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First Halo 4 GI information (Spartan OPs, multi, etc) [Update: Campaign/More Details]

Petrichor

Member
I honestly didn't mind the flood levels in Halo. It felt like Doom. All dark, simpleton enemies everywhere. Everything else about the game felt different to other shooters, so it actually had a nice touch of familiarity to it.

And no flaws could bring the game down from highs like dropping on the beach on Silent Cartographer or the whole of AoTC. And just romping around that pretty weird world in the warthog, god damn.


I'm getting all emotional and stuff.

I enjoyed the change of pace that came with fighting the flood in levels like two betrayals and the maw where you alternated between them and the covenant. Variety is only a good thing imo.
 

JB1981

Member
I'm excited. Finally 343 has the guts to breath new life into Halo. I cant wait to see more in video action. I love the SP direction and the MP one. A more "random" power weapon spawns means more people will get to use them. That's a good thing. Love the customizable load-outs and that sprint is there by default at all times. Joining when a game is in progress FINALLY! New progress system that sounds a lot more interesting, unlocking weapons, abilities, armor, etc.. I'm loving everything i hear so far. But with no Elites in MP, does this mean no Invasion type modes? That kinda sucks. Otherwise bring it on.

Halo finally has sprint like every other modern FPS. Yay finally. No Elites in MP is a great choice. No one plays as them anyway and people always veto those gametypes.
 

Tzeentch

Member
343 has convinced themselves these are totally awesome changes - probably under the assumption that the core Halo fanbase will just lap it all up. Just like I bet Blizzard was totally convinced of all the sweet new stuff they altered in Cataclysm would send them to the moon in subscriptions. Look how that turned out.

I'm not very hyped. Looks like a renter/Gamefly to play through, then wait a few months to maybe play more Spartan Ops (but those are inevitably going to be paid DLC at some point, let's be serious).
 
SP and Co op sound great but fuck random weapon drops in MP. Luck should NOT be a factor in multiplayer. It was in Reach with the idiotic bloom, and now it sounds like it will be in 4 with the random drops.

halo has been all about luck since Halo 2 with ridiculous aim assist and bullet magnetism lol.
 

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
At the end of the day, some fans are impossible to please regardless of what they do. They want Halo CE, but the same, but better, but different, but the same.

I have faith in 343 after this, now more than ever.

I just want them to announce that real Halo is in multiplayer and given as much love, attention, and resources to be prominent in the multiplayer space and I'll be content.

But then of course in that scenario, we have to worry about that sub-set of multiplayer having a healthy population to sustain it and not given the "let's just dump a playlist that has X feature gone to please them" treatment. That's caused Reach to have a messy number of playlists.

In addition, the issue of the maps not being suited for real Halo since they were built from the ground up for armor abilities and perks will come up. Ugh.

I guess, until further notice, I can stick my attention to campaign and spartan ops as the details for those two sound fantastic and fleshed out.
 
Personally, I love 343 for what they're doing. I think its going to end up much more halo than the fans think at this point. How much of a "fan" are you really if you don't support the game after hearing purely speculative evidence that it's so un-Halo? Appalling. Each game has been different from the previous, deal with it. "You wanna make this game better? Oh noes, Reach didn't do it, there's no way 4 can!"
 
Halo finally has sprint like every other modern FPS. Yay finally. No Elites in MP is a great choice. No one plays as them anyway and people always veto those gametypes.

Well, given Reach had sprint.. But honestly, I think having both sprint and AAs will speed the game back up from Reach, that way it has momentum from sprint and complexity from things like Hologram. Halo 4 has a lot of potential to handle AAs in a way that Reach couldn't, and Im excited.

I just want them to announce that real Halo is in multiplayer and given as much love, attention, and resources to be prominent in the multiplayer space and I'll be content.

But then of course in that scenario, we have to worry about that sub-set of multiplayer having a healthy population to sustain it and not given the "let's just dump a playlist that has X feature gone to please them" treatment. That's caused Reach to have a messy number of playlists.

In addition, the issue of the maps not being suited for real Halo since they were built from the ground up for armor abilities and perks will come up. Ugh.

I guess, until further notice, I can stick my attention to campaign and spartan ops as the details for those two sound fantastic and fleshed out.

