I want to see playlist(s) with static weapon spawns. BTB Objective. Slayer Pro be made with static spawns. And a version of Slayer Pro which would be the same thing, but with AA's and Radar. Basically Reach classic. And a full out Halo 2 classic. BR starts, radar, static weapons. Any one or combination of these would be a start.
Then perhaps some clarifications on if they'll address the search times, if adding the red x is possible, if ranks/groups are coming.
etc etc etc. All of these are doable within 2 weeks. A TU might need time, but addressing that a TU is in the works would be awesome.
The only thing there that needs a TU is red X's. Actually, depending on their scripting engine, they might not even need a TU for that stuff.
Also, something I just thought of. They NEED to change the friendly fire situation in MM. On or off, for all gametypes, having it off in the Infinity Slayer lists and on for the objective ones is confusing even to us veteran players.
My enduring thought from my first game of Infinity Slayer to now...
Halo 4: Everyone Gets a Medal
And that's what bugs me the most about this game. The underlying feeling of competitiveness and sport that was always present in Halo is now very hard to find buried underneath the likes of Ordnance, JIP, AA's, Instant Respawn, etc., etc.
There are now so many things going on in the game that I end up feeling like my only objective is to shoot and be shot at while enduring a constant barrage of "feedback".
Five years later, I'm having fun with Halo 3 because the game mechanics exist to support my skill, my decision making and my teamwork. They exist to define the rules of the engagement and then they get out of my way.
I just wish that the video game business would be able to embrace a concept of refinement and consistency instead of having to chase after yet another back of the box feature.
Lag maybe? I remember Halo 3 Scorpion. Direct hits everywhere, nothing happens, then suddenly this guy 20 meters to right of impact point dies, i get the score...
I hope for H5 to be on the next system with three things
1.Dedis
2.60fps
3.Return to Halo! no equipment, no ordnance, no loadouts, no sprint, no AA's, just good old fashioned default weapons everyone gets the same stuff when they spawn. Map control to return, and powerups and weapons to actually be on the map. Uncomplicate the geometry. Don't make me constantly get caught on some random gas pipe.
AND YOU GET EVERYTHING WHEN YOU BUY THE GAME. NO DOUBLE EXP. NO SKINS NO PREORDER BONUSES FORCING ME TO BUY IT SOMEWHERE.
Number three is not happening. At least not in full. Halo 4 is a full step toward that kind of gameplay being a mainstay in Halo. The best alternative is making it possible for classic Halo to be played as well.
To be fair, these are Spartan IV's. They're just regular soldiers that showed ability so they were put into the Spartan Program, given enhancements and sweet armor. Like juiced up, armored up ODST's.
Spartan II's were raised in disciplined lives since 6 years old. Not to mention not having a sex drive from augmentations.
Spartan III's were largely the same. Though Reach's Spartan III's are special considering they lived past their teenage years.
Lag maybe? I remember Halo 3 Scorpion. Direct hits everywhere, nothing happens, then suddenly this guy 20 meters to right of impact point dies, i get the score...
Nah, it definitely showed them getting hit directly and immediately, only it just popped their shields. This is when I have released the trigger early.
Nah, it definitely showed them getting hit directly and immediately, only it just popped their shields. This is when I have released the trigger early.
I swear there is no difference how long you keep the trigger pressed. Or is there? Nothing indicates there is. No visual cues or sound ques, text or anything.
Recontextualize this in terms of chess for clarity.
Number three is not happening. At least not in full. Halo 4 is a full step toward that kind of gameplay being a mainstay in Halo. The best alternative is making it possible for classic Halo to be played as well.
Give it two options: Unlimited lives like so, or limited lives and or checkpoints. Make the second option the "true" experience and have scoring for both modes. Cut back on the crappy dialogue and either make the missions have more meaning, or make them more sandbox like and open. As it stands now it just seems out of place and not fully realized. I watched a cheesy cutscene with an obnoxious scientist who does something, and then I played unrelated missions that seemed to go nowhere while listening to a voice who loved the word egghead. Spartan Ops has so much potential, but right now it really isn't doing it for me fully, despite some of the combat scenarios being pretty interesting.
I swear there is no difference how long you keep the trigger pressed. Or is there? Nothing indicates there is. No visual cues or sound ques, text or anything.
I also found a decent Sanctuary remake, a horribly inaccurate version of foundation that had a tower in the middle of the map and floating boxes, Ascension made with a ground made out of forge rocks, a square version of Guardian, and a rust brown Pit remake. None of them were even close to being to scale.
