However, after some recent releases, it also seems really, really derivative. Halo always was, I guess, but it had it's own flair to it as well. Particularly in the alien weapons, the vehicles and the slower combat. Halo 5: Guardians doesn't seem to have anything that distinguishes it from the way... say... Titanfall plays. Sure, I guess there will be an actual campaign whereas Titanfall didn't have one but MP wise it doesn't seem as exciting.

I'm really concerned that the focus on human weapons, arena maps and competitive will ultimately be to the detriment of any uniqueness Halo has left - cus there are loads of shooters all over that these days.

I do like that they've toned back the HUD from Halo 4 (I called that one out the moment I saw it in E3 2012). But the smart scopes are WAAY over-designed.

Also, I was looking at the reticle on the SMG and the AR while firing and it looks like using the smart scope eliminates all reticle bloom: giving you basically perfect accuracy. So... even if there is no penalty to hipfire, there is a definite advantage to using the smart scope in every situation unless you can't physically keep your aim on target while zoomed. If it works anything like zooming did in previous Halo games (which it may not) then you'll also get effective range and aim-assist increases while zoomed. I don't think it's a change which should be understated. If you have an AR: you're going to want to zoom.