Halo 4 - Did 343 let us down?

Games Other Halo
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> > > > > Snip
> > > >
> > > > Here’s the thing though. Every single thing about the Halo franchise was handed to 343i on a silver platter. All they had to do was come up with an amazing story update graphics, and maybe tweak a thing or two. They could have had a game that everyone was satisfied with from day one. But no, they decided to take the winning gameplay and formula of Halo 2/3 and Yoink! all over it. All of the stuff that was changed, and added, was completely unnecessary to the series. This forum would be barren if they had stuck with what was successful from the very beginning.
> > >
> > > Huh? What is this? Evolution? Game changes? Doing something different than a re-hash? Something NEW? SOMETHING DIFFERENT? GASP Say it is not so! Ohhh, ohhh, the Humanity! Woe is we, to allow a company to take the handles of our beloved franchise and attempt something new and different, something fresh for us. Ohhhh, curseeee yooooooouu 343i for all your wonderful attempts at doing something for us, for the Halo franchise… you should have just copied Bungie and left it like that!
> > >
> > > Coughs Sorry, after all of that I had to get up all the SARCASM I had down in my throat.
> >
> > You -Yoinking!- people keeping saying that Yoink! over and over as if it’s a good thing for core gameplay to change.
>
> but the core gameplay didn’t change, its still the same, they just added and removed some features in an attempt to give the players something new to experience
>
> and besides, even if they had just copied the previous games, the forums would be filled with people complaining that nothing changed and screaming that 343i didn’t have the balls to try something new

This is also true.

62

As someone who’s followed Halo since it was announced as a Mac Only title, Halo 4 single handedly revived this series for me. It’s a brilliant game and much better than Halo 3 in my opinion. Certainly better than Reach.

63

This game blows I got board once I hit 70. After that I got boring and the ranking system is only halo waypoint …really WTF! So I back to playing Gears of War 3. 343 screwed up

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As part of the “Defense Force” (i.e., the logical populace of the Halo Community), I have a few rebuttals for your OP, OP.

When you opened with the “necessity to read the books to understand” statement, I laughed a bit. I haven’t touched a single book since Ghosts of Onyx, and I followed the storyline perfectly.

The ending to the campaign wasn’t supposed to feel “epic”. Cortana is dead, Chief is alone. A city was wiped out, and multiple casualties were suffered. The Storm is still present, and the Didact is MIA. No epic win there, kiddo.

The soundtrack is meant to be a background song. Plenty of places had moments of orchestrated events, while others leaned into the main dialogue.

As for the other crap, I don’t feel like addressing it. Call of Duty and Halo 4 are entirely separate games. Similarities don’t make a game the same as another.

MEANING WORLD OF WARCRAFT AND LEAGUE OF LEGENDS AREN’T THE SAME DAMN THING, EITHER.

If you have an issue with the entire game, make a better one yourself and see how the world likes it.

65

> As part of the “Defense Force” (i.e., the logical populace of the Halo Community), I have a few rebuttals for your OP, OP.
>
> When you opened with the “necessity to read the books to understand” statement, I laughed a bit. I haven’t touched a single book since Ghosts of Onyx, and I followed the storyline perfectly.
>
> The ending to the campaign wasn’t supposed to feel “epic”. Cortana is dead, Chief is alone. A city was wiped out, and multiple casualties were suffered. The Storm is still present, and the Didact is MIA. No epic win there, kiddo.
>
>
> The soundtrack is meant to be a background song. Plenty of places had moments of orchestrated events, while others leaned into the main dialogue.
>
> As for the other crap, I don’t feel like addressing it. Call of Duty and Halo 4 are entirely separate games. Similarities don’t make a game the same as another.
>
> MEANING WORLD OF WARCRAFT AND LEAGUE OF LEGENDS AREN’T THE SAME DAMN THING, EITHER.
>
> If you have an issue with the entire game, make a better one yourself and see how the world likes it.

This^

66

I already commented but let me say this if 343i don’t go back to CLASSIC ARENA SHOOTER STYLE GAMEPLAY like halo 1-2-3 with little improvements which change the game alot they will fail. Don’t change it to much but only alittle which can change the gameplay alot e.g equipment,dual wielding and forge(forge seems little if you think about it but creativity from the community makes it big). AA’s changed the gameplay too much so did all those new codified features in halo 4. Like yoinky! loadouts bring back good maps and arena style gameplay like halo 1-2-3 but slightly improved and some new changes, SOME!!!

