One thing I’ve always loved about the challenge of the legendary difficulty is how much of a badass it makes you feel. Jump! Scramble! Headshot! Grenade out! Bash enemies in the head right before you reload, and then do it all over again.
Halo: Reach has changed this dynamic a lot, as I now think of Spartans (excepting the AI teammates) as cowering hunks of shields. With like, what, 3 shots to completely deplete your shields, I spend more time hiding than shooting, and I feel like I never get a chance to enter into the fray on the scale of the battles that made the first Halo games so memorable.
Still, I’m only a third of the way through the game, and maybe something awesome is coming along to change my mind.