No, it's not. I admit it had story problems, taking away firefight was a bit of a sting, and I didn't like the addition of the "level up to get new guns" kinda of multiplayer, but it was still a good game. The new guns were cool, the soundtrack has some of the best songs in Halo history, Spartan Ops are a lotta fun, I like the new direction they're going with in terms of the Chief (trying to humanise him) and that ending... wow, 343, just wow. That was probably one of the best endings in the franchise. *sob*
Only thing I didn't get with the game is who is this "didact" guy, and why are they calling him a "didact?" Have these people been mentioned before in the games? Because I don't remember it. He had a shit introduction basically. Didn't know who he was, or what he wanted, or anything like that.
Didact and the Librarian are two Forerunners mentioned in all terminals in Halo 3. A very good discussion of those can be found here: http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/halo-3/the-terminals/shediedineden0/
Would you mind going into detail about why you thought the multiplayer was broken and unbalanced? As someone who has religiously played the Halo games since the first one I am genuinely curious. I will admit the game felt a bit different and even a bit flawed in some areas, but I never felt in was completely broken.
The game is unbalanced because the kill times of the DMR far outweigh the other precision weapons, and that's before you take into account it's overwhelming bullet magnetism, which I call a GPS targeting system for DMR rounds. The DMR remains accurate for ranges that put the sniper to shame, even in the hands of a complete imbecile with little-no hand-eye coordination. Bullet magnetism is where the aim reticule turns red to tell you it's going to be a guaranteed hit if you pull the trigger.
With the DMR in-scope, that range is 2/3's to 3/4's the length of Ragnarok. It's frigging ridiculous, particularly when you notice it turns red if the outer aim reticule only grazes an opponent. The DMR has bloom, but it's purely cosmetic. Test it out for yourself in an Xbox Live custom game with a friend. No matter how fast you pull the trigger, if it's even slightly on someone in the slightest sense, you will get a GUARANTEED hit with every single pull of the trigger.
Here's a detailed post I made over at the Waypoint forums on the stupid stopping power, but I digress nicely into how the entire disc isn't woth wiping my arse with, let alone another second of my time: https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2162508_stopping-power-is-a-joke.aspx#post2162508
i'll wrap up with a general view of the game as a whole:
I can't even bring myself to play the game any more now I've completed it in Legendary, and there's no incentive to make Forge maps either with the stupid restrictions or object spawn timing, rubbish gametype listings and limited changeable options.
It's one of the quickest games I've ever lost interest in. So many missing GOOD mechanics that defined Halo, and there's next to no competition in matchmaking any more with the inability to dodge or even miss shots thanks to that stupidly excessive bullet magnetism. Someone described Slayer as essentially "Team Fiesta". It's chaotic, boring and broken in matchmaking; there's little emphasis on teamwork or map control due to poor spawn system, JiP, deployable randomised power weapons, missing "on my X" and disappearing weapons; the UI is sore to look at; and the whole game orbits around an unavoidable and tedious "first shoots, wins" philosophy whilst throwing medals at you as though they're going out of fashion.
The only escape from that is Forge mode (my favourite pass-time) and customs, of which both are nothing but a huge step backwards from Reach. Awkward object spawn timer rules; no infection, race, or asymmetrical gametypes; shoddy magnet tethers; and overly-stable handling of the Warthog. all this combined has limited decent creativity with forge maps and custom games to that of Halo 3's forge and customs, or worse because of the anti-roll Warthogs, lack of Infection and stupid object spawn-timer rules and restrictions...
But now I'm repeating myself so I'll just say this: I don't play it any more because I bought Halo, and this ain't Halo. The new features are good (except infinity drops) - but what the -Yoink!- is up with the new restrictions in forge, customs and the UI, and the non-inclusion of features that make up the very soul of Halo?
Hopefully it doesn't spoil your taste for the game if you like it, but not a single thing I say is subject of opinion; it's all observable facts that occur to regular players on a regular basis.
I liked the game until I noticed that Master Chief is a total sissy who can't take a shot from anything without dying instantly. You don't feel like a super-soldier at all if you play on Heroic or Legendary(legendary is understandable).