Most of that 1million who pre-ordered halo 4 never wanted a “codified reach” or another reach they wanted another halo 3.

The only thing I like about cod is that they keep the game the same with every new installment but CHANGE THE GAME VERY SLIGHTLY. Not to much like halo 4 and they don’t rip off much either. I mean look at the new league play they got and the new tranzit mode. They are very little changes but can change the gameplay in a big way to something which halo 1-2-3 used to do.

67

> Most of that 1million who pre-ordered halo 4 never wanted a “codified reach” or another reach they wanted another halo 3.

You can’t compare Halo 4 with Reach. Reach, with its AA and its awful maps(taken Hemorrhage apart) was still a Halo, at least for me. I enjoyed it although I missed the huge vehicle-designed maps that 3 had.
Halo 4 has nothing to do with Bungie’s Halo. When I saw that I couldn’t use the Warthog the way I used it in Reach, I realised that this game had lost its Halo essence.
Despite its problems, I didn’t get that feeling with Reach. The changes between 3 and Reach changed the way we played,sure, but the changes between Reach and 4 are so much bigger that have altered the gameplay core.

68

Halo 5 sales will be poor poor poor.

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> As part of the “Defense Force” (i.e., the logical populace of the Halo Community), I have a few rebuttals for your OP, OP.
>
> When you opened with the “necessity to read the books to understand” statement, I laughed a bit. I haven’t touched a single book since Ghosts of Onyx, and I followed the storyline perfectly.
>
> The ending to the campaign wasn’t supposed to feel “epic”. Cortana is dead, Chief is alone. A city was wiped out, and multiple casualties were suffered. The Storm is still present, and the Didact is MIA. No epic win there, kiddo.
>
>
> The soundtrack is meant to be a background song. Plenty of places had moments of orchestrated events, while others leaned into the main dialogue.
>
> As for the other crap, I don’t feel like addressing it. Call of Duty and Halo 4 are entirely separate games. Similarities don’t make a game the same as another.
>
> MEANING WORLD OF WARCRAFT AND LEAGUE OF LEGENDS AREN’T THE SAME DAMN THING, EITHER.
>
> If you have an issue with the entire game, make a better one yourself and see how the world likes it.

Campaign was mediocre, linear and the small additions made to it was boring. Three types of enemies out of which two were just copies of older ones with new skins and weapons. Knights are Elites and Crawlers are grunts, watchers is the only really unique addition to the enemy gallery, and they don’t even do that much. I haven’t seen them throw back a grenade yet and they don’t shield their allies that much or shoot me, they just fly away as soon as they get hit. Then they make new enemies, that is a scripted event as well.

The forerunner weapons are just copies of older weapons in function and looks. They could have made entirely new funtions for the forerunner weapons, different looks, made them unique.

It would have been a great chance to make a huge amount of new enemies and fun weapons.

The only character I got interested in was Del Rio because he was different than the others. Cortana’s rampancy wasn’t an issue at all, it never actually did anything bad, it even served as a good thing in the end. Wasn’t she supposed to go mad? I thought she’d take over some prometheans and send them on the chief, put him in some real danger, the only close thing she put him in was when she did that Halo CE joke with the Lich, she didn’t pull up. Perhaps not a joke from her side but I did get it. Other than that there was nothing major going on with her rampancy, it was just there.

Quick time events is something that shouldn’t be in gaming at all, you don’t play the game and it’s not a cutscene. It’s a poor attempt at trying to make the gamer feel like he/she is doing something inside the game, which isn’t true. Either make a cutscene or have real gameplay.

No, actually Halo is closer to CoD than it ever have been, true, CoD didn’t invent anything in it, but it certainly made everything in it popular. Also, no one is comparing WoW to LoL, they are in two different Genres, MMORPG and MOAB respectivley. A better comparison would be HoN to LoL, or DotA to LoL.

