The competitive Halo community rejoiced this week as 343i unveiled gameplay on Damnation, one of the classic remakes shipping with Anniversary this November:

Normally this type of footage would only excite people for nostalgia reasons, but something is different this time around. At the 4:15 mark notice that the DMR reticle no longer has bloom, allowing the player to fire rapidly without any loss of accuracy. Bloom has seemingly been the most divisive alteration to the Halo formula in Reach, often rewarding less-skilled players for spamming their trigger as fast as possible. There also appears to be melee bleed-through similar to previous Halo games. We can assume all of these subtle changes will be included in the Title Update coming out later this year as 343 has hinted at allowing fans to play Halo with a more classic feel in time for Anniversary, whether it be in custom games or a devoted playlist.

So, what do you think? Is this the type of change you've been waiting for to play Reach again? Personally, I'm skeptical as to how the lack of bloom will affect gameplay. The DMR in its current form is already deadly in the right hands - bloom is simply an excuse to shoot slower and give one's opponent more time to react to being shot. Without bloom it might start to feel like Halo 2 again (i.e. having a dominant long-range hitscan weapon). I'm fairly certain the bloom removal was primarily in response to all the complaints from the MLG community. Reach has underperformed compared to previous Halo games on the circuit and risks not appearing in next year's lineup.

This worries me, I think it will be a playlist specific thing though.

Looks great!

Well Halo to me was always about everyone being on an even playing field, so what do they do?

Allow everyone to spawn with different powers and weapons, unleveling the playing field.

It didn't feel right, and it wasn't fun to me. This certainly still isn't what I wanted from Bungies last Halo game, and even making the DMR more consistent might not be enough for me, it is practically the only weapon to suffer from bloom in the first place.

@Lebensbaum: Bloom was bad? How...? And it let people spam shots? o.o Maybe that second bit I didn't read right, but I feel like the DRM feels fine. It requires a bit more thought and skill and timing to use.

I really dont want a return of shield bleed through

@MordeaniisChaos: It's bad in a competitive sense as the game randomizes whether or not the shots hit (when the bloom is fully expanded). The most commonly referenced 1v1 situation is one player hammering on the trigger as fast as possible while the other paces his/her shots and doesn't even have time to pull off the fifth shot before being killed. You're right to say that it requires more thought/skill in theory but in reality the more frantic player has a good chance to come out on top. It's an even larger problem when connecting over XBL (playing on LAN is an entirely different game and yet MLG still demands more balance).

Worst thing they could do to the game in my opinion. It about basic skill to know when to spam and when to not. If these are real changes that go through I hope it will only be in one playlist or just options for these maps. I think Bungie sticking to there guns about everything in Halo 3 and Reach was really important to the success of those games and not just making them Halo 2 again. Changing bloom now just opens it up to everyone wanting everything changed. This is probably just for these maps though so I am not too worried.
 
I also wish they would clarify how the Halo HD multiplayer will interface with Reachs. I know its only tweaked Reach multiplayer but does it come with all the Reach maps? Do I have to switch disks if I want to play normal Reach instead of  these 7 maps?

@ShaneDev said:

I know its only tweaked Reach multiplayer but does it come with all the Reach maps? Do I have to switch disks if I want to play normal Reach instead of these 7 maps?

Playing the Halo: CEA disc will only grant you access to the 7 new maps. You will have to download them to your hard drive (for free if you purchased CEA) to play them through Reach itself.

The Halo remake coming without halo 1 multiplayer is the worst thing I've ever heard.

@ShaneDev said:

I know its only tweaked Reach multiplayer but does it come with all the Reach maps? Do I have to switch disks if I want to play normal Reach instead of these 7 maps?

Playing the Halo: CEA disc will only grant you access to the 7 new maps. You will have to download them to your hard drive (for free if you purchased CEA) to play them through Reach itself.

People were actively avoiding Halo Reach because of DMR bloom? Man, people are fucking nuts.

@big_jon: no u bk!1!

... I think I did that right.

THANK YOU GOD.

Reach multiplayer never caught me due to it seeming to lack big good Big team battle maps with lots of vehicle play. Stuff like the desert map with the elephants, avalanche, satellite map and so on from Halo 3. Also whenever I do hop on and try it out again the only maps appear to be community made maps that all take place in that same forge world setting with the same assets. The only map I remember really liking in Reach was the spire one. "Fixing" bloom and the physics on grenades won't draw me in