To the joyous surprise of fans, Halo multiplayer released almost a month early on November 15th. I have played a number of hours in these first few days and I can honestly say (and I know many fans agree with me) the multiplayer experience has really lived up to the hype the test weekends set. I have played on both an Xbox Series X and a mid tier PC. While the first day or two had issues with connectivity on PC they were fixed for me and it has been running smoothly ever since. I do not feel at a disadvantage on either console or PC which is a big deal for the amateur competitive players. Crossplay is force enabled in ranked at least but according to 343 the system will only match you with those who are using the same input type, controller vs keyboard and mouse, unless your party has both input types already.
The ranked mode feels like a welcome addition that many other modern FPS games outright refuse to include in their games. It allows for a more relaxed time when playing quickplay or big team battle and when you are feeling like being a sweaty gamer you can jump into ranked. The default ranked settings are also a great throwback to the older Halo titles. Everyone starts with a battle rifle, grenades, and nothing else. There is no radar, no grenade indicators, friendly fire is on (have not confirmed this but it was stated by 343 to be true). Power ups do exist but they spawn on the map and act similarly to power weapons. They are also a consumable, if unused it will drop on death.
The map layouts in ranked and quickplay feel well thought out as well. Each one feels unique without having a gimmick or losing competitive integrity. The change to none power weapon spawns that indicate if the weapon is already in play add a clarity that I didn’t know I was missing. No longer am I sitting waiting for the bulldog or needler to spawn. Now I know someone on the enemy team has it and I need to go get it from them. The slide mechanic is something I was unsure of when first reading it but I find it brings a depth of movement that modernizes the Halo experience. There is a slight slide cancel that can be done if the player sprints right after sliding but nothing that gives an immense advantage like in Call of Duty.
It is important to note that until December 8th the multiplayer experience is technically in beta. Bugs and connection issues may happen as well as some options being non-existent in the beta. One example is that there is currently no option to choose what games you queue into in quick play or big team battle. You will likely be able to play only slayer or opt out of certain modes when the full game comes out as well as picking what maps you end up on. The latter is more of a hope of mine to make it easy to practice certain map routes.
Regardless of what they end up doing with the Halo experience I am along for the ride. The community has been clambering for a competitive shooter that isn’t a battle royale for some time; Halo fits that bill perfectly. Be sure to check back here for regular updates on the new battle passes and upcoming game modes.
