Halo 4: The Good, The Bad and The Nidpicks

Games Other Halo
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Hey all,

After playing Halo 4 for awhile, there are certain things that I think are great and others not so much. At least, for my own therapeutic reasons, I’d like to list my thoughts on Halo 4 through categories of what I like, what I love, what I dislike and what I hate. I’ll also finish with some of my “nidpicks”, which are minor grievances I have against the game. My nidpicks, however, possibly exist only because, to quote the Machinima review for Halo 4, “I’m jaded, have no soul and am dead inside”, haha.

Feel free to comment and/or add your own lists! My hope is that I can list these things and move on and just enjoy Halo 4! :slight_smile:

Also I’ll put a brief explanation for each list item in a spoiler underneath that item.

Things I Like About Halo 4:

  • Loadouts

When I first heard there would be loadouts in Halo 4, I was concerned. I feel, however, that 343 really got the loadouts right, so that weapon options merely allow players to chose a preference and strategy rather than gain an unfair advantage.- Hard Light Shields Replacing Armor Lock

If you played Halo: Reach long enough, you eventually had a bad experience with the Armor lock ability. Hard Light Shields do a great job in keeping the essence of the ability, but at the same time not being overpowered.- The Halo 4 Soundtrack

At first, I wasn’t sure of how I felt about the new soundtrack. When I got to the last level of the campaign, however, it really started to fit. It’s only gotten better for me since then. Try leaving the game open in the “press start” lobby when you first start the game. It’s very well put together. I would definitely not call it better than Marty O’Donnell’s scores, but I’m happy with the new direction composer Neil Davidge is taking the music in. If anything though, I’d like a bit more of a “theme”, but all in all, I’m pleased with the music.- The Mulitplayer Maps

I know some people out there don’t like the maps, some do and I’m just happy to have original maps that aren’t ripped out of the campaign like in Halo: Reach. Having 3 map packs planned to come out in the next few months is good to know too, even if you have to shell out the extra money for them. - Spartan Ops

I was a big fan of Firefight in Halo: Reach, and still miss it in Halo 4. But the void is somewhat filled by Spartan Ops, which I think is a great addition to the game. I love fighting the Prometheans and Spartan Ops gives me a fresh way to do that every week. And for free, which is a HUGE bonus. - Mulitplayer Games Load Quickly

Not really much to say. It’s good!- Mongoose and Warthog Mechanics

The Mongoose and Warthog feel more stable and more powerful and just feel more fun to drive in general.- Points For Assists And Other Things

They did this in Reach as well, but I feel that the points you accumulate in Halo 4 address more support issues and I’m very pleased about that.- Sprinting

Allowing sprinting to be standard really speeds up game play and allows for more action. Though not being able to turn sprinting off in Custom Games is very annoying.- Armor Unlocked Through Specific Commendations

I like having the sense of achievement when you unlock a commendation specific to a piece of armor. Good call on this one. Things I Love About Halo 4:

  • Ordnance

I think 343 absolutely nailed this. Ordnance only works to amplify gameplay and is perfectly balanced. Instead of everyone waiting for the Sniper to respawn on Ragnarok, you can get it in an Ordnance instead, that or another cool/powerful weapon. It was also a great decision to NOT let the player preset their Ordnance options. I think it’s better to keep it random, which keeps gameplay more dynamic.- Prometheans

The Prometheans are a FANTASTIC edition to the Halo universe and are more than a breath of fresh air in Campaign and Spartan Ops. Halo is finally getting a much needed new type of enemy. Nothing is more frustrating than a Watcher blocking your Incinerator Cannon shot at a Knight, but that’s just one of the many reasons make the Prometheans so great.- The Cut Scene Graphics and Spartan Ops Episodes

I’m a strong believer in the fact that gameplay and content make games and not graphics, but man, the cut scene graphics and Spartan Ops episodes are down right impressive. On the 7 year old hardware of the Xbox 360, it’s amazing what they accomplished. It’s also great to have the Spartan Ops episodes. Only wish they were a little longer, but a little more Halo lore never hurts.- New Weapons

