Well, after playing the beta pretty much everyday since it was released, I've finally gotten around to writing some of my impressions. ( I wish I had written them all down when they happened, as it would be a lot easier to remember what, exactly, I had qualms about.) Alas, I was too busy enjoying playing the game, when I probably should have been paying better attention.
Let's start with the UI.
I'm doubtful that this is the final UI as far as menus are concernedp, but I thought that for the most part they were easy to navigate and understand. The armour selection area might be improved upon by making it feel more natural. It works fine for multiplayer, however I think the current interface would detract from the campaign experience. I don't want a lot taking me out of the story, so the more relative, the better, imo.
spartan/elite customization
The armoury is looking great so-far as options are concerned, and it's far from showing every conceivable option, so there's not too much I can comment about it.
The option to have your blade located in a different location, different type, i.e. Emil's would be nice. Also noticed that the knife cover was missing the actual knife?
The available colour palette seems lacking and somewhat limiting as to what armour pieces you can change. (Jorge's armour has three different colours that go together quite nicely I might add...)
Maybe have preset colours for some pieces? I'd like a Spartan that's as close to UNSC standards as possible.
Matchmaking
I like the system and how it should work in theory, but in practice it's coming up a little short. (More than likely I don't need to be telling you this...) In social preferences, if I pick to prefer chatty, polite team players, I more often than not end up with a group of Non-mic wielding lone wolves, mixed with loud and obnoxious poor sports, who's every other word can't be found in Websters.
I have no idea how this could be changed, and it most likely cannot be. In such a case it would be up to me to find people I like to play with, no big deal.
Which brings me to my next point, The party system.
If a group of four enters matchmaking as a party to play, let's say, Invasion- unless they exit their party (Which rarely happened), they are completely unable to coordinate with the rest of us, nor are we able to communicate with them (to much chagrin, as they go their separate way, leaving the rest of us to fend off a hungry pack of Elites while they snag all the power weapons and camp for the rest of the match.)
Could I pretend to join them? Sure, but wouldn't coordinated plans with all of us communicating be so much better? Yes.
Gameplay
The gameplay was great! Not too fast, not too slow, weapon balance was very well calculated and the new reticule bloom adds a nice effect, making us pace our shots intelligently. I kind of wish that I could still lead targets though, as it feels more realistic.
Individual weapons-
Pistol- very nice, but could use a slightly larger clip.
DMR- love it.
AR- does the job nicely.
needle rifle- Works well (almost too well) a lot less bloom (recoil) than DMR (intentional?) I do think the needles should dissapear as you fire it though.
plasma repeater- perfect.
Rocket launcher- Nightmarish splash damage not good for close quarters(powerhouse) firefights. Excellent for large open maps where vehicle destruction is its main purpose.
Shotgun- great. Not overpowered, imo... I've been on both ends.
Focus Rifle- Looks and feels great. I suck at using it, though.
Plasma Launcher- works wonders on large maps against vehicles and large groups of infantry.
Grenade launcher- This weapon will take me a long time to master. (I've yet to use the prolonged detonation successfully.)
Sniper Rife- Nice, slow deliberate shots are a nice change from the quick, no-scope spamming from days of ole.. (yesterday)
Needler- A-OK takes a steady hand to keep tracking on.
Hammer and Sword- Wonderfully powerful in the right hands. Incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. (i.e. your teammate,
who finds it fun to wave around in front of you, killing you in the process.) Funny? No. Set to Benny Hill music in fast forward? Maybe.
All the weapons SOUND fantastic.
Graphics
Being as the beta was a Somewhat small-ish download, I'm not really in a position to comment on graphics, besides what was presented to me; which in short, wasn't too shabby for just multiplayer. Animations were top-notch, even leaps and bounds ahead of any previous Halo title. I see that bungie is really working their tales off this time, which is really great for everyone.
Final notes-
If this kind of dedication remains present in bungie's future, then I will wholeheartedly embrace world domination. Albeit, I would have little choice regardless.