1. New Vehicles in Halo 2 (Or Lack Thereof)

One of the more notable disappointments in Halo 2 is the lack of new vehicles. Despite the fact that there were several brand new playable vehicle types featured in early production art & renders as well as betas, -- for example, the "Mongoose" ATV, the "Kestrel" hovercraft, and several new varieties of Warthogs -- the only ones that made it into the final version of the game were the Gauss Hog, the only new Warthog variant that was added, and the Specter, which was nothing more than the Covenant version of the Warthog; nothing really original or innovative. All in all, the selection of playable vehicles is more or less the same as it was in Halo 1, with the exception of the ability to actually pilot the Wraith now (the only thing significantly different as far as playable vehicles go).

There were several brand new non-playable vehicle types, though, including the Phantom dropship, the Scarab walker, the Shadow troop transport, and the Seraph fighter. However, the Phantom and Scarab were the only new non-playable vehicles prominent in the game. The Shadow was hardly used and the Seraph never figured into gameplay to any degree. A convoy of Shadows was seen in the highway tunnels in the stage Outskirts. A Seraph can be seen briefly in the cut scene at the end of Cairo Station, and another is seen docked in the Threshold installation and was featured as the Heretic leader's personal ship. Like the playable ones, there's nothing much in the way of new non-playable vehicles (though the Scarab was awesome).

So for Halo 3, I think it would be great if there were a larger selection of vehicles. This time around, bring back the vehicles you had to cut from Halo 2, including the ATV (complete with a relatively weak, foward-mounted machine gun to make it the human equivalent of the Ghost), the Kestrel (or some similar vehicle that would serve as a playable flying UNSC craft), and of course the other Warthog variants, including the arctic, jungle, and troop transport 'hogs, with suitable stages for them, of course (more on this in a later section). Speaking of Warthog variants, I think it'd be neat to add the civilian 'Hog as a "just for fun" vehicle. Also, boats would be a cool addition for water-based assaults. Imagine giving the player the chance to storm the enemy from the ocean or a river. While the Covenant has a wider variety of vehicles than the humans, perhaps an as-yet unseen type with completely novel and innovative abilities could be added as a new vehicle, and perhaps new variations of the already-existing Covenant vehicles could be introduced. There should also be a wider variety of common non-playable vehicles as well, rather than simply having to deal mainly with dropships for most of the game.

2. Particulars Regarding Specific Vehicles (Including Suggestions for Halo 3)

A) Warthog

There is not really much I have to comment on about this UNSC mainstay. The e-brake helped make the Warthog a lot more maneuverable, and the 'hog is also less prone to rolling over. Both of these were nice additions gameplay-wise, though the Warthog's controls and physics were more fun in Halo 1. I always liked how the Halo 1 'hog got more hang time from jumps and being launched through the air in a crash or by an explosion. Except for that, I really have no complaints about the basics of this vehicle. In any case, though, my only suggestion would be the one I expressed earlier about having a wider array of variants, including the arctic, jungle, troop transport, and civilian models. There could very well be other useful varieties of the Warthog to be had as well.

B) Ghost

My only complaints about the Ghost are its controls and weaponry. While I applaud the more responsive controls (the Ghost drifted too much in Halo 1 and couldn't change direction as well as it does now), the addition of the ability to boost (which is universal now among playable Covenant vehicles), and the fact that it doesn't flip as easy, I still prefer the overall maneuverability it had in Halo 1. Its top speed in Halo 1 was much greater than the standard non-boosting speed it has in Halo 2. Furthermore, it could move backwards and at angles as fast as it could when moving forward, and it could also strafe at a decent speed. So, I think that the controls of the Ghost in Halo 3 should combine the faster base speed and overall maneuverability of Halo 1 and the more responsive controls of Halo 2. I think this would greatly improve the overall handling of the vehicle. In fact, I think this could possibly warrant the elimination of the boost feature.

