The rot started when the Plasma rifle was nerfed in H2, due to duel-wielding. I remember thinking after playing CE and learning H2 would have duel-wielding that dual plasma rifles would be devastating, which they would certainly have been were it not for the nerf. But this degradation of its power undermined its status and created other covenant weapon designs to creep in which were much less alien and iconic. The Halo CE PR was actually quite accurate and was like a half-way house to being a ranged precision weapon like the carbine, but with faster fire rate. Nerfing its power and accuracy really took away from its feel as being a fearsome and effective weapon of the technologically superior covenant elite, so that contributes to diminishing somewhat the power trip that earlier Halo games had.
OMG MEMORY UNLOCKED. i had the plasma rifle laser tag game! never had anyone to play it with lol, i just got it as a kid because i freakin LOVED Halo (still do). i long for the day we see the plasma rifle at CE level
The theory I've always heard is that 343 was afraid that new players wouldn't recognize it as the rifle equivalent for the covenant. So they got rid of it and designed other weapons to take its place (if this logic sound's stupid, its because it is.) People can intuit things real quick and can realize its their rifle equivalent as soon as they pick it up and fire or just read its weapon name.
342i took a steamy hot shit in the Bungie lore, they ruined it in my opinion. So I have no faith in them. I'm sure they'll spit all over halo CE as a money grab. I hope I'm wrong but I doubt it. Ps- Humans are Forunners
I loved dual wielding red and blue plasma rifles in 2. Let the enemies choose whether they want the red pill or the blue pill. Both go to the same place anyway.
My go-to combo for Halo CE when fighting the Flood is shotgun and plasma rifle. The staggering effect of the plasma rifle really helps in long tight corridors, really lets me just melt through them.
Wow finally got through the video and couldnt agree. Its a good analysis of why the faster pace movement probably is why it got killed off. Probably also why they tried in some aspects to replace the plasma pistol with the disruptor pistol. I think a CE variant Plasma Rifle is a good idea to bring back with its stun affect. Skillful shot leading to slow down targets while with a slower ROF might be a great alternative to say weapons like the plasma repeater/storm rifle/pulse carbine that are more designed for longer ranges and spamming/supressive behavior. Plasma Rifle is more mid to close range and is more of an aggressive hunter type of behavior denying its prey from escape with the stun effect.
Odd opinion, but looking at the plasma rifle… I feel like it would actually work as an Armor Ability. Like, you could have a miniaturized one for each of our forearms and have them act as arm blasters.
I mean Halo Reach is the game that essentially killed the Plasma rifle. In CE it was a reliable weapon especially on Legendary to shred elites, Halo 2/3 it became dual wield able and made it great to hose down foes along with breaking their shields quickly. In Reach Dual wielding was removed and the plasma rifle along with the spiker became weak weapons not worth picking up especially in multiplayer. The plasma rifle wasn’t really forgotten, they just couldn’t figure out a way to make it good to use. They brought it back in H5 and nobody used it because again it was still suffering from the problems Reach created for it
Why is it called a rifle? Its clearly a pistol and a machine gun, a machine gun pistol. Its not the shape or size of a rifle nor does it fire bullets out of a rifled barrel. Nothing about it is rifle.
There are two pieces that are oft mentioned, but rarely elaborated. THE BR and PvP. Halo CE was an arena shooter with a campaign and PvP. Every weapon was equally useful...just at different things. Then, Halo 2 introduced the BR... a weapon that basically kicked ass at everything from further away. Distances got longer, precision was more important, and shields were actually less relevant. BR beat plasma rifle every. single. time. With the introduction of Halo 3's expanded PvP, PvP and competitive play took over the game design (to me at least). Before, Halo was a battle against the Covenant and Flood with a fun PvP. Now, it was against your friends or, worse yet, for a cash prize, with some PvE on the side. Everything became "equal" with "balanced" maps and equitable distribution of weapons. "Non-human" weapons had to adhere to their overpowered human equivalents to be "balanced," and were never used if they weren't a match for the BR.
