HUNTERS AND HALO 4

Games Other Halo
1

Greeting, Halo 4umers (cwatididthar?).

In Halo 4, I believe that humanity is going to make at least one encounter with the remnants of the Covenant Separatists, may it be good or bad.

That being said, there is a possibility that we may, once again, see Hunters in Halo 4. There has been a Halo 4 Hunter figurine showcased at some toyfair or something, and, though it is probably just for place-holder purposes at this moment, I think it gives us a hint that certain Covenant species will make an appearance in Halo 4.

So, on to my main discussion.

If Hunters are included in Halo 4 somehow, what would you want them to be like?

Let’s start in terms of appearance. Here’s what all Hunters have looked like throughout all of the Halo games.

Halo CE Hunter
Halo 2 Hunter
Halo 3 Hunter
Halo 3 ODST Hunter
Halo Reach Hunter

In my opinion, I think 343 should base Halo 4’s Hunter off of the Reach one for looks. The Hunter managed to pull off a huge graphical overhaul from Halo 3 ODST to Reach, and I think this was for the better, of course.

The Reach Hunter itself just looks like more of a threat than the others in the series. With the increased amount of armor and the large spikes on its back, the Reach Hunter appears as if it can take and deliver damaging hits, which it most certainly can. It also towers over the player, though the only reason they may appear larger is because in Reach, we played as the much smaller Spartan-III’s, but, keep in mind, Hunters tend to reach heights of up to thirteen feet tall, six feet taller than the Master Chief himself.

Now, on to gameplay.

Over the past ten years, the Hunters behavior has changed a bit. In CE, they are, in my opinion, extremely too easy to kill (even on Legendary) for the behemoths that they appear to be. Halo 2 upped the challenge, as did Halo 3 and ODST, but they still didn’t feel like the juggernauts that they were suppose to be.

Reach was really the Halo that transformed the Hunter into a real threat, though I still wish they were more menacing. Well, in Reach they are definitely more intelligent than the other ones in the series. This time around, they actually use that giant shield on their arms as, well, a shield, which makes it more challenging for the player to kill it.

And when you attempted to get behind the creature to shoot it in the most vulnerable spot on its form, the back, it would respond by immediately acknowledging the threat and splatter your Spartan into a pancake. I liked that, even though I was paying for it. The Hunter knew when danger was coming, and it responded violently, making it, again, more difficult to engage and kill.

More aggressiveness was also granted to the Hunter in Reach, allowing it to rush at its attacker and attempt to destroy the foe, while also being intelligent and using its shield to deflect incoming hostile projectiles. Pretty decent creature the Covenant has on their hands.

For my final thoughts, I believe that the Hunter, if implemented into Halo 4, should be based off of the Reach Hunter in terms of both appearance and combat style. The appearance, in my opinion, is perfect. Maybe the Halo 4 Hunter could look even more menacing, but I don’t know how it could look any more threatening that it already is right now.

The fighting style should be based off of Reach’s, in terms of intelligence and aggressiveness. I like a Hunter that actually knows how to defend itself, and I think the Halo 4 Hunter should somehow be more intelligent and aggressive than it already is when dealing with enemies.

As for weaponry, I’d love for the Halo 4 Hunter to be able to utilize its fuel rod cannon to the fullest by being able to switch firing modes. The Hunter can use a single burst of the fuel rod or a long stream, depending on the situation, of course.

Well, those are my ideas regarding the possibilities of Hunter returning in Halo 4. If you stuck around for this long, you’ve earned yourself a cookie.

(::slight_smile:

How do you want your Halo 4 Hunter to be?

2

Well presented!

> If Hunters are included in Halo 4 somehow, what would you want them to be like?

I want them to be fast, intelligent, and threatening without being damage sponges.

Imagine a Hunter with an assault cannon whip. A whip is much more flexible than a sword. It’d be like fighting Juggernauts.

I’d like to see Hunters that move faster with loss of armor, like Darknuts. I’m thinking about the Twilight Princess Darknuts. Also recall that CE Hunters were relentless in their pursuit of the player and they could catch up to you if you weren’t moving forward.

I agree about interchangeable firing modes. I’d also like to see new firing modes.

Rapid fire mode:

From Halo wiki

> When using the Bump Possession cheat in Halo: Combat Evolved to control a Hunter, holding left click down and repeatedly right clicking allows the controlled Hunter to rapidly fire its Assault Cannon without overheating.

Finally, I’d like their assault cannon to be able to be used by the player (but only the fuel rod or beam firing mode can be used. The other modes are inaccessible).

Hunters are likened to equipment or weapon platforms. Why? Because of their fire power. Not because of their durability. Which is why I want them to be faster, not tougher.

> Let’s start in terms of appearance.