DMR is also the best starting weapon in the game because it beats all other primary weapons at the things they are suppoesed to do. The only possible exception is the Assault Rifle at very, VERY close range.
Also, why the hell do I have to buy DLC to continue Spartan Ops?
Yeah screw putting out a decent response to that opening post. Mainly because the opening post is bollocks, other people have already said what needs to be said so it's not worth wasting the plastic on my keys.
But I will say this:
The opening post is bollocks.
SnakeCL said:
The music also was a step-up from the rest of the halo franchise, with a much more epic feel. (realizing almost everything is lost as you chase the Didact), the slow beginning of the track "117" building layer upon layer as you pilot along the ship until you see Earth in front of you, and the comm chatter from the Infinity, and you realize that there's still a chance to end this as the music crescendos. Or the distinctly alien and foreign music that plays when you first see the white spires on Requiem adding to the mystery. Seriously, Halo 4 has one of the best soundtracks in the series. Even the sendoff at the end with the remix of "Never Forget" is incredible.
The stuff I've snipped I'll agree with, and raises some nice points
Otherwise, personally I felt the music was....I dunno, less engrossing (and slightly more generic I'm a bit sad to say) than previous games. I've always loved the soundtracks of the Halo series, and they sit proudly in my top 5 gaming soundtracks. Previously I've found myself sitting there and just listening to the music sometimes rather than pushing on, but I almost didn't notice it this time round. Perhaps I need to get hold of the soundtrack and just listen to that. Any favs you'd pick out other than the aforementioned 117?
Saying that though, I usually play this sort of thing on my own, and was doing it co op with my flat-mate, and as fun as it is, he's one of those people who will NOT stop talking, even during TV shows or cinematics. It's like "Dude, shut up, I'm trying to watch what's bloody going on!" grr. *vent*
I for one enjoyed the game as per usual but Halo 3 still holds my heart for multi-player fun and ODST still holds my heart for its story, it wasn't anything special it was average and considering this was 343's first attempt at halo, it was pretty good.
I'll wait for the second game before i make my final judgement about the direction 343 is taking Halo in.
OT: I agree with pretty much everything Vrex said. So, um. Yeah. I haven't any projectile vitriol left for this game, so I simply just forget it exists and get on with my general existence. Not that it's particularly difficult. I found it to be a generally sexless affair (except for that time I had sex with it). It was generally bland and confusing, not that I could tell through the bloom. Seriously, the Chief must have had one helluva migraine considering so much as vaguely looking in an upward direction resulted in something I'd imagine to be akin to some divine wrath on your retina. Anyway, I got bored on the third level in and stopped playing. Didn't touch multiplayer because I don't have gold, not that I really would have if I did.
Frankly I'm still just pissed off that 343 removed the Elites from multiplayer, that was a boneheaded decision that helped them earn my never ending hatred for them before the game even came out.
343:
"Hey, you know that elite player model that you have had since 2004? The one that has been a part of the Halo multiplayer experience and actually one of the few things that made Halo stand out from other multiplayer games? Well we're removing it because of a retarded decision to make multiplayer have a 'story' which is the same reason we've removed Firefight and pretty much screwed over anyone who doesn't have an online connection of half the content of the game!"
So yeah, that's pretty much all it took. Also OP, I agree.
Graphically Halo 4 is amazing, aesthetically it is garbage.
The Covenant look like the Locust and behave like the Uruk Hai from Lord of the Rings, the Spartan armor is way overdone and looks like it was ripped right out of Crysis, the Prometheans look like something from Metroid and just generally everything else is over designed and not like the originals. The originals aren't always better neccessarily of course but I dunno I feel the earlier Bungie developed Halo games were at least trying to do their own thing, they were more cartoony and there was real effort to humanize the aliens rather than just make them monstrous.
In any other sci fi game the 'ancient alien AI on a distant world' would be a slow moving omnipitent being with a deep voice, in Halo it was Guilty Spark. In any other shooter the aliens would just be generic slavering monsters, in Halo we ended up playing as the Arbiter.