I totally get this, but I will say that not all of these changes have to be horrible. Wait and see, with the games return to form in terms of speed and jump height, mixed with a less limiting AA formula things may mesh better. That said, I will be shocked if the game ships without fully fleshed barebones/classic playlists.

And yes, Spartan OPs and SP really do sound fantastic. Like 'holy shit, that sounds like it could be a lot of fun' fantastic.
 
Console games need aim assist...are you just saying this because you've been "unlucky" every time you've played a halo game in the last 5 years?

console games do not need aim assist/bullet magnetism. It's people that have less coordination skills with a game pad that need aim assist/magnetism.

P.S. I am not saying that a gamepad is as accurate as a kb/m combo. I am saying this strictly from a console perspective.
 
no, I am saying this because it's the truth. Halo became nothing but luck after Halo CE because the ridiculous aim assist/bullet magnetism.

Here's a comparison somebody made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocyYwLCDyCU

Its not luck that someone with excellent hand eye coordination who's played halo for 500 hours will destroy someone with excellent hand eye coordination who's played halo for 1/3rd the time, every single time.
 
Sprint as a base trait and the inclusion of mid-game joins are both huge positives in my book.

Don't know what to think about random power weapons, spawn changes or Spartan Ops. Random power weapons *could* be good in theory as it relies more upon principles and teamwork than rote map memory.

Seeing through walls doesn't sound good at all.

But Firefight being scrapped really cuts me off at the knees. Here's hoping that Spartan Ops is an evolution of the Firefight formula but my guts warns me that it isn't.
 

zlatko

Banned
This
game
sounds
fucking
awesome.

In 343 I believe.

Literally JUST the fact that sprint is finally available for everyone makes me want a day 1 buy, but the fact that armor lock is nowhere to be seen makes me wet in the britches. Oh can see through walls? Fuck you campers!

<3 <3 <3
 
Its not luck that someone with excellent hand eye coordination who's played halo for 500 hours will destroy someone with excellent hand eye coordination who's played halo for 1/3rd the time, every single time.

no it's luck when the game is aiming for you and making every round hit it's target when in reality you missed.

Halo led the way for this aim assist/bullet magnetism mechanic for pretty much all shooters on consoles.
 
This
game
sounds
fucking
awesome.

In 343 I believe.

Literally JUST the fact that sprint is finally available for everyone makes me want a day 1 buy, but the fact that armor lock is nowhere to be seen makes me wet in the britches. Oh can see through walls? Fuck you campers!

<3 <3 <3

I hear you man, campers were such a problem in Halo...

...

Wait a minute...
 
This
game
sounds
fucking
awesome.

In 343 I believe.

Literally JUST the fact that sprint is finally available for everyone makes me want a day 1 buy, but the fact that armor lock is nowhere to be seen makes me wet in the britches. Oh can see through walls? Fuck you campers!

<3 <3 <3

It would still be better if they took out all armor abilities, kept sprint out as well, and make the maps better. I like the small, quick maps like Chillout, Damnation, etc... Sprinting makes me think we're getting big open maps where we have to run large distances.
 
It would still be better if they took out all armor abilities, kept sprint out as well, and make the maps better. I like the small, quick maps like Chillout, Damnation, etc... Sprinting makes me think we're getting big open maps where we have to run large distances.

No it wouldn't.
 

Werhil

Member
Randomized power weapon drops demand more skills as it pushes you out of your comfort zone, and people hate that.

I just can't see how random weapons actually add more skill.

If a team is dominant through a match and always controls weapon spawns, that may be a comfort zone for them. But unless the other team is horrible you won't be allowed to just walk to every power weapon and control it all game, you have to earn it. If you're on the losing end, you have a sense in part at least, of why you lost, and how to improve.

I'm not saying this will eliminate skill from the game, good players will beat bad ones regardless of weapons. My concern is that in a very close and evenly matched game, a random weapon could help decide the outcome. As a player I'd have no influence over that, either I happen to be in the 'right' spot or I don't.

To be fair, it could be there is more sophistication and non-randomness to the system that we don't know about yet. My complaint would be if its really just pure chance, and any place is as likely as any other to get any weapon.
 

zlatko

Banned
I hear you man, campers were such a problem in Halo...

...

Wait a minute...

I've had a fair amount of camping in Reach with people taking one sniping spot, camping power weapons, or sitting in one area with a shotgun around the corner.