Or are you perhaps saying that everything that was added to multiplayer, i343 made up themselves? Loadouts, Ordnance Drops, unlockable weapons through ranking up? It had nothing to do with the popular formula that is CoD?

So you have never critisised anything? Because if you did, you’d have to make your own version? You didn’t like your mum’s food, well go make better food yourself, didn’t like some music? Go make better yourself. Didn’t like that car? Go make a better one yourself.

Just because I can’t make something, doesn’t mean I can’t critisise it.

The usability of this game is low, but it can be higher, all i343 needs to do is to listen to the advice we fans give them.

70

“We’re taking the game back to it’s roots”
“It still feels like Halo, trust us”
“This game will last for years”

Yes, yes they let us down.

71

> While your introduction is ok, the fact is, get rid of the entitlement because of dedication notion and you’ll get some more respect then if you did things like you did.
>
>
>
> > Here are a list of problems I, and my friends found with the campaign:
> >
> > The Soundtrack - Now, I have to admit, I think that 343 have an absolutely amazing game soundtrack. However, you simply cannot compare it to the likes of the Halo 2 and Halo 3 soundtrack (The latter being my personal favorite.) It completely destroys the atmosphere when the music is too soft. It needs to be loud and almost ‘in-your face’ about it, it has to take you on a journey like a wave just like how it was with previous Halo Titles.
>
> Thanks for your opinion. I think the game and its soundtrack use was perfectly fitting.
>
>
>
> > Repetitive Gameplay - The Halo 4 campaign was not an experience you would remember. The campaign was essentially running from USB port to USB port there was no challenge for the gamer as you could easily just speed run every single level. (Excluding the Broadsword mission.) Long parts of missions were also just running back and forth and shooting people on the way. To put it bluntly, the campaign was just boring.
>
> Thanks for your opinion. I personally disagree.
>
>
>
> > In conclusion, the Halo 4 campaign experience was a major let down, the only the the campaign really had going for it was some of the cut-scenes and the graffix but to be honest, people play the campaign for the story not how it looks, I mean come on we’re not Call Of Duty here are we?
>
> lol. Again someone uses the COD argument like that actually means something.
>
> Thanks for your opinion again, but honestly, I can’t agree to any of it so far.
>
>
>
> > Oh wait, that’s exactly what has happened. When developing the game 343 had a look at what was popular, what made the most money and what attracted most fans. Take a guess what game they looked at. 343 ruined the classic Halo online multiplayer experience. There are an alarming number of ways in which 343 attempted to build a successful game by mimicking COD.
>
> I don’t say this for any other reason then you need to hear it:
>
> You really need to read this
>
> Yes, that is an old Halo 2 Thread which got preserved back in 2004. Look, just quit the whining about everything and go shoot your best friend in the head. This is not COD, will never be COD, and could never be COD. They are features which Halo previously didn’t utilize. you expect a franchise to evolve and grow not by keeping things the same or by manipulating other elements, but by looking at what is successful, which could be a feature or two from ANY game.
>
> Get with the program please. Thanks.
>
>
>
> > 1) Loadouts
> > 2) Grenade indicators
> > 3) Killcam
> > 4) Ordinance drops, comparable to kill-streaks
> > 5) Point system, instead of kill number
> > 6) Spartan Ops, comparable to Spec Ops
> >
> > These are, but to name a few of the ways in which 343 ruined Halo 4 multiplayer and if you don’t believe that they copied COD then you are just delusional. The game doesn’t even feel like Halo anymore. Halo used to be the one FPS that was different from the others. It stood out among the likes of “Battlefield”,“COD” and “Medal Of Honor”. It has now fallen into the same category as these games and is merely using the same ‘copy and paste’ formula that these games use. The multiplayer is way too fast-paced. In previous Halo titles you use to be able to have a plan and use strategy to out-wit your opponents. Now however, it is just a ‘run and gun’ game, no plan, no thought.
>
> Almost completely disagree. Almost. But then again, you sound like a youthful person, so its expected for you to react like this. No worries, you’ll see things differently when you get older (25+ roughly).
>
>
>
> > Among all of these problems there are even more. The armor is dreadful and with all of the detail they tried putting in they made all of the armor look ridiculous and cartoon-like. I know I’m not alone when I say that I’m annoyed that there is no human aerial vehicles. The only reason they don’t have them in the game is just so that they actually have something to put into Halo 5. Basically, its like given candy to a child taking it away from them so they want it even more and then give it back to them.
>
> You do realize how ill-suited that example is right? As for the armors, I personally don’t care. It’s an aesthetic thing I don’t really mind.
>
>
>
> > It is almost like 343 don’t even care about their fans. On the opening week there were constant server crashes. The file-browser still continues not to work to this day and they have basically spat on both the racing and competitive community by not having any race gametype and no ranked playlists what-so-ever. It doesn’t matter if they say that they are going to fix this because this is stuff that should have been there from day 1.
>
> Why? Why should it have been in from day 1? What constitutes a universally accepted competitive playlist, map, or otherwise? What is the recommended kill time differences? You do realize how insane this all sounds right? Look, I agree file browser, custom game options, and a few other things could have been included, but that they are absolutely necessary? No.
>
>
>
> > Although I enjoy the story of Spartan Ops, there is no doubt that it is not only a complete copy from the “Call Of Duty” ‘Spec Ops’ but it is a bad replacement for firefight. Spartan Ops completely lacks replayability and is boring as it offers no real challenge for the player.
>
> Go play the missions on Legendary, without friends and tell me you don’t find it difficult. Afterwards, try and do it under weapon restrictions like ONLY using forerunner or covenant weapons. It has replayability.
>
>
>
> > The maps are awful also, its no wonder that when you go into ‘Big Team’ people always vote for Ragnarok. Its because 343 didn’t even design the map!
> >
> > In conclusion, 343 have been handed a series which we all know and love and they have let us down. We put our trust in them and they let us down. They’ve taken what was once the best series of games for a console and flushed it down the toilet. Now, you’re going to have people saying that “You have to move on” and “Get with the times”. This is immature and childish. You don’t just take a franchise that people have played and loved for over 10 years and just change it because you wont your own name on it. That is exactly what 343 have done and I can say I feel nothing but disappointment and a sense of shame that we have gone so low.
>
> Thanks for your opinions. For the record, I disagree.