Every weapon added has had a lot of great thought put into it. The Promethean weapons are based off more standard weapons, but are different enough that they provide a fresh appeal to the game. Take the Scattershot for example, it’s like a shotgun, but has a much higher fire rate, making it more useful in different situations. The only one I don’t like that much is the Storm Rifle, which seems like a very sub-par replacement of the Plasma Rifle.- The Halo 4 Campaign

The landscapes and the story is very well put together and tugs at the heart strings of veteran Halo fans. Tough to describe, great campaign.- Dominion and Big Team Battle

Dominion is a great new objective gametype. It incorporates both working as a team and an individual. It find it to be a very well thought out gametype and just love playing it with friends. I really enjoy Big Team Battle too! Still not sure why, fun to play with friends I guess, haha.Things I Dislike About Halo 4:

  • The War Games Layout

It doesn’t feel very user friendly to me. In the War Games lobby all the names are tilted to the side. It just feels like it was built without the player in mind. I don’t have as much of a problem with the start menu though.- Design Of The Covenant

Some may disagree with me on this, but the Covenant in general, just seem more monstrous through design and completely abandon the more intelligent Covenant of past games. Even if there’s a reason like I’ve been hearing, it would have been nice to have been given some kind of disclaimer.- Killcams

I’d much rather watch what my teammates are doing or look around my dead body for info on the battlefield than watch how I was just killed.- How Quickly Weapons And Bodies Despawn

Sometimes it’s nice walking around in Campaign and seeing all your carnage, or going back to pick up a weapon. If you go back to retrieve a weapon that was on the ground. Chances are, that it’s not there anymore.I’m running out of characters for this post, so I will continue in the post below. Thanks for reading this far! :slight_smile:

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Things I Dislike Like About Halo 4 (Continued):

  • Grenade Weakness

Grenades feel far less powerful in this game and sometimes I can’t even tell if I was just stuck. Plasma grenades are a shadow of what they used to be. Maybe some like this, I do not.- Join In Progress

While this is a useful option for pairing up with your friends more easily, I wish there was some kind of toggle switch that made it so you would only join games that hadn’t started yet. It’s annoying to join a game in which your team is already down 300 points.- Instant Respawn

Maybe some people like this, but I do not for one reason. The reason is, is that I’ll keep mashing the “X” button now to get back in the game and not think anywhere near as clearly. I know this is more on the part of the gamer to control his or herself, but I feel it would be more beneficial for the gamer and his or her team to have the players wait to respawn, rather than rushing back into the battlefield somewhat blindly because you’re angry that you were just killed. It’s kind of cheap on games like SWAT too, where you’ll die and instantly know where the other person is, being able to respond basically the second you die, look in the direction of the person and kill them.- Sniper’s Do Not Pull Out Of Scope When Hit

Coming from someone who probably enjoys sniping more than anything else in Matchmaking you think I’d like this, but it’s unfair. I think this addition, or more, subtraction in Halo 4 makes snipers too powerful. At least in past games you could spray some shots to possibly give you enough time to escape. But now you’re cannon fodder if found out in the open. Maybe this one’s more minor to others, but it really annoys me.- Weak Support For Theater Mode

No support for Spartan Ops OR Campaign? Come on…that’s a huge step backward in my book. I love taking Campaign screenshots and now I can’t do that or even record clips in Campaign? Very, very disappointing. Things I Hate About Halo 4:

  • Currently No Waypoint Support For Custom Files…Yet

I find it VERY lame on the part of 343 and Waypoint that there wasn’t an immediate online support for custom files in Halo 4. There is for Reach, so you would have to think that eventually Halo 4 will come, but it is highly disappointing to me and I’m sure to many Halo fans out there who understand how enjoyable custom gametypes, maps and screenshots can be.- Can’t Look At File Shares While Game Is Loading

Maybe this is only me, but this drove me NUTS in Halo: Reach and it seems that it will continue to anger and frustrate me in Halo 4. Back in the days of Halo 3, it was great to flip through other player’s file shares as the game loaded. It was a great way to see what the community had to offer one player at a time. As if to annoy me even more, there is a little “lock” icon next to the file share. It’s like they’re taunting me. I will note, however, that other player’s file shares are easier to access in the post-game report, so I will give 343 that much.- No Equivalent To Bungie Favorites

