makes it into the final release.
　　Pretty unremarkable map with lots of areas I didn't feel incentivised to travel toward.

Regret

　　Weapons on Map (Estimated)
　　4x BR, 4x DMR, 2x LR, 4x AR, 3x SMG, 2x Magnum, Hydra

　　With BR Starts
　　Chances are everyone's going to run for the Hydra. Coming around on the side of the enemy and shooting them from the flank is a great opener.
　　Designate one person to collect the Hydra. Movement should be pretty constant on this map - even with the BRs,
　　there's a lot of cover and the circular nature is an incentive to keep moving.
　　Once you have top-mid control you should be able to jump into fights anywhere pretty quickly (perhaps even with a ground pound!).

　　With AR Starts
　　Slower and messier start. Get that BR right infront of your spawn and go on the flank immediately.
　　There's generally enough precision weapons around that AR starts don't have too much of an effect mid to late game.

　　Strategy
　　Not much to say. Get top mid and call out when you see people.
　　If your team has a good selection of precision weapons it will be hard for the opposition to take you down.
　　Get atop the structure for the best vantage point but be cautious of the Hydra.

　　Thoughts
　　Hydra is not too useful here I have found - there's too much cover and fights are at a fairly close range.
　　I did not like this map at first but grew to like it after learning the routes around the map.
　　Personally I like to stay out of the bottom and ignore the Hydra. Blue team can be a little bit invisible inside of the bases.
　　This map does set up a lot of great ground pound opportunities.

Matchmaking & General

　　Public Chat
　　Kinect! The Kinect has almost certainly assured I will not engage in public chat if I can avoid it. During my time in the beta when playing solo I heard domestic arguments, grocery lists, random burping, racist epithets and all manner of strange things from people who did not realise the Kinect was on.

　　Dedicated Servers
　　The dedicated servers worked very well. My party is usually made up of people across multiple countries/continents and the dedicated servers gave us some of the most lag free gaming we've experienced so far. Of course there was lag from time to time but it was really minimal compared to our group playing on the old peer to peer system.

　　Spectator Mode
　　This worked very well for being so early in the development cycle. Of course there were bugs with the camera getting stuck, that weird zoom-in bug and pausing stopping your audio from working for the rest of the game, but other than that, it was great to finally be able to spectate live matches. I am hoping they expand the spectator mode to show a 'tactical' top down view with markers where players are so you can get a sense of map movement and how players pick their engagements. This is no substitute for theatre, however, so I would like to see theatre return over a spectator mode - given the choice.

　　Competitive Skill Ranking
　　The ranking system seemed robust and fair. I am not quite sure why losing a rank would show as something like +-78, but that may be a bug. When we had a party that was something along the lines of two Onyx a Silver and an Iron we would generally be matched with Gold and below opponents and we would hardly lose. The rating increase from this was minimal as expected but possibly open to exploitation if someone were to grind all day with a couple of friends playing on not legitimately Iron accounts. My friend (Onyx) would sometimes do almost identically to me in a match but receive less exp again but that may be due to some hidden True Skill algorithm in the background. Playing solo understandably lead to huge losses in standing emphasising that this rank is not your individual rating as such but how well you play in a team environment. The CSR is entirely based on whether you win, so you must play as a team to move forward!

　　Sometimes the skill matching was suboptimal but I assume this is because the system wants us to play as many matches as possible and there is a compromise between finding perfect matches and finding timely matches. Of course the biggest standing increases were when we fought against Semi-Pro laden teams and those were hard fights. I did almost break into Semi-Pro but unfortunately we did not have the right mix of skill levels in the party to attract more Semi-Pro/Pro matches. I did not see too many Pros but those I did see would quit out at the matching screen or would quit games in progress. Not sure if there was some exploit going on there or not.

　　Spartan Callouts & Weapon Timers
　　These feel like positive additions. The people that I played with were very able to quickly pick up on map specific callouts from the Spartan chatter. The Spartans calling out generally helped us be a more focused group, remembering to call out enemy positions and anticipate enemy movements. Once we got good at the callouts for a particular map we appeared to tune out the general chatter of the Spartans. The chatter is not a bad thing however, it keeps you mindful of the approximate location of your team mates at all times. My partner in particular was easy to pick out since she was the only one on our team with a female Spartan. I was glad to see universal callouts apply to the forge maps as well.

　　The weapon timers really help to keep a team aware of what positions they should be in. You do not want to stray far from the power weapon and this helped the less battle-tested players in my party remain mindful of power weapons and where to expect enemy incursions. That poor guy that sits behind teams with his stop-watch (I hear they have apps for it too) may be out of a job, but this is for the best!

　　Killlcams
　　I almost forgot these existed! I do not really like the kill cams that much, it is somewhat interesting to identify how you died (if you're suddenly blam'd it can be quite disorienting). However, most of the time I just turned them off (pressing X on my control scheme halted the kill cam and gave me back the old 3rd person cam).

Closing Thoughts

　　My partner and I and those who regularly partied up with me had a generally positive experience. It was the most fun and refreshing experience I have had in Halo since my Halo 2 LAN days. The new movement options, aesthetic and other tweaks are better than anything I could have hoped for in the series. From the moment I started playing with the Thruster Pack in Halo 4, I knew I wanted more... and here it is!

　　Tactically, this game reminds me a lot of Reach. There's no ordnance coming to make you into a Spartan shaped Deity. In Reach we would often find a spot to control near a power weapon and start slaying and defending from there. In Halo 4... this did not exist due to the ordnance system and general survivability of each Spartan. I welcome the return of power positions to the series.

　　This beta displayed a solid foundation for the core mechanics in Halo 5 and I am excited to see what will be available come the retail release. I am hoping to see the return of Ricochet, some gorgeous Big Team Battle maps and a slew of vehicles to go with it!

Thanks for reading.

Appendix

Matches on Eden, Empire, Orion, Pegasus, Regret and Truth.
Halo 5 gameclips (filter to Halo 5)

For those that partied up with me during the beta, I would appreciate it if you would leave your feedback and experiences too.

Feedback that everyone can agree on

I agree with just about everything Good Job man Great read