The rifles design was so "iconic" that they basically just replicated it's design process for everything in that faction; vehicles, ships, armour, architecture.
@@walrusArmageddon well they essentially are guns the MAC on the front of them seem like the A10 Warthog in the fact they had the gun then build the vehicle around it
*Forcefully and regrettably retired from active service per ok to questionable decisions industries ideology mandates. You could hear the plasma pistols "retirement" cries 80373.715778 parsecs from the galactic core.
That's part of why I just don't care as much about _Infinite._ People are modding these weapons into all the MCC games which lack them; I've not seen anyone creating custom weapon mods for that game.
343i forgot about the Plasma Rifle in the same way they forgot Master Chief is the main character of the games when they were making Halo 5. Yes, that actually happened and they admitted it.
I have played Halo since 2001 and have spent hundreds of hours just exploring, admiring game models, and enjoying the sounds. I did not know until this video that the plasma rifle alternated top and bottom emitters 🤦♂️
Plasma rifle never should've changed from CE, the stun was always a neat quirk that gave it enough utility to be better than the pistol in certain scenarios.
The way the weapons were available in multiplayer shouldn't have changed either. Back then whatever was lying around, that's what you could use. If not, you were out of luck. It required players to memorize their locations as well as the spawn times. It encouraged skill building because you had to think about whether it was worth the risk to rush towards the center of the map to get that rocket launcher with two shots. Nowadays it's just, "I want this one now. Time to call it in." There's no patience or any real skill anymore besides knowing how to hit your target. Loadouts were the downfall, and care packages were the nail in the coffin.
@@jackskellingtonsfollower3389you’re describing something that was literally only a thing in one playlist in halo 4 and hasn’t been in a halo game in over a decade.
Good point. However, I raise you, that when the Carbine was introduced in Halo 2, it was Bungie's solution to ensure that the Covenant had their own precision weapon to balance the gameplay when playing as the Arbiter. Its design is distinct enough to differentiate it from the Battle Rifle, while still being familiar enough to serve as a counterpart. The Carbine reloads in a unique way-using a small chamber at the top, unlike typical human weapons-which gives it an alien quality, even though its overall shape more closely resembles a conventional rifle. This makes the Carbine feel familiar, but still distinct enough to belong to the Covenant's arsenal. Additionally, since it uses a different ammo type, not plasma, it fills a niche in the Covenant sandbox that no other weapon covers. This distinction helps justify why its design is more human-like (having a longer barrel to better direct the projectile) while still maintaining an alien feel. This approach stands in contrast to how the Plasma Rifle was replaced by more conventional designs, where those replacements arguably lost some of the originality and creativity that defined Covenant Plasma weaponry. Bungie's solution with the Carbine worked because it served a new gameplay role, but the same principle wasn't as successfully applied when later games introduced the Storm Rifle and Pulse Carbine.
@@_indig0 I love CE's Fuel Rod Gun iteration, it feels like I'm holding this artillery weapon like uhh an alien PIAT I guess? with its slight arc as opposed to the modern iterations which doesn't have that arc. The arc made the projectile feel weighty too.
@@SOSRA Fr I deadass turned the light on outside and was about to go out there when I’m like wait was this shit from the video? And replayed it. He got us fr
I was wearing my earbuds at Wendy's and was absolutely convinced someone was knocking on the window or something and started looking around like a mental case.
The CE variant was the best. As it slowed down targets when hit. Super great for shooting other Spartans in the back, making them stop for an easy one kill beat down to the back.
I dunno, i think the _Halo 2_ version deserves some love. It was rebalanced to function alongside the M6C, which was also rebalanced with dual-wielding in mind, and they pair _beautifully_ together. I'm not a fan of dual-wielding still, but H2 was the only game to really get it right, and these two weapons are a prime example of that.
@@AJadedLizard if I recall correctly, in H3 when dual wielding the weapons did less damage per shot than if you were holding one of the weapons singly. Making Duel Wielding less effective as H2.
I always thought the plasma bolts are fired from the little blue beam at the front middle of the plasma rifle. Never knew the bolts shoot out from the top and bottom of the weapon.
The halo plasma is rifle, plasma pistol, energy sword, the assault rifle, battle rifle, rocket launcher and the magnum are the most recognized halo weapons of all time.
really? i remember using it in the time back then and now when i decide to play here and there but i might be wrong but thats the last game i saw it since halo 5 was the first game i saw the new design, im actually confused since i have been playing the same exact game like the disc
The problem with the Plasma Repeater and what went wrong is that it was meant to serve in a squad automatic role position, the problem is, in terms of gameplay, it didn't really act as such and felt more like a Plasma Rifle but elongated and slightly better. Due to how the AI treated said weapon.
Exactly. It should be a stopgap between the Plasma Rifle (carbine/SMG analog) and the Plasma Turret (HMG analog). Being able to manually vent it rather than having to deal with it automatically doing it _should_ let it slot nicely into the sandbox, but I don't think 343 fully understands that. These are the same people who featured the Battle Rifle, DMR, and Magnum in the same sandbox without really giving any of them a clearly defined role (and just making it so you carry less ammo for all of them).
@@AJadedLizardEven in Reach it was an underwhelming weapon, right alongside it's human counterpart the assault rifle. The plasma pistol had much better utility and I do have memories of it being much better at killing as well than either and the plasma rifle was also in the game and I'm not really sure why it's there considering the spiker also fills the role of an smg for the covenant.
@@alephkasai9384 I could get some work done with the MA37 but it takes a lot of practice. _Reach_ at least doesn't have the Flood, so there aren't too many enemies it can't be at least functional against. It definitely needed something that'd make it stand out more though.
@@AJadedLizard Sorta sucks though, the AR in the rest of the games did not feel as bad as the MA37 so while it's functional there's way too many other things you could fill that slot with in the campaign. And the repeater has great sound design but damn if I hate how it feels to use.
@@alephkasai9384 I dunno, the reticle bloom coupled with _Reach's_ headshot multiplier for all guns meant for the first time you could be _really_ accurate with the assault rifle and know how long to hold the trigger. The MA5B and C are just glorified SMGs by comparison; they only do really well in CQC, even with the MA5C's slower rate of fire.
