I have a lot of issues about the combat that I want to talk about, but the one that's bugging me the most right now: clarity.
In past Halo games, the different ranks within the classes of enemies were crystal clear. I'm going to use Reach as an example, both because it excelled in this area and because it was the most recent Halo game.
The different ranks of Elites and the weapons they carried were very easy to distinguish, and quickly, in Reach. Elite Generals were bright gold, the jetpack dudes had a unique profile and the jetpacks gave off a pronounced audio cue that they were nearby. Regular Elites in red stood out from the crowd. Elite Ultras dropped in with their bright white/silver armor and cleaned house. And so on - different ranks of the same class, easy to distinguish and then respond to their different behaviors and capabilities. I knew I could take down a jetpack Elite with four shots to shield and a headshot, a regular Elite, seven DMR rounds.
I could also tell exactly what weapon they were carrying at all times. Even from long range, the profile of an Elite with a Concussion Rifle versus a Plasma Repeater versus a FRG were totally distinct and instantly recognizable.
I'm saying this because I have a very hard time telling these things apart in Halo 4. Sometimes it takes a few shots to strip shields off an Elite, sometimes much more. Sometimes get surprised with they tag me with an FRG, because I couldn't make out that they had one. Visually, I have no idea how to distinguish the classes. The colors all look pretty similar, so I can't tell if one is greater threat than another. I treat all of them the same, and sometimes get surprised.
So there's a real lack of clarity here. With Reach I'd respond rapidly to different threats. The classes of Elites carry different weapons, move at different speeds, and have various levels of health and shielding. I would identify that and respond quickly, swapping weapons, taking up different vantage points (and in the case of packs of Elite Ultras, running like hell). That meant there was a lot of variety to the combat - I was constantly changing up tactics moment to moment, in ways large and small, to account for what was on the battlefield.
I don't do that with Halo 4,because there's a lack of visual variety. Because I can't make out the various threats and capability levels, combat feels very flat and plodding. (Other factors contribute to this, but that's for another wall of text.)
Some of this may be because the game is new and I'm still learning them. But even with concerted effort, I'm still not able to figure this stuff out because the visuals just don't pop enough to communicate the threat levels correctly. It really takes away from the game.
