Halo: Reach Discussion

[Pooky]

Fair enough. Still, I don't think what you've said justifies anything beyond mild concern. You haven't played the game yet, so you have no idea how these things actually feel in combat. You can do as I do and express your hope that they get it right and your concern that they might not, but don't just assume you're right.

It's not just that I'm just assuming off nothing, I've seen a good amount of assault rifle usage in all the various vidocs and videos. I'm aware that I don't really know anything until I try it myself. I am, as you said, expressing concern.

The sniper rifle, DMR, and rocket launcher are all roughly the same size, grey, and made up of metal components. >_>
Come on, get an eye for the distinctive features of the guns. They all have them.

The sniper rifle, DMR, and rocket launcher all have distinctive silhouettes and animations, the new covenent weapons all look like big lumpy purple things to me :|

And the reason we don't need an SMG is because we have a shotgun. Bungie describes their combat roles in terms of range and damage; "bullet hose" isn't a combat role, it's a theme.

Thing is, the SMG in Halo 3 filled the close range performance gap between the Assault Rifle and Shotgun. Though the shotgun is undoubtedly better at close quarters than the SMG, the SMG is better than the assault rifle. SMGs are usually common and easily available from right when you spawn, whereas the shotgun is rare and usually tough to get to. It all boils down to map control, you need a reason to leave your spawn and go find weapons rather than just running around with the AR everywhere.

With that said, it seems Bungie has largely abandoned the idea of map control with the whole loadout system, so it probably won't be much of an issue. I'm just sad to see the lack of a point blank bullet hose in a Halo game.