Overall I liked it. I admit it has it's flaws, which I will expand on, but I give 343 props for taking on this monumental task. They have to try to live up to everyones expectations that Bungie had set, while still trying to make it something of their own rather than copy-paste Bungie. Im glad they didn't give us a re-skinned previous Halo, like CoD does EVERY FREAKING YEAR! (I bought MW2, and thats it because its all the same.)

Now to break it down a bit

Load Outs - In Reach, people would always bitch when "slayer" was chosen as opposed to "slayer DMR". If there was a carbine on the map, it was a wasted weapon spawn because it NEVER got touched in DMR's. Now people can spawn with their weapon of choice.

Story - I might be a bit biased on this end since I know much of the EU, but I generally liked the story. The writing was on the weaker side, but it still felt very much like Halo to me.

Multiplayer - When I first heard about all the changes being made (load out customization, ordinance, etc...) I was pretty concerned. But once I got my hands on it at PAX and played it, it felt like any other Halo game I've played. And honestly with the weapon tuning I don't see any noticeable difference in player movement. Some weapons feel like they kill pretty fast now (BR) but the Carbine is actually useful.

BoltShot - This was a bad idea, even I think that. Remove the charge shot or give it a different purpose rather than insta-kill and we'll talk.

Didact - He could have had more of a presence in the story, felt like more of a threat.

ReDesigns - The Master Chiefs armor redesign I could live with, and I get how in 4 years time they might have newer frigates and pelicans (not too fond of the new pelican), but why redesign the FuD? That could have stayed the same.

So it has it's faults and mistakes, but I generally liked it. 343 tried something different, and it didn't quite work. It happens.