I doubt this ability works that long either, and has a good recharge time. It'll be nice to be able to scan a common area where say a power weapon could pop, see the guy chilling with it already, and then chuck a nade and rush on in without the worry of them dropping you ASAP.

They can't please everyone with this new title, but all of what I just read in the OP is pleasing me in every single way. My only grip is no beta. :(
 

ProXimity

Banned
I've had a fair amount of camping in Reach with people taking one sniping spot, camping power weapons, or sitting in one area with a shotgun around the corner.

I doubt this ability works that long either, and has a good recharge time. It'll be nice to be able to scan a common area where say a power weapon could pop, see the guy chilling with it already, and then chuck a nade and rush on in without the worry of them dropping you ASAP.

They can't please everyone with this new title, but all of what I just read in the OP is pleasing me in every single way. My only grip is no beta. :(

If you think camping is bad in Halo, you don't know what camping is.
 
I've had a fair amount of camping in Reach with people taking one sniping spot, camping power weapons, or sitting in one area with a shotgun around the corner.
Camping has hardly ever been a problem in Halo. It's a minor blip at best. Not enough to warrant an AA such as "Forerunner vision." If there's an issue, it's map design and weapon placement, not something inherent in the gameplay.
Why buy the same game over and over again with no change?
It's not change that's bothering people, it's change that affects what makes Halo, Halo.
 
Camping has hardly ever been a problem in Halo. It's a minor blip at best. Not enough to warrant an AA such as "Forerunner vision." If there's an issue, it's map design and weapon placement, not something inherent in the gameplay.

It's not change that's bothering people, it's change that affects what makes Halo, Halo.

If it were up to Halo fans, nothing would ever change. Im glad 343 is making the game and not the fans. And thats all i gotta say about that. Accept it.
 

TheOddOne

Member
Some more clarification from Frank about randomness:

You cannot start with snipers whenever you want. (unless you are playing a sniper mode)
The weapon drops are not "random." They are telegraphed and in some ways, predictable. There is variation, however. Map control will still be key, but yes, changed. Custom games will be heavily customizeable, and initial playlists will be clean and focused. Players will not be presented with stacksof lists, but there will be variety for different tastes.
I get that people are suprised/shocked by the changes, but let's move on from this way to knee-jerk reaction age please.
 
Wondering what 343I is thinking about people raging on the multiplayer details.
I hope all those mechanics will work something like this.

Random weapon drops.
-Each map has x amount of drop areas game chooses furthest one of the action so both teams have to go and fight for it. Game will warn which drop site the power weapon will go about 10~20 sec before it drops. Creating hotspots where teams will meet.
But only problem i see is instant player respawn, maybe Power weapon location will also dictate where teams spawn before it drop into the map so the team that secures the drop zone has a bit of rest and can secure the power weapon.
-Customization of the drop areas,timer and weapons so it is easy for mlg and 343I to recreate classic halo playlist.

Perks/Armor abilities
-Player assigned
-Player has to pick up some item on the map to use/power the perk/AA
-Bubble shield and emp can be used only once per pickup and player control when its used.
-Overshield and Camo get activated right after pickup.
-Jetpack and whatever are powerbar based player can deplete it.

Starting weapons
-Primary weapon:BR,DRM,AR,NR
-secondary weapon:pistol,carbine,plasma pistol(?)
 

Cranzor

Junior Member
Some more clarification from Frank about randomness:


I get that people are suprised/shocked by the changes, but let's move on from this way to knee-jerk reaction age please.

That's pretty much what I wanted to hear. If there is more customization than Reach then I don't really see the problem.
 
If it were up to Halo fans, nothing would ever change. Im glad 343 is making the game and not the fans. And thats all i gotta say about that. Accept it.
Accept what? That things are going to change? Well, howdy-doody, I reckon you're right! Change is good, I am willing to embrace change and have on more than one occasion (Halo 3's equipment, plasma stun charge, vehicle hijacking, etc), but when it comes to something that might make Halo not Halo anymore, that's when I begin to worry. Unbelievable that I can't be skeptical of change.
 
Here's hoping that Spartan Ops is an evolution of the Firefight formula but my guts warns me that it isn't.

If it's true that there'll be 5 Spartan Ops missions added per week for several months, surely there's bound to be a few Firefight-esque 'kill the waves of enemies' missions in there.
 
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