I think there is an important distinction to make between 4 and 5 with sprint. 5 focuses the gameplay around it, everything from weapon functionality to environment is built with it. 4 just tacks it on. And that's not a bad thing, for SPV3 players who got hands on time with sprint, I think we did a good job showing how it CAN work even in an environment and game it was not built for. I liked what H4 was doing with it, I think a lot of the issues with it could have been fixed with some more restrictions on it, such as making it so that when you spawn it starts drained, adding in a visual meter, and finally increasing the rate of depletion.
H4/SPV3 method of it is adding it to augment existing aspects of the game. H5 builds the focus around it, much like Titanfall. H4/SPV3 wants you to use the abilities in brief bursts, H5 wants you to depend on it as a primary form of movement. Reach doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. It designs a slower game where you sort of need it, but then asks you to discard it too for other abilities.
Interestingly, H2 went the method of it augmenting the original aspects of the game, with ALL of it's planned "spartan/player abilities"
Besides sporting an improved graphical look, MC will get his hands on a new suit of armor, some "tools", and a few new moves. Check out the
'Characters' section of the Halo 2 gallery for a glimpse of the Chief's new look.
When things get hectic, the Chief can lower his gun and sprint at almost twice his normal speed. Before rushing into battle, MC can peek around corners and scope out the situation. When the action gets up close and personal, the Chief can string together melee attacks into devastating combos.
The Chief is sure to have a few other surprises up his sleeve so stay tuned for future updates.
When you look at how these would work, you can just simply look at H1 and see how these would augment the original gameplay loops.
You can run to escape dangerous situations to prolong your life, but you can also use it for backtracking (I know this was explicitly stated at one point, with AOTCR coming to mind of having to take long walks to find things)
Wall peeking helps speed up the pace of the game (by making you not have to poke your whole body out, take damage, hide, recharge, and then attack) and allows more stealth.
Melee combos are a bit weird, I can't really get behind a more complicated melee system unless it was just going to be a visual change for added flair as a reward for say beating an elite to death.
Boarding allows you to use well times movement and clicks to save yourself from certain death.