Reach Hunters but less bulky and more distinguishing features (their headpieces resemble Elite minor and commando helmets. Let’s see some crests, honor guard adornments, etc.).

> Now, on to gameplay.
>
> Reach was really the Halo that transformed the Hunter into a real threat, though I still wish they were more menacing. Well, in Reach they are definitely more intelligent than the other ones in the series. This time around, they actually use that giant shield on their arms as, well, a shield, which makes it more challenging for the player to kill it.
>
> And when you attempted to get behind the creature to shoot it in the most vulnerable spot on its form, the back, it would respond by immediately acknowledging the threat and splatter your Spartan into a pancake. I liked that, even though I was paying for it. The Hunter knew when danger was coming, and it responded violently, making it, again, more difficult to engage and kill.

That is undoubtedly true, but it’s basically a copy and paste of an aspect of Tank Form AI behavior.

Not that threatening though. The reverse melees for each AI are unimpressive and slow down fights. I liked being able to go around the enemy and getting an assassination and how if I missed my chance, they would distance themselves from me rather than continuing in their melee attempts. In H3 and Reach, all one has to do is touch the enemy in the back, go around, and repeat. As long as he keeps touching the Covie, the Covie will continue doing the reverse melee.

343 should do something else like giving the Hunter an overhead swing rather than making Hunters keep doing those those -Yoink!- reverse melees.

3

I want the hunters ( if they have to return to Halo 4 ) to come in many different forms.

  • The extremely fast and deadly hunter, with less health than normal ( which doesn’t say much since hunters have a lot of health ). This variant will have more “silent” weapons, and should be able to go invisible.

  • traditional hunter ( but improve their melee system, they are way too easy to own right now because of how bad they are at hitting you). Maybe give them different types of guns.

  • And the HEAVY DUTY hunter : Huge fricking guns , massive health, can throw objects, can do really fast charges ( kind of like the tank from Left 4 Dead 2 ). These would count as mini-bosses.

I think the more variation in the enemys the better.

4

i’d like them to be as they SHOULD be
they should strike fear into players, regardless of difficulty

in all the halos so far, hunters are quite easy to deal with, their back are epic weak points, their melees take too much time and deal too little damage, and their Beams are only usefull to move objects around, their cannons, are more effective, but still badish

in reach, the only thing they want to do, is melee, and they’re bad at it, they can’t counter back hits very well, and combined with the fact that they always charge the player isn’t helping

they also should be a danger for land vehicles, but they really aren’t

in my warthog, i can easily drive around them while my gunners rip them up, without the hunter’s beams even touching me

in mongeese, they drive fast, and are useful to dodge hunter beams

in covie vehicles, the easiest way to rid of hunters, it to splatter them, it’s pathetic

in scorpions and wraiths…heh, one or two shots, and one of them is dead, not even a challenge

i respect hunters for their baddas-ness, they are also my favorite Covenant species but they are too easy to defeat

5

I’d like to see some massive Hunters like the ones in Halo Legends, The Duel. Those would be fun to fight, especially if you are able to board them to take them out.

I’d also like to see the return of different classes of Hunter like in ODST. You have the regular blue ones with fuel rods, and then the gold ones with Scarab type beams.

6

> I’d like to see some massive Hunters like the ones in Halo Legends, The Duel. Those would be fun to fight, especially if you are able to board them to take them out.
>
> I’d also like to see the return of different classes of Hunter like in ODST. You have the regular blue ones with fuel rods, and then the gold ones with Scarab type beams.

Holly crap! that is awesome. Those are like frisking dinosaurs!!!

7

Hunters are my 2nd favorite species to fight next to elites. However, in Reach they are too slow and too easy. The automatic reverse melee is something I’ve noticed. I’d like to see a Hunter back off instead of relentlessly reverse melee-ing. Switching firing modes is also a good idea. At long range they’d attack with the beam; at mid-range, a rapid fire fuel rod shot (say, 5 shots at a time). Close range wouldn’t always be shield-arm melees, but maybe some close range fuel rod gun blasts (if you hang around in one spot too long). They should be able to chase you (and catch up).

Visually I think the Reach model was a huge step in the right direction. More armor looks great and green > purple.

I’d also like to see a few different ranks. In ODST there were “gold Hunters”, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them return.

8

If the Hunters are back they probably will not be part of the covenant. The hunters only joined the covenant because there home planet would of been destroyed. Most of the hunters joined the Elite’s once they separated from the covenant. They respected the elites courage and ultimately causing them to be allies. Even though there are few that stayed with the covenant. Ultimately the new world that the chief lands on could hold the Mgalekgolo worms. They could be shown in different forms. I think it would be cool if the same covenant species are shown but they aren’t unified. More like animals.