I thought to write up a proper “On the field” for the game, but I’ve played so many rounds of this game by this point that it all blurs together. Does that mean it’s a great game? Well, sorta. It really means it’s a great game to play with my son.

Don’t get me wrong—I think there’s value here. I just have a few concerns. First, let’s reiterate the positives:

• It remains a really fun game to play if you’re not taking it too seriously, with big swings and dramatic moments galore.
• The concept is novel, with respawns really changing the calculus on how you approach a battle.
• The feel is very much “Halo Multiplayer” and I love it.
• The playstyles are diverse across the two major factions and four subfactions in a way I think mostly works out.
• It’s simple enough, with just enough swinginess that I can really play with my son—I never know when he’ll get a ridiculous headshot that reverses my fortune, so I can actually try and let the randomness plug much of our delta. Mostly. There’s still some “Dad play” in there from time to time to give him a bone.

As for negatives, they aren’t much, but they’re significant. Here’s the list of missions in the game:

Of these, I never want to play Slayer, which is a direct kill mission. ODST and Jiralhanae die too easily compared to Spartans, so this mood rapidly grows imbalanced. This also means Attrition is out. And we may as well take out VIP, which sees you trying to kill a randomly designated enemy model. Much easier to do so if that model is, say, an ODST.

Then we have missions that my son and I rarely seem to score in. This could be a skill issue, honestly, but Capture the Flag rarely sees either of us scoring a point. Similar for Assault, which is a Counter Strike-esque bomb scenario.

Stockpile sees both sides gathering a VP resource and moving it to a collection point to score the points. This… works, except that Spartans and Elites move twice as fast as everyone else, so if you’re playing pure ODST or Jiralhanae you… uh… you suck.

Oddball, Strongholds, and Total Control have worked out well for us. I’d say each of these either don’t overly emphasize killing (by giving points for it) or movement.

Then there’s the final really key caveat: if you’re playing pure ODST or Jiralhanae, you must take Hot Drop, which allows your units to respawn by airdropping anywhere on the field. This helps with mobility. It also… feels a little weird to say that about Jiralhanae—they’re not exact known as drop troopers in the way that ODST are. It’s clearly a band-aid to help the pure lists compete.

There lies the crux of the problem: the game just isn’t well designed for its subfactions. It works fine when you’re playing the parent factions: UNSC and The Banished. This gives you enough options that you can mix and match and find ways to make lists that work. Thus, the game works in a competitive scene. It’s just unfortunate that I’m left feeling like I have to tune the game to play ODST or Jiralhanae lists.

That’s not to say we aren’t having fun. Again, I’m really enjoying this game with my son. I’m considering buying the new sets that are coming out in September to play with the kiddo. It’s a really fun game and we’re having a great time. I know there’s a big update in September, too, which will rebalance the factions a bit.

But if you pressed me right now? I’d recommend the Spartan Edition starter and little else. If you enjoy it enough, you can move on, but the wider system probably only warrants that if you know you’re going to get your mileage out of it.

This is a disappointing conclusion, really. A month ago I’d have gladly run Halo: Flashpoint for the club. Now, I’m left waiting to see if they can correct course hard enough in September to really get this on track. Perhaps the game is simply intended to make you mix and match. I could see that: the designers want you playing an Elite alongside a Brute alongside a set of Grunts. Maybe when those come out, that really will make sense as the way to play.

For now, I’m plenty happy with the game. I intend to keep collecting and enjoying it. One of the gifts of fatherhood is that I’ve been able to deep dive both this and Dice Throne with my son and we’ve had a blast doing so. But if you asked for my recommendation today?

Hate to say it, but I’d give you a conditional one at best.

Sorry, Chief.