As for its weaponry, the Ghost fires a lot faster now than it did in Halo 1. The new rate of fire looks to be about twice as great (roughly 4 or 5 shots per second in Halo 1 vs. 7 or 8 shots per second in Halo 2; this is if we assume that we count the twin bolts fired by the Halo 1 Ghost as a single shot, as its plasma cannons were linked and they always fired simultaneously). The Halo 2 Ghost also does more damage per shot fired. In Halo 1, it took 8 bursts (16 plasma bolts, if we count them separately) while in Halo 2 it took 9 individual plasma bolts, or 4bursts (while a slight pull of the trigger can fire a single bolt, it normally fires in two-shot bursts). The Halo 2 Ghost's plasma cannons are also generally more accurate. As a suggestion, I think the rate of fire should be cut to approximately half its current value, as I believe this will make its offensive capabilities more balanced, especially considering its more responsive controls. As it stands now, the Ghost does damage at about twice the rate it did in Halo 1.

As a side note, I really liked the fact that the portside fuel tank was made into a weak point on the Ghost. Very cool.

C) Banshee

Like the Ghost, most of my complaints about the Banshee stem from its maneuverability and offensive capabilities. While the Banshee now has a boost feature as well as the ability to strafe and perform loops and barrel rolls, it has lost certain aspects of its maneuverability that it had in Halo 1, most notably its ability to hover while pointing downwards by pulling back on the control stick. If you attempt this now, you will quickly lose altitude. Also like the Ghost, the Banshee's top non-boosting speed in Halo 2 is noticeably slower than its top speed in Halo 1. Personally, I would gladly give up the ability to boost, loop, and barrel roll just so I could operate the Banshee in exactly the same manner as I did in Halo 1. Hovering had more practical use than looping or barrel rolling, which do not provide much in the way of really effective evasive ability. So if any change is made to the Banshee in Halo 3, it should be the reintroduction of its ability to hover and its old top speed, and the removal of looping, barrel rolling, and boosting.

As for its weaponry, the new Banshee has the same rate of fire and damage per shot as the Ghost. While I agree that removing the fuel rod cannon on the Banshee in multiplayer was a reasonable decision due to its potential for abuse, I still think that the Banshee's plasma guns are still a little too strong. It should fire just as it did in Halo 1 and do the same damage as the Ghost's cannons did.

Finally, do something about what happens to them whenever they get destroyed. In Halo 1, when you shot down a Banshee, you'd better make damn sure to get out the way or its burning wreckage would crush you dead. That's no longer a concern in Halo 2, since when it gets blown up it often gets sent flying at some random angle. The way it exploded in Halo 1 was so much better. (This is also the case with the Ghost as well)

D) Scorpion

This was another vehicle that benefited from improved controls. In Halo 1, you were forced to drive in the direction the turret was pointed. In Halo 2, things are different. You now have the ability to drive in one direction while having the turret pointing in another. This allows you to take care of a vehicle behind your tank without having to stop moving. Its Halo 2 controls should carry over into Halo 3 without any major revisions. Another nice addition was the new fully sealed hatch that provides full protection for the driver, as compared to the old hatch, which left the driver exposed to enemy fire, especially from snipers. The new hatch design is more realistic, as no modern tank leaves its driver exposed like that. The whole point of a tank's armor is to protect its crew. Very few of the U.S. military's M1A1 Abrams tanks have been lost due to battle damage, and out of those, only a handful of crew members have been killed.

My only complaints with the Scorpion are the changes made to its weapons. The main cannon fires a lot more rapidly now, but the shots seem to do less damage and have a smaller blast radius. Personally, I preferred the slower rate of fire and the larger damage and blast radius of the Halo 1 version. Both are at least superficially balanced, though, but the main cannon's damage and rate of fire seemed more realistic in Halo 1. Furthermore, the slower firing of the original Scorpion cannon meant that you had to aim better, or you might not get a second shot, while the faster firing and smaller blast radius of the new Scorpion's cannon is simply another example of the saturation fire all too commonplace in Halo 2. Also, the coaxial machine gun is more accurate now, which makes it way too easy to tear through enemy infantry. I believe that either reducing its accuracy to that of the Halo 1 Scorpion or reducing its rate of fire somewhat would be more balanced. Damage-wise, the machine gun performs reasonably. It fires an unspecified 7.62 mm round (probably the NATO round, just like the Abrams' M240 machine gun uses), and thus should, and seems to do, about the same amount of damage per shot as the MA5B Assault Rifle.

E) Wraith

The only thing I have to suggest about the Wraith is that the player should be given the ability to use the small anti-personnel plasma guns that the AI pilots are able to use. This should replace the boost function. Being a tank, the Wraith really shouldn't have and doesn't need a boost. On the other hand, perhaps the boost could be moved to the B button while the L trigger fires the guns. The anti-personnel guns should fire no faster and do no more damage than the Ghost's plasma cannons.