By contrast Halo 4 seems to be desperatley trying to be all these other shooter franchises instead of it's own pedigree, it's turned the aliens into Gears of War Locust Uruk Hai because fuck people just like evil ugly (UGLY) aliens so don't bother to portray them with any personality beyond baby devouring evil! The Spartans are over designed to look high tech because hey those Crysis games and anime sci fi shooters are doing pretty well and people love over the top designed combat gear so have some of that! Also copy as much as we can from Call of Duty, must copy Call of Duty because people love Call of Duty!
Ehh, I don't know. All I can say is that this is the first Halo game that I have barely any interest in. I still don't even own it so I base my opinions on word of mouth and personal opinion based on what I've seen. I'm aware that could be considered unfair criticism and I'm prepared to accept that possibility.
All the same while I won't call Halo 4 an 'abomination' I will say that I have no real desire to play it or really to see where the story goes beyond morbid curiosity. I can honestly bet that
Cortana isn't truly 'dead' yet
because that was one of the few elements that 343 (supposedly) got right and I doubt they would throw it away so soon. All the same though I love Halo but I'm not going down this road, to me Halo ended with Reach nad unless someone does something really clever like make a Halo game centered on the Arbiter and the rest of the Covenant, I'm not really interested.
Hey, compare The Covenant from Halo to those of Halo 2 and they look different. I don't think The Grunts have had a universal design in the entire series (except maybe Halo 3 and ODST) granted their design aesthetics only change slightly. Also I can agree that the new guns looks like something Liefeld would have doodled on a bar napkin.
Multiplayer is much, much better than Reach, although it has far more black screens.
I had more fun with the campaign than Reach too. I dont think I will be playing it again anytime soon, but it was fun while it lasted.
Halo 4 is not a bad game. Halo 2 was a bad game, Halo Reach was a bad game. For what it is, a multiplayer game with a tagged on SP campaign, Halo 4 is quite alright.
I have to agree on the crap art direction. First level's beautiful, or the view is at least. Second level is beautiful and haunting until you exit the ship graveyard. Then it's all random glowy bits and bulging forarms, which runs counter to a lot of the grey sculptural aesthetic of the first five games.
w9496 said:
Also, why the hell do I have to buy DLC to continue Spartan Ops?
Why are those Spartan Ops (that you've just paid for) only good for one week in match making?
There's going to be a hell of a lot of pissed off people when they buy Season 2 a couple weeks late and find that hey, two thirds of the content is useless. Thanks 343!
No doubt it will remain on sale long after it's possible to use it as intended.
I played a mission or two on my mate's xbox (haven't got one at uni) and it seemed pretty good. Story didn't come across much but graphically and aesthetically it was pretty damn nice, plus the combat was great fun as always.
The sci-fi stuff was basically magic in all of the previous Halo games, so that's clutching at straws.
Basically it was the Halo I remember: exploding, shooty, stabby, stupid fun.
Halo 4 is my favorite call of duty game.
The story isn't that great, but what else is new? The multiplayer is occasionally frustrating in how it caters to noobs by giving them easier kills (random shotgun drops anyone?), but it's still a fun way to blow through a case with a couple of buddies.
Multiplayer is much, much better than Reach, although it has far more black screens.
I had more fun with the campaign than Reach too. I dont think I will be playing it again anytime soon, but it was fun while it lasted.
Halo 4 is not a bad game. Halo 2 was a bad game, Halo Reach was a bad game. For what it is, a multiplayer game with a tagged on SP campaign, Halo 4 is quite alright.
Halo 2 was a bad game? I'll agree with you with the comparisons to Reach, especially its badness, but Halo 2 was fine. The community around it was a little irritating, but if you played the multiplayer with friends it was a blast. It was even fun online most of the time until you ran into a lag switcher.
Halo had great gameplay, halo 2 had great story, halo 3 was a mix of the two (i fucking love truth, such a villain) Reach just had glorious visuals (even if i hated all of noble team) halo 4...
It's good with friends, but any more so than the other halos? No, not realy. It's as if the game was designed to only be fun with friends. Like l4d just not on purpose.
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