I played Halo 4 for three hours at RTX...

Games Other Halo
1

So 343 was kind enough to invite me to an after hours session of Halo 4 (In attendance was Rooster Teeth, Frankie, BS angel, Bravo and a few other community members)

I played 4v4 infinity slayer and FFA regicide for almost 3 hours. I played about 15 or so rounds (Hell at this point I may be the most experienced non 343 member unless the MLG guys have had a longer crack at it.)

So I’m gonna get right to it. Please keep in mind that this was a Demo and EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. We were playing the E3 build so it probably already has changed.

As an old school BR fan this hurts to say but -Yoink!- DMR>BR… The DMR is tremendous. The load out I used for 95% of my playtime was DMR/BR, Firepower (2 primary weapons), Mobility (Unlimited sprint), Thruster, and Frag Grenade. Thruster is perfect for a quick escape and is to be used primarily as a defensive tool. DMR is so fantastic and bloom is hardly noticeable, the DMR even functions moderate well in close combat (BR is better for close range tho, mid to long range goes to the dmr.) Using this load out I was getting overkills, killing frenzies etc. (Should note that there wasn’t anyone particularly good there except for bravo and me and him were evenly matched.)

The sound is visceral, forceful and just damn delightful.

Carbine has no bloom, shoots as fast as you pull the trigger and requires about 7-9 shots to kill (Wasn’t really counting.)
Pistol is good, didn’t use it much though.

I couldn’t score a single kill with the sticky detonator, Its tough to use and I need more practice I suppose.

Warhouse is a little too dark but was ok.’
Wraparound is gorgeous and just amazing to play on… very similar to guardian in terms of where the action is in combat (Top center, Bottom center, long sight lines.)

Never got to use a sniper, never used AR or Storm rifle (Mainly out of principle…Getting kicked in the nuts>Full auto guns.)

The framerate was great! Unlike Reach I rarely saw any frame hiccups (Only in the first 10 seconds of each round was there a single stutter.)

Grenades feel toned down but this could be due to many factors: Grenade indicator gives me best avenue of escape, Higher jump height, faster base movement speed, perhaps power and range have been toned down, I don’t know but the did not feel as bad as Reach.

Bleed through is back and functions quite well.

Hard light shield is a pain in the -Yoink- on FFA but not to annoying on 4v4.

Overall it was an incredible night and Halo 4 is an absolute BLAST! Already better than Reach and at the moment comparable to Halo 3.

If you have any questions just ask, I will try to respond to as many as I can.

UPDATE:
Weapon List that was in the build I played:

BR
DMR
Carbine
AR
Storm Rifle

Pistol
Plasma Pistol

Needler
Rocket
Sniper
Scattershot
Sticky Launcher

Frag
Stickies

AA:
Thruster
Hologram
Hard light Shield
Promethean Vision

Armor Mods:
Extra Ammo
More efficient radar
More efficient AA
Unlimited Sprint
2 primary weapons
Faster Shield recharge
Grenade recovery

(I think thats all.)

Note all of this Halo 4=CoD crap needs to die immediately. This game felt very much like Halo. It is Halo and will be a fine addition to the franchise.

2

Come on dude, give someone else a shot and stop hogging all the limited time.

3

> Come on dude, give someone else a shot and stop hogging all the limited time.

Did you not read the part where I said it was and after hours party with very few people?

4

wow, these next 12 weeks are gonna be cruch time for 343. I estimate them going gold 2nd week of october.

5

well the only thing that has been bothering me is the fast shield regenerator, did you use it or noticed someone else use it and if so, was there any problem with it?

6

why did 343 invite you? not trying to be rude, but that group seems pretty exclusive

7

> > Come on dude, give someone else a shot and stop hogging all the limited time.
>
> Did you not read the part where I said it was and after hours party with very few people?

Dude, stop hogging all the limited time. Plenty of people wanted to play Halo 4 and they couldn’t because you wouldn’t get off!

8

Awesome… mm ‘review’.

Look at it, that is how you do a good analysis.

Having infinity sprint wasn’t a problem? Like people running from you?

If Hard Shield, is a problem in FFA, i think they just have to keep it in team based playlist; I think a Hard Shield fit more in a team action than in a go-lone-wolf style…

Which weapons has blooom, and how it felt? It felt more like a “when-I-can-shoot-again” type, or a bit like Reach?

9

I wish you used the Storm Rifle. It looks like an absolute monster up close. =(

10

> Getting kicked in the nuts>Full auto guns.)

-5

11

So, there are no weapons on the map at all, except for the ones dead people drop, the ones that randomly drop in a pod, and the ones that you specifically call in?

12

> So, there are no weapons on the map at all, except for the ones dead people drop, the ones that randomly drop in a pod, and the ones that you specifically call in?

