Not even close to the expectations set by 343.

This game has great potential don't get me wrong. I've played Halo throughout my entire life.
I would've purchased the game if multiplayer was free or not. It's honestly terrible that you can't earn any customization items without the $10 battle pass. Complete money grab and people are foolish enough to fall for it. Everyone that makes a purchase is supporting this poor business practice.

343 Set high expectations throughout the development of this game. Saying that this game will have in depth spartan customization. So much so where you could paint individual pieces of armor etc. But they opted out so that the players will have to pay them to stand out on the battlefield.

Let's talk a little about the progression system post changes.
No matter your performance in the match if you do NOT complete any challenges you will ONLY gain 50 exp. Challenges give you much more exp. Let's say you kill 30 players and get various medals you will NOT be rewarded for those actions. A core game play mechanic that is blocked to force the player to buy challenge swaps and ultimately level skips.

I believe a hybrid system of Halo reach and Halo 4's leveling system would be much better then this garbage. I personally miss having to save up credits to buy the pieces of armor that I thought were cool to create something truly unique. Or even back to the days of Halo 3 when you had to unlock achievements to get new armor pieces.

I really hope that this is a money grab until the official game comes out on Dec 8th.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8/1/2024
This game is still the same as it was on launch day. 343 Has put minimum effort into actually creating a unique experience and adding additional weapons among other content to the game. They offer (mostly) paid battle passes. For a limited time they will offer leveling in a battle pass but once the time is up on it you have to buy it to continue progressing. The grind in this game isn't very fun or engaging either. Every week you get a very small list of challenges that are often completed in an hour. Completing these challenges grants you xp to put towards a battle pass. The earn rate has always been egregiously bad. The grind is just not enjoyable in this game, But 343 has you covered by letting you purchase their vast assortment of paid armor. No sain person could honestly go through the "Armor Hall" and justify the prices on the items. Total the cost of every item in the store and tell me if that's honestly right. Games used to be fun and engaging but now you just have to pull out your wallet to progress and look decent. 343 Has shameful business practices. Unfortunately I'll continue to play this game every so often. I enjoy the forge mode they finally added. Then the community in the Custom Games. You could always count on the community to make a bad game good.

Not even close to the expectations set by 343. This game has great potential don't get me wrong. I've played Halo throughout my entire life. I would've purchased the game if multiplayer was free or not. It's honestly terrible that you can't earn any customization items without the $10 battle pass. Complete money grab and people are foolish enough to fall for it. Everyone that makes a purchase is supporting this poor business practice. 343 Set high expectations throughout the development of this game. Saying that this game will have in depth spartan customization. So much so where you could paint individual pieces of armor etc. But they opted out so that the players will have to pay them to stand out on the battlefield. Let's talk a little about the progression system post changes. No matter your performance in the match if you do NOT complete any challenges you will ONLY gain 50 exp. Challenges give you much more exp. Let's say you kill 30 players and get various medals you will NOT be rewarded for those actions. A core game play mechanic that is blocked to force the player to buy challenge swaps and ultimately level skips. I believe a hybrid system of Halo reach and Halo 4's leveling system would be much better then this garbage. I personally miss having to save up credits to buy the pieces of armor that I thought were cool to create something truly unique. Or even back to the days of Halo 3 when you had to unlock achievements to get new armor pieces. I really hope that this is a money grab until the official game comes out on Dec 8th. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8/1/2024 This game is still the same as it was on launch day. 343 Has put minimum effort into actually creating a unique experience and adding additional weapons among other content to the game. They offer (mostly) paid battle passes. For a limited time they will offer leveling in a battle pass but once the time is up on it you have to buy it to continue progressing. The grind in this game isn't very fun or engaging either. Every week you get a very small list of challenges that are often completed in an hour. Completing these challenges grants you xp to put towards a battle pass. The earn rate has always been egregiously bad. The grind is just not enjoyable in this game, But 343 has you covered by letting you purchase their vast assortment of paid armor. No sain person could honestly go through the "Armor Hall" and justify the prices on the items. Total the cost of every item in the store and tell me if that's honestly right. Games used to be fun and engaging but now you just have to pull out your wallet to progress and look decent. 343 Has shameful business practices. Unfortunately I'll continue to play this game every so often. I enjoy the forge mode they finally added. Then the community in the Custom Games. You could always count on the community to make a bad game good.