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Thoughts on Halo Online: New school vs Old school

Houseman

Zealot
Sanctuary legend
Messages
1,068
So thanks to our admin, I recently got to play El Dewrito, and I'm really bad at it. I never played any of the old halos, but I thought I'd at least be proficient at this game. Nope. Not at all.

Why? Am I old and out of touch? Am I just not used to the way the game works? Am I just playing against Halo Experts who have years of experience? Is an hour not enough to master the game?

1st round: Team Slayer. I just get spawnkilled over and over by a coordinated team of players with battle rifles, while I spawn with my little pea-shooter that doesn't even break their shields.
2nd round: 2v1 KOTH. The lone Spartan on the other team wrecks us. Judging by his profile, he's of a much higher rank than me and my rando teammate.
3rd round: Moshpit KOTH. I actually got 1st place because I just ran in there and threw grenades around until everyone else died.
4th round: Slayer. I got like last place.

If this were 4 rounds of something recent, like Battlefield 1, I'd get in the top 3 of my team, guaranteed. Why is Halo so different?

I have a theory:
1) Movement
In "modern" games, like CoD, Battlefield, etc, all you have to do is shoot at someone and then they die. You are rewarded by putting the crosshair over the enemy and clicking. Not so in Halo, apparently. After you shoot them, THEY DON'T DIE. They just move around. And you have to keep aiming at them and keep clicking until they finally do die. But sometimes they'll start shooting back, and they might have a better weapon than you, and then YOU might die! That's mind-boggling to me.

I've noticed this in other "old" games, like SOCOM, where you could literally dodge bullets by wiggling around back and forth when you're being engaged. I've never seen anything like this in CoD or BF. In "modern" games, if you're getting shot at, you're already dead. You simply can't throw your opponent off by moving around. You don't move fast enough.

In "old" games, you have to commit in order to get that kill. You have to stay with them while they jump, strafe, and duck. I just don't have that control.

2: Memorization
Seems like there are set weapon spawns, and maps with a bunch of tricks to them. I don't know these maps, and I don't know where the good weapons spawn, or even what the good weapons are. People who do will walk all over me, since they'll just bee-line it to the battle-rifle or sniper while I'm dual-wielding SMGs that I happened to come across. Not only that, an experienced player will be able to know where a person will land when they jump off a boost. This is all knowledge that I don't have, which gives me a disadvantage.

In "modern" games, memorization becomes much less of an issue. All guns of the same class work roughly the same, and you spawn with them instead of picking them up. You still have to memorize the maps, but since there's much less emphasis on movement, it ceases to matter to an extent.

3: Objectives.
Notice that the only game I won was an object-based mode? I'm used to playing the objectives. Conquest (a Battlefield game mode) is my jam. Even if my KDR is low, I'll make it up with objective points. That hardly applies in Halo, where the "default mode" is DM or TDM. I'm much better at getting to and sitting in a zone than getting kills.

I'm not saying that Halo is a bad game or anything, just that it's from a different era and requires a different skill set.
I do think that "modern" games are more accessible, for better or worse. I've been killed by rank 1 players in BF and CoD all the time, it's unavoidable. But a high-ranking Halo player will hardly ever allow himself to be killed by a newbie. Similarly, a high-ranking Tekken Master will never lose to a white belt. IRL, I did BJJ, and I don't think I ever lost while sparring with someone with a lower belt, unless they were of a higher rank in some other discipline. I just knew things that they hadn't been taught yet.

I think I prefer the latter type. I think games should be fun. Being able to go toe-to-toe with anyone, regardless of rank, and get a few kills against them, even if you lose overall, is still fun. This is possible to do in modern games.

Losing completely and utterly, not having the slightest hope, isn't very fun. This is what happens when you go up against an experienced player in Halo. I'll keep trying, though.

Anyway, there are my ramblings.
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,288
Halo, especially classic 1-3, is definitely a slower game than most ADS shooters. It's much more tactical because of this. It gives you lots of time, relatively speaking, to plan your attack. Or retreat. Or what have you.

Besides that though, there are three things to keep in mind when playing on other people's servers.

1. People keep doing Battle Rifle spawns for their servers, and if that's done, expect to be crossmapped (hit from across the map) a ton. I personally hate BR spawns as they make most of the weapon sandbox redundant or worse, but yeah.

2. You don't know map weapon placement right now, so you don't know how to control spawns. In a loadout shooter like CoD or Battlefield, this isn't a thing.

3. You don't know exactly what each weapon and item does and how to use it to it's uttermost effectiveness. And Halo 3 has a big sandbox too.
 
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