Halo 4 Multiplayer Review (Written by xl Prado lx)
Introduction
If I had to describe this game to a person who was lying on ground, dying, I would say “They were SO close!” What were they close to?
Perfection
Halo 4 was the closest to beating Halo 2 since 3. That is a big thing from me, a guy who hates most mainstream games. I’m a huge fan of the Halo series, and I haven’t missed a single title. My story with Reach was special, Halo 3 was actually boring to me, and I think Halo 1 is the worst Halo (When compared to the series)
Going on from what I said about CE, each new Halo improves upon its predecessors in some ways. All the way up to ODST, we see phenomenal improvements. Then, Reach showed us a different playing game that failed to cater to its casual market. After, I see Halo 1 Anniversary. I was a little worried from what I saw, because I didn’t see any improvements on the game as far as gameplay is concerned. That made me and 343 not so good friends.
With leaks, trailers, and gameplay being littered into Youtube before its release I was impressed with what I saw. I even had some thumbs up from some Pros, making me sigh in relief. Finally, the game comes out and all my friends pick it up on midnight. They grow to hate it, even the newcomers.
But, all my friends had a record of terrible judgment and I wasn’t gonna believe them. I just told myself, “They’re just butthurt, nothing to worry about.” Who would’ve known I would join them in casual rage sessions?!
Interface
As the title states, this is a multiplayer ONLY review. Imo, the Campaign was fantastic and Spartan Ops was uninspired. Anyway, I’ll start from the beginning of purchase.
The second disc could not be more of a waste of plastic. You put it in, install the multiplayer, and switch back to the first disc. You’ll never use that second disc! (WARNING: This review is nitpicky, but it all adds up)
Upon starting the game for real, you’ll see that the main menu has been downgraded. Gone is the extremely conventional Reach menu. I’ll have you know, there is no excuse for this other than to give more evidence that this game is a reboot. I’m serious; I looked at the interface and said “GOOD GOD, WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU! T.T”
The Reach menu was the most organized and easy to navigate menu in Halo so far. This game gives it the finger and walks away. Before, I didn’t have to worry about not having a HDTV, but now I do! I’m being serious, why is the text so small?! AND WHY IS EVERYTHING BLUE??!!! None of this would’ve been a problem had they just kept to the Reach style and improved upon it! I don’t even want to go into how it isn’t even finished. (File Share & Theater)
Matchmaking Searching/Playlists
For the first time in my Halo career, I have to bite my nails in fear hoping that we get even teams. Why? Oh wait, JOIN IN PROGRESS. Searching doesn’t prioritize on even teams, expecting the join in progress feature to fill in the gaps. What were they thinking? I don’t want to play Halo and hope to have backup when I’m outnumbered 1 to 3!! This is a step back, and it can cause some unbearable situations. (Thankfully, there is no penalty to leaving as far as I know) Join in progress is no excuse for this, and I hope they fix this.
Now, I’m going to compliment the game. I loved the selection of playlists! It stuck to the core of Halo, and it even offered Flood for the guys who didn’t care. Great job 343, keep up the good work on these playlists!
Customization
Good god, why 343. Why. Why. Why 343.
I can accept them putting in classes, I can do it. As long as they don’t copy paste the concept, and instead adjust it to Halo! They don’t, and it is really hurting this game. The grenade and sidearm category is NOT necessary! WHY THE F*** WOULD YOU LET PEOPLE CHOOSE GRENADES?! WHY? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! If I’ve learned anything about customization in Halo, it is that you don’t let people in charge of your game.
EVERYONE chooses the plasma grenade. “Oh wait, Prado, not everyone uses i-“
SHUT. THE. FLIP. UP.
Everyone uses plasma grenades, and when they know they won’t win they’ll resort to spamming stickies. (If you’re good at Halo, this happens to you CONSTANTLY) Was the sidearm category even necessary? Honestly, the plasma pistol is the really rude uncle at a family reunion.
“Hey! The whole family is here- oh, who invited him.”
“Sorry… we couldn’t just ignore him. It wouldn’t be right.”
This is just annoying, and will constantly bother you. There is no escaping it; you will see stickies and the occasional plasma pistol. (Don’t say the plasma pistol isn’t that bad, they changed the sound so that it isn’t even discernible among gunfire now)
Moving onto armor. The armor isn’t that cool in this game. Only the helmets are good, and the other pieces just aren’t that distinctive. The stances and visors are cool, making you want to level up if you care about it. Leveling up is laughably easy, making the game feel unrewarding. I’m bored already, and I bought this thing a week ago.
Ordinance
Ordinance, the newest and main feature in Halo 4 multiplayer, sucks. Of course, you have the first drops and those are ok. Just your normal power weapons, some placements are more debatable than others. What I’m saying that sucks though is the killstreaks. Killstreaks are completely random, and aren’t adjusted to the map you play on. You could literally get any weapon, no matter what map you are on. It isn’t even that hard to get one! Eventually, even some n00b will get one.
This is where the game mainly fails. You aren’t punished for dying, you will eventually get an ordinance and so will the enemy. A complete n00b will be given an incinerator on HAVEN! This turns Halo into a crazy and unbalanced arena shooter! Everyone is running with power weapons, and the maps aren’t designed for that!
The maps in this game are fantastic! Some of the best in this series even! BUT. They weren’t designed for all these random ordinances and grenade spams! The maps feel like they were designed for Classic Halo, and it shows when you play Slayer Pro.
^This is my biggest gripe in Halo, and it is completely game breaking.
Some Significant Nitpicks
This is the loudest Halo ever. The sound system has been completely redesigned, and it is actually downgraded. Reach & 3 were very silent games which helped you discern the exact distance and direction of shots and footsteps easily.
This is much harder to do now. I played in three different setups. One with my Tritton AX720’s, Turtlebeach X12’s, and my Surround Sound Speaker system in my man cave. Significantly harder, but not to the point where it isn’t there. There is just too much guess work and not enough precision to my liking.
Speaking of precision… scoping in and out. A lot of you knew I was going to mention this. It doesn’t take any argument to say that this change was not needed. For those who don’t know, whenever you were shot in past Halo games when aiming down the sights (ADS) you would be forced out of your scope. Now, if you’re shot while ADS you aren’t forced out of your scope. THIS SUCKS.
Part of the skill to Halo was in this concept! This was major to sniping, since it forced you to no-scope if you wanted to survive a close up fight. Not now! This has been replaced with recoil! When shot while ADS your sight will be shoved upward slightly. This can be easily adapted to, making recoil a terrible balancing tool.