They said so a while ago. There are initial weapon-spawns on the map though.

13

> > > Come on dude, give someone else a shot and stop hogging all the limited time.
> >
> > Did you not read the part where I said it was and after hours party with very few people?
>
> Dude, stop hogging all the limited time. Plenty of people wanted to play Halo 4 and they couldn’t because you wouldn’t get off!

“Dude” you don’t read very well do you?

14

I have one question.

Does it beat Reach in every imaginable way?

15

> So, there are no weapons on the map at all, except for the ones dead people drop, the ones that randomly drop in a pod, and the ones that you specifically call in?

I know some game modes still have the specific weapons spawn at their specific place thing at the beginning of each game.

16

That’s awesome. I got to play it at E3. I wish I was invited to the after party for it there. Hopefully they have something like this at Comic-Con. How were you invited? Just because you post on the forums?

17

Its cool how everyone is coming back from RTX with lots of positive comments.

18

> So 343 was kind enough to invite me to an after hours session of Halo 4 (In attendance was Rooster Teeth, Frankie, BS angel, Bravo and a few other community members)
>
>
> As an old school BR fan this hurts to say but -Yoink!- DMR>BR… The DMR is tremendous. The load out I used for 95% of my playtime was DMR/BR, Firepower (2 primary weapons), Mobility (Unlimited sprint), Thruster, and Frag Grenade. Thruster is perfect for a quick escape and is to be used primarily as a defensive tool.

Is thruster pack able to be used in 1v1 encounters, or is it basically a nerfed evade? Havent seen the thruster pack in action, so I am curious as to how it will be utilized.

> DMR is so fantastic and bloom is hardly noticeable, the DMR even functions moderate well in close combat (BR is better for close range tho, mid to long range goes to the dmr.) Using this load out I was getting overkills, killing frenzies etc. (Should note that there wasn’t anyone particularly good there except for bravo and me and him were evenly matched.)

Just as I expected, among players with good aim the DMR will be the dominant weapon. The BR falls behind once skill comes into the equation, just as everyone in the competitive community expected. Not to say this is entirely bad, but I would hope that mid-range battles be evenly matched between all the primary rifles and the BR doesnt end up taking the place of the AR.

Question: How was the Carbine in comparison to the other weapons? I know Hoaxer was wrecking with it vs BR users at E3, so I suspect it will be stronger than the BR at mid-range. Also is the BR spread random at all where you would be missing shots even though your reticle was on the enemy?

> I couldn’t score a single kill with the sticky detonator, Its tough to use and I need more practice I suppose.

Always hated that gun in Reach, too long of a charge and the projectiles moved too slowly to be used on anything outside of vehicles.

> Never got to use a sniper, never used AR or Storm rifle (Mainly out of principle…Getting kicked in the nuts>Full auto guns.)

You really should of, you were demo’ing the game and that principle is pretty stupid to be honest. H1 PR was a beastly weapon, Storm rife kind of reminds me of it.

> The framerate was great! Unlike Reach I rarely saw any frame hiccups (Only in the first 10 seconds of each round was there a single stutter.)

Okay, but you were on LAN. The real test is LIVE.

> Grenades feel toned down but this could be due to many factors: Grenade indicator gives me best avenue of escape, Higher jump height, faster base movement speed, perhaps power and range have been toned down, I don’t know but the did not feel as bad as Reach.

Awesome, grenade spam got be really annoying in Reach on CQB maps like Countdown.

> Bleed through is back and functions quite well.
>
> Hard light shield is a pain in the -Yoink!- on FFA but not to annoying on 4v4.

Likely to be the AA of choice for noobs like AL.

> Overall it was an incredible night and Halo 4 is an absolute BLAST! Already better than Reach and at the moment comparable to Halo 3.
>
> If you have any questions just ask, I will try to respond to as many as I can.
>
> Note all of this Halo 4=CoD crap needs to die immediately. This game felt very much like Halo. It is Halo and will be a fine addition to the franchise.

Thank you for that, coming from a Veteran that is awesome.

A couple more questions if you dont mind answering:

  • Which Halo game would you say H4 feels like the most?

  • Ordinance drops, what is you’re opinion on them and would you prefer to play without them?

  • Do you for-see strategies and play-styles being built around the loadouts, or are they not significant enough to warrant game-planning around using a variety of load-outs?

  • What one thing did you like most about Halo 4? What one thing did you dislike the most?

19

Cheers, a shame you didn’t try ou the AR/StR. How did the sniper hold up (assuming you got your hands on one)?

20

> well the only thing that has been bothering me is the fast shield regenerator, did you use it or noticed someone else use it and if so, was there any problem with it?

Someone on here actually tried the regeneration AA. He said it really wasn’t that helpful. It is alright.