So in-universe, the plasma rifle is so smooth and sleek because of prophet design. Headcanon, that’s why I believe all these very anti-prophet stopped using what could be seen as a perversion of their culture. To go along with that though, it’s would be sick to see faction-specific designs for the Plasma Rifle. Banished have old Covie ones that look blockier and and pointed with stuff like blades on them, the SoS could have a more organic design like the CE concept art, and other factions get their own twist on it.
Damn I really wish we would have got that AND UNSC and SoS combined tech. Like imagine an smg that shot needles instead of bullets (so really just a faster needler variant) or a shotgun that WASNT from the freaking forerunners. I HATED their weapons (except for the bouncing explosive one, it made me feel like I was playing Mario party). Imagine a gun that could switch between ammo types too, that would have been cool. Like a beam rifle with a shotgun attachment or something. Idk. It’s a sandbox. You can make whatever you want no matter how illogical or impractical it would be in the real world, as long as it plays well with the game mechanics.
Halo's developers over the years always tried to reinvent the weapons sandbox when in my opinion it really wasn't all that necessary. They felt like there could not be two weapons with similar roles in the sandbox, which is why they got rid of many weapons and we got weapons in return that ultimately "failed" and never returned in other Halo games, such as the Focus Rifle, Needle Rifle, Pulse Carbine.
Also they sacrifice key weapons to do it like plasma rifle, fuel rod cannon, and brute shot. I'm going to list a few of the weapons that they dropped and then see how angry you get when you think about their current sandbox. Railgun, carbine, beam rifle, sticky detonator, saw, incineration cannon, Spartan laser, can we count the og magnum and og shotgun. I'm counting them. Instead, get ready for this, stalker rifle🤢, heatwave, shock rifle, skewer, that human gun that shoots the lock on rockets that do no damage, plasma carbine, disrupter. The only two ones that are decently fun to play with are the cindershot and the calcine disrupter. Neither are that great.
Halo 1 had both the best Plasma rifle and pistol out of any Halo game. The guns in Halo 1 just felt like they had more power, wasn't till Halo 3 with the BR did feel like I had the same power level as back in Halo 1. Just look at the melee animation of the shotgun from Halo 1, you weren't fkkin around when you tried to hit something with it.
Basically, the Plasma Rifle would be the covenant's equivalent to an SMG, once it checks almost all boxes to qualify it as such, since Halo 2 introduced it. Firing low to medium damage shots, at a high rate of fire and poor accuracy and range at medium to long distances makes the Plasma Rifle in Halo 2, 3 and ODST the SMG's counterpart. not mentioning the Dual Wield capability that both weapons share. So, just as, after 343 took over Halo, the SMG (unfortunatelly) fell into irrelevance, so as the Plasma Rifle, wich was replaced by a heavier 2 handed weapon, with higher dmage , but lower rate of fire. Something more equivalent to the Assault Rifles or the SAW, from Halo 4.
As long as you did short burst instead of auto, the plasma rifle's aim was spot on as far as you could see. After I figured it out. It ended up being my go to long range weapon for all of the games it was in.
New laper larden video??? Do the rings deceive me?? What a great start to the day! 0:56 holding it upsidedown enables the scarab beam, sorta like wumbo ya know?
I was wearing headphones and it made it sound like it came from my front door... in the middle of the night! I spent like 10 minutes reviewing my cams when I couldn't find anyone. I'm really glad I saw this comment and went back a few min in the video!
I don't really count myself as a Halo fan, but this plasma rifle was by far my favourite weapon in Halo. I didn't realise they'd nerfed it in 2, or removed it from the reboot game series. Such a shame.
I'm not a Halo fan myself, but when playing Halo 1 for the first time, i found myself enjoying its reliability in popping shields and suppressing Elites even when I realized how busted the Plasma Pistol was
Bungie nerfed the plasma rifle because Halo 2 tried to emphasize dual wielding a lot more, the changes to the plasma rifle were a part of that and it couldn't stay at the same power level as CE when you could carry two of them.
Surprised to hear anyone actually enjoyed using any of the Covenant weapons, gotta say. I always relegated them to being peashooters which felt extremely limp and would only be used if no alternatives were present. Aside from the UNSC rifle. That thing always went in the trash first order of business.
Including killing off the most iconic duo, then back tracking. But instead of bringing Cortana back, they just replaced her with a woke copy of her and said there, all better.
The theory I've always heard is that 343 was afraid that new players wouldn't recognize it as the rifle equivalent for the covenant. So they got rid of it and designed other weapons to take its place (if this logic sound's stupid, its because it is.) People can intuit things real quick and can realize its their rifle equivalent as soon as they pick it up and fire or just read its weapon name.
This is the problem with the banished art style in halo infinite. It doesn’t look alien. In halo wars 2 they at least looked more stylish but in infinite all their buildings are blocky, their weapons look human made but with spikes. I get that the brutes have more human hands but there are only three brute weapons in halo infinite: the mangler, the scewer, and the gravity hammer. No brute shot, no spike rifle.
What about the skewer? Also, in defense of the Banished.... They aren't the covenant. They're a rugged, diy type of group, lead by the Brutes who are far less advanced and usually scavenge resources instead of producing them.
@burnttoast.2017 only proves the point further, exactly why they should have had tons of red makeshift brute plasma rifles inside Halo infinite for the Banished brutes to use.
All of _Infinite's_ new weapons look like they belong in another franchise. Most of the new UNSC weapons look like they were ripped out of _Titanfall_ and the Banished weapons look like the weird shit they kept adding to _Killing Floor 2._ It didn't feel like _Halo._
The Plasma Rifle was a better design compared to the Storm Rifle or Pulse Carbine. The weapon just seemed more "Alien-like" as if an otherworldly creature crafted it. The Storm rifle in comparison felt like it was designed by a human with blue and purple stuff for the sake of looking like it belongs to an Alien which to me breaks my immersion. 🤨
I was today years old when I learned that the plasma rifle alternates plasma fire between the top and bottom segments and not from the glowing plasma string generated between them.
