Your thoughts on Halo 4?

[Sonic Doctor]

Snip

You don't have to work for them that much, you get Spartan Points each time you rank up, and for the first 8/10 ranks, you will be ranking up easily, armour doesn't cost anything, you unlock it and can use it, all you pay for are new weapons, abilities etc. which cost at max, 3SP. I think the system is hugely improved, a nice blend of Reach and Halo 3.

Well, I'm SR20 and I still haven't reached what I consider will be the best perk and that is having two primary weapons. It will be another four levels before I get there, and at 20 is getting into the grindy style leveling.

But really, my point remains, if such perks had been implemented in Reach by Bungie, they would have made them all unlocked immediately so that everybody would be on equal footing other than skill level. They knew how to balance the multiplayer. And they made it so that the only special stuff to be unlocked was cosmetic, which frankly, in such games is really the only thing people should have to work for if they want.

I will add that I was playing some War Games tonight with a friend, and he mention something that made me think, and I know he is right. He said:

"The reason I played Halo was because it was different than Call of Duty. Now, 343 has come in and changed Halo and modeled the system after CoD. You got the perks, and you get weapon drops for getting a certain amount of kills, but kills don't matter exactly for winning the game because of the new and stupid point system. Also, the new maps are such a mish-mash mess that it has become all run and gun and now strategy, definitely no good spots for sniping."

I have to agree with him. I also add that I've made a test chamber to test damage capabilities of weapons against vehicles. The strength of some vehicles is the same in some respects against some weapons, but the damage per shot counts have changed horrible with some weapons.

One change that really pisses me off is with sniper rifles. Sniper rifles were one of the go to weapons for destroying vehicles in past Halo games. Not anymore. The reason Snipers were so good against vehicles was that they could get off enough shots fast enough to destroy a vehicle before being spotted. Again, not anymore.

It use to take only three shots with a UNSC sniper to destroy a Banshee, now it takes six shots. 5 to 6 shots against a UNSC tank, now it takes 8 to 10. The same goes for the amounts for other vehicles.

Though oddly enough the Banshee seems to be weaker now to regular weapons fire. Though another toughness offender is the Warthog, in some respects(especially with the sniper) is as tough to kill as a tank.

Another weird thing is that weak points that some vehicles had are gone. The back of a Wraith use to be a weak spot. With rockets, it took four in the front to kill the Wraith, but only two in the back. Now they've changed it to four his with the rocket all around, no weak point.

The ghost is also not balanced, it now like other things, takes more weapons damage from regular weapons, but from previous banes like the sniper, it takes more shots(5 or 6 instead of the normal 3), and the little notch on the top of the ghost is no longer a weak spot.

I've tested most of the weapons, though there is too much info for me to continue explaining in this thread. But you should get the gist of what I'm saying.

343 has really screwed up the weapon damage balance.

So far, the campaign has been alright, but 343 really dropped the Grifball with the multiplayer of this game.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

I had fun with the campaign, but it's probably my least favorite campaign. Sure, Master Chief is more defined as a character (sort of) than he ever was before, but anyone that isn't him or Cortana is bland and boring. Palmer had potential, but the campaign is just too SHORT to get to know anyone and care. Hell, even in Combat Evolved we had Foe Hammer and Keyes, who I cared about a lot more than any of the random people in 4. Halo 2 had some fantastic supporting characters that were unfairly brushed aside in 3.

Multiplayer is... weighted differently. That's the only thing I can think of to describe it. Honestly, with all the DMRs/BRs, I feel like I'm taken down about as fast as I would be in Halo 3, but still. The speed is unusual, but that might be because everyone can sprint now. Plus, since you're not spending all of your time hunting down weapons and camping their spawn points, you have more time to actually battle the other players, so maybe that also makes it feel faster?

If I had a problem with Halo 4's MP it would probably be the maps... they lack - for want of a better term - personality. None of them really stand out to me. All of them are pretty bland. It has nothing to do with the weapon spawns, I'm fine with that - prefer it, in fact, to battling in the same spot of a large map just because THAT is where the best weapon on the map spawns. I dunno, I just feel like this game shipped with a sub-par amount of maps. Also, I miss Invasion. =(

The custom loadouts and rank-up system doesn't bother me. It's not just Call of Duty and Battlefield that have that system, a lot of multiplayer-heavy games do these days. Personally, I have not noticed perks in Halo 4 to be particularly intrusive.

