If Brad and Jeff are recommending Heroic, then you're soft.  :P

If you're not having fun with Normal mode, then bump it down to Easy. No sense playing a game if you're not having any fun. That's why they call them games.  
 
Personally, I don't ever play Halo games on Legendary, because it just seems like a waste of time. You slog through the campaign just for some measily achievement points? Give me a break. 

I love what they did to the difficulty in this game. This thread makes me smile.
 
But seriously, try easy. If Normal is too hard, you simply need to get better. Not to be a dick. It's just... reality.

A pro-tip is to never go out on your own.  Stick with your team and fight along with them.  If you are by yourself then you will get gang-raped.

Consider the stock of people who would look down on your for this.  
See? It doesn't matter what level you play at. You purchased the thing yourself, play it how you want.

Persevere! I was getting my ass beat at times in Normal, and it was frustrating the shit out of me. However, I pushed through, and beating the game felt much more satisfying than it would have on easy.
 
 
...Plus, achievements!

Don't play it like Call of Duty you can't rush and you have to be more methodical because of the way the enemies work. It's also good to know that Plasma destroys shields and Bullets destroy flesh. Use weapons accordingly and you should have no trouble.
Also the overcharged plasma pistol will always knock out vehicles and will auto-kill banshees in the air, so that's good too.

" @JJWeatherman: Pretty sure Vinny said hes bumping down to normal due to Heroics diffculty. why do people look down on other people for playing on easy anyway? "

It's your money. Play the game how you want to play it and only how you want to play it.

Don't mean to brag, but I'm finding heroic pretty easy most of the time. Am I cool or what? Eh? Eh?

Play whatever difficulty your think you'll have fun with. You want the memories to be good, not of annoyance.

" Don't mean to brag, but I'm finding heroic pretty easy most of the time. Am I cool or what? Eh? Eh? "

" Consider the stock of people who would look down on your for this.  See? It doesn't matter what level you play at. You purchased the thing yourself, play it how you want. "

" @OdinsThunder said:

" Don't mean to brag, but I'm finding heroic pretty easy most of the time. Am I cool or what? Eh? Eh? "

My beef is that heroic is mostly easy then random things will one shot you.  A fuel rod will oen shot me but if I hit a jackal it just blows up his shield...wtf?  That should happen on Legendary+1 not heroic.  Besides that and the concussive elite rifle somehow being godly for them but useless for me have been my only struggles. "

The plasma pistol can make taking down big enemies easier. That damn Fuel Rod-using dude in Chapter VII deserved it.

" The plasma pistol can make taking down big enemies easier. That damn Fuel Rod-using dude in Chapter VII deserved it. "

Whatever lets you enjoy the game, dude.
 
But i think the AI and the way it flanks and surprises you is one of the best parts of the single player game and turning them into easy targets would ruin a lot of what makes this game great. But that's my opinion.

I jumped right into Legendary, because I'm awesome.

Play whichever way makes the game most enjoyable for you. At the same time, I think Brad said in the podcast that if you're dying repeatedly on a section it might be worth trying something totally different: I know I get locked in to a particular "best approach" that isn't actually a best approach at all. 
 
It might sound weird but I treat Halo difficulty like Guitar Hero/Rock Band difficulty: for a while, Hard and Expert (Heroic/Legendary) look completely insurmountable - but after a while you start to develop the patterns and techniques that allow you to push through. That's where the real enjoyment of the game comes from, for me, but there's certainly no shame in having to build up to that point.

I very nearly did the same thing. But powered through. Made use of Jeff's "run past everything" tactic near the end.

Abnormally tough on normal? I don't think so. There are been a number of occasions where I feel like I've been killed but something I just could not have seen coming but overall I've found the difficulty pretty standard and if I am having trouble at a certain point I'll go back in with a different strategy. I'm just speaking for me though, if you want to drop the difficulty down to easy then go for it.

It's not "bumping" if you actually lower the difficulty.

Play in easy if you want but if its like Halo 3 then that might be a little too easy in that game you could stand on a scarab as it blows up and be fine. Also the game doesn't keep track of you stats if you play on easy at least from what I can see.

You expect to much from a dead studio, only interesting in reselling their name. 

Use plasma weapons to kill shields on the elites, shoot jackals in the weapon hand then in the head to get round their shield, make sure you have a precision weapon nearby (DMR, Needle Rifle) to quick headshot a lot of the cannon fodder enemies. You definitely have to think a bit more with this game than I expected, but its do-able. And shit, if you wanna bump it to easy, bump it to easy. Just don't deny yourself the challenge just to beat it. My friend, crazy bastard that he is, has done it solo on legendary already, but I don't think I ever will... Halo has a very specific feel and play style these days and people can deal with it to different degrees.

I play on Heroic and I find that the challenging is part of the fun, I think on easy you will run thru it in no time but would it then feel satisfying? 

I started the game on heroic, and then bumped it down to normal after three or four missions. I was trying to enjoy the story but the five or six reloads of a checkpoint before moving a hundred yards was really putting a damper on that. Now that I have finished the campaign, I will probably play through on legendary on my own and possibly with some friends in co-op.  
 
Play the game on the difficulty that feels right for you, that is why there is the choice.

Idk dude, I flew by it on Heroic. Then again, I have beaten Halo 1, 2, and 3 on Legendary by myself.

Play at the difficulty that is the most fun for you. Simple.

Try co-op. I'm playing co-op on heroic and it's great. Solo heroic sucks ass.