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This topic has moved here: Subject: Top 10 things I want for Halo 3 multiplayer (to please everyone)
  • Subject: Top 10 things I want for Halo 3 multiplayer (to please everyone)
Subject: Top 10 things I want for Halo 3 multiplayer (to please everyone)
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  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

The Halo multiplayer experience has been filled with debate ever since Halo 2 came out, and for obvious reasons that we all know by now, so I won't bother to go over them again. However, there are basically two sides: the one that wants a competitive game, and the one that wants a casual game. With Halo 3, I see no reason why both sides can't be pleased, and here are ten things that I think will help that.

1) Lower the auto-aim, or make it an option to do so. Halo 2 auto-aim was put in to counter latency in online games, but there's still an exorbitant amount of lag. XBC-type lag is countered with an anti-bullet lag system, so there's no reason for the high level of magnetism in Halo 3 that we see in Halo 2.

2) Keep dual wielding in the game. I think, in its present state, dual wielding is a flawed system. Allow dual wielding to remain in the game, but by the same token, given advantages to guns for not dual wielding them. Examples can be SIGNIFICANTLY increased accuracy, zooming in, or the ability to do a very fast double-melee.

3) Make enough playlists from the beginning to please casual and hardcore players, and have an unranked server list with filters. This is a very basic and obvious concept. All that needs to be done is include these playlists from the get-go in Halo 3.

Hardcore Lists:
Team Slayer Hardcore
Team Skirmish Hardcore
Double Team Hardcore
Rumble Hardcore
Clan Hardcore (3-4 vs. 3-4)

Other Lists:
Team Slayer
Team Skirmish
Double Team
Rumble Pit
Big Team Battle
Clan Match (3-4 vs. 3-4)

These basic playlists will satisfy a great many people in Halo 3, and some can be taken away and new ones installed as needed.

4) Bring back the Halo 1 weapon and power-up respawn system for Hardcore gametypes. For competitive play, the Halo 1 power-up respawn system was perfect. Having every power-up come back on a set timer not only made the game more fair (you've always got a shot to regain control), it also made it take more skill. Instead of one team gaining control of the power weapons once and being able to dictate the rest of the game, both teams have to constantly be on their toes to keep control of the map. Falter for one weapon cycle and it can cost you.

5) Make some of the close-range weapons more effective. I think almost everyone can agree on this one. The SMG, Magnum and Needler are weapons that simply aren't as useful as they should be. Sure, you can BXR someone with a Magnum, and you can also get kills with a SMG and Needler. But the amount of trouble required to do it is ridiculous.

Considering that there is some sort of Assault Rifle variant in Halo 3, the SMG shouldn't be a concern if the new AR is to take over the SMG's role as the close-range, full-auto gun. However, the new AR needs to be effective like the Halo 1 version was: a few bursts and a double melee, and they're down. Which brings me to point number 6...

6) An effective double melee attack. Not only does this take tremendous amounts of skill to use effectively, but it can turn the tide in any close range fight. If you watch the Ogre's Winter Wonderlan'd montage (all Halo 1), you'll see Ogre 2 get a sniper headshot and a double melee on Saiyan, who has overshield and shotgun, and take him out instantly. If you've never played Halo 1 multiplayer, know this: that's not easy, but it's such a great feature to the game that I would love to see something like it in Halo 3.

And I'm fully aware of BXB in Halo 2, but it's nowhere near the skill or effectiveness of BLB from Halo 1.

7) Keep the big, vehicle-filled games. I like to play competitively, but a good game of 1 Flag CTF on Zanzibar or Relic can be really damned fun sometimes. These types of games often appeal more to casual Halo fans: you can get in, play one or two games like this and sign off a satisfied Xbox Live customer. This is a good thing, as long as it's balanced out by having competitive options as well. By all means, keep these types of games.

8) Melee attacks and the sword. You knew this one had to come up eventually. I will say this: the sword right now is nowhere near as effective as it was on November 9, 2004. We've all learned how to deal with a sword-user by now. However, one thing has not changed: the sword, and melee attacks in general, are too easy to use for the power they carry. One lunge of the sword or one smack with the melee turns the tide of a fight completely, but in Halo 2 these battles are determined almost exclusively by who hits the button first. In a Halo 1 melee fight, the person with the more accurate/faster double melee is the one who wins. There simply needs to be skill required in punishing your opponent with that much damage.

9) Plasma freezing. In Halo 3, the Plasma Pistol overcharge shot does NOT need to have the amount of tracking that it carries in Halo 2. To counter this, make the Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle have a minor freezing effect when NOT DUAL WIELDED, similar to the Halo 1 freezing effect. To make the Plasma Pistol worthy of choosing over the Rifle in this scenario, let the Rifle shoot faster and thus keep them frozen more, but let the Plasma Pistol hit harder and do more damage, but more slowly. Make the Plasma Pistol overcharge the same as the Halo 1 version: deadly if it hits, but with very, very minimal lock-on.

10) A healthy balance of small and large maps. If the number of players in Halo 3 is to increase (I don't have any reason to believe it will, but just incase), then make sure to provide maps for small-scale gameplay. The SOCOM series for the PS2 was ruined in its third iteration by double the number of maximum players and then completely abandoning the 4 vs. 4 gameplay that it had embodied for years.

If anyone wants to discuss this, then please do it in a civil manner. These are just my opinions, and I don't mean to force them on anyone. I only wish to put my two cents out there.

  • 05.15.2006 7:25 PM PDT