As you may have noticed by now, I really care a lot about custom files and custom games and it’s a theme for a reason. This was one of my biggest disappointments with Halo: Reach. Bungie Favorites in Halo 3 was a perfect way to showcase the talent and hard work of Halo fans. While Halo Waypoint tries to showcase some things, there should be an in-game page for 343 Favorites, or whatever you want to call it. It’s just a simple thing that 343 could have done to show they care about the fans. I’m very disappointed that it was neglected.- Custom Games…Custom Games…Need I Say It Again

Another thread on Halo Waypoint does a great job listing the limitations of Halo 4’s custom games. I’ll list the link below in this spoiler. I really feel that 343 did not appreciate how great of an experience custom games can be in Halo. A lack of a Race gametype or even VIP is crushing to me. A lack of ability to change the traits and appearance of the Flood in the “Flood” gametype is almost jaw dropping, considering Flood is essentially the replacement of Infection. All they had to do was add a basic Infection gametype. But I digress. Here is a link to another Halo Waypoint Forum topic if you want to read more about the disappointments in custom games:

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst127421_Custom-game-options-are-unacceptable--343.aspx

Now I’ll go into the more minor things that I liked about Halo 4. Maybe some of you consider them to be a big deal, some not a worth mentioning, but this is just my personal list. This will be followed by the minor things I don’t like, and that will be all. :slight_smile:

Nidpicks That I Like In Halo 4:

  • Many Different Armor Options.
  • Most If Not All Emblems Are Retained, Even If You Have To Unlock Them.
  • More Commendations.
  • More Challenges And They Are Specific To Each Lobby.
  • Specializations Look Interesting, But I’ll Have To See About Them.
  • “Spartan Points” Instead of CR from Halo: Reach To Unlock Things.
  • Gauss Warthogs Available In Forge.
  • In-Game Graphics Update.
  • Promethean Vision Makes Me Feel Like An Apex Predator, haha.
  • Great Voice Acting In The Campaign.
  • The “Speed Boost”, “Damage Boost”, etc… options in Ordnance.

Nidpicks of Halo 4:

  • Can’t Drop Flag In CTF.
  • Playlist Selection Layout Isn’t Organized.
  • No Playlist That Has Different Gametypes In It, i.e. Team Objective.
  • Those Moments When Your Kill Came Lags And It Shows The Player Who Killed You Shooting A Wall And Somehow Killing You.
  • Lack Of Humor From Marines And In General In The Campaign.
  • No Brutes or Skirmishers.
  • Elites Seem To Lack Emotion, Just Seem Very Uncivilized As Compared To Halo 3.
  • Too Difficult To Change Teams In Custom Games.
  • No Meter That Shows You How Much “Sprint” You Have Left While Sprinting.
  • No Firefight (This Is Asking Too Much I Guess, But I Miss It).
  • No “Countdown” For Matchmaking On How Much Longer Until The Game Starts.
  • “Precision Forging” Isn’t There Anymore.
  • Can’t Change Vote In Matchmaking.
  • Skulls Are Unlocked Automatically, Would Have Rather Had To Unlock Them, Honestly.
  • No Scoring System For Campaign Or Spartan Ops.
  • Theater Mode Only Seems To Save Your Most Recent Game (Maybe I’m Wrong About This).
  • No “Fast Forward” Feature In Theater Mode.
  • Medals Feel Less Important And Less Emphasized On The Screen.

And that is where I’ll end my list. Thanks for reading everyone. Overall, I feel a little disappointed by Halo 4, but I at same time I acknowledge that this was HUGE undertaking for 343 Industries and the expectations for this game were enormous. It is still a great game and I will definitely be playing it a lot. I think 343 really excelled in a lot of areas, but fell a little short in some departments, especially custom games, where most of my disappointment stems from.