What a fascinating retrospective on a classic element of the Halo sandbox; thanks for taking the time to put this together for us! You've got my sub for certain - my best bud and I are actually playing through the entire series for the first time since college for my channel at present; I assume that's why I got your stuff recommended to me. Whatever the case, I'm glad I came across your channel!
@@LaperLarden My pleasure! If you’re ever curious/in need of a good laugh, look up “We are Bad at Halo”; I honestly think it’s some of the funniest stuff we’ve ever done.
There is a great GDC talk by Jaimie Griesemer about the plasma rifle. In it he talks about how most of Halo 1 was built around this particular weapon. “You could’ve named it Halo: Plasma Rifle.” *as a joke from that video* I find it a bit poetic that when this weapon was gone from the series, so too did Halo’s identity change into what 343 currently has molded it to be.
I miss the Plasma Rifle a lot but I also miss the Spartan Laser too, I remember all my friends running in fear every time I picked it up in custom games split screen Reach.
Ehh spartan laser was OP. This is one instance where I actually prefer the skewer as a replacement for it. Skewer is more difficult to use but is really satisfying to get kills with. Laser is just point and kill.
@@DesertLobster It's strength is what made it so good. Someone has a skewer, eh who cares. Someone has a Spartan laser, you have to watch out for that guy.
@montypython5521 it's one thing that it's so easy to kill with, but it also had way too many charges. I get that it's supposed to be a power weapon, but it just eclipsed every other power weapon. It would need a rework to be brought back. Laser was good in basically every instance except close quarters or multiple enemies. Skewer fills the anti-vehicle role and is satisfying to kill single spartans with. So it's essentially a more balanced laser that fits thematically with the brute weaponry.
Side note i'm pretty sure the pulse carbine is inconsistent due to netcode. Infinite's netcode is a weird beast, the other day i took a gravlift on one of the community playlist maps that launches you into another. Netcode went nutty and i landed on the second, slid off and died. The game had nothing to fix the reality like rollback netcode, that i had been on the lift and should have been taken up top.
I ended up quiting Infinite because of how horrible the net code was. I could barely go two games without unplayable rubberbanding yet the moment I swapped to another game it was fine.
The Plasma Rifle in CE was the best. It's slower than in any of the other games, but I love how powerful it felt and I love how there's this lingering glow when you hit a wall
I mean, it is an icon of the series, but like we rarely see it in future games like we've only seen it a multiplayer but not in like the campaign itself. And I wish we saw it return again
The Plasma Rifle was never good to use, except for Halo CE. It ended up becoming a POS because of dual wielding, and it never ended up becoming something worth a damn after dual wielding was removed.
@LoremIpsum1919 well of course i'm not talking about that clearly terrible failed experiment known as BR starts.. unless it was Swat you were playing, it just broke everything. AR/SMG starts was the only true way to play Halo multiplayer in the classic sense of how Halo is meant to be played.
Oh my god I don’t know how I lost your channel but finally a video popped up on my thing. Stupid algorithm, I love your videos! Only good thing is I have a bunch of videos to catch up on!!
The plasma rifle and Magnum were my go-to on Legendary playthroughs of CE way back in 2002. I am 44 now, and I will never forget thinking just how well the design of the original plasma rifle fit with the aesthetic of the covenant. As you said. Halo CE was itself, definitely Legendary.
Plasma rifle in CE is a beast at picking off flood from range if you stagger shots. In Legendary library, my fav combo is shotgun for close range and Plasma Rifle for long range. In halo 4 when it was replaced with the storm rifle I was dumbstuck. The design is quintessentially Halo.
I love how the Assault Rifle was originally a normal rifle and NOT a bullpup in the earlier builds of the game. It’s even available on the Steam version of MCC with mods.
The Plasma Rifle in 2 and 3 (which are near-identical in stats) have a TTK single-wielded very close to CE's version when paired vs common mobs like Grunts and Elites. The projectile speed was lowered, but its heat loss per second was increased to far higher than CE's, and depletes less battery per shot, allowing for continuous constant fire with heat tempering. I certainly wouldn't say it was a downgrade from CE, especially since it's the best dual-weapon to combo hands-down. Any issues you'll come across with its damage are far more telling of how poorly the Brutes and Flood were balanced in Halo 2. And how the Brutes' health is still pretty bulky in 3, but their lower shields allow the PR to rapidly destroy the armor of several Brutes in a sweep. Reach's is pure pointless dogshit tho lmao
Even after 23 years, plasma rifle is my goto weapon in Halo CE. Thing that shreads everything. Elites, Grunts the Flood(Except shotgun. Shotgun is too op against flood) whatever it is.
Oh wow that is such cool info. The sword is gas converted into plasma and shaped by a gravitational field? Dude great video, your editing and humour are spot on. I can't wait for dual wielding plasma and needler again! That or I just play Halo 2 on Xbox 360.
Plasma rifle and plasma repeater sucked on reach. Idk why they weren’t balanced with the other weapons. Both of them are not on any multiplier maps as you said which is CRAZY
As a major fan of halo for the last 25 years , I can embarrassedly say… I didn’t even know the plasma rifle alternated between top and bottom when in automatic fire mode
I thought my love for the plasma rifle despite it getting worse and replaced was a unique experience and honestly it's cool to know that I was actually part of something bigger.
"reactive rather than proactive" That's the single biggest issue 343 has ever had. I liked all their games, not going in on the bandwagon hate(especially considering what a dumpster fire Bungie turned into). But they were constantly changing course instead of refining things that worked. If they had STUCK with a direction instead of swerving every time they got criticism, they could have avoided a great deal of heartache. Halo 5 saw a bit of that where the armour abilities and promethean weapons were refined from 4 and as a consequence feel fantastic. But they ditched the story in 5.Then they ditched THAT story after infinite.
The rot started when the Plasma rifle was nerfed in H2, due to duel-wielding. I remember thinking after playing CE and learning H2 would have duel-wielding that dual plasma rifles would be devastating, which they would certainly have been were it not for the nerf. But this degradation of its power undermined its status and created other covenant weapon designs to creep in which were much less alien and iconic. The Halo CE PR was actually quite accurate and was like a half-way house to being a ranged precision weapon like the carbine, but with faster fire rate. Nerfing its power and accuracy really took away from its feel as being a fearsome and effective weapon of the technologically superior covenant elite, so that contributes to diminishing somewhat the power trip that earlier Halo games had.