Thanks for your opinions. For the record, I and most people in this thread (and possibly the forums) disagree.

73

> > > Snip
> >
> > Here’s the thing though. Every single thing about the Halo franchise was handed to 343i on a silver platter. All they had to do was come up with an amazing story update graphics, and maybe tweak a thing or two. They could have had a game that everyone was satisfied with from day one. But no, they decided to take the winning gameplay and formula of Halo 2/3 and Yoink! all over it. All of the stuff that was changed, and added, was completely unnecessary to the series. This forum would be barren if they had stuck with what was successful from the very beginning.
>
> Huh? What is this? Evolution? Game changes? Doing something different than a re-hash? Something NEW? SOMETHING DIFFERENT? GASP Say it is not so! Ohhh, ohhh, the Humanity! Woe is we, to allow a company to take the handles of our beloved franchise and <mark>attempt</mark> something new and different, something fresh for us. Ohhhh, curseeee yooooooouu 343i for all your wonderful <mark>attempts</mark> at doing something for us, for the Halo franchise… you should have just copied Bungie and left it like that!
>
> Coughs Sorry, after all of that I had to get up all the SARCASM I had down in my throat.

I completely agree. I do think that they have the right to attempt to give us a game worthy of the title. However, they have not done that. Yes, they have “attempted”, but tried and failed if you ask me. The point of a series of games is not to change the newest one, but improve it.

74

> It’s a great beta when will the full game be released? Lol

Quote of the day!

75

> but the core gameplay didn’t change, its still the same, they just added and removed some features in an attempt to give the players something new to experience

I disagree. The only reason 343 changed it up like they did was to attract more fans. Specifically, those who play COD. Its no wonder they showcased all of those ‘COD like’ features. They just wanted more money.

> and besides, even if they had just copied the previous games, the forums would be filled with people complaining that nothing changed and screaming that 343i didn’t have the balls to try something new

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but have you seen the population for the game recently? Do you remember how high it was when the game first came out? A-lot of people don’t like the game, they don’t want to play it. You will always have people complaining about every game no matter what. That is inevitable. But the surge of threads and posts on this game regarding dislike, is larger than any game that Bungie or 343i produced. People don’t like the game.

