Your thoughts on Halo 4?

[C F]

I like the game and the multiplayer is awesome as per usual. My one gripe is with the ending which I'm hoping someone can explain to me, cause I'm pretty sure they didn't explain it.

Spoiler

John (Master Chief)activates a nuke with his hands, then Cortana who has become rapant some how saves him by transporting him into some blue matrix type thing

I'm an avid fan of the Halo series, so I'll take a shot.

Spoiler

It's been established that the Forerunners built some pretty logic-defying crap over the years, what with solid light, floating structures, and artificially controlled nature being representative of their casual tech level, so it's not at all hard to believe a number of things could have happened aboard a Forerunner Super-Soldier's Ship-of-the-Line.

Cortana herself was designed for the sole purpose of being a cyber-intrusion specialist with alien technology, and she's had 4 Halo games to become familiar with Covenant and Forerunner computer systems. Even fighting off the Didact's influence as well as struggling with her decaying self, she could still open and close functional spatial rifts for the Chief to transport around the level.

At the end, her split personalities seemed to reconcile with themselves when faced with a unified threat (the Didact) harming the one who she's most fond of (the Master Chief). Working in harmony, it's likely she can now effortlessly command much more advanced Forerunner technology at this point, especially since self-preservation takes back-seat to stopping the Didact and saving the Chief and Earth.

Are you familiar with what Slipspace is? You've heard it mentioned a couple times in-game; it's the Halo universe's wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. The humans discovered it by accident in the late 23rd century, and halfway through the 26th, we're still fumbling around with it. It can transport you to locations faster than light, but that's only scratching the surface. The covenant have decent Slipspace mastery, but only because they bootlegged it from the Forerunners. Despite how scientifically vague and hyper-advanced it is, the Forerunners had that crap nailed down like it was their morning breakfast cereal.

A key thing Forerunners have been known to do is fold time and space into smaller shapes and sizes. The shield worlds are an example of this; one has been specified to be about Earth-sized on the outside, and have a radius of 1 AU (the radius of earth's orbit around the sun) on the inside. It also had a sun in the center (which could presumably be turned off if convenient).
Another example is their slipspace stasis pods, which are the Forerunner counterpart to the UNSC cryo pods. Except instead of just sticking the guy on ice, it forms an isolated dimensional pocket which keeps the subject in one point in time independent from the rest of the world (though still visible through the pod). While appearing to be right there in the pod, it can be proven they actually aren't (A sniper scope's range-finder read "∞" when pointed at a sealed pod's insides).

TL;DR: With all this in mind, Cortana may have just sent the chief into dimensional isolation for the duration of the nuclear explosion, and then send him back to where he was a few seconds later while the debris rains around him. But since time and space are malleable in this instant, Cortana could also have her private moment with Chief.
Her body is just a projection of Hard Light, which is an easy enough concept to believe considering all the glow-y bridges we've ran across and driven over.

If you cared about the Halo lore, it was kind of assumed you would know all this by know. Which is a big shout-out to the fans, but it leaves casual players with little to go by except "space magic". But with Promethean Knights teleporting around the battlefield (with a noticeable time delay between disappearing and reappearing), maybe you're expected to roll with this kind of space-time manipulation stuff by now. I don't know.
Maybe they'll handle things a bit more carefully next time.

 

[VeryOddGamer]

Okay, now I've played a few War Games and the first level of the campaign on Heroic.
-The campaign is pretty damn hard, at least on Heroic.
-It has a lot of bloom. Too much, in my opinion.
-In War Games, combat seems to take place at a longer range, in general.
-At least in War Games, the game seems really fuzzy, but that might just be because of my shitty TV.

So generally, it feels kind of off, but I hope I'll get used to it.

 

[BoredWalker]

- Binary Rifle: Go back to COD, you one-hit-bodyshot piece of sniping bullshit tripe.

Personally, I found it to be more or less the same thing as the Sniper Rifle, requiring a hit to the head to kill. I have not played enough to confirm this but I do know that it often seems to take 2 shots and when it doesn't, I'm nearly certain I hit them in he head.

From the experiences of both myself and a friend; both shooting with it, and getting shot with it; we both agree that it's a one-shot kill. I can't snipe for shit- a sniper headshot for me is very rare- but I always get a kill when I line the crosshairs of the binary rifle over any part of an enemy's body.

 

[Chunga the Great]

-No Forge World (SERIOUS downside here)

-Lack of Promethian weapon and enemy variety

-Terrible multiplayer maps (Big Team has 1 good map, 2 mediocre maps, and 1 absolutely godawful one that gets played constantly *cough* Ragnarok *cough*)

-The absolutely fucking terrible last ~1 hour of the campaign leaves me wanting to just get the game over with instead of wanting to see the ending.