Bruh, I dunno why everyone thinkin' plasma rifle is weak. It's a hard ping weapon. 3 hits + melee in Halo 3 = one of the fastest kills in the game. Nobody ever expects it to be strong, because they don't use it right. Kinda like how everyone thinks the Focus Rifle sucks in Halo: Reach, but in reality it's a powerful primary weapon that can replace your DMR or Assault Rifle; it's not meant to be a Covenant equivalent of the sniper rifle, despite what the outward design may suggest. It's essentially an assault rifle with a scope that you can blind people with and constantly descope. It's deadly AF at medium range.
I always hated the CODification of many shooters. Gone were the wacky weapons with true scifi feeling functionality. Now it's just ballistic weapons and ballistic weapons with fancy lights
I remember noticing starting in 4 and really ramping up in 5, not only was the plasma rifle gone, but everything got so balanced to the point where everything seemed to be balanced around quick paced e-sports and not the Halo Universe as set up by bungie.
I had no idea about the plasma rifle's stun mechanic, but I loved basically everything about it; the look, the feel, and just how effective it was at shredding through shields. Dual-wielding them could be so much fun! Another classic weapon I'd like to see come back is the original Covenant carbine; the reload sounds in Halo 2 Anniversary (and even Halo 4) are so delightfully crunchy. :D
The rifles design was so "iconic" that they basically just replicated it's design process for everything in that faction; vehicles, ships, armour, architecture.
True the original ghost and banshee literally fired plasma rifle bolts
So? its good.
@@GhostOfReachB312 He's not being sarcastic.
Come to think of it, all the unsc ships kinda look like guns too, like a stocky slightly disassembled big gun
@@walrusArmageddon well they essentially are guns the MAC on the front of them seem like the A10 Warthog in the fact they had the gun then build the vehicle around it
Correction, it was never forgotten. The fans have been demanding it back for years, it was ABANDONED
*Forcefully and regrettably retired from active service per ok to questionable decisions industries ideology mandates. You could hear the plasma pistols "retirement" cries 80373.715778 parsecs from the galactic core.
That's part of why I just don't care as much about _Infinite._ People are modding these weapons into all the MCC games which lack them; I've not seen anyone creating custom weapon mods for that game.
It wasn't abandoned, it was murdered (unfortunately.)
On the plus side, it's always fun watching 343 introduce new ugly children to their franchise.
Another correction: to people who didn't buy anything newer than the Master Chief Collection, the Plasma Rifle was never removed.
343 is so despicable
The Plasma Rifle being so beloved, and yet so forgotten is an ATROCITY.
Nay, it was HERESY!
Still my favorite weapon of the franchise to this day
It’s a metaphor for the series
343i forgot about the Plasma Rifle in the same way they forgot Master Chief is the main character of the games when they were making Halo 5. Yes, that actually happened and they admitted it.
@@Nyx_2142 I’ve heard that as a rumor but didn’t know it was confirmed. That’s sad
I have played Halo since 2001 and have spent hundreds of hours just exploring, admiring game models, and enjoying the sounds. I did not know until this video that the plasma rifle alternated top and bottom emitters 🤦♂️
I also didn’t know this
So many plasma weapons I can’t keep up.
Tbf PR didn't alternate shots in CE so if the majority of your time was spent there, no wonder you missed it haha
Same, I was surprised
SAME fan for over 20 years ! Major fan . And I didn’t know that either
Plasma rifle never should've changed from CE, the stun was always a neat quirk that gave it enough utility to be better than the pistol in certain scenarios.
its also the best stealth weapon
The way the weapons were available in multiplayer shouldn't have changed either. Back then whatever was lying around, that's what you could use. If not, you were out of luck. It required players to memorize their locations as well as the spawn times. It encouraged skill building because you had to think about whether it was worth the risk to rush towards the center of the map to get that rocket launcher with two shots. Nowadays it's just, "I want this one now. Time to call it in."
There's no patience or any real skill anymore besides knowing how to hit your target. Loadouts were the downfall, and care packages were the nail in the coffin.
@@jackskellingtonsfollower3389what are you even talking about bro
@@aydenoneal6527 Halo was an arena shooter in the same vein as things like Quake. Guns were part of the map layout rather than a loadout.
@@jackskellingtonsfollower3389you’re describing something that was literally only a thing in one playlist in halo 4 and hasn’t been in a halo game in over a decade.
"covenant weapon should never be like human design which have long barrel"
carbine, needle rifle are staring
They're fun to use so they get a pass.
Don't forget the Fuel Rod Gun.
@@_indig0 focus rifle, beam rifle
Good point. However, I raise you, that when the Carbine was introduced in Halo 2, it was Bungie's solution to ensure that the Covenant had their own precision weapon to balance the gameplay when playing as the Arbiter. Its design is distinct enough to differentiate it from the Battle Rifle, while still being familiar enough to serve as a counterpart.
The Carbine reloads in a unique way-using a small chamber at the top, unlike typical human weapons-which gives it an alien quality, even though its overall shape more closely resembles a conventional rifle. This makes the Carbine feel familiar, but still distinct enough to belong to the Covenant's arsenal. Additionally, since it uses a different ammo type, not plasma, it fills a niche in the Covenant sandbox that no other weapon covers. This distinction helps justify why its design is more human-like (having a longer barrel to better direct the projectile) while still maintaining an alien feel.
This approach stands in contrast to how the Plasma Rifle was replaced by more conventional designs, where those replacements arguably lost some of the originality and creativity that defined Covenant Plasma weaponry. Bungie's solution with the Carbine worked because it served a new gameplay role, but the same principle wasn't as successfully applied when later games introduced the Storm Rifle and Pulse Carbine.
@@_indig0 I love CE's Fuel Rod Gun iteration, it feels like I'm holding this artillery weapon like uhh an alien PIAT I guess? with its slight arc as opposed to the modern iterations which doesn't have that arc. The arc made the projectile feel weighty too.
Bruh I’m wearing headphones and 1:23 sounded like someone was knocking on my window at 11:30 pm 😭😭😭
Same but 2am. My panic was real.
