Support NeoGAF

[Rickenslacker]

What Halo 2 introduced and 3 continued with vehicle combat was both a step up and down. You had gained more methods of dealing with them like EMP and hijacking, and they could be destroyed. Though with the changes made to grenades they didn't end up as effective against vehicles as they were in CE, namely the change in force and radius to compensate for the quicker explosion.

I think that's what made me frustrated with vehicle versus on-foot from then on, in CE if you landed a grenade under someone in a Hog they were properly fucked. In 2 and 3 Warthogs would eat grenades like nothing, even worse when they would shrug off a plasma.

 

[Louis Wu]

The end of your day and my day are very different.
I'm OCD as fuck, my enjoyment of the game is way more then my ability to out-shoot an opponent.
Things like map control and the zen of a match are important to me. I like the randomness introduced by playing against a human in an equal system (or as close to equal as possible).
I don't like the game adding more randomization because it starts to take away my ability to out-smart, which is what gets me off. It also cheapens the accomplishments and the rush... wish is why I think FOR ME Halo 4 lacks exciting moments. It feels more like rifle drivel all the time. Fun sure, but not that excitement of flatout trapping someone because I was the smarter player.

Fair enough. When I look back on the best moments in the last few days, playwise, though... it's stuff like telling my buddy to engage a camo'd sniper from one angle, so I can flank him and stick him from the side - he was overconfident because of his weapon and his perk, and we killed him for that overconfidence. I think about a CTF game that actually went into sudden-death overtime, and was won because of some last-second heroics with a Warthog. I think about a SWAT game where we won because even though I was playing with three friends that were doing awfully, I was able to keep my deaths low enough that my 27 kills could carry us to victory.

These were all 'outsmarting the other team' - and they were all possible BECAUSE of the 'problems' others see with this game.

I dunno - I'm just having fun playing these days. It's hard to agree with folks that say Halo 4 has ruined the franchise - because I'm enjoying Halo 4.

 

[Tawpgun]

Tell that to the 90% of the spawns on that map that were outside with no cover, with an OP chaingun that killed in the blink of an eye. God help you if you spawned up on that rear butte where your only cover was a couple of cement roadblocks and the enemy hog was rampaging in your base.

Its vehicle health model was fine, the chaingun was not. This is not an endorsement of what vehicles are now, just a condemnation of elements of what came before too.

Fair enough. idk I just kind of treated vehicles like power items, when used by the enemies it was like a boss battle. Whatever the reason, as far as I go, BTB was much more fun pre-reach

 

[Dirtbag]

People want to drive around racking up easily kills in a warthog a la Halo 3. Want to spend all day making non vehicle users miserable. Vehicles are an important part of Halo. It's true. But, the importance in combat has been greatly exagerrated. Use it for fast transport. Capturing a flag. Giving a bomb carrier a speed boost.

Now using a vehicle means I can't use my armor abilities on top of being stuck in a deathtrap.
I can equip mobility and when you combine the terrain options offered to my sprinting / jetpacking spartan... what purpose does the vehicle honestly serve anymore?

I usually stick to 4vs4 which is rarely about vehicles anyway.. but when I'd dipp out, alot of the vehicle fun was the coop-ness of them and your support roles to your team.

Different strokes, but look at what a huge chunk of the sandbox is pointless now.

 

[Hydranockz]

I love the Mantis. I don't think it's gimped because of Plasma Pistols at all. I recently just made a class with that wheelman thing to reduce the effect of EMPs but even then, a good team will take me down pretty quickly. I usually hang back until we can push. Then comes the fun.

 

[Louis Wu]

I love the Mantis. I don't think it's gimped because of Plasma Pistols at all. I recently just made a class with that wheelman thing to reduce the effect of EMPs but even then, a good team will take me down pretty quickly. I usually hang back until we can push. Then comes the fun.

I find the Mantis serves as a great defensive weapon for CTF. Does that make me a camper?

 

[Striker]

What Halo 2 introduced and 3 continued with vehicle combat was both a step up and down. You had gained more methods of dealing with them like EMP and hijacking, and they could be destroyed. Though with the changes made to grenades they didn't end up as effective against vehicles as they were in CE, namely the change in force and radius to compensate for the quicker explosion.

