Bungie v.s. 343

Games Other Halo
1

This argument is merely my opinion.

So I’ve been glued to the screen just like you since the launch of Halo 4. I’ve been having fun, but something feels wrong. Out of place. The first thing that comes to mind, is that the farther we get into the Halo series, the farther we get away from the true Halo feel.

Bungie is to this day, my favorite game developing company. So many good times when Bungie was in control of the franchise. While Halo: Reach was, IMO, the worst Halo game Bungie made, it still had the Halo feel. Sure they messed up on a lot of things, but I always felt appreciative by Bungie.

When I heard Reach would be Bungie’s last game, I was quite sad, like everyone else. But when I heard Bungie would pass the torch to 343, a company I’d never heard of before, I was a little sceptical. Who was this unknown name taking the precious Halo series into their own hands?

As the months went on, and more light was shed on Halo 4, I felt that we were in fact, in good hands. It didn’t look exactly like the previous Halos, but it looked like something I could grow to like.

So I got my copy of Halo 4. I played my first game, and I was in awe the whole time. But the more I played it, the more it felt… off. The thing is, is that 343 made Halo 4 feel too much like a modern FPS game. Loadouts, join in progress, instant respawn, faster kill times, killcams, things that hadn’t existed in a Halo before. Features that didn’t add to the original Halo feel, but in fact took away the Halo feel that most of us have grown to love.

Halo 4 is (IMO) the worst Halo game to date. While Reach had many flaws and the armor abilities ruined the game, it was still Halo. While Halo 4 is a good game, it just has too much Call of Duty mixed in it’s DNA, which ruins it for me.

2

I kind of understand where you’re coming from, 343i have worked on all if not most of the past halo games in some way or another, be it map packs etc but I have to agree that there are a few too many modern fps things in there even though I do love the game to bits. I miss the 5 second respawns, 1 shot on my X, lack of sprinting, although saying that, sprinting is a great way to get to the battle quicker to help out team mates, and mostly I miss having to go looking for weapons around the map if I was low on ammo.

The ordnance drops can be fun with the variety, but the speed weapons disappear when dropped, then there really isn’t much use for them, get your drop, get a kill or 2, if you die, back to your loadout because it’s more than likely your ordnance drop has vanished.

Maybe some of these things will be addressed in the near future, maybe not, but for Halo 5, I hope they go back to the old Halo ways of red X, respawn times etc. Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back. (Megaman 9 or 10 as examples, they went back to old 8 bit graphics and the game’s did well!)

Overall though, issues aside, I do love Halo 4, and think 343 have done well for their first Halo game alone. (I know for sure I’d never be able to create something so huge with so much pressure from what fans may think)

3

you should have put in a poll so the lot of us didn’t have to put a longass response lol.

4

So far this Halo game has me far more attached than any previous Halo title. Minus Halo 2. To tell the truth, I wouldnt say this is the best game, but so far, I find Halo 4 to easily be second best only to Halo 2.

Better than CE, better than 3, and much better than Reach.

5

This is going to be bad…

6

I still think It’s a little too early to pass judgement. I’m gonna see how they handle with the patches and the balancing for Halo 4 and at least see where they go with halo 5 Before I start to seriously compare them to Bungie.

7

please learn your facts.

Do you people understand loadouts were in FPS games before CoD right? I dont think you do so please stop comparing.

Armor Abilities give the game something different rather than spawning with 2 weapons and running and jumping. Sorry but Halo desperately needed something like Armor abilities and loadouts because it was getting stale. If they did not add these then what else could they change??? please tell me because updated graphics and new weapons isnt enough.

There is so much technology is this universe so why not start using it. They have to keep building off this and introducing new tech to the game. Ordinance drops are awesome as well and give the game something fun and new. I dont know how someone couldnt like this part, you get to try multiple weapons instead of always trying to fight for power weapons on the map.

They added a signifigant amount of new weapons which makes it fresh as well and changed up old ones.

Couldnt have pictured a better game, this is by far one of the best Halo games to date.

8

lol “more like modern FPS’s”. OF COURSE! A Halo 3 clone would not even touch the sales that Halo 4 have. Ive been playing religiously since 2002 and this is Halo. There needs to be some fixes (namely weapon balance etc) but on the whole it is better than Reach.

Just because there’s different features doesn’t automatically mean it isn’t Halo

9

Great original post, I very much understand how you feel. For me, it’s just the little things that irk me that build up and make me feel a creeping disappointment. I guess we shouldn’t expect for 343 to release the same old Halo we all know in love and I’m glad they tried to make changes, but some of their subtractions, to me, feel too much to lose.