F) Spectre

The plasma cannon on this vehicle seems rather ineffective compared to the other vehicle-mounted weapons, at least when it's used against other vehicles. Being the Covenant version of the Warthog, the Specter's cannon should be more or less identical in its offensive capabilities to the M41 LAAG of the Warthog. Other than that, I have no complaints about this vehicle.

G) Non-playable Vehicles

I'd also like to see more emphasis on non-playable vehicles as well in Halo 3. Aside from the two Scarabs seen in Halo 2's campaign, the only non-playable vehicles that ever really featured prominently into the gameplay of either Halo title were the Pelican and the Covenant dropships. In the E3 2003 demo of Halo 2, Longsword fighters were seen providing heavy air support, destroying a Covenant plasma mortar. Something like this would be awesome in Halo 3. Having to call on air support, whether it is via an automatic scripted event, or by the player radioing it in as a mission objective, would be a great addition in Campaign and would add just that little bit extra to the depth of the gameplay. Furthermore, the Seraph fighter could provide a similar heavy air support role on the Covenant side of things. The Shadow transport, which was seen in only one part of Halo 2, should play a greater role as well, deploying Covenant troops into battle and whatnot (they only carried Ghosts in Halo 2). There could very well be other non-playable vehicles filling other functional or strategic niches. For example, I've noticed that Pelicans now have chin-mounted miniguns and a machine gun mounted in the passenger bay. I've also seen a couple that are equipped with wing-mounted missile pods. So, I think it'd be neat if the Pelicans would provide armed support (which they did only in a very limited amount in H2) rather than simply picking up and dropping off troops and supplies.

3. Damageable/Destructible Vehicles & Vehicle Health

This is the final issue I have with Halo 2's vehicle system. While the ability to damage and destroy any and all vehicles was a welcome addition to gameplay (only Covenant vehicles in Campaign were destructible in Halo 1), I think that said feature could have been implemented better than it was. First off, damage to a vehicle is wholly cosmetic, and does not affect its performance in any way, shape, or form. Damaging a Warthog's wheels does not affect how it steers, nor does destroying the engine pods or control flaps of a Banshee affect its basic maneuverability or its ability to boost, barrel roll, and loop. Thus, I'd like to suggest that in Halo 3 any form of damage to a vehicle should impair its maneuverability to an appropriate degree (if it is in any way possible to implement such a thing in the game's engine). For example, blowing away the engine pods or control flaps of a Banshee should, in addition to affecting its basic controls, impair or eliminate its ability to boost, barrel roll, or perform other maneuvers.

As for totally destroying a vehicle, performing such a task depends on certain factors. For example, an unmanned vehicle can only take a certain amount of damage before being completely demolished, which is quite useful for keeping an unwanted, unneeded, or otherwise unused vehicle out of enemy hands. However, when a vehicle is being driven, things change drastically. The amount of damage a manned vehicle can take before exploding is, as a rule, more or less directly tied into the health of its pilot. That is, as you damage the vehicle, the shields of its operator are depleted as normal, though damage is reduced depending on the type of vehicle, the type of weapon being used against the vehicle, and where the vehicles is hit and/or when the vehicle itself is hit rather than the driver. For example, someone piloting a Banshee is fully enclosed by the vehicle and can sustain a decent amount of small arms fire before going down. Hitting certain parts of a vehicle -- namely, any part that isn't in the general area of the driver, such as the wheels of a Warthog or wings of a Banshee -- will do no damage to the driver at all. Some weapons such as the sniper rifle and sword will do no damage to a vehicle unless it directly strikes the driver (when applicable). The Scorpion and Wraith are practically immune to most small arms fire (as they should be). And of course, a single direct hit from a rocket or a tank cannon is normally enough to take out any vehicle. If the driver is slain after sustaining enough hits, the vehicle will usually be destroyed as well.

There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, if you shoot the driver out of a fresh Warthog or Ghost, usually by sniping them out of it, they will die but the vehicle will remain intact. However, if the vehicle is heavily damaged and/or under heavy fire, finishing the driver off with a sniper shot without actually hitting the vehicle will destroy it as normal. Another exception is when you're driving a Warthog or Specter and have a passenger and/or gunner, and a rocket strikes the vehicle. You will usually die but your gunner or passenger, or possibly both, will survive and the vehicle will not be destroyed. The last exception is destroying the fuel tank of a Ghost that is in use. This will completely destroy the Ghost, but the driver will survive if he hasn't already sustained much damage.