I'm stoned mid day and my paranoid ass thought the jig was up
@@SOSRA Fr I deadass turned the light on outside and was about to go out there when I’m like wait was this shit from the video? And replayed it. He got us fr
I was sitting on the crapper at my college and it took me three replays to be certain that the guy in the stall next door doesn't want a chat.
I was wearing my earbuds at Wendy's and was absolutely convinced someone was knocking on the window or something and started looking around like a mental case.
The CE variant was the best. As it slowed down targets when hit.
Super great for shooting other Spartans in the back, making them stop for an easy one kill beat down to the back.
I dunno, i think the _Halo 2_ version deserves some love. It was rebalanced to function alongside the M6C, which was also rebalanced with dual-wielding in mind, and they pair _beautifully_ together. I'm not a fan of dual-wielding still, but H2 was the only game to really get it right, and these two weapons are a prime example of that.
@@AJadedLizard if I recall correctly, in H3 when dual wielding the weapons did less damage per shot than if you were holding one of the weapons singly. Making Duel Wielding less effective as H2.
@@adrianthom2073 haloo 2 and 3 both makes weaponns deal 75% damage when dual wielding.
@@robertharris6092 thanks for the correction. I thought H2 did the same damage.
I always thought the plasma bolts are fired from the little blue beam at the front middle of the plasma rifle. Never knew the bolts shoot out from the top and bottom of the weapon.
Same.
With it being such an iconic piece of halo’s aesthetic, it has always confused me why they refuse to bring it back. Great video, my friend!
Aye! Thanks for watching! Much appreciated!
The halo plasma is rifle, plasma pistol, energy sword, the assault rifle, battle rifle, rocket launcher and the magnum are the most recognized halo weapons of all time.
Favorite Halo weapon and it just got left behind 😭. Also you forgot to mention the plasma rifle does appear in Halo 4 in the opening cutscene.
@@MetaVaria The great journey waits for no one, brother... Clearly, not even for the Plasma Rifle.
It also appears in halo 5 warzone as the brute plasma rifle
I'm not sure what the sangheili were thinking, replacing the plasma rifle with a much bulkier and less useful storm rifle
@@nepspartan-7597 Especially when they already have the Plasma Repeater.
really? i remember using it in the time back then and now when i decide to play here and there but i might be wrong but thats the last game i saw it since halo 5 was the first game i saw the new design, im actually confused since i have been playing the same exact game like the disc
The problem with the Plasma Repeater and what went wrong is that it was meant to serve in a squad automatic role position, the problem is, in terms of gameplay, it didn't really act as such and felt more like a Plasma Rifle but elongated and slightly better. Due to how the AI treated said weapon.
Exactly. It should be a stopgap between the Plasma Rifle (carbine/SMG analog) and the Plasma Turret (HMG analog). Being able to manually vent it rather than having to deal with it automatically doing it _should_ let it slot nicely into the sandbox, but I don't think 343 fully understands that. These are the same people who featured the Battle Rifle, DMR, and Magnum in the same sandbox without really giving any of them a clearly defined role (and just making it so you carry less ammo for all of them).
@@AJadedLizardEven in Reach it was an underwhelming weapon, right alongside it's human counterpart the assault rifle.
The plasma pistol had much better utility and I do have memories of it being much better at killing as well than either and the plasma rifle was also in the game and I'm not really sure why it's there considering the spiker also fills the role of an smg for the covenant.
@@alephkasai9384 I could get some work done with the MA37 but it takes a lot of practice. _Reach_ at least doesn't have the Flood, so there aren't too many enemies it can't be at least functional against. It definitely needed something that'd make it stand out more though.
@@AJadedLizard Sorta sucks though, the AR in the rest of the games did not feel as bad as the MA37 so while it's functional there's way too many other things you could fill that slot with in the campaign.
And the repeater has great sound design but damn if I hate how it feels to use.
@@alephkasai9384 I dunno, the reticle bloom coupled with _Reach's_ headshot multiplier for all guns meant for the first time you could be _really_ accurate with the assault rifle and know how long to hold the trigger. The MA5B and C are just glorified SMGs by comparison; they only do really well in CQC, even with the MA5C's slower rate of fire.
It was 2024 when I learned the plasma rifle shoots interchangeably between the top and bottom of it's business end.
Same. Played Halo since CE. Read the books. Always thought it was shot out of the middle part of the rifle.
Us og players known this since ce lol
So in-universe, the plasma rifle is so smooth and sleek because of prophet design. Headcanon, that’s why I believe all these very anti-prophet stopped using what could be seen as a perversion of their culture.
To go along with that though, it’s would be sick to see faction-specific designs for the Plasma Rifle. Banished have old Covie ones that look blockier and and pointed with stuff like blades on them, the SoS could have a more organic design like the CE concept art, and other factions get their own twist on it.
Would have been awesome if the banished had old Covenant gear to reflect how they split off earlier in the war
Damn I really wish we would have got that AND UNSC and SoS combined tech. Like imagine an smg that shot needles instead of bullets (so really just a faster needler variant) or a shotgun that WASNT from the freaking forerunners. I HATED their weapons (except for the bouncing explosive one, it made me feel like I was playing Mario party). Imagine a gun that could switch between ammo types too, that would have been cool. Like a beam rifle with a shotgun attachment or something. Idk. It’s a sandbox. You can make whatever you want no matter how illogical or impractical it would be in the real world, as long as it plays well with the game mechanics.
Halo's developers over the years always tried to reinvent the weapons sandbox when in my opinion it really wasn't all that necessary. They felt like there could not be two weapons with similar roles in the sandbox, which is why they got rid of many weapons and we got weapons in return that ultimately "failed" and never returned in other Halo games, such as the Focus Rifle, Needle Rifle, Pulse Carbine.
Also they sacrifice key weapons to do it like plasma rifle, fuel rod cannon, and brute shot. I'm going to list a few of the weapons that they dropped and then see how angry you get when you think about their current sandbox. Railgun, carbine, beam rifle, sticky detonator, saw, incineration cannon, Spartan laser, can we count the og magnum and og shotgun. I'm counting them. Instead, get ready for this, stalker rifle🤢, heatwave, shock rifle, skewer, that human gun that shoots the lock on rockets that do no damage, plasma carbine, disrupter. The only two ones that are decently fun to play with are the cindershot and the calcine disrupter. Neither are that great.
