Thanks for all the comments.
Here's the first excerpt. I'm definitely going to do this in two posts.
Im Drowning in Waypoints
Lead the player. Dont point the player.
Grenade indicators, weapon hitmarkers, and waypoints all have one thing in common: Theyre lazy ways of giving the player necessary information. Theyre also part of an overall trend on 343s part of giving the player too much information and therefore underestimating his or her intelligence. Waypoints...um...point the player. Without having done an actual count, Halo 4 probably throws more waypoints at the player than any combination of past two Halo games. Theyre good for notifying the player of some obscure, hard-to-identify location, but not for progressing the player through a level from encounter to encounter.
But whats so bad about the overabundance of waypoints? Aside from cluttering the HUD, adding a waypoint focuses the players attention on the waypoint rather than the environment around you. In effect, this makes the player think the levels are far more linear than they really are, and deters the player from branching out, especially when objectives are marked during a battle. Most importantly, though, the waypoint usage takes the place of more creative game design, like the infantry battle in "Reclaimer." But how else is 343 supposed to get players where they want them to go?
Two fights in Halo 3 come to mind where it would have been easier for Bungie to use waypoints but didnt, and instead relied on a combination of level design, enemy placement, and in-game dialogue.
Our first example happens on The Ark. Specifically your first time fighting outside the Cartographers wall. Bungie wants the player to end up at the higher set of doors to drop the next story point. Because of the way the sight lines are designed in the level, the you get a good look at the encounter long before you reach it. This gives you some time to think about fighting in that area. Bungie is putting your mind in, and focusing your attention on, that area. The level slopes downwards, ending in a ninety-degree drop that smartly prevents the player form accidentally going backwards. By this point, the player sees Choppers driving around at the bottom of the bowl, and Covenant infantry, most noticeably Grunts with FRGs, higher up in the corner of the area. You will be inclined to attack the Choppers then close ranks to engage the Grunts in the high corner. From there, youll see the Covenant encampments along the bridge, and cross to destroy them until youve reached the doors.
Presto! Youre right where Bungie wants you to be. But were not done yet!
Johnson: "Maam. We almost got our wings shot off. But we spotted a structure on the other side of this wall; it matches Cortanas description of the Map Room on the first Halo ring."
Commander Keyes: "A Cartographer! Good. It should help us fix Truths location. Secure the LZ and well push through that wall."
Johnson: "Roger that. Follow my Pelican, Chief. The LZs this way."
Johnsons Pelican takes off, and its here, finally, the player notices the second opening leading out of the area. Its a moment that makes the player say, Wow, as the realization of the trickery sets in. Through clever lines of sight, enemy placement, and level design through the position of the second opening, Bungie leads the player.
Marine: "Sir, Ive got a flock of birds that need an escort. Take a Hornet; get those Pelicans safely to the third tower."
Our second example of Bungie leading the player through design is when you take to the skies in The Covenant. As the player approaches the second control tower, Bungie has to make sure you dont lost and veer off to the second one, and instead continues on to the third. You can go there, certainly, and theres no stopping you theres a skull and a Terminal there! but thats not the goal. Green Phantoms are seen leaving the second tower amid an aerial firefight, a hint in itself that the player has no need to go there. This action is reinforced with dialogue from the Arbiter:
"Second tower is clear, Spartan, no need to land. Let us hasten to the third tower."
There is an area of action that doesnt extend to the tower. An island sits occupied in front of it with a couple of Brutes, an AA Wraith, and Banshees circling high above.
Because theres no substantive combat happening close the tower theres no incentive for the player fly over there. After the Covenant near the island are taken care of, the player notices a group of Banshees and a Phantom fighting with one of the Pelicans farther off. Its the only action happening in the area, so the player will move towards it. As it is the largest target, the player will pay most attention the Phantom, and will move either to attack it or the Banshees. Either way, the player has to move closer to the dropship.
Then something interesting happens. As the player moves towards the Phantom, it retreats, each time staying just outside the range of the Hornets missiles the most effective way to destroy it. This game of you advance, Phantom retreats continues until youre in front of the third control tower.
Marine: "Objective in sight, Commander
no sign of Johnson or his team."
Commander Keyes: "Understood. Chief, clear an LZ, then get inside the tower."
The Phantom cant retreat any farther, so that means the player can finally use the Hornets missiles to take it out. But its served its purpose by this point. Youre exactly where Bungie wants you to be.
Contrast all of that to Halo 4, which will put a waypoint down linear hallways near the end of "Dawn." Or at the exit of your first fight in "Requiem" when youre only forty meters away from it. Or in "Reclaimer" during the infantry section, in lieu of Cortana telling you, or using clear enemy placement to guide you to, the correct door in the back, youre given a waypoint. Youre also given a waypoint to go down a linear hallway at the beginning of "Composer." There are many other points.
Not only did Bungie design encounters like the two mentioned above that were fun, engaging, and lend themselves to variety within replays, they did it in a manner that led the player through the level to either the next story point, the next encounter, or both all without the use of a single waypoint. Considering them in this context, its impressive work, and something that I would've liked to see more of in Halo 4.