-No firefight

-Ordnance drops and Loadouts

-Binary Rifle. Fuck. That. Gun.

-The Mantis is completely unnecessary and serves no purpose other than being another immensely powerful game changer, though not quite as good as the Scorpion.

It could have been better, but overall I'd give it an 8. Reach was a 9.5 in my book, largely due to Forge World.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

-Ordnance drops and Loadouts

Why's that a bad thing?

On the note of the Binary rifle, it seems like the logic here is; it's A-OKAY for it to 1-shot anyone because you can see when it's being aimed at you, and exactly where the person aiming it is currently located.

.....It still really fucking annoying though. Even with all that, I do think the gun is still too powerful.

 

[Chunga the Great]

-Ordnance drops and Loadouts

Why's that a bad thing?

On the note of the Binary rifle, it seems like the logic here is; it's A-OKAY for it to 1-shot anyone because you can see when it's being aimed at you, and exactly where the person aiming it is currently located.

.....It still really fucking annoying though. Even with all that, I do think the gun is still too powerful.

It shifts the balance of power into the hands of those who play the most and level up the fastest. The ordnance drops make on-map weapon spawns completely irrelevant except for the rocket launcher and sometimes the sniper rifle. I prefer Halo to be a pick-up-and-play kind of shooter where combat is focused around weapon spawns and you don't need to level up to get weapons.

I think the binary rifle wouldn't be so bad if they added a charge time to it, but then it would just be the Splaser with 2 shots instead of one. At this point I just want them to remove it from multiplayer.

 

[Jiffex]

I'm really enjoying Halo 4 and currently going through it on Legendary solo, already beat it on normal with a friend and loved the story. It's VERY pretty, there are two cutscenes at the end where I thought it was live action. I miss the big forge map, and the iconic vehicle sounds. The multiplayer is ok, but nowhere near as varied as Reach. I miss Griffball and the playlist with loads of random games. Overall 343 got the story right, the gameplay is good, minus a few small things such as the vehicle sounds, but fell short on the multiplayer.

I still miss my brute shot though 343.

 

[Brendan Stepladder]

Impact is a pretty good Forge map, but I wanted a Sandbow to Forge on. (No Forge World. That shit is way too big, to the point that you need to start worrying about how much the game's engine can handle).

Prometheans blow, their AI and weapons feel tacked on and pointless.

This game will die quick if 343 doesn't fix the file share.

I like Ordinance Drops, but only on Big Team. On 4v4 it really serves to break game balance.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

Baring in mind I haven't played it, and most of the stuff I've seen storywise are the cutscenes and a few other bits from other sources, here are my thoughts:

Visuals: Graphically, it's stunning. That's all that can be said. Vibrancy has made a comeback after Reach slapped on the brown and grey.
Aesthetically, however, it looks like shit on a biscuit. The drastic redesigns for the Chief, the Covenant and basically everything that makes a return, are shockingly bad. The new Spartan armour looks like tacky and cluttered versions of something out of Crysis, the Covenant enemies look like they've stepped out of gears and quite a few of the iconic vehicles like the Warthog and Pelican look almost unrecognisable from their previous iterations. A bit of restraint would have gone a long way.

Audio: The music isn't nearly as good as any of the previous games. One of the things that made Halo's campaigns so good was the ever-present orchestral/rock/electro score, which added immensely to each game.
The weapons don't sound anywhere as good as they did in previous games. Most of the UNSC weapons sound hollow and toy-like. The Covenant weapons have lost much of their iconic pews in favour of paps, while some weapons, like the Fuel Rod Cannon, which has lost its iconic booming in favour of coughing. The new Promethean weapons sound like they could be used to make dubstep or something similar.

Story: I had innumerable problems with the story: the Forerunners WERE Humans (this stated by 343 Guilty Spark in control room on Halo 3's final level "You are a child of my makers, inheritors of all they left behind. You are Forerunner, but this ring... is mine!" and is heavily implied in the book Contact: Harvest), the Covenant even being IN the game was completely contrived, the mystery that made the Forerunners interesting was completely destroyed and the whole affair just seems like fanfiction. Again, a bit of restraint would have gone a long way.
On a good note, the interaction between the Chief and Cortana was great from what I saw and having the Chief talk was quite refreshing.

Overall, I feel that it's lost what made Halo great, and frankly any interest I had for Halo 4 and its sequels is now basically gone. I just don't really trust them with the story and universe. (Before you ask: yes, I am a colossal Halo fanboy. I regret nothing!)

 

[Not Matt]

Best word to describe it would be :Mehhh.