@@donpac7196 Railgun is just spartan laser but less cool
@@qsfff5099 that's fair but it's still fun
Halo 1 had both the best Plasma rifle and pistol out of any Halo game. The guns in Halo 1 just felt like they had more power, wasn't till Halo 3 with the BR did feel like I had the same power level as back in Halo 1. Just look at the melee animation of the shotgun from Halo 1, you weren't fkkin around when you tried to hit something with it.
in halo 1 they were realistic weapons designed to kill the enemy. in later halo's they were weapons designed around video game balance
@@e.corellius4495but they were less balanced in later games, halo 1 had better balance for most weapons
Basically, the Plasma Rifle would be the covenant's equivalent to an SMG, once it checks almost all boxes to qualify it as such, since Halo 2 introduced it. Firing low to medium damage shots, at a high rate of fire and poor accuracy and range at medium to long distances makes the Plasma Rifle in Halo 2, 3 and ODST the SMG's counterpart. not mentioning the Dual Wield capability that both weapons share. So, just as, after 343 took over Halo, the SMG (unfortunatelly) fell into irrelevance, so as the Plasma Rifle, wich was replaced by a heavier 2 handed weapon, with higher dmage , but lower rate of fire. Something more equivalent to the Assault Rifles or the SAW, from Halo 4.
As long as you did short burst instead of auto, the plasma rifle's aim was spot on as far as you could see. After I figured it out. It ended up being my go to long range weapon for all of the games it was in.
New laper larden video??? Do the rings deceive me?? What a great start to the day!
0:56 holding it upsidedown enables the scarab beam, sorta like wumbo ya know?
1:17 ffs, that knock made me turn around to my left. And all that is to my left is a 2nd floor window. 🤣
The knock hits your soul honestly!!@##!@#
1:22 my dog was just standing in the window watching Passersby’s and this knocking scared the crap out of him XD
same bro my stupid ass was looking at the wall
Me too! Scared the shit out of me haha
I was wearing headphones and it made it sound like it came from my front door... in the middle of the night! I spent like 10 minutes reviewing my cams when I couldn't find anyone. I'm really glad I saw this comment and went back a few min in the video!
I don't really count myself as a Halo fan, but this plasma rifle was by far my favourite weapon in Halo. I didn't realise they'd nerfed it in 2, or removed it from the reboot game series. Such a shame.
I'm not a Halo fan myself, but when playing Halo 1 for the first time, i found myself enjoying its reliability in popping shields and suppressing Elites even when I realized how busted the Plasma Pistol was
Bungie nerfed the plasma rifle because Halo 2 tried to emphasize dual wielding a lot more, the changes to the plasma rifle were a part of that and it couldn't stay at the same power level as CE when you could carry two of them.
@@every116even if you are right about their intentions, its just not true
you can balance it for both single and dual wielding in many ways
Surprised to hear anyone actually enjoyed using any of the Covenant weapons, gotta say.
I always relegated them to being peashooters which felt extremely limp and would only be used if no alternatives were present. Aside from the UNSC rifle. That thing always went in the trash first order of business.
@@thosebloodybadgers8499 you didnt give them a chance then if you mean halo 1, plasma pistol in particular probably the most op weapon in the game
Original plasma pistol was devastating too, you can rapid fire that bad boy.
It was arguably one of the best weapons in CE sandbox. Later games made it a weapon you use pretty much just for the charge.
Thank you so much for the forgotten weapons cameo....thinking about it...he has done some UNSC items
That knocking sounds so real with headphones in took me a minute to not freak out anymore
343s philosophy when taking over halo was literally “change everything, build upon absolutely nothing”
Including killing off the most iconic duo, then back tracking. But instead of bringing Cortana back, they just replaced her with a woke copy of her and said there, all better.
@ y’all fr just call anything you don’t like “woke” huh?
The theory I've always heard is that 343 was afraid that new players wouldn't recognize it as the rifle equivalent for the covenant. So they got rid of it and designed other weapons to take its place (if this logic sound's stupid, its because it is.) People can intuit things real quick and can realize its their rifle equivalent as soon as they pick it up and fire or just read its weapon name.
This is the problem with the banished art style in halo infinite. It doesn’t look alien. In halo wars 2 they at least looked more stylish but in infinite all their buildings are blocky, their weapons look human made but with spikes. I get that the brutes have more human hands but there are only three brute weapons in halo infinite: the mangler, the scewer, and the gravity hammer. No brute shot, no spike rifle.
Weapon sandbox is ass in that one.
And no brute plasma rifle! Halo Wars 2 NAILED the Banished.. halo infinite kind of fucked it up in small ways
What about the skewer?
Also, in defense of the Banished.... They aren't the covenant. They're a rugged, diy type of group, lead by the Brutes who are far less advanced and usually scavenge resources instead of producing them.
@burnttoast.2017 only proves the point further, exactly why they should have had tons of red makeshift brute plasma rifles inside Halo infinite for the Banished brutes to use.
All of _Infinite's_ new weapons look like they belong in another franchise. Most of the new UNSC weapons look like they were ripped out of _Titanfall_ and the Banished weapons look like the weird shit they kept adding to _Killing Floor 2._ It didn't feel like _Halo._
The Plasma Rifle was a better design compared to the Storm Rifle or Pulse Carbine. The weapon just seemed more "Alien-like" as if an otherworldly creature crafted it. The Storm rifle in comparison felt like it was designed by a human with blue and purple stuff for the sake of looking like it belongs to an Alien which to me breaks my immersion. 🤨
I was obsessed with it when I was 7 years old man I miss it
I would also argue that the Halo 3: ODST variation is brilliant - I use it more than the plasma pistol for sure
I was today years old when I learned that the plasma rifle alternates plasma fire between the top and bottom segments and not from the glowing plasma string generated between them.
What a fascinating retrospective on a classic element of the Halo sandbox; thanks for taking the time to put this together for us! You've got my sub for certain - my best bud and I are actually playing through the entire series for the first time since college for my channel at present; I assume that's why I got your stuff recommended to me. Whatever the case, I'm glad I came across your channel!
