I'm sick of seeing hundreds of posts saying "OMG NO BRz ONOZ WHATZ WEEL EYE DEW!?" Face facts: Bungie wants to try something new, that's why they swapped the BR for the auto mag and the scoped smg. i for one am happy that we get a scoped automatic weapon, like the smg. I think that people shouldnt complain anyways. No one really ever used the BR in campaign unless killing jackals or making grunt heads "e'splode" with G Bday Party skull on.
I think that the new weapons are going to be vital parts of the game, and I think that with the BR then the game would be ruined. Firstly, the BR is one of the loudest weapons in the game, as you can go on sandtrap and shoot one from one elephant and hear it from the other side of the map (test it for yourself if you want). They were equipped for a stealthy attack on a covenant cruiser, which they would need CQB weapons that were quiet and swift.
The Battle Rifle is an almost four foot long, loud as -blam!- weapon that a brute could probably hear for miles since they have almost animal-like instincts.
I think that its good that Bungie is experimenting with new weapons, especially since ODST is a virtually brand new game in almost every aspect, save the enemies and a few weapons. It's the largest halo environment yet, Bungie's said, and it's basically an RPG in the sense that it's a free roam game.
So I say bring on the new weapons, and forget the old ones. We need new weapons to own the brutes with!
[Edited on 07.21.2009 9:11 PM PDT]