I could go on about the game, but I'll leave it here. I know it feels more 'run 'n gun' than any Halo game has before (my Gods are the 4v4 maps cramped!) but I like it. Maybe it's because I went in with poor expectations, I dunno. But every time there is a new game in a big franchise, people will find reason to not like it and keep playing the old games, which is there choice, and I totally understand it.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I don't know if I was expected to read all the books or something (I've played all the games) but I barely had a clue what was going on. Part of that may be because I only played it thus far on Legendary with a friend so we were dying a bit, but still.

I mean, it was fun... But even when I did understand what was going on, I kind of groaned. Like with the librarian...

That is the way Halo has been for some time, you aren't going to get everything that is going on unless you read the books.

Also, some stuff you won't even get until you watch the live action mini-series "Forward Unto Dawn" on youtube. I recommend watching anyway, because it shows that if given to the right people, game movies could work and be awesome.

Really, Halo has been a franchise that is built to please the uber-fans when it comes to story. If you don't get into the whole universe, you won't entirely get the story in the games.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Palmer had potential, but the campaign is just too SHORT to get to know anyone and care.

Have you got a chance to play Spartan Ops yet. I'm willing to bet Palmer will be more fleshed out there. If anything Spartan Ops is going to be a second campaign mode and bigger than the actual main campaign.

As it has been advertised quite a bit, there will be a new large cutscene section of story for the Spartan IVs every week for 10 weeks, and 5 Spartan Ops missions to go along with each movie. That means 50 missions. And the thing that boggles my mind is that in the trailer for Spartan Ops, it said that those cutscenes and mission are just season 1.

So, I'm guessing it will be like a Halo4 tv mini-series, but with missions to go along with the series.

 

[bigfatcarp93]

It was pretty good overall, I thought. The story was excellent: in usual fare for Halo, it was a decent sci-fi epic with surprisingly good characters for a military story, and slightly confusing at parts, but never to the point where I felt totally lost. The graphics were definately on par, the music was DAMN good.

As others have pointed out, I REALLY wish that the Covenant stuff had been better explained; in fact, their whole role in the game felt a bit pointless other than to give us something to shoot before the Prometheans show up. And yeah, ammo was WAY too scarce, but all-in-all, I felt the gameplay was typically fantastic for Halo.

Spoiler

And yes, the ending made me cry.

What I DIDN'T like: A HUGELY ANTICLIMACTIC VILLAIN DEFEAT.

I mean, come on! Where was the boss battle!? This isn't Call of Duty, guys! I wasn't fighting Makarov, I was fighting

Spoiler

a big, badass Forerunner with FUCKING TELEKINESIS

, and there's no goddamn boss battle? I just press left trigger!? BULLSHIT!

 

[BBboy20]

Its' 2012 and yet there's no ammo for for human rifles that Chief mostly carries around; why are they still depicting him with human weapons instead of what you're equipped with at this point? =/

 

[Zetatrain]

Have they removed a standard every man for himself 'deathmatch' from the playlists? As whilst on the menu I only saw team games (unless I'm being blind).

The mode you are looking for is regicide. It's basically a free for all match except that the person in first place is worth more points.

 

[Milata]

Some things are bad, some things are worse, but an overall improvement, The Ordnance in multiplayer balances the game pretty well, You are rewarded on your contribution instead of individual kill streaks, No one can hog a rocket launcher, and a well coordinated team is more required then it was.

 

[Thyunda]

immoral players,

I called down pulse grenades as one of my first ordnances because I didn't know what they were. In a split second, another player leaped on my drop and snatched the grenades, then slowly turned to stare at me, as if to say 'What now?'.

I mean really. What an absolute bastard.

OT: I love the multiplayer. Not really played much of the campaign - I only just did the first mission. Great set-pieces though, seriously impressive visuals. But the multiplayer I'm having fun with. A lot of fun. Emulating CoD, really? Move quickly and with cover and a lone wolf can destroy a disorganised team. This I found in Team Slayer Pro. It was glorious. The guns all seem to be pretty equal, with the exception of the damn Promethean weaponry...and the fact the Covenant stuff just falls short of everything.