10

Bungie > 343i for their beta testing, and making sure the game isn’t broken before release…

The fact file share, custom searching, forge and maps are broken… releasing an unfinished game was a silly idea.

11

> Bungie > 343i for their beta testing, and making sure the game isn’t broken before release…
>
> The fact file share, custom searching, forge and maps are broken… releasing an unfinished game was a silly idea

And yet we got Reach. Be careful what you say. The game is finished, but like ALL games, there’s still some fixing to do. I dont know what you guys were expecting, but i got exactly what i was hoping for.

12

I think its a shame that one one hand the core gameplay of Halo 4 is really good but its hampered by really bad multiplayer level design, a complete lack of options and really strange new matchmaking rules.

Get rid of the dynamic spawns, give teams a side to each map, chuck some spare weapons on the map, remove instaspawn and I think the game would be good.

I didn’t play H4 for the last few days and just jumped onto BTB… and I must say I had an awful time. I joined a bunch of midway games and it was just not fun at all.

13

Halo 4 feels like a modern FPS game because it IS a modern FPS game.

No one is going to be swarming to play Halo 1 Version 4. Sure, some dedicated fans might (I know I would), but 343 has to appeal to a larger audience. Gotta rake in the money somehow. The sad truth is no one plays competitive games or games with depth anymore though. They have to cater to “casuals” in some way or form in order to make sales.

What exactly is it you guys want though? Realize they have to change SOMETHING or the series becomes just like call of duty. (Inb4 LOL BUT IT IS CALL OF DUTY).

14

Why u have no voting poll???

Anyway, I think that both are wonderful, but Bungie deserves more credit for creating this magnificent universe. 343i still has a long way to go until the community gets comfortable with the changes but so far, 343i is for now heading into the right direction. Give 'em time because it is only been more than a week and ppl are already complaining and you shouldn’t, but I understand that some have good reasons (e.g., weapons overpowered, glitches [which I haven’t heard from yet],etc.) to protest. Just the ‘Hype Jump’ I like to call. I am irked,according to many threads that I’ve read by the community, is that 343i hasn’t contacted anybody for awhile (this deserves either a face palm, or a FAIL if I’m wrong, just saying) but it’s not even a month yet, so that means they’re busy, so FAIL! towards me. Just… give 'em time, and now, time for me to look at some more funny memes.

15

something does feel off. shrugs

16

Well, in my opinion, 343 has a better grasp on presentation, but Bungie completely stomps them when it comes to aesthetic design.

As for core gameplay and composer, I’d say they’re about tied, with perhaps Marty leading a bit ahead of 343’s composer. However, 343 is obviously Microsoft to the core, considering all of the Pre-Order Exclusives, Double XP crap, and the game adapting modern trends that do nothing but detract from the Halo experience.

17

Its been a bad couple years for all video games not just halo, most have been a let down. Everything from bad story telling and poor mechanics to arrogant developers who think we owe them something for being so awesome. The best thing we can do for our sake and 343’s is to complain as much as possible and let them know that even though we appreciate what they do it doesn’t mean they can slack off on the quality of the experience we’re buying off them. Its nothing personal 343 has done a pretty good job now its our turn to show them we care by offering as much constructive criticism as we can.

18

I liked Bungie. I felt as though they were very well connected to their fanbase.

343i hasn’t been around long enough for me to establish an opinion. Whether or not 343i handles the various complaints having to do with Custom Games, Forge, and several War Games annoyances (like JIP, uneven teams, etc.) well will ultimately determine my opinion on them for the moment.

19

> Well, in my opinion, 343 has a better grasp on presentation, but Bungie completely stomps them when it comes to aesthetic design.

Agree and disagree. I absolutely hated the Forerunner design in Halo Reach and felt Halo 4 was a bit more traditional, if not stretching it a bit in some aspects.

Music was alright, could’ve been way better.

20

While I have mixed feelings about Halo 4, the game did, in fact, feel like this was a true title of the franchise. 343i did two things that I found to be a bit of a gambit, which was to improve upon the system that Halo Reach had when we made our own Spartan. In this case, because John 117 had more and more of a backstory as the games progressed, it would have been more and more difficult to retain the, “We are the MC” idealogy that kept everyone glued to the game as a whole.

That is why 343i made Spartan Ops. Not only do we get to retain our own persona as part of a faceless fireteam in Crimson, but its an actively progressing storyline too instead of throwing it in our faces all at once. True, custom games took a hit and some equipment changes felt a little unnecessary (aka, the vehicle downsizing and weapon replacements), but they did add a whole new class of weapons, and did have one vehicle that was useful in MP.