I think that in order to make the flood more enjoyable to fight, they need to make different pure forms (that can’t transform into eachother) and they need to give them some more color. Now I don’t mean color like the covenant, but maybe a little brighter. Maybey orange instead of brown. Players don’t want to feel like they are fighting poo.
The flood shouldn’t be growing everywhere on the wall and everything, or that just desensitises you to it and it isn’t scary to you anymore.
They need to include the Juggernaut, and the forms from halo wars.
the infection process should be much more drawn out as well.
We need a greater variety. Look at some of the Flood from Origins and Mona Lisa. Throw things like that in, make them seem more like an all consuming parasite.
> We need a greater variety. Look at some of the Flood from Origins and Mona Lisa. Throw things like that in, make them seem more like an all consuming parasite.
This.
Flood all looked the same. Whenever I saw an Elite major being infected, I made sure to keep him alive because the red Elite Flood brought something new to the experience.
Throwing in just new Pure Forms isn’t the answer.
We also need to throw in some confusion. Like Private Jenkins. Like half Flood (victims that look like they did when they were infected but have Flood AI) which could be used as infiltrators (doing so would mean they adjust the friendly AI instantly noticing enemy AI which is unrealistic, but not so much that they are inept like Reach troopers).
Floodgate could have been a way better level if it had featured half Flood. Instead of infection forms swarming the marines at the beginning, some of them could turn against each other, killing the marines then attacking you. And it would be scary to see marines jumping at you. Instead of the flamethrower marine getting killed, when he notices you he turns on you. Then that crazy marine would have something to be really scared of.
Also, Flood need to be more durable. In H3, it was just melee, melee, melee, which got real boring.
They also need to reintroduce vehicle driving Flood (in H3, Flood could board vehicles but couldn’t use them. Same thing with half Flood, but they could board and temporarily use Banshees!!) as well as camo Flood.
Finally, bigger numbers. Also go to 7 minutes, 3 seconds to see only Elite combat forms. What a sight right? In all our gameplay, there weren’t that many Elite combat forms at once.
Infector: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HYmKSk38bQ0/TeegDK_bgSI/AAAAAAAAADY/4-oEfxmduQs/s1600/1.Infector+Pure.png this would be cool it could maybe spray out some gas filled with flood spores at you. This would damage your shields, and when it sprayed the marine, there could be an awesome annimation of the marine becoming infected. And then they could combine the infector with the ranged form so that it would stand a chance at combating you.
More variety. We’ve got combat forms (which can be humans, brutes or elites but are more or less exactly the same), infection forms, and carrier forms (which I think are infected grunts but don’t quote me on that). Why not more? Infected drones, infected jackals, infected sentinels (is that even possible?), the list can go on. Not to mention the pure forms. Halo Wars had a great diversity in the Flood. Halo 4 can do that as well.
Basically, the Flood should not simply rely on sheer numbers but also incorporate some (minor) “character” traits of those it has taken over. For instance, we never saw Elite Combat Forms act slightly like Elites…Flood always charge no matter who or what they are.
They should still be a litteral flood…but with a bit more strategy from their side, they would be more fun to fight. They shouldn’t be as strategic as the Covenant were for instance, because that wouldn’t fit their character.
Also, greater variety would do them good. The flying Flood from Wars for instance, could replace the Drones. Or the Thrashers from Wars, also good additions.
More different Pure forms would also add more dynamic traits to fighting Flood, as they could constantly change and shift the way battles are fought.
Basically what the Flood should have:
Infection Forms
Carrier Forms
Combat Forms
Flood Swarms
Thrasher Forms
Pure Forms
Juggernauts
And maybe include a Flood Form that kind of acts like Engineers: reviving/strengthening the Flood at times.
We need more variety and have them play in such a way that you have to think about how to kill them rather than just pump them full of lead. Look at the Lambent in Gears 3. The mutating Drudges could throw you for a loop; the Gunkers were like the ultimate Tank Form; Beserkers and so on, so on.
With the Flood as it stands, the issue is really with the Combat, Tank and Stalker forms. They’re not really fun to fight; all you do is shoot them till they drop, no real thought required.
> More variety. We’ve got combat forms (which can be humans, brutes or elites but are more or less exactly the same), infection forms, and carrier forms (which I think are infected grunts but don’t quote me on that). Why not more? Infected drones, infected jackals, infected sentinels (is that even possible?), the list can go on. Not to mention the pure forms. Halo Wars had a great diversity in the Flood. Halo 4 can do that as well.
Carrier forms are formed from older Combat Forms, or from infected bodies that are unsuitable for combat. Almost all the species in Halo are suitable for that. As for the Sentinels, no, they can’t be infected as they are not organic.
> We need a greater variety. Look at some of the Flood from Origins and Mona Lisa. Throw things like that in, make them seem more like an all consuming parasite.
This, basically. Oh, and throw in Halo Wars.
I would love them to produce some awesomely chilling (and fun to fight) pure forms.
I think there should be more variety, but the flood should also be in firefights or as obstacles that are in custom games with flexible control on which ones and how many show up.
The Flood should be involved in levels where the player has many allies with him or her; show the squad being turned against the player. Of course, for game-play reasons, it would need to be much easier to save the allies from transforming.
As far as looks, I would like to see the infection forms leave dead bodies, rather than just potting out of existence. I imagine that that might cause issues with the processor suddenly having to render dozens of those things every battle, though.
Speaking of Flood, do we even know that they will be IN this game?
Instead of the flamethrower marine getting killed, when he notices you he turns on you. Then that crazy marine would have something to be really scared of.