It's not that it is necessarily bad, I have seen worst games. But it's not really good either and I know they can make halo games better them this so stick to doing that

 

[bigwon]

I really wish that they'd cut that perk stuff out, or at least make an optional mode were you don't have to use it. I haven't played this at all so i don't know what it's like here.

but shit......lol

 

[Sennune]

You know, Halo 4 has got to be one of my favorite games to come out in a long time and a breath of fresh air in the franchise.

There are some interesting negative views people seem to share regarding this iteration of Halo; for example, the "lackluster" ending and CoD feel.

I've heard many people say that the ending to the campaign left a sour taste in their mouth. It just drops off with little explanation, nothing is resolved and it warrants a sequel. One person I know said it was just a ploy by Microsoft to get people to buy Halo 5 on 720. The story and ending were heavily compared to 1-3.

I think comparing 4 to Combat Evolved is unfair toward 343i. I say this because Halo Combat Evolved was never intended on setting the stage for a franchise. Bungie had to wrap an entire story into one game without knowing there would be a second. Unlike 343i who have three games to space out their plot from the start. Halo 2 ended in a cliffhanger with the flood's influence looming over the galaxy. The ending of 3 wraps things up nicely, being the proper end to the first trilogy. You can take ODST and Reach separate, though they have loose ends that lead into the other games. I think a game's story, that's intentionally part of a pre-agreed upon trilogy can not be compared fairly to a game that was designed to be a one time shot. It's like God of War v. Heavenly Sword in terms of story.

The CoD feel is interesting to consider as well. I do feel there are more influences than Call of Duty though, some mentioned Battlefield. To me, Big Team Battle feels much more Battlefield like in the use of the vehicles. The ranked unlock system also seems reminiscent of Battlefield. Of course Call of Duty is cited from the dedicated sprint, perks that act as combat modifiers. I'd say the ordinance drops are similar to Medal of Honor's support actions,but the timing of the games aren't indicative of anything. I think that 343i took a bold step, in incorporating various successful innovations from other franchises and making them their own by creatively meshing them into the Halo universe. It seems justified to me, not only by adding more complexity to the gameplay but by the setting and story of the universe. Spartan IV's are their own military branch now. Everyone knows about them. They have dedicated supply networks unlike their predecessors. I think it works. I don't believe anything 343i has added has blemished the Halo name.

The only things I can fault the game for is the similarity among the armor pieces, plasma grenade seeming under powered and Halo 5 being too far away.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

Pros:

Spoiler

1.Good main characterization. Master Chief is finally a good, fleshed-out character with a problem that can't be solved with bullets. The parts where he doesn't talk are the best, though. Show don't tell what-not.

2. They made the perks work and easy to obtain. Armor abilities are better-balanced than Reach. It's kind of Battlefield-y/Cod-dy, but it's not as bad as all the butthurt would have you believe. It's called change guys. People ask for it, it comes.

3. A really good villain. Seriously, he's excellent.

4. Dialogue during gameplay. Master Chief talking during gameplay is a little more real than being clammed up with his only friend. I've read the books. I know how this contradicts established canon. I do not care, it's nice.

5. Spartan Ops: I wanted to hate it, especially for taking out firefight. I have rescinded that opinion.

6. They really keep players up to speed if they haven't read the books. The terminals show the important parts of the books and the prologue cutscene shows everything we need to know about what a "Master Chief" is.

7. Weapon/Vehicle balance. For the most part, nothing seems that much greater than anything else. The only thing I can think of is the binary rifle being OP and the Suppressor being too short of range.

8. Vehicle sections. The Mammoth is the only sub-par vehicle section. The Pelican was nice, but short-lived. The Broadsword felt like Star Fox in a good way.

9. That feeling of mystery is back. I haven't felt it since the first time I played Halo:CE.

10. New opponent type. Prometheans play very differently than other alien races and I like that.

11. They're moving the setting forward and killing off Cortana was a ballsy but appreciated move.

12. The campaign doesn't ever feel dragged out or rushed.

Cons:

Spoiler

1. Quick time events. There are a grand total of three, but the last one is a pain. It should have been a cutscene. It couldn't have been a firefight because there's simply no way to win that without some bullshit reason. No more quicktime events. I like the in-game cutscenes, though. Keep those.

Spoiler

2. They killed off their really good villain

3. Secondary characters weren't very good. Lasky was okay, but Palmer and Del Rio weren't very well established in the campaign (though Palmer's pretty good in Spartan Ops). Del Rio is particularly bad since he pretty much exists purely to contradict Chief.

4. Promethean weapons. The Suppressor should have larger range than it has and the binary rifle should be single-shot.

5. The Storm. They're still called "Covies." They should be called "Stormies." I hope the next game has alien races working alongside you as well as against you. They can even be different races than the one in that level like Elites helping you against Prometheans and Drones helping you against Elites.