Thank you! Enjoy your playthrough!
@@LaperLarden My pleasure! If you’re ever curious/in need of a good laugh, look up “We are Bad at Halo”; I honestly think it’s some of the funniest stuff we’ve ever done.
Plasma rifle was a fantastic weapon that got murdered in Reach
Absolutely agreed
@@Dystinction1 plasma repeater needs to be arrested!
@@XhoiZhuleku It got arrested, the life beat out of it, and shoved in a trunk. That thing can barely break shields. :/
@@XhoiZhulekupeople would’ve liked the plasma repeater if its beta version was in the main game.
There is a great GDC talk by Jaimie Griesemer about the plasma rifle. In it he talks about how most of Halo 1 was built around this particular weapon.
“You could’ve named it Halo: Plasma Rifle.” *as a joke from that video*
I find it a bit poetic that when this weapon was gone from the series, so too did Halo’s identity change into what 343 currently has molded it to be.
I miss the Plasma Rifle a lot but I also miss the Spartan Laser too, I remember all my friends running in fear every time I picked it up in custom games split screen Reach.
Ehh spartan laser was OP.
This is one instance where I actually prefer the skewer as a replacement for it. Skewer is more difficult to use but is really satisfying to get kills with. Laser is just point and kill.
@@DesertLobster It's strength is what made it so good. Someone has a skewer, eh who cares. Someone has a Spartan laser, you have to watch out for that guy.
Holding just off traget, then dropping that red beam on them right before they died and went flying! 🥲
@@free2befree it was a glorious sight to behold, that red beam of death obliterating almost anything in sight
@montypython5521 it's one thing that it's so easy to kill with, but it also had way too many charges. I get that it's supposed to be a power weapon, but it just eclipsed every other power weapon. It would need a rework to be brought back.
Laser was good in basically every instance except close quarters or multiple enemies.
Skewer fills the anti-vehicle role and is satisfying to kill single spartans with. So it's essentially a more balanced laser that fits thematically with the brute weaponry.
You are a real reprobate for putting the binaural door knock sound at 1:15.
Did you let the sink in tho? 🤔
Absolute villain for sure.
Side note i'm pretty sure the pulse carbine is inconsistent due to netcode. Infinite's netcode is a weird beast, the other day i took a gravlift on one of the community playlist maps that launches you into another. Netcode went nutty and i landed on the second, slid off and died. The game had nothing to fix the reality like rollback netcode, that i had been on the lift and should have been taken up top.
I ended up quiting Infinite because of how horrible the net code was. I could barely go two games without unplayable rubberbanding yet the moment I swapped to another game it was fine.
The Plasma Rifle in CE was the best. It's slower than in any of the other games, but I love how powerful it felt and I love how there's this lingering glow when you hit a wall
triple-weild plasma rifle, anybody?
Nothing like your 5th appendage holding an alien bastard weapon
Would be so insanely OP
Cursed halo fan
Triple wield plasma rifle vs quadruple boot magnums
Russainbadger has got you
I mean, it is an icon of the series, but like we rarely see it in future games like we've only seen it a multiplayer but not in like the campaign itself. And I wish we saw it return again
The plasma rifle is a must have in any heroic or legendary campaign
This video feels true if it weren’t for it being featured in Halo 5 multiplayer
Yeah I don't know why everyone just ignores that it's literally in Halo 5's multiplayer.
RvB, Carolina, Season 10, dual wielding two plasma rifles with a Grav hammer in tow... "Cinema"
I miss the Plasma Rifle I wish it would just be a mainstay in the Halo games again
you could argue the plasma rifle has been protected from the scourge that is 343 industries
It’s a good day when Laper Larden posts a video
The Lost Muse track used in the background, immediate 10/10 video
“A design that looks more like an exotic fish than a rifle” is probably the most accurate way to describe
The Plasma Rifle was never good to use, except for Halo CE. It ended up becoming a POS because of dual wielding, and it never ended up becoming something worth a damn after dual wielding was removed.
Absolute nonsense I got plenty of kills back in the day dual wielding plasma rifles.
You can get plenty kills with any weapon no matter how bad it is.
I disagree as well. It was spot on long range. I got plenty of kills cause of it's range
@@Wuunderboy That was with SMG starts. With BR starts, that idea would never pan out well
@LoremIpsum1919 well of course i'm not talking about that clearly terrible failed experiment known as BR starts.. unless it was Swat you were playing, it just broke everything.
AR/SMG starts was the only true way to play Halo multiplayer in the classic sense of how Halo is meant to be played.
Yes this is sad. I knew in Halo 4. The storm rifle was the replacement for the plasma rifle.
6:23 yeah my first playthrough I used the plasma rifle and smg mostly and loved it
A Halo channel in 2024?
Brother i am happy as hell !!!!
I'm convinced 343 designers draw everything in crayon
Oh my god I don’t know how I lost your channel but finally a video popped up on my thing. Stupid algorithm, I love your videos! Only good thing is I have a bunch of videos to catch up on!!
The plasma rifle and Magnum were my go-to on Legendary playthroughs of CE way back in 2002. I am 44 now, and I will never forget thinking just how well the design of the original plasma rifle fit with the aesthetic of the covenant. As you said. Halo CE was itself, definitely Legendary.
When I was a kid, I would hold pairs of headphones sideways, with the wire drooping down pretending it was a plasma rifle
Yeah the pulse carbine seems to only work half the time lol
the tracking shots were a mistake
Plus it doesn’t help that thing has been buffed and nerfed at least 2 times.
@@foresta-2684 facts
THANK GOD somebody finally said it
Plasma rifle in CE is a beast at picking off flood from range if you stagger shots. In Legendary library, my fav combo is shotgun for close range and Plasma Rifle for long range. In halo 4 when it was replaced with the storm rifle I was dumbstuck. The design is quintessentially Halo.
I never really truly appreciated the plasma rifle until this video. Thanks!
I truly believe that the pulse carbine and plasma rifle should’ve coexisted in Halo infinite
Dude the knoccking at 1:18 was surround sound and totally made me think someone was knocking at my door.