Hijacking a vehicle is one of the best things Bungie has done to the series overall. Now what they've done since introducing hijacking, namely EMP draining vehicles, the player stun as they are knocked out of the vehicle, or the vehicle lock-in where a player cannot escape once an enemy is boarding, are big annoyances. It makes vehicle-infantry combat a mess.

 

[Louis Wu]

Hijacking a vehicle is one of the best things Bungie has done to the series overall. Now what they've done since introducing hijacking, namely EMP draining vehicles, the player stun as they are knocked out of the vehicle, or the vehicle lock-in where a player cannot escape once an enemy is boarding, are big annoyances. It makes vehicle-infantry combat a mess.

This makes me crazy.

 

[Havok]

This makes me crazy.

My favorite is when someone boards the ass of a tank and somehow it breaks the power locks on the driver's door and he can't get out. You'd think the National Traffic Safety Administration would have put a stop to this shoddy manufacturing by now.

 

[Dirtbag]

Fair enough. When I look back on the best moments in the last few days, playwise, though... it's stuff like telling my buddy to engage a camo'd sniper from one angle, so I can flank him and stick him from the side - he was overconfident because of his weapon and his perk, and we killed him for that overconfidence.

I remember when just holding a sniper rifle made you feel powerful, now its all about being an invisible sniper. Before accomplishing camo and a sniper rifle meant you worked for that position or in a few situations got really lucky. Now with a lucky personal ordinance and a spawn you are there, overpowered. About mid-match when everyone is roaming around with damage boosts or whatever else they decided to power up with, and the AA abuse really kicks in is when the game just breaks down for me. There's really no power position anymore and the biggest sway starts becoming who uses or abuses their armor abilities best.

 

[Fracas]

There should be some kind of counter to getting hijacked.

At the very least, let you leave the vehicle.

 

[MrGreencastle]

I find the Mantis serves as a great defensive weapon for CTF. Does that make me a camper?

I love the Mantis. I don't think it's gimped because of Plasma Pistols at all. I recently just made a class with that wheelman thing to reduce the effect of EMPs but even then, a good team will take me down pretty quickly. I usually hang back until we can push. Then comes the fun.

Yeah, the Mantis is definitely more effective against better teams when used as a deterrent, rather than charging in with it and getting owned by 5 guys with plasma pistols and stickies off spawn.

 

[Dirtbag]

Yeah, the Mantis is definitely more effective against better teams when used as a deterrent, rather than charging in with it and getting owned by 5 guys with plasma pistols and stickies off spawn.

The mantis never falling over or really reacting to the world around it is also a letdown. It's strange being in and attacking a vehicle with no physics. I'd love to knock it over with a ghost charge or have it behave like you'd expect around a drop. It's a weird break in the illusion.

 

[FyreWulff]

The mantis never falling over or really reacting to the world around it is also a letdown. It's strange being in and attacking a vehicle with no physics. I'd love to knock it over with a ghost charge or have it behave like you'd expect around a drop. It's a weird break in the illusion.

I think I'll have to side with 343 on that one. Having a bipedal vehicle like that can cause issues if it has full physics, animation/processing/balance wise.

 

[Enfinit]

Wu, stop making me change my opinions about this game. Stop making valid points and great arguments you stud.

 

[Louis Wu]

The mantis never falling over or really reacting to the world around it is also a letdown. It's strange being in and attacking a vehicle with no physics. I'd love to knock it over with a ghost charge or have it behave like you'd expect around a drop. It's a weird break in the illusion.

How awesome would it be if a Ghost could circle its legs and trap it, At-At style?

 

[MrGreencastle]

The mantis never falling over or really reacting to the world around it is also a letdown. It's strange being in and attacking a vehicle with no physics. I'd love to knock it over with a ghost charge or have it behave like you'd expect around a drop. It's a weird break in the illusion.

Not to mention the feet are so small and move around in such a weird way that I find it very difficult to pin down exactly where to shoot it with rockets. Unless you hit it's body, but that's strange too because it's so high up.

I dunno. I like the idea of a mech, I just don't think it was executed all that amazingly. It's good enough, though, but I'd much rather have the Falcon, or Chopper. Or all three, really.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Well my initial evaluation is: Its weird playing Halo with a mouse and keyboard.

 

[Shadders]

There should be some kind of counter to getting hijacked.

At the very least, let you leave the vehicle.

I think it'd be too easy to leave and stick while the boarder was still doing their hijack anim. I know what we've got isn't ideal, but I think it's probably a reasonable solution.