6. No Brutes, Drones, or Engineers. They had better come back in the second half of Halo 5 and all of Halo 6 for the war that has to be going on. The Engineers should be doing stuff for people in their spare time, Brutes should be wrecking Elites' shit, and Drones should be doing Drone-y things.

7. No firefight. Bring that shit back, I don't care how good Spartan Ops is.

8. The Mammoth section. I shouldn't have to point at what I want dead with a targeting gun, it should take care of itself. Don't recite a bullshit reason it can't work on its own, either. It's just a bullshit tactic to add tension. No, I don't care if it adds tension, there's plenty of tension.

9. Legendary difficulty feels easier than it used to.

10. The campaign is short. I want a 10-hour campaign on Heroic difficulty without cutscenes. I got a 7 hour campaign on Legendary with cutscenes.

11. The textures and aging hardware make everything look plastic-y.

Verdict: 7/10. Good, not great. I can wait for the next game and since they did all the really time-consuming stuff (sound recording, design, code, etc.) the next game should be easier to make and better off for it.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I am definitely not unhappy. It just has a very distinct feel from the past few games and in the long run I think that is a good thing.

I feel it is distinct in much of the same way that CE has a distinct feel from H2-Reach. And while H2-Reach each have their own flavor they were still essentially the same dish.

I am in a weird position. I am not blown away by Halo 4 but at the same time I am incredibly eager to see what comes next. The original series and the extended universe stuff that came with it was rather disjointed but the way 343 is handling the series makes it feel much more cohesive and fully realized. Which is something I really appreciate.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

snip

They're still good for killing vehicles. I don't know if the game has been rebalanced in multiplayer, but in the campaign at least I can drop a Banshee in 3 shots from a Binary rifle. Few sections with stupid Banshees flying around and I basically needed to use the damn rifle to get past 'em.

As I said, not played multiplayer, but if the game is such that players have certain loadouts like COD then it would make sense to make the sniper rifle a bit worse vs vehicles, that will prompt people to make anti-vehicle builds with rocket launchers and the like.

I ask:

What difficulty were you playing the campaign on? The lower the difficulty the less shots it is going to take to kill the enemy or the destroy the vehicle they are in.

On the multiplayer:

It makes no sense to nerf the sniper rifle because there are load-outs.

The reason is that there is no anti-vehicle build, because power weapons can't be used as load-out weapons, so no rocket launchers as a starting weapon. They can't even be unlocked to be put in load-outs.

Weapon wise, in load-outs you get to choose from one primary basic rifle weapon, AR, BR, DMR, Carbine, Storm rifle, Light rifle, and the Suppressor(Promethean AR). You get one secondary, Magnum, Plasma pistol, or Bolt pistol, and a choice of the three grenades for the grenade pick.

The only sort of anti-vehicle thing in that is the Plasma pistol, but that only stuns the vehicle, and plasma grenades, though they nerfed those, because it takes at least three or more to destroy a vehicle even if it has already take some damage(of course that takes too much time).

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Pros:

2. They made the perks work and easy to obtain. Armor abilities are better-balanced than Reach. It's kind of Battlefield-y/Cod-dy, but it's not as bad as all the butthurt would have you believe. It's called change guys. People ask for it, it comes.

Cons:
4. Promethean weapons. The Suppressor should have larger range than it has and the binary rifle should be single-shot.

Changing to the boring norm isn't real change. Some of the CoD-esque changes have messed with the proper balance that Halo multiplayer has always had. The weapon drops reward the better players and give the better players better weapons. Before, to get better weapons you had to go pick up the better weapons, meaning everybody had a fair chance to get the better weapons.

Basically, the weapon drops tip the balance of power more in favor of the better skilled players.

Now they did okay with the balance from load-outs, because you can't get power weapons as load-out weapons.

Though they did mess up the armor ability balance by taking out armor-lock. That takes away the perfect balance that armor-lock brought between person on foot and person in vehicle. Then then replaced it with one of the worst powers, the energy riot shield, which really does nothing. It just adds a few extra seconds to the time before the player dies.

Onto your weapon con:

The Suppressor is basically the Promethean version of the UNSC AR, of course the thing isn't going to have amazing range, ARs are only suppose to be a medium range weapon, and the Suppressor had medium range.

The Binary rifle is a sniper rifle, and all the other sniper rifles in the game have multiple shot setups. The UNSC sniper has four shots before reload, and the covey sniper has unlimited shots until the energy runs out.

Frankly, I preferred having one of the others over the Binary, because having two shots meant that you had to be accurate with both shots when firing at the tougher enemies. The only reason I can see that the Binary rifle only has two shots before reload is because of its name. If anything, they should have made it a four shot like the UNSC sniper.