 

[Cabisco]

Surprised at myself really. I have owned everything halo game up until this point and loved them all and yet with Halo 4 I don't have that desire to buy it. I recently went over to my friends house to play it for a few hours with him and while it was familar and I did have some fun it just didn't feel the same and I still just didn't have that urge to buy it myself.

I don't know whats happened, I think I might have just grown out of halo and in a way that makes me sad as i've been part of that journey for the better part of a decade. It's a good game, but not one I want to be part of anymore :/

 

[Sprogus]

I think it is a fantastic game. This game feels like it actually has a story unlike some of the others in the series. And the best part...no flood.

 

[Zetatrain]

You got the perks, and you get weapon drops for getting a certain amount of kills, but kills don't matter exactly for winning the game because of the new and stupid point system. Also, the new maps are such a mish-mash mess that it has become all run and gun and now strategy, definitely no good spots for sniping."

Wait I'm confused, is he saying that weapon drops are determined by kills and that points determine the team's over all score? If that's the case then he's got it mixed up. Weapon drops are determined by points and each kill adds only 10 points to your team's overall score(points from assists, killing sprees, etc don't contribute).

Edit: While I do agree that weapon drop system is similar to the kill streaks of COD, what makes it different is the fact that its randomized and unlike most kill streaks you still gotta do the killing yourself. However, I do admit that it would be nice if they could add a classic halo mode (pre-set loadouts and weapon spawn points instead of weapon drops) for variety sake.

I also partially disagree with the level assessment. While there are indeed run and gun levels halo has always had run and gun levels. Some levels actually do require some strategy. In Longbow you want to control the base on the ridge because it has the highest vantage point and it easier to defend than other areas on the map. In Ragnarok, if you can control the mid-left and mid-right sections of the map then you can make it nearly impossible for the opposing team to attack without them getting hit from both sides. I have also seen plenty of good sniping spots in Ragnarok.

 

[AnarchistFish]

The multiplayer could be the best fucking ever and Halo 4 would still be inferior to Halo CE and Halo 2 if the developers don't care about the campaign anymore.

Which they don't.

Series is dead to me.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Loved the campaign despite it being rather short. My Xbox Live connection is playing up at the moment though so I haven't had the chance to delve into War Games or Spartan Ops yet.

You can play Spartan Ops in single player

I thought Spartan Ops was part of the new Multiplayer disc thing? I know there isn't any kind of Bot Mode (because the last 5 FPS titles didn't have it either so why start now).

Anyway, other thoughts I have regarding Halo 4:

*I wonder who the model for Cortana is...It's refreshing to see a female character who has hips.

*Why do the Forerunner weapons look like they were made by Rob Liefeld? Also why call them Promethians? I almost always slip up by referring to them as Prothean.

*Mech Combat? I may not wait until it's a $20 bargain buy

*I wonder if there's a good amount of Mech Combat or if they just cock tease me by using it in half of a level like Sabre combat in Reach...

*I would totally buy a Halo title based completely around vehicular combat...The Halo universe has enough vehicles to make its own version of Star Fox, Battle Tanx and, Mech Assault...Hell, it would probably be easy for 343 to just buy the rights to Mech Assault and rebrand it then add in open tank and, Sabre levels for a full on Halo: Vehicular Assault or something...

*Looks like it's still $60...Combat Evolved Anniversary is down to about $30...I'll wait until after the Holiday season and check again...I'll probably settle when it's $40 or so...maybe...

 

[Buizel91]

Snip

You don't have to work for them that much, you get Spartan Points each time you rank up, and for the first 8/10 ranks, you will be ranking up easily, armour doesn't cost anything, you unlock it and can use it, all you pay for are new weapons, abilities etc. which cost at max, 3SP. I think the system is hugely improved, a nice blend of Reach and Halo 3.

Well, I'm SR20 and I still haven't reached what I consider will be the best perk and that is having two primary weapons. It will be another four levels before I get there, and at 20 is getting into the grindy style leveling.

But really, my point remains, if such perks had been implemented in Reach by Bungie, they would have made them all unlocked immediately so that everybody would be on equal footing other than skill level. They knew how to balance the multiplayer. And they made it so that the only special stuff to be unlocked was cosmetic, which frankly, in such games is really the only thing people should have to work for if they want.