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’

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Campaign: To be honest, Halo 4’s campaign is a way better campaign then Halo 3 and alittle better then Halo 2 (Master Chiefs side that is), alittle better then Halo Reach. Its the best part of Halo 4, playing as the Master Chief, exploring Requiem, battling the Prometheans, confronting the Didact and dealing with Cortana’s outburst and defending her from Del Rio (-Yoink- just got real). Its probably the best campaign to date. The only part of the game that not only didn’t talk the talk, it walked the walk.

Spartan OPs: Spartan Ops is great, and while its not firefight, comparably, I think its better then firefight because it has narrative and objectives too, and it isn’t just going through the same waves only alittle more difficult each time. You can say the story is boring, but thats really subjective because personally I enjoy how it takes place after the events of Halo 4, it continues the story line. You can say that it sucks because it uses the same enviornments but to that I say “so what?” How many times in firefight, and multiplayer do you play on the same maps? At least with Spartan Ops there are noteable differences. You can say that it isn’t that challenging; to that I can agree. Spartan Ops can be alot more challenging and enjoyable if players had a limited amount of lives or the potential to fail missions. Mass Effect 3 multiplayer does this exceptionally well.

78

> I dont think they let us down, they gave us more Halo games to play. MS could have easily ended halo forever. Instead, they built a dev studio from the ground up. I do feel however, that too many subcontractors have their hands in the pot. You have 343i, Certain Affinity, Axis Animation, Salavas Audio, Giant Studios and Cubic Motion all working towards a common goal and it appears that certain groups didnt meet their deadlines by the time the game went gold. Its good and bad for us as gamers.

Halo should have died, it had its time. Either make a proper Halo game with classic playlists (whether they are the main matchmaking playlists or not) or let the franchise die a decent death. Stop tormenting Halo fans with a half decent Halo - stop burning the franchise in front of our eyes.

79

> Campaign: To be honest, Halo 4’s campaign is a way better campaign then Halo 3 and alittle better then Halo 2 (Master Chiefs side that is), alittle better then Halo Reach. Its the best part of Halo 4, playing as the Master Chief, exploring Requiem, battling the Prometheans, confronting the Didact and dealing with Cortana’s outburst and defending her from Del Rio (Yoink! just got real). Its probably the best campaign to date. The only part of the game that not only didn’t talk the talk, it walked the walk.
>
> Spartan OPs: Spartan Ops is great, and while its not firefight, comparably, I think its better then firefight because it has narrative and objectives too, and it isn’t just going through the same waves only alittle more difficult each time. You can say the story is boring, but thats really subjective because personally I enjoy how it takes place after the events of Halo 4, it continues the story line. You can say that it sucks because it uses the same enviornments but to that I say “so what?” How many times in firefight, and multiplayer do you play on the same maps? At least with Spartan Ops there are noteable differences. You can say that it isn’t that challenging; to that I can agree. Spartan Ops can be alot more challenging and enjoyable if players had a limited amount of lives or the potential to fail missions. Mass Effect 3 multiplayer does this exceptionally well.

You make some strong points, thank you. I can still say that you have not shifted my opinion but I thank you for yours.

80

Campaign? How much dev time was wasted on the 20 seconds climbing bit in the first chapter? Too many switches… and keep button presses out of cut scenes please. Am I the only one that is lost on what the Librarian did for Chief? The only front 343i did good on was the graphics.

I’m not even going to get started on all the mp issues. I’ll just say this… I finally realized the only fun part of it is playing with friends and they quit playing weeks ago.

81

> Campaign? How much dev time was wasted on the 20 seconds climbing bit in the first chapter? Too many switches… and keep button presses out of cut scenes please. Am I the only one that is lost on what the Librarian did for Chief? The only front 343i did good on was the graphics.
>
> I’m not even going to get started on all the mp issues. I’ll just say this… I finally realized the only fun part of it is playing with friends and they quit playing weeks ago.

The Libarian, I presume, made chiefs genetics immune to the radiation or “electromagnetic wave” of the composer. Also, something just popped in my head, does the Composer effect other races? Or is it only tunned for forerunners (Warrior Caste) and Humans?