I love how Halo 5 gives players more combat options through spartan abilities. It's great that 343 finally found a way to make combat less archaically simple while maintaining game balance. The thrusters and ground pound were my favorite. The former gives the player the ability to dodge grenades more effectively and duck behind cover quickly if he made a wrong step. The ground pound is a great way to turn the potential energy of height into a weapon against your opponents. However, I do wish that the spartan would follow a more arced path towards the ground when pounding rather than defying gravity and shooting in a straight line at constant speed.
I was at first skeptical about the idea of not charging while sprinting- I thought it was unnecessary. But it does make for some interesting situations in which a dying player has to choose whether to run from combat and not charge or to duck behind something and hope he can get charged up before the enemy rounds the corner. Choosing the former can lead to a pretty fun chase, with the shieldless player running for what seems like forever, ducking around corners as he tries to lose the pursuer and regenerate or pull a reversal against him.
However, the fact that you can't sprint while being shot at is nothing short of an outrage. I am in complete disagreement with the general mentality that if you see an enemy then you have a right to kill him, and that players should not be able to escape combat. If a player recognizes that he is outnumbered, outmatched, or that an upcoming or ongoing combat situation is unfavorable to him, then he should have a decent chance to escape if he tries to. The player's inability to charge while sprinting is enough support for the pursuer if he decides to chase. Furthermore, players lose control of their character once their sprint is broken by enemy fire. The sudden unexpected shift in movement speed that was not cued by the player can easily throw him off, and has too many times led to my crashing into walls while scrambling to get away.
I also loved how the assault rifle has been made into a more effective weapon for close and mid-range combat and suppression at long range. Players finally have a reason to choose this weapon over the battle rifle for certain situations.
I would like to see the company make a better effort to give the players a more human rather than robotic feel. I loved the chatter, but the voices sounded emotionless. They forget that the chatter should serve not only to convey information between players, but also to create a more immersive, intense, and realistic experience. They should look to Battlefield 3 or 4, Assassin's Creed 4, or the marines in any of the Halo campaigns to get a better idea of what battlefield dialogue should really sound like.
They should also consider coding automatic 'involuntary' movements for the Spartans, such as throwing his hand in front of his face to shield himself from a nearby explosion, or maybe stumbling a little after activating thrusters rather than somehow keeping both of his hands firmly planted on the weapon. Such movements should affect gameplay only minimally, if at all, but they will still help players feel more like they're controlling human characters rather than robots.
I love the new game. So far I'm beasting (2.5 K/D and 9.something skill rank), and I think that 343 has successfully proven that Halo can still feel very modern as an arena-based shooter game.
For the purpose of the list you intend to compile, I'll condense what I said into a few important points here:
-Spartan Abilities, sprint, and clamber were a success and should stay in Halo 5
-Sprint should not be lost upon being fired at. This absolutely will not do.
-Combat dialogue should be improved by adding emotion
Intermissions are too long
-Involuntary movements should be considered to help modernize the game