 

[Louis Wu]

Well my initial evaluation is: Its weird playing Halo with a mouse and keyboard.

I watched you for about 3 minutes, at the beginning of a game of SWAT on Complex. (It was right after you posted the link.) I decided to come back and watch again after you'd had a couple of hours of experience.

 

[timetokill]

I gotta agree about the vehicles. I only ever get in a ghost nowadays since then you can at least hit and run, or a mongoose to do a flag capture. The warthog is basically a giant deathtrap waiting to give someone a double kill.

It's sad because to me one of the huge defining features of Halo was its great vehicular play. Did Standoff suck when you were getting spawned outside and getting gunned down before you could move 5 feet? Yes. But bad spawns always suck.

At any rate, I'm still playing this game more than I did play Reach, and I'm not anywhere near as frustrated as I was with Reach. But it's not as fun as Halo 3, and I'm wondering if maybe those days are just gone altogether.

 

[Dirtbag]

How awesome would it be if a Ghost could circle its legs and trap it, At-At style?

<3

I really just want to launch a vehicle into it and knock it over ontop of someone and get a splatter out of it to boot.

 

[MrGreencastle]

I gotta agree about the vehicles. I only ever get in a ghost nowadays since then you can at least hit and run, or a mongoose to do a flag capture. The warthog is basically a giant deathtrap waiting to give someone a double kill.

It's sad because to me one of the huge defining features of Halo was its great vehicular play. Did Standoff suck when you were getting spawned outside and getting gunned down before you could move 5 feet? Yes. But bad spawns always suck.

At any rate, I'm still playing this game more than I did play Reach, and I'm not anywhere near as frustrated as I was with Reach. But it's not as fun as Halo 3, and I'm wondering if maybe those days are just gone altogether.

Might be just me, but there certainly seems to be no shortage of people using Ghosts in this game. I don't know if it's because there's so many of them all over all the big maps, or if it's because the clear-cut coolest visor is tied to getting MASTERY in splattering people, or something else. Combine them with Operator and it gets annoying, fast.

 

[timetokill]

Might be just me, but there certainly seems to be no shortage of people using Ghosts in this game. I don't know if it's because there's so many of them all over all the big maps, or if it's because the clear-cut coolest visor is tied to getting MASTERY in splattering people, or something else. Combine them with Operator and it gets annoying, fast.

No, I agree. That's why I use it, because it's at least effective. I'll get at least 2 kills before I'm taken down 99% of the time. It's a lot more effective than the Warthog in any case. Better mobility, better splatterbility.

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

Cyren is having a field day.

You have no idea.

 

[Homeboyd]

RIP Horses

Can I post here again? Is it safe?

 

[Poker Face]

You have no idea.

 

[aries_71]

Yeah, that could work. Then again Wreckage doesn’t have any snipers in the initial global ordnance and I’ve not seen people get it from their personal ordnance from the matches I’ve played. I think because of the lack of snipers that people are more quick to seek out battles and venture out more on the map. With Shatter, in the beginning it’s a constant dead silence and irritating camping from both parties. Nobody want to move, but if you do you pretty much pay the price. You could argue that any map with Snipers is like that, but Shatter just makes it the central theme the moment the match starts.



I am hate Complex. Enough with maps with buildings where people can camp on top.

It's funny how Gaf hates Complex, but in my experience people tends to vote it once it appears as a choice. In fact I would say it's easily the second most voted map after Haven.

 

[Louis Wu]

You have no idea.

wtf

That first play was great - what the hell's his problem with it?

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

wtf

That first play was great - what the hell's his problem with it?

Nothing. The whole thing is a joke to make fun of Nexy since commentary was supposed to be done on Christmas. It's not intended to insult anyone.

 

[willow ve]

You have no idea.

hahaha.

-----

Also - did anyone ever get the truth behind the rumours that MLG isn't allowed to run Halo 4?

 

[Tawpgun]

You have no idea.

wow so unproffesional and what kind of title is that?

 

[Fracas]

Nothing. The whole thing is a joke to make fun of Nexy since commentary was supposed to be done on Christmas. It's not intended to insult anyone.

That title is so misleading

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

Also - did anyone ever get the truth behind the rumours that MLG isn't allowed to run Halo 4?

