A more "full body" experience in Halo 4?

Games Other Halo
1

Something I really liked about Reach was how during cutscenes that took on a first person perspective, you got to see things like your arms stretch out in front of you to pick up weapons, your gun come toward your face to peer around a close corner, and your body just moving a whole lot more. In short, acting just a little more human.

I think this would be a great thing to include in Halo 4. If you ever played the Brothers in Arms games, you could recall getting to see a lot more of your character’s body as he vaulted over cover, and when you got close to a wall, that 3-feet long rifle would be tucked in more and more the close you got to the surface.

Which brings me to another point: 343 has some ex-bungie devs working within their ranks. As a Halo fan since 1 (I played it when I was nine, I guess since it was set in space, my parents thought it was ok), I think we should see a little more athletic ability from the chief. Sprinting and Evade should definitely be included, but also let us feel like a super soldier. I want to feel like an animal when playing.

You walk down a seemingly endless forerunner corridor until you arrive at a large, black room. Something inside, possibly a forerunner AI, has felt your presence. A large spire lights up in the center of this atrium, as large as the atrium in High Charity (the one where you fight both drones and flood). Hundreds of sentinels fly out, like wasps from a nest, and Cortana’s next words sum up the next minute of your gameplay experience: “Chief, run!” The next minute is spent sprinting through corridors for your life, vaulting over walls, and dodging enforcers speeding like bullet trains down the hall in front of you.

This would be a good way to also illustrate the story in ways that don’t rely on cutscenes. After all, Chief has just (supposedly) crash landed on a world that belonged to the most powerful civilization that ever existed in the galaxy. He’s going to have to get out of some hairy situations.

Stupid idea? Or something that could be made very awesome in the right hands?

TL;DR Let you see more of Master Chief’s body during gameplay, ala Brothers in Arms or select Reach Cutscenes. Also grant him more movement options during combat, and make his actions look more “aggressive.” Chief from books = beast. Chief from games = too white-gloved.

2

> Chief from games = too white-gloved.

u know what that made me think of right here^^^^ -Yoink!- SLAP lol but yea that was a very discriptive thing right there i felt like i was reading one of the books the only thing i dont like about ur idea is the sprint/evade thing i personall HATE AA’s of any kind they are NOT halo they are cod and that is a bad thing halo needs to stay unique not get all effed up

3

I liked the “cinyetts” (Spelling?) in ODST. I loved the Halo Wars cutscene graphics, too.

4

Yes, yes, yes, yes! I couldn’t agree more! I personally think AAs should be removed completely, opting instead for sprint as a native ability.

But as far as animation goes, those vignettes and first person cutscenes really stood out to me, I’d love to see more of that actually in-game!

5

This is an interesting idea. It could completely change the way the story is told.
For the better or for the worse we will never know.

6

> This is an interesting idea. It could completely change the way the story is told.
> For the better or for the worse we will never know.

I personally love games that have the story play out during in-game moments. Half Life 2 did this really well, as there were no cutscenes from the point you took control of the character until you finish the last level. Although doing away with cutscenes completely would be a terrible idea, taking control away from the player less throughout the game results in much better immersion IMO

7

Sprint/Evade and other things of such nature need to be kept in cutscenes.

8

I have to agree with this. I want the first person experience to be even more believable. Also, I like your suggestion. We should have some short campaign sequences that are semi-scripted. Imagine if in Halo 2 when we saw the Covenant cruiser getting ready to shoot on Delta Halo, we got to play out the scene where Master Chief jumps into the water. Give us unlimited sprint and some cool head bobbing effects to make an awesome campaign action sequence.

9

I thought Crysis 2 had that down really well.

10

I prefer to have the classic cutscenes. The first person ones can be cool some times but they’re used in so many games these days and I don’t think it suits Halo’s style. We get enough first person action playing the game.

11

It was cool at times, but all the time = boooooorrrrring.

I preferred the style of 3, wars, or ODST.

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> I personally love games that have the story play out during in-game moments. Half Life 2 did this really well, as there were no cutscenes from the point you took control of the character until you finish the last level. Although doing away with cutscenes completely would be a terrible idea, taking control away from the player less throughout the game results in much better immersion IMO

Agreed. I haven’t played the Half-Life series, but I’m a big fan of Valve. I know that I love Portal and Left 4 Dead, and neither of those game series use cinematics. Great video game stories can be told without your perspective ever leaving the character that you play, I think.

Halo: CE did this, in a way. Probably due to budget and technological constraints, your perspective was always your immediate vicinity. It isn’t as good as always-in-character, but it’s pretty good. Personally, I think that’s why Halo: CE’s story is so immersive.

Also, that cinematic in Winter Contingency when the zealots attack is, like, my favourite cinematic in all of Halo. It set my expectations for Reach’s campaign a tad higher than they ought to have been. The whole level did.

13

i as well agree with your post it would be nice to see more first person action moments and that starting scene you described would be a great way to kick of the new trilogy. the way you described it put the image right into my head and made me wonder what halo 4 would be like if it started off with that. but i’m getting carried away the main thing is that i hope that 343 looks at this forum and your ideas will be used.