The actual gameplay itself is phenomenal, short of a few minor balance issues & nitpicks that can build up and somewhat sully the experience- which is why it hurts my soul to say avoid this game like the plague until they listen to player feedback on progression and monetisation.

Monetisation is absolutely absurd, unfathomably greedy- and downright predatory. Charging $15 AUD for a plain red colour mix that is ONLY applicable to ONE of my three armour sets? Cool, thanks guys- really appreciate the "player expression," you're offering me there.

What's that? You'd like a SINGLE light blue skin for the AR as well as some nameplate swag? $15 again thanks. Buuttt if you simply shell out an extra $15, for $30 you can get shoulderplates, kneepads, a helmet, colour set and an end of match stance! Oh, it's the skin we used to advertise the FREE event? Our bad guys, sorry- you'll need to pay for that one.

Progression-
- Upon release you earned NOTHING for completing a game, the ONLY way to earn XP was through completing challenges. (This has since been "amended," by a game completion netting you a whopping 50xp out of the 1000xp needed for a single level up in the battle pass.)

- You earn NO experience from your in-game performance be it through your K/D, your completion of objectives, or your teamwork, the ONLY experience you will earn from a match is the base 1/20th of a level you earn for completing a match (As well as any relevant challenges completed during,)

- Without paying for the premium pass you are allotted less challenge slots, and are therefore required to grind even harder for your measly reward.
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A battle pass system is (I would say,) one of the more reasonable ways to mitigate the cost of running servers on a F2P live service game when done properly. However in this case it is done awfully, and in an incredibly predatory manner- let me explain.

In the battle pass there are 100 tiers to progress through. In these 100 tiers, there are ~67 free rewards for players who haven't paid for the premium pass- pretty good right?
Well, no- as ~42 of these free rewards are 'challenge swap cards,' which solely allows one to re-roll a challenge in hopes of getting a newer and hopefully easier one, it isn't even a challenge skip token, it just changes what you have to do to go up 1/4 of a tier.

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AT THIS POINT THE GAME HAS CRASHED THREE TIMES JUST WHILE TRYING TO SKIP THROUGH THE BATTLE PASS TO CRUNCH NUMBERS, AND THUSLY KILLED MY RESOLVE TO FINISH WRITING THIS REVIEW.

This is not an isolated incident, the friends I played with all had issues with intermittent crashes however I seem to have gotten it the worst, at least one crash every 3 games.

TLDR: Game is great, but don't touch it with a 10 metre pole until they've listened to feedback in regards to progression and monetisation.

Don't let corporate greed ♥♥♥♥ up the only good thing you've had going in the last decade 343i.

The actual gameplay itself is phenomenal, short of a few minor balance issues & nitpicks that can build up and somewhat sully the experience- which is why it hurts my soul to say avoid this game like the plague until they listen to player feedback on progression and monetisation. Monetisation is absolutely absurd, unfathomably greedy- and downright predatory. Charging $15 AUD for a plain red colour mix that is ONLY applicable to ONE of my three armour sets? Cool, thanks guys- really appreciate the "player expression," you're offering me there. What's that? You'd like a SINGLE light blue skin for the AR as well as some nameplate swag? $15 again thanks. Buuttt if you simply shell out an extra $15, for $30 you can get shoulderplates, kneepads, a helmet, colour set and an end of match stance! Oh, it's the skin we used to advertise the FREE event? Our bad guys, sorry- you'll need to pay for that one. Progression- - Upon release you earned NOTHING for completing a game, the ONLY way to earn XP was through completing challenges. (This has since been "amended," by a game completion netting you a whopping 50xp out of the 1000xp needed for a single level up in the battle pass.) - You earn NO experience from your in-game performance be it through your K/D, your completion of objectives, or your teamwork, the ONLY experience you will earn from a match is the base 1/20th of a level you earn for completing a match (As well as any relevant challenges completed during,) - Without paying for the premium pass you are allotted less challenge slots, and are therefore required to grind even harder for your measly reward. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// A battle pass system is (I would say,) one of the more reasonable ways to mitigate the cost of running servers on a F2P live service game when done properly. However in this case it is done awfully, and in an incredibly predatory manner- let me explain. In the battle pass there are 100 tiers to progress through. In these 100 tiers, there are ~67 free rewards for players who haven't paid for the premium pass- pretty good right? Well, no- as ~42 of these free rewards are 'challenge swap cards,' which solely allows one to re-roll a challenge in hopes of getting a newer and hopefully easier one, it isn't even a challenge skip token, it just changes what you have to do to go up 1/4 of a tier. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// AT THIS POINT THE GAME HAS CRASHED THREE TIMES JUST WHILE TRYING TO SKIP THROUGH THE BATTLE PASS TO CRUNCH NUMBERS, AND THUSLY KILLED MY RESOLVE TO FINISH WRITING THIS REVIEW. This is not an isolated incident, the friends I played with all had issues with intermittent crashes however I seem to have gotten it the worst, at least one crash every 3 games. TLDR: Game is great, but don't touch it with a 10 metre pole until they've listened to feedback in regards to progression and monetisation. Don't let corporate greed fuck up the only good thing you've had going in the last decade 343i.