I will add that I was playing some War Games tonight with a friend, and he mention something that made me think, and I know he is right. He said:

"The reason I played Halo was because it was different than Call of Duty. Now, 343 has come in and changed Halo and modeled the system after CoD. You got the perks, and you get weapon drops for getting a certain amount of kills, but kills don't matter exactly for winning the game because of the new and stupid point system. Also, the new maps are such a mish-mash mess that it has become all run and gun and now strategy, definitely no good spots for sniping."

I have to agree with him. I also add that I've made a test chamber to test damage capabilities of weapons against vehicles. The strength of some vehicles is the same in some respects against some weapons, but the damage per shot counts have changed horrible with some weapons.

One change that really pisses me off is with sniper rifles. Sniper rifles were one of the go to weapons for destroying vehicles in past Halo games. Not anymore. The reason Snipers were so good against vehicles was that they could get off enough shots fast enough to destroy a vehicle before being spotted. Again, not anymore.

It use to take only three shots with a UNSC sniper to destroy a Banshee, now it takes six shots. 5 to 6 shots against a UNSC tank, now it takes 8 to 10. The same goes for the amounts for other vehicles.

Though oddly enough the Banshee seems to be weaker now to regular weapons fire. Though another toughness offender is the Warthog, in some respects(especially with the sniper) is as tough to kill as a tank.

Another weird thing is that weak points that some vehicles had are gone. The back of a Wraith use to be a weak spot. With rockets, it took four in the front to kill the Wraith, but only two in the back. Now they've changed it to four his with the rocket all around, no weak point.

The ghost is also not balanced, it now like other things, takes more weapons damage from regular weapons, but from previous banes like the sniper, it takes more shots(5 or 6 instead of the normal 3), and the little notch on the top of the ghost is no longer a weak spot.

I've tested most of the weapons, though there is too much info for me to continue explaining in this thread. But you should get the gist of what I'm saying.

343 has really screwed up the weapon damage balance.

So far, the campaign has been alright, but 343 really dropped the Grifball with the multiplayer of this game.

I did say in another post, by rank 20ish you will have unlocked everything

And about damage to vehicles i don't see it, i shot down a Banshee with 4 Sniper shots, it just depends where you hit them, same with the Ghost. You can try testing weapon damage, but when an Enemy is in the them, they take more damage, its been the same in all Halo's, it's something i have noticed anyway.

And I have shot a Wraith in the front, 2 rockets got it, and 1 in the back on another, again, don't see it. Again, when an Enemy is in them, they take more damge.

 

[Batou667]

Removing armor-lock was stupid. Other than camo, armor-lock was really one of the only useful abilities in Reach. It properly leveled the playing field between a player and another player in a small vehicle like a ghost ... It gave players a means of combating vehicles other than weapons.

I take your point but we can now choose to spawn with a plasma pistol and/or plasma grenades - both very nice anti-vehicle weapons. Not to mention you can just jump over a ramming Ghost, or boost out of the way.

Additionally, almost every map has parts where vehicles either can't get to or at an extreme disadvantage (Ragnarok is the only truly open and vehicle-friendly map) and many of the vehicles have been toned down (such as the enormous nerfing the Banshee has received), so actually vehicles aren't that overpowered any more.

 

[PromethianSpark]

I kno many of you wont really get onboard with this point, but its really bugging me. Cortana's potential rampancy as demonstrated in halo 3 was something akin to lunacy. Now its like a sexist hyper-exaggeration of a period or menopause!

 

[Hap2]

Multiplayer-wise, the controls are extremely tight. 343 has done an excellent job living up to their promise of making your character feel as if he/she is wearing "800 pounds of tank and jet-fighter", without compromising the Spartan's canon abilities too much. One of my biggest complaints with Bungie was that their games always felt sloppy to control. For example, the ground vehicles like the Warthog and Mongoose drove as if they were on an ice rink rather than solidly on ground (they still flip in Halo 4, which is good, but they have some weight to their handling now). Guns in the previous game never felt as if they were from the 26th century; why should precision weapons such as the DMR and Battle Rifle have so much bloom in the hands of a super soldier, or stray bullets spraying away from the target?. I like using both now (the DMR for longer range, the BR for mid range), I do not feel as if I am wielding 20th cent. weapons in the 26th cent. anymore. Bullet impact animations are nice too, especially in single player (I feel as if I am no longer shooting an unfeeling brick wall, Reach's animations were terrible - almost every Elite would do the exact same pose whenever their shields would drop; it made the game less immersive). As for the sounds, they've changed with each game, some I like, some I don't. The Assault Rifle sounds much better, with a deep growl, similar to Halo: CE.