I look forward to coming additions and edits to Halo 4 and to future Halo games. There’s room for improvement, but I think the franchise is in good hands. :slight_smile:

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Seriously I get a sniper. I get splattered. I spawn right where I died and the sniper is already gone. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- WHY IS THE WEAPON DE-SPAWN SO QUICK! 12 SECONDS!

Also every time I try to join regicide i join in progress. I wouldn’t mind this if the game is only a kill in. But every single time the leader already has 200 points. I really do hate the join in progress. It is something that really doesn’t belong in a Halo game. Another small issue is the instant re-spawns. If I kill someone they will re-spawn instantly and get revenge on me before my shields even recharge. Another issue is the lack of power weapons spawning on the map, they spawn at the beginning and then a couple occasionally spawn in between. And since the weapons de-spawn so quickly there are almost never any power weapons on the entire map. It turns into only BR and DMR battles. And probably my final issue is Ragnarok being in KotH and CTF. The map is too big to support so few players. You will only have 5 players attempting to take down a Mantis, but since the Mantis takes so much damage and is almost impossible to get close enough to board or use a Plasma Pistol, it becomes a big nuisance for the team who lost their Mantis.

These were the only problems that I am really having with Halo 4 that could use a quick patch. Other than these problems I think this is probably the Second greatest Halo ever made. Number one being Halo CE. I would really like to see these things get patched in the near future. I would like to thank you for bringing a CSR in the near future as well(I literally jumped for joy when I heard the news :D) Thank you for your time.

ExZy

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That’s a pretty thorough list. Brace yourself: complaint posts about you allegedly complaining are coming.

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I thought I was pretty fair, especially adding what I liked along with what I did not.

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> I thought I was pretty fair, especially adding what I liked along with what I did not.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I think you did a wonderful job. It’s just… to put it politely… these forums aren’t exactly known for their rational atmosphere. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Yeah, we’ll see what happens…or if it even gets noticed. xD
At least I’ll have my thoughts out there, though. Makes me feel better.

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Very good stuff, I’m glad you added customization in the negatives

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Thanks! :slight_smile:
It really is a big issue with me.

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> Very good stuff, I’m glad you added customization in the negatives

Ditto.

Pretty solid list of the pros and cons of H4.

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Just commenting to let you know I thought your list was pretty good, especially about the custom games and lack of fileshare support. That in particular is really annoying me.

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I agree on seriously everything you said here. I am VERY disappointed in 343 that we have no options for sharing content with each other like every other halo on day 1. No sharing of any maps at all. I also agree that the playlist should include more than one game type like team objective.

the community just feels dead…

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These are great points! I didn’t read too much into the spoilers due to the fact i didnt beat the game yet…anyway hopefully this thread will gain popularity and the flaws you see will be fixed! Hopefully…

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> I agree on seriously everything you said here. I am VERY disappointed in 343 that we have no options for sharing content with each other like every other halo on day 1. No sharing of any maps at all. I also agree that the playlist should include more than one game type like team objective.
>
> the community just feels dead…

I think the community is resilient and will find ways. For example I read in another thread about a way to do a race gametype using King of the Hill that was pretty clever. :slight_smile:

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Most of that I agree with, but I have a few differences:

-The removal of zoom in forge is just weird
-Gravity boxes are annoying to use, because if you put one right next to the other and then stand in the middle, both will affect you (they should have been treated as a trait zone)
-I hate Promethean Vision, it is Halo 4’s version of Armor Lock (to take up the “noob” spot). Being able to see people through walls is extremely annoying. It reminds too much of Enhanced Vision from Shadowrun, or as it was nicknamed in that game “Noob Vision”
-Lack of variety in matchmaking (each playlist only having one gametype) leads to matchmaking getting stale very quickly (already have no motivation to play Matchmaking, and I am at level 47)
-Campaign’s plot felt rushed, short, and most areas were copy/pastes of previous Halo games. It seems like 343 has no real originality when it comes to the campaign, only good plot bit was between Cortana and Chief.
The campaign is fun though, but the story is lacking, and the Didact was portrayed as a 2 dimensional b-movie villain (you shouldn’t have to read outside material to understand why this character wants to kill everyone)
-Same applies to the Storm Covenant