Fun fact:
The only weapons that's been in every Halo game was the Plasma Pistol and Needler.
It does sink in....thats the year i graduated high school and got my last halo game 😀
The Plasma Rifle is not forgotten, it lives on in our hearts.
I love how the Assault Rifle was originally a normal rifle and NOT a bullpup in the earlier builds of the game. It’s even available on the Steam version of MCC with mods.
The Plasma Rifle in 2 and 3 (which are near-identical in stats) have a TTK single-wielded very close to CE's version when paired vs common mobs like Grunts and Elites. The projectile speed was lowered, but its heat loss per second was increased to far higher than CE's, and depletes less battery per shot, allowing for continuous constant fire with heat tempering. I certainly wouldn't say it was a downgrade from CE, especially since it's the best dual-weapon to combo hands-down. Any issues you'll come across with its damage are far more telling of how poorly the Brutes and Flood were balanced in Halo 2. And how the Brutes' health is still pretty bulky in 3, but their lower shields allow the PR to rapidly destroy the armor of several Brutes in a sweep.
Reach's is pure pointless dogshit tho lmao
Even after 23 years, plasma rifle is my goto weapon in Halo CE. Thing that shreads everything. Elites, Grunts the Flood(Except shotgun. Shotgun is too op against flood) whatever it is.
You cooked. 🔥 content. Can feel the love haha
Appreciate that!
Because 343 industries/Halo studios hates the plasma rifle. Along with ODSTs, playable elites, the flood, etc
Oh wow that is such cool info. The sword is gas converted into plasma and shaped by a gravitational field? Dude great video, your editing and humour are spot on. I can't wait for dual wielding plasma and needler again! That or I just play Halo 2 on Xbox 360.
I have well over 2000 hours across all the halo games and just now learned that the gun alternates shooting top and bottom.
Elites wielding human adjacent weapons just look weird compared to elites using plasma rifles
Plasma rifle and plasma repeater sucked on reach. Idk why they weren’t balanced with the other weapons. Both of them are not on any multiplier maps as you said which is CRAZY
Brother in Truth, I can guarantee you, nobody has forgotten it except 343i.
What a great take on something I have overlooked my whole life. Not knowing its importance
As a major fan of halo for the last 25 years , I can embarrassedly say… I didn’t even know the plasma rifle alternated between top and bottom when in automatic fire mode
I thought my love for the plasma rifle despite it getting worse and replaced was a unique experience and honestly it's cool to know that I was actually part of something bigger.
Bro the plasma rifle has always been my favorite weapon thank you for bringing more attention to this lol. WHERE IS MY RIFLE INFINITE?
It just wasn't Call of Duty enough for modern Halo. Tragic.
One of the most underappreciated weapons in all of gaming. The stun locking scapple.
"reactive rather than proactive"
That's the single biggest issue 343 has ever had. I liked all their games, not going in on the bandwagon hate(especially considering what a dumpster fire Bungie turned into).
But they were constantly changing course instead of refining things that worked. If they had STUCK with a direction instead of swerving every time they got criticism, they could have avoided a great deal of heartache. Halo 5 saw a bit of that where the armour abilities and promethean weapons were refined from 4 and as a consequence feel fantastic. But they ditched the story in 5.Then they ditched THAT story after infinite.
That knock made me actually think there was knocking sound.
Plasma Rifle and SMG needs a comeback and we have more than enough precision weapons already.
... that knocking sound for the sink gave me a heart attack.
Plasma Rifle in CE is literally my workhorse in that game outside of the pistol (obv)
The rot started when the Plasma rifle was nerfed in H2, due to duel-wielding. I remember thinking after playing CE and learning H2 would have duel-wielding that dual plasma rifles would be devastating, which they would certainly have been were it not for the nerf. But this degradation of its power undermined its status and created other covenant weapon designs to creep in which were much less alien and iconic.
The Halo CE PR was actually quite accurate and was like a half-way house to being a ranged precision weapon like the carbine, but with faster fire rate. Nerfing its power and accuracy really took away from its feel as being a fearsome and effective weapon of the technologically superior covenant elite, so that contributes to diminishing somewhat the power trip that earlier Halo games had.
Bruh, I dunno why everyone thinkin' plasma rifle is weak. It's a hard ping weapon. 3 hits + melee in Halo 3 = one of the fastest kills in the game. Nobody ever expects it to be strong, because they don't use it right. Kinda like how everyone thinks the Focus Rifle sucks in Halo: Reach, but in reality it's a powerful primary weapon that can replace your DMR or Assault Rifle; it's not meant to be a Covenant equivalent of the sniper rifle, despite what the outward design may suggest. It's essentially an assault rifle with a scope that you can blind people with and constantly descope. It's deadly AF at medium range.
Dunno why they don’t just make the plasma rifle like CE. And the pistol for that matter. Thing had decent DPS & was clutch in CE legendary runs
"he's the chief, god damn it -maybe he knows something we don't" LMAO 🤣😂
subbed
i miss this gun so much man
The plasma rifle is my childhood favourite weapon, I was heart broken that they took it away in Halo 4, and never brought it back :(
The day i can play as an elite, dual-wielding plasma rifles is the day i can say halo has returned to it's most awesome roots, once again
I always hated the CODification of many shooters. Gone were the wacky weapons with true scifi feeling functionality.
Now it's just ballistic weapons and ballistic weapons with fancy lights
Jesus christ that knock at 1:25 SCREW YOU. That scared the shit out of me
Forgotten by 343i only. Do you think they did that so they could reuse animations?
I remember noticing starting in 4 and really ramping up in 5, not only was the plasma rifle gone, but everything got so balanced to the point where everything seemed to be balanced around quick paced e-sports and not the Halo Universe as set up by bungie.
I had no idea about the plasma rifle's stun mechanic, but I loved basically everything about it; the look, the feel, and just how effective it was at shredding through shields. Dual-wielding them could be so much fun! Another classic weapon I'd like to see come back is the original Covenant carbine; the reload sounds in Halo 2 Anniversary (and even Halo 4) are so delightfully crunchy. :D
1:18 that knocking sound was so realistic i was spooked
Peak content, love to see it
My favorite halo weapon of all time bro