Its true. Virgin gaming has the rights to tournaments exclusively at the moment. What we don't know are the fine details behind that.

 

[MrGreencastle]

So I'm hearing the MLG v1 settings are out tonight. Also hearing BR starts with DMR ordnance, any truth to that?

Its true. Virgin gaming has the rights to tournaments exclusively at the moment. What we don't know are the fine details behind that.

Well the tournament is over on the 19th I think. There's gotta be some kind of statement after that date, right?

 

[Barrow Roll]

Anger leads to hate...

That don't make a lick of sense.

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

So I'm hearing the MLG v1 settings are out tonight. Also hearing BR starts with DMR ordnance, any truth to that?

Unfortunately its what it's looking like. You would think they would try to keep the game a little more vanilla after what happened with reach. They're still trying to re-create halo 2 and it wont work.

 

[MrGreencastle]

Unfortunately its what it's looking like. You would think they would try to keep the game a little more vanilla after what happened with reach. They're still trying to re-create halo 2 and it wont work.

Well we'll see what they're like upon release. That's somewhat unfortunate if that's the case. I really liked the idea of a 4 shot BR with DMR as either the non-AA loadout, or a pickup on the map.

They had:
-Predictable personal ordnance in all gametypes, even objective.
-Pre-set "class-like" loadouts that make use of a bigger amount of the sandbox than ever before.
-4 shot-BR.
-Extraction!
-Useful team-only radar to make up for lack of red X on team mate death.
-Predictable global ordnance with offset pickup timers.
-"Fixed" default maps. Lockout, albeit bigger.

Hopefully most of this stays. I like it all. It's competitive Halo 4, rather than competitive Halo, 4.

juices, the regular edition of RotK is an incomplete movie. Saruman is in the extended cut but he isn't in the regular edition. I mean, don't you want to know what happens to him in the last movie? It still boggles my mind that they left that out of the theatrical version. Christopher Lee is still probably pissed about it.

Christopher Lee is still mad that Tolkien himself promised him the roll of Gandalf were there to be a movie, and he never got the part. Especially when you consider that Lee knows the books inside and out, whereas Ian McKellen had never ever read them once when he got the part. Shows the skill of those two actors side by side, I would say.

 

[Duji]

juices, the regular edition of RotK is an incomplete movie. Saruman is in the extended cut but he isn't in the regular edition. I mean, don't you want to know what happens to him in the last movie? It still boggles my mind that they left that out of the theatrical version. Christopher Lee is still probably pissed about it.

 

[Shadders]

It's nearly 11 on New Years Eve. My wife has gone to bed and I'm drinking a lukewarm can of Bud and browsing GAF.

My life is so rock and roll.

 

[MrGreencastle]

It's nearly 11 on New Years Eve. My wife has gone to bed and I'm drinking a lukewarm can of Bud and browsing GAF.

My life is so rock and roll.

There are worse ways to spend New Years! That sounds pretty relaxing.

 

[JHall]

It's nearly 11 on New Years Eve. My wife has gone to bed and I'm drinking a lukewarm can of Bud and browsing GAF.

My life is so rock and roll.

Bud is the only beer that gives me hangovers. I'm sorry.

 

[TheOddOne]

You have no idea.

The way to end 2013. EMBRACE THE SALT.

 

[Plywood]

Something in my head told me to play Halo 4 today. It told me it would be good, that something lied.

 

[Tawpgun]

Something in my head told me to play Halo 4 today. It told me it would be good, that something lied.

play w party

 

[Rev3rb]

play w party

I NEED A PARTY!!!

 

[OverHeat]

Something in my head told me to play Halo 4 today. It told me it would be good, that something lied.

If you played alone, you are the only one to blame.

 

[Plywood]

play w party

Won't stop the BK bonanza.

Which is what I realized most that Halo 4 is lacking(to me), are those 1v1 moments that would go across the expanse of the map. Rarely do these occur, now you're getting gangbanged from multiple angles by people with vastly different AA's, perks, tweaks and power weapons which spawn in two different flavors. While more oft than not when you do get that 1v1 moment the opponent will likely have a power weapon, powerup or both.

Also JIP blows.

If you played alone, you are the only one to blame.

I carried thousands of randoms in Reach.

 

[OverHeat]

I carried thousands of randoms in Reach.

Stop living in the past.

 

[Orochinagis]

You have no idea.

You sound Stoned dude.