The most notable aspect of the tying in of a vehicle's health with that of its operator is that when the operator's shields are down, he can retreat from combat in his vehicle and wait for his shields to regenerate. This effectively gives an in-use vehicle the ability to absorb a potentially infinite amount of damage without being destroyed, assuming the driver manages to keep himself alive during the entire time he is operating it. This system has clearly demonstrated its capacity for abuse. As perhaps the most notable example, the Banshee's enhanced maneuverability and its capacity to absorb rather large amounts of small arms fire makes it very difficult for players on foot to compete against without use of a rocket launcher. The Banshee pilot can simply make an attack run, and then fly away to cover while his shields regenerate from whatever damage he sustained. If the Banshee pilot's teammates have the rocket launcher (which, being a power weapon, will not reappear under normal circumstances if it is being held by another player if it is the sole one on the map), then that team's opponents are left without any truly effective countermeasure against the Banshee..

This is also a problem in Campaign. For example, it is easier to destroy a Wraith piloted by a blue Elite than one piloted by a Brute or a white Elite. Also, Elite-driven vehicles have the problem with regenerating shields I mentioned above. This can result in the unusual situation where an enemy tank can take several rockets or blasts from a tank cannon, but your own tank will be destroyed with a single hit from the same weapons. It's quite ridiculous and unrealistic that a particular vehicle is easier or harder to destroy simply because its pilot has more or less health than another pilot. Each type of vehicle should have a uniform amount of health for each unit. Thus, I am of the opinion that the current system of vehicle health is not realistic and it results in noticeably unbalanced gameplay whenever vehicles are in use.

I would like to suggest that in Halo 3, a system of vehicle health like the one featured in Halo 1 should be implemented, both in Campaign and Multiplayer modes. This system, while only applicable to the Ghost and Banshee in Campaign mode (the Wraith, while not useable, was destructible as well), and even then only when they were in use, was still quite realistic and innovative. Those vehicles had a finite amount of non-restorable health independent from that of its operator, and once one took a certain amount of hits, it would be destroyed. If your vehicle's health was in the red, it was a clear sign that you'd probably want to abandon it and look for a new one. (As a side note, I still wonder why this health system wasn't used in Halo 1's Campaign for the Warthog and Scorpion as well rather than leaving them invulnerable, or why vehicle health did not feature into multiplayer. Like I said, that's one of things I didn't like in Halo 1.) Such a system of vehicle health in Halo 3, combined with the preceding paragraph's suggestion of specific forms of debilitating damage for vehicles, would greatly balance things and would also add to the game's realism. The vehicle's health and the health of its driver should be completely independent; damaging the pilot should not damage or destroy the vehicle, and damaging the vehicle should not cause damage to the driver (though destroying the vehicle has always been fatal to the driver, except certain occasions where the Ghost's fuel tank is destroyed, and I don't expect that to change). Of course, certain vehicles should have differing amounts of health than others, appropriate to its size and defensive capabilities -- that is, the larger the vehicle and the heavier its armor, the more shots it can sustain before being destroyed (obviously, a tank should take far more damage than a Ghost or Warthog, and the Banshee should be the most fragile vehicle of all) -- and, as it has in the past, the different types of weapons being used against the vehicle should cause differing amounts of damage.

Also, it would be nice if all non-playable vehicles in Campaign could be completely destroyed as well in Halo 3. For example, instead of simply being able to blow off the guns of a Phantom dropship, you should also be able to shoot it down, causing it to explode (like what was seen in the E3 2003 demo). Of course, taking down a dropship should be made rather difficult, perhaps by giving it something like 3 or 4 times the health of a tank, or by performing some other task like dropping a piece of a building on top of it (again, like in the E3 demo) or hitting it with heavy artillery, perhaps as part of a scripted event. If the Scarab returns in Halo 3, it could perhaps be given something like 10 or even 20 times the health of a tank (which would make it insanely difficult to destroy). And of course, non-playable vehicles should be made to suffer specific forms of damage that could possibly affect its combat capability.