: That one was all on Bungie. They started this in Halo 2, and every subsequent
: Halo game has basically used the same damage scale. 343i has just failed
: to correct this mistake. Personally, I find Halo 1 to still be challenging
: on Legendary, and it always demonstrates to me that enemies don't have to
: be overwhelmingly powerful for the game to be a challenge.

: Basically, things would be set up both novice and advanced Forgers. Nobody
: would be forced to use the terrain editor or texture tools if they didn't
: want to.

Then it becomes a question of if it makes sense to basically have to service and develop two different pipelines for Forgers. I can't see any economic view where it does.

As to H1 Legendary, I think its difficulty is a bit distorted just because while the Chief is weaker in some respects (jump height, melee) he's also the most powerful in any game from a sandbox standpoint. The Covenant have *no* ranged capabilities that can match the Chief wielding a pistol or sniper rifle. They have no weapon as instantly punishing in close range as a shotgun, save the occasional Sword Elite. Normal infantry don't carry any weapon as dangerous as the rocket launcher. The AR stumble, PR stun, and melee stagger all favor the player; with individual Elites it's as simple as charging them down with a hail of plasma and bludgeoning them to death. Really the only way I think the enemy have an advantage on you is that their melee strikes will connect from crazy distances even if you try to dodge.

Compare that with H2 on, ignoring the enemy changes via difficulty. You no longer have the Monster M6D. The enemies have carbines and beam rifles to engage you at range, and up close they have maulers or Brute plasma rifles. Enemies wield heavy ordnance like FRG and swords far more frequently. Stagger and stun is reduced. Then there's stuff like the Halo Reach Elites dropkicking you if you are stupid enough to try and use your melee, or fuel rod turrets homing around corners. In later games you have less grenades to throw and fewer chances to chain explosions. The only real advantage you gain is hitscan precision weapons and ease of headshots, although that all funnels into the "if you aren't noob comboing your way through this game you're going to be sad and disappointed." To the point I'll rarely pick up some power weapons because it deprives me of that combo.

When I think about H1 being difficult, it's almost always in the same context: "lots of enemies being thrown at me, limited maneuvering options, flanking." The Library, Two Betrayals, Keyes, and the Maw all have monster closets, enemies spawning in previously cleared areas, spawned enemies designed to circle around behind you and kill you, enemies shooting at you across a bridge where you can't easily engage them and take care of what's in front of you. That's really the only difficulty modifier H1's campaign has to use against you outside of the changes by difficulty level, and it's one that mostly only works by virtue of not knowing about them beforehand; otherwise over time a competent player can just play the enemy and encounters like a fiddle, Rockslider-style.

In short: H1's campaign is IMO trivial in many ways compared to the difficulty introduced *outside* of the damage-boosted and HP-buffed enemies of later games.