Having sprint at all times is nice and, thankfully for balance, limited. Teamwork is still the priority when it comes to winning matches (disorganized teams who try to lone wolf it still get annihilated), but the scoring system allows for players, who may not always be great at killing, to contribute and level up on their own strengths (e.g. distractions, vehicle driving, destroying vehicles, playing support roles with assists, healing, etc.). I can't always keep up with twitch shooting these days, my hands aren't what they used to be, so being able to contribute in some way and be rewarded for it, remains satisfying.

Vehicles seem to be tougher to normal weapons, either that or sticky grenades aren't what they used to be. It's often easier to kill a gunner or a driver themselves than to just blow up a vehicle, which makes sense. Armour abilities don't come across as being overpowered, as each need to be used in appropriate situations to be effective (e.g. Turrets are great for choke points, cloak/radar scramble helps disguise teammate's positions and gives you the opportunity for surprise, the light shield can save a person from a last second headshot or sword strike, etc.)

My only major gripe is some of the hit detection (though it may have been lag), and spawns on some levels. I've had a couple instances on the camera where it has shown a player aiming nowhere near me and somehow getting a miraculous headshot, or throwing a sticky grenade off to the side and somehow having it whip back around like a homing rocket and stick me. I've had a number of easy spawn kills and deaths as well, there doesn't seem to be as much protection as there was in Reach.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the game, as a shooter it has one of the best multiplayer components I've played since Bad Company 2 and Gears of War 3. 343 has made the series their own, and I look forward to seeing what else they have in store.

 

[The Comfy Chair]

Overall the campaign is definitely one of the better shooter campaign in recent years, and i like how 343 are working much closer to the lore than bungie did, creating a more cohesive universe. The levels were quite varied, but the Promethean enemies were a chore due to their horribly ineffective weapons. Hand me a DMR and i'll shoot knights all day, give me a suppressor and i'll want to eat my own face after 10 minutes. Guess which weapon is available most of the time?

Audio: The music indeed wasn't quite 'halo', and some parts were just not very good (probably some looping bugs going on, but some parts really grated on me). Some parts were good though. It's a mixed bag.

Graphically: best on 360. It also shows how badly we need better tech in consoles. Despite it being the best 360 game, it still looks worse than any of my PC games, console ports or otherwise. Coming to it from X-COM on PC (an average UE3 game) was a massive shock to the system after not playing on my 360 in a while. I did enjoy the physics though, since most games have recently removed all non-prebaked physics due to memory and CPU restrictions. I liked punching grunts around in zero G and having water react to the warthog tyres. Character animations were also very good. I'd like to see what this kind of game - production quality wise - would look like when designed gtx670/80 level hardware though, my bet is like the CGI sequences. So overall a thumbs up on the graphical aspect considering the limitations.

Multiplayer: Spartan ops is cool, a thumbs up for that and i'll be playing the future episodes. Competetive FPS is the same as all console FPS: you're fighting an aim assist, not a person. The higher health makes it more skillful than CoD/BF3, but it's still not a shining example of competetive FPS. Therefore it still grates on me after a while. For people like me who cant stand a 'competetive' FPS where player skill is capped so harshly, the flood mode is a really fun alternative game mode which is much less about who can shoot first and let the aim assist get them the kill and more about positioning and bashing a zombie in the side of the head as they charge past your sidestep. It's also pretty insane at times

 

[Korten12]

I kno many of you wont really get onboard with this point, but its really bugging me. Cortana's potential rampancy as demonstrated in halo 3 was something akin to lunacy. Now its like a sexist hyper-exaggeration of a period or menopause!

Cortana wasn't in rampancy in Halo 3, she only truly began to go into it with Halo 4 since she was past her 7 year time. She begins to think herself to death and bring up the various memories of Halsey because she can't control it. In Halo 4 she protrayed rampancy perfectly by showing that she is losing control of herself what makes her by mixing herself up at times with Halsey.