Expect this to be a big read…
So, with the new weapon tuning, bumped up base player movement, and the new updates to the maps, I’m going to give my thoughts about them in my first day (a total of 12 hours played).
First off, the quickest thing to say, the bumped base player movement.
The first thing I have to say about this is: Thruster Pack is now finally useful. I know there’s many people out there that loved the old version of Thruster Pack, but I never found it useful. It barely did anything, IMO. But now, it’s just awesome. It finally moves you a good distance, and is actually useful to dodge things/get into cover. It is now my second AA choice.
As for the 110% movement speed, with the buffed kill times, this player speed bump was definitely needed. I can’t tell that much of a difference, but I can say that it definitely helps the gameplay speed, making it faster, making it closer to Halo 2/3.
I’m very glad about this bump, and was a great move by 343i.
Now, onto the weapon tuning. This one’s going to take a while. I’ll first say that when 343i said the word “slight” on both the BR’s and LR’s RoF, they seriously meant slight.
LR: This is where the word “slight” comes in. When 343i said they slightly decreased the unzoomed RoF, I immediately became sad. My favorite Loadout weapon, and they just made its unzoomed shoot slower, the even slower kill time won’t be able to compete with anything else, making the LR seem near worthless now (but overpowered at long range, making it a hardcore camping rifle, which is no me gusta). Well, when I first fired the new slowed down unzoomed RoF… I barely noticed a difference. I could tell it wasn’t as fast, but it was pretty close to what it was originally. My worries are now over. As for the zoom, it’s not overpowered as I thought it was going to be, but I can definitely beat DMR users at long range pretty easily (just not as easy as I thought it was going to be). Stability is still needed for zoom, and skill is still needed for the weapon overall. The zoom-unzoom trick still works very well. I’m very happy.
BR: The 4sk classic BR. If you’ve always loved the Halo 2 BR, then this is the BR for you. It feels right at home. Seriously. Though I do have mixed feelings about its RoF; I think its RoF may be too quickly, but at the same time, it seems right; It competes near equally against both the DMR and Carbine, but at times it seems to kill too quickly. Either way, I’m loving this Halo 2-like BR.
Carbine: The Carbine is finally useful, and fits well with the new sandbox. You’d be surprised how a 1sk difference makes so much of a difference. I’m glad the Carbine is now finally useful, and I’ll definitely be using it now.
DMR: The one you guys are probably all wondering about. It still has the highest bullet magnetism of all the precision weapons, which can still make it considered the “noob rifle”. But it no longer dominates, I can assure you that. It competes equally with the other precision weapons, and loses to the automatics every time. Its reduced RRR makes this weapon still the long range rifle, but not a super long range domination gun; Which makes combat more fluid and faster paced. I’m going to be completely honest, the DMR now fits well with the sandbox, and I don’t mind it now at all.
AR: It still has the longest range of all the Loadout automatics, but it now requires a bit more skill. It can do pretty good at close range.
Storm Rifle: I could definitely tell its RRR was definitely reduced. While I haven’t tried using it outside of its RRR, my friends say that it seems to have less spread now, which makes it a skill required automatic at the range of the AR. Its great at killing at close range. I’ve fallen in love with this automatic all over again.
Suppressor: While not as terrible as it once was, I still think its pretty bad (or at least, worse than the other two automatics).
SAW: Dat kill time. Not overpowered, but man, is it awesome to use. Don’t leave this weapon lying around anymore.
Warthog Chain Gun Turret: It kills very quickly. Enemies seem to drop near instantly. I know a lot of people have been asking for a health buff, but this damage buff seems to be an amazing supplement instead.
Mantis Chain Gun: I was very worried that the Mantis would become overpowered. I mean, rockets, stomp, shields, mobility, tough health, it sounded like a chain gun buff would just be ridiculous. But one thing makes it not overpowered, and that’s the bloom. The bloom makes sure that the chain gun is not overpowered. But at close ranges (and especially against the Banshee), the chain gun is great. Not overpowered, but great.
343i did an amazing job with the weapon buffs. While I wondered why 343i didn’t just make the DMR worse, I now know why they didn’t. They did a way better job by not going that route.
Next, the map updates. Firstly, I think the Sniper Rifles on both Solace and Abandon seem to respawn way too quickly.
Anyways, the Initial Drops now all respawn. Which is great, and should’ve been done in the first place.
The maps Abandon and Adrift now have Overshield spawn in the middle instead of Scattershot/Sword. Other than that, most of the maps’ original weapon spawns are now replaced with different weapons. Most of the BTB maps have brand new weapon spawns/placements.
Adrift’s attics now have an extra crate in them. At the front of one of the bases on Solace has crates on both sides of it so you can jump up top quicker (The other base needs something equal to that so they’re both equal, IMO). That’s about it, map movement wise. (I did not play Haven today, unfortunately)
Now, the BTB maps are the maps that got the biggest changes. Ragnarok just got a Rocket Hog added to each base. Longbow now has a Banshee and a Gauss Hog at each initial base, and there’s 4 Shade Turrets on top of Bravo (which are near worthless, but it’s funny to see them there; I’m assuming they’re more of destroy-able cover than actual weapons). Exile now has a Rocket Hog at each base (no Gauss Hog), and a Mantis spawns in the middle (instead of a Scorpion which spawned closer to A). Meltdown now has a Guass Hog at each base. And Vortex now has a Gauss Hog and Mantis at each intial base, with a Banshee where the original Gauss Hog was.
BTIS Vortex is the funnest I’ve ever had in BTIS. (All my friends also agree on this)
Overall, Halo 4 is just awesome now, IMO. I’ve always really liked it, but now I love it. My top three favorite Halo games were Halo 2, Halo 3, and then Halo 4. But now, Halo 4 and Halo 3 have switched places. Halo 4 is now my second favorite Halo game. It’s just so much fun now. The gameplay reminds me of Halo 3, but a better version of it. I seriously love what 343i’s done with Halo 4 with this newest Matchmaking update. Everything just feels right.
Amazing job, 343i. You’ve really outdone yourselves with this update. Just amazing.