Hey guys, pretty sure this is the thread for this - just got Halo 4 if anyone wants to friend & play together. https://live.xbox.com/en-US/Profile?pp=0&GamerTag=speedinuptostop SpeedinUptoStop . Actually not doing too bad getting back into the swing of things after a few years off Halo, right now I like deathmatch and big team game types. Will delve into the other stuff when I'm more skilled/leveled up.
Hologram is such an amazing AA now. It's the only thing I ever use, I haven't even bought any other abilities save for Thruster. The other day I was playing BTB slayer on Complex and a guy with the Incineration Cannon wasted a shot on the hologram and he was too close, so it drained his shields and let me headshot him. Plus, it's insanely useful to lure out campers or let you know what kind of fire you'd be running out into. feels good man
Hologram is such an amazing AA now. It's the only thing I ever use, I haven't even bought any other abilities save for Thruster. The other day I was playing BTB slayer on Complex and a guy with the Incineration Cannon wasted a shot on the hologram and he was too close, so it drained his shields and let me headshot him. Plus, it's insanely useful to lure out campers or let you know what kind of fire you'd be running out into. feels good man
Hologram is such an amazing AA now. It's the only thing I ever use, I haven't even bought any other abilities save for Thruster. The other day I was playing BTB slayer on Complex and a guy with the Incineration Cannon wasted a shot on the hologram and he was too close, so it drained his shields and let me headshot him. Plus, it's insanely useful to lure out campers or let you know what kind of fire you'd be running out into. feels good man
Played for hours today and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Big contrast to yesterday where I just couldn't get in to it.
I think the campaign is a triumph. I can understand the likes of Ghaleon and Dax's frustrations with it; it's not a particularly typical Halo campaign. I agree that there's been a dilution to the enemy AI on the Covenant side and I'm also quite disappointed with the vehicles in this game. The Banshee is a porcelain vase with wings and a cannon and the AI track it with unerring accuracy from distances usually beyond plasma. The Hog feels sightly underpowered and sounds like a rattling dirtbike.
However, for players like me who predominantly play multi and typically complete a Halo campaign 3 times max (CE aside), Halo 4 takes the single player component to 'the next level'. In fact it's the sort of generational leap I expected between Halo 2 and 3, never realised graphically until now.
The moment on the second level when you emerge from the wreckage of the Dawn is breathtaking. It sounds ultra-nerdish and cheesy but I literally did that thing they do in E3 demonstrations where they slowly arc the reticle over the vista for the audience to salivate at. It came naturally though. Staring at those huge Forerunner towers that stretch dizzyingly to the heavens, you trace them beyond the atmosphere and are reminded this amazingly green and plush planet is housed within a digitised casing. Easily up there with the 'alien and huge' moment from the 'Halo' level in CE. Just adds to the awe for Forerunners; Humans colonise planets, Forerunners build them. The accompanying music for that scene is perfect too.
That signature Halo 4 track that plays as the final level builds to a crescendo is so good too. I don't recall many moments in previous Halo's quite like that. Marty crafted an incredible range of Music for Halo but nothing as unashamedly triumphant as that piece (all imo of course).
I don't share the complaints with the feedback system. I thought the gun play and visual queues were all done very well. I also thought the Lightrifle was a lot more fun to use than it looked when watching before playing.
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MM doing a much better job trueskill wise. Had a 60-59 game today and multiple close CTF matches. JIP needs refining though. One CTF match had me and my friend against five players. By the time our team filled out to five they had already capped 2 flags. What's the point in that? I also played a flag game where three of the opposing team quit and it didn't replace them. Bless the two that stayed and got spawn camped mercilessly.
One thing: How many takes until Steitzer could say "WE'RE TAKING CHARLY" without crumpling into laughter? Laughed my ass off when I heard that.
I have a rather decent Narrows remake that I would like a forger to take a look at. I think it might be possible to remake that map with a large degree of accuracy.
I'll do the gameplay later. But in short, my take on Halo 4's story.
First, they did a great job establishing and building characters. Aside from Johnson, the Chief and Cortana, Bungie didn't really create any human characters that resonated with me, or even had clearly defined character traits. They were just kind of there.
Laskey (sp?), the asshole captain of the Infinity and a few other side characters felt much more authentic. It was helped by excellent voice acting, but the added animation detail sold a lot of nuance as well. I have a lot of problems/questions with the actual story, but the way it was told is really commendable. As a side note - having Taylor and Downes record their lines together paid dividends. Their relationship was the heart of the story and it worked.
I also enjoyed the way the Chief was portrayed, in particular his physicality. This the first game where you really feel like a walking, powerful tank of a man. It was sold in game and in the cinematics very well. In particular, the way the Chief inspired both awe and apprehension - even misunderstanding - in those around him was very well done. 343 captured what it means to be a Spartan from more angles that Bungie ever attempted.
That said, I was disappointed in the story on multiple fronts. I'll spoiler tag here strategically. I know this could go in the story thread or the OT or wherever, but here I am.
When 343 first revealed Halo 4, and we saw what we now know was Requiem, I got excited to explore the place. What was Requiem? What was its purpose, who built it, and why? So I was surprised at the total lack of curiosity about those questions; I still don't know what Requiem was for. It was just a setting.
The first part of the story sets up the urgency with which the Chief wants to get Cortana to Halsey and get fixed up. Then we meet the (spoilerz!)
Didact, and Chiefs motivation shifts to stopping him. But that shift took place before I had any idea what the threat was, and I didn't follow how they knew what it was either. It was just some dude in a huge ball with Force powers. So there was this long period of time in the Campaign when I was confused about why he took priority over saving Cortana; it was established why saving Cortana was critical long before I knew why stopping the Didact was more important.
And then we get to the (spoilerz!)
Didact himself. There was a lot of build up, but I'm still not sure I follow anything about his story. Why was he locked up, and why on Requiem? Why did he immediately turn to zapping humans? Why did he have Force powers? The Didact in the books is not an evil character, though that could be taken as a matter of perspective. But if they wanted the Didact's motivations to be understandable from a certain point of view, why make him look and sound like a clichéd villain?
Also: Why was the Librarian also there - what's she been up to, she wasn't locked up - and why did she only appear that one time? What did she do to the Chief, and why didn't she tell him or us what she did? And why did she disappear after, and where did she go? I thought her cameo and actions were downright comic.
And as for the ending:
What happened when the Chief triggered the bomb? That scene with Cortana confuses me greatly. I have no idea what time/space continuum it takes place in, why the Chief wasn't nuked, why Cortana could touch him, and why after she goes away the Chief is still floating and in good shape. I just didn't follow that at all. I assume it's related to the little unexplained static charge the Librarian hit the Chief with, but I need more to go on than that.
I also laughed out loud when the multiple Cortanas arose from the bridge to snare the Didact. Something about the image was random and comic to me and it just didn't work.
So, yeah. I didn't care for the actual story, which was a big deal considering how high 343 raised the stakes in the story, on both personal and galactic levels. Their story telling has come a long ways, but the actual story left me unsatisfied and baffled.
I have all but one termnal unlocked on Waypoint, but have not watched them.
Did it bug you, or anyone else for that matter, that
NO ONE seemed to even give two shits that Chief was still alive?!?! Laskey has some cheap line like "never thought I'd see you again" but that was it. And I think that was mainly referring to his history of knowing Chief when he was still a cadet. Like, hello?! This dude who saved the earth has been MIA for four years and thought to be dead. All we get is Laskey's comment, and then that Spartan(?) chick saying "I thought you'd be taller." Super lame. Makes me miss the chills I got when Chief is introduced in the beginning of H3. Now that's how you do an entrance scene.
(Just a minor sort of spoiler about halfway or less than halfway through the campaign)
I also found a decent Sanctuary remake, a horribly inaccurate version of foundation that had a tower in the middle of the map and floating boxes, Ascension made with a ground made out of forge rocks, a square version of Guardian, and a rust brown Pit remake. None of them were even close to being to scale.
Did it bug you, or anyone else for that matter, that
NO ONE seemed to even give two shits that Chief was still alive?!?! Laskey has some cheap line like "never thought I'd see you again" but that was it. And I think that was mainly referring to his history of knowing Chief when he was still a cadet. Like, hello?! This dude who saved the earth has been MIA for four years and thought to be dead. All we get is Laskey's comment, and then that Spartan(?) chick saying "I thought you'd be taller." Super lame. Makes me miss the chills I got when Chief is introduced in the beginning of H3. Now that's how you do an entrance scene.
(Just a minor sort of spoiler about halfway or less than halfway through the campaign)
and I think there's 3 good songs in Halo 4, or at least any of them I can remember. The one that plays at the end of SpOps Ch.1 Mission 5 being the best
Hologram is such an amazing AA now. It's the only thing I ever use, I haven't even bought any other abilities save for Thruster. The other day I was playing BTB slayer on Complex and a guy with the Incineration Cannon wasted a shot on the hologram and he was too close, so it drained his shields and let me headshot him. Plus, it's insanely useful to lure out campers or let you know what kind of fire you'd be running out into. feels good man
Anyways, IMO Halo 4 has some really bad audio mixing when it comes to the music.. weird song placement, hard to hear over other sounds, songs end abruptly, etc.
Quite liked Spartan Ops episode 2, I know a lot of people disliked it but I think there is enough variety and cohesion so far, its early days so I expect more, but happy with it right now.
