Is 343 changing things for the sake of it?

Games Other Halo
1

No, this isn’t one of “those” threads, just what I’ve come to believe.

Now we’ve all seen the new look of Chief, the Covenant, pretty much all the characters, and even the Forward Unto Dawn itself, and even some gameplay elements. Anyone else think 343 is changing things just because?

Now I’m aware that this is a new company, with different different goals, quality standards, designers, and artists, I get that. They’ve constantly said that they want this to be “their” Halo. I get that, but some of the changes just seem unnecessary.

The Covenant for example, what happened? I realize that this is a faction, that’s not outfitted with standard Covenant military equipment, so they’ll have new armor, weapons, and the like. But my problem is with the design themselves, the Jackals as opposed to having their bird/raptor-like look, now look like a -Yoink!- piranha/crocodile crossbreed (assuming that’s what one would actually look like). The Grunts look more reptlian now, as opposed to to arthropods. The Elites are mostly faithful to their original design, but their mandibles are super short now, and eyes have more of a “derp” look to them. In short they just look like mindless monsters without a shred of intelligence. Hell, that can be said for all of the covenant we’ve seen so far.

I’m just hoping that these are sub-species or whatever, because if not, it just seems 343 is changing the design of the Covenant to make it “theirs”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind redesigns, as long as they don’t stray too far from the source material. This is what 343 is doing the opposite of from some of the designs we’ve seen, and (to an extent) the gameplay.

Next is The Chief himself. Now to clear this up, I DO like the new armor. However The same reasoning was used here, “to make it theirs”. I realize that 343 has aristic liberties, that’s fine, but changing things for the sake of it, ESPECIALLY the Chief’s armor just doesn’t cut it for me. The same can be said about the Forward Unto Dawn. Cortana’s design change actually makes sense canonically, so I’ll let it slide, plus, well… It’s Cortana. (I mean what else can she do for four years?)

As for gameplay, the modifications, I don’t see as a necessity. How do they enhance the player’s play style (besides firepower)? I just think they’re there to be honest. I don’t see how they can be balanced, they seem just thrown in there. I also feel that Armor Abilities didn’t need to come back. In Reach, overtime, Sprint was really the only thing people used. With having sprint default now (I would prefer faster base movement), the AAs are now a reliance rather than a tool ( at least that’s how I used them as, a tool). I feel power-ups would’ve been better. You can modify them to whatever AAs can do. Faster movement, jump higher, and the like. You can even make them specific to that particular map.

That’s just what I feel personally. Now I’m not trying to flame or hate, I’m liking how Halo 4 is shaping up so far, it looks to be good, even great. There are just “those things” that I think could have been done differently, and I hope I gave my opinion on things without sounding like a jerk.

What do you guys think, do you agree? Do you disagree? I’m eager to hear what you guys think. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

2

Yeah

I kind of wished Halo would become more simple in terms of gameplay and such, I think that is what made Halo 2 and Halo 3 so much fun.

3

For some aspects, yes they are changing it to take Halo into a different direction. For others, we don’t have enough information yet. There might be legitimate reasons for changes (such as the Jackals). If there’s not, then that’s on them I suppose.

4

> Yeah
>
> I kind of wished Halo would become more simple in terms of gameplay and such, I think that is what made Halo 2 and Halo 3 so much fun.

Yea. I’m not saying Halo 4 looks bad though.

5

343 both impressed me and disappointed me at the same time.

6

As long as 343i doesn’t try to change things in Halo 4 as much as Bungie changed things in Reach, I don’t have a problem.

7

New Covenant are made to be more fearsome.

Chief is to represent that it is 343i’s game. Canonically Cortana changed him using nanobots already in his armor.

Forward Unto Dawn is so that a level can actually fit on it.

Specializations are there to allow the players to play how they want and shape the game to their playing style while keeping it balanced.

8

I do in fact disagree with some of your opinions and reasoning, but I respect them as I hope for others to respect mine because I can understand why some would think that way.

9

I really like the changes. Here’s my opinion on the Covenant. Have you ever been afraid to see a grunt? A jackal? An elite (well maybe how difficult the fight will be, but not truly afraid)? The only truly frightening Covenant species was the brute! I can see now that the Covenant will frighten me in Halo 4. This is how I believe they should have looked from the beginning. If we were in first contact with an alien species, we would be frightened of them. We can’t really be scared by video games from danger, so we have to be scared by looks. A scary alien would be how we see them, not cute like the grunts from 1-3. Now, the guns, I just think are a fresh change. I’ve never really liked the designs of any of the weapons except the AR, which, if I’m correct, is the only one they didn’t change. As for the modifications and loadouts, it’s supposed to help people play how they want. If I want to be a long range fighter, I will assign a DMR, and awareness so people don’t sneak up on me. If I have an AR, I want mobility so I can get in close. I see the point to every change, and I love all of them!

10

> New Covenant are made to be more fearsome.- <mark>Yes, but I believe that they could have don that without compromising their intelligent appearance.</mark>
>
> Chief is to represent that it is 343i’s game. Canonically Cortana changed him using nanobots already in his armor.- <mark>She changed his firmware, AKA his HUD.</mark>
>
> Forward Unto Dawn is so that a level can actually fit on it.- <mark>Makes sense.</mark>
>
> Specializations are there to allow the players to play how they want and shape the game to their playing style while keeping it balanced.- <mark>I just want to see this demonstrated in- game.</mark>

11

> > New Covenant are made to be more fearsome.- <mark>Yes, but I believe that they could have don that without compromising their intelligent appearance.</mark>
> >
> > Chief is to represent that it is 343i’s game. Canonically Cortana changed him using nanobots already in his armor.- <mark>She changed his firmware, AKA his HUD.</mark>
> >
> > Forward Unto Dawn is so that a level can actually fit on it.- <mark>Makes sense.</mark>
> >
> > Specializations are there to allow the players to play how they want and shape the game to their playing style while keeping it balanced.- <mark>I just want to see this demonstrated in- game.</mark>

Frankie said that Cortana changed it in a n interview. I’m working on finding that, but for now this will have to do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjswoU39AOY&t=0m30s

12

Here’s my two cents on the whole “Covenant Redesign” thing:

Personally, I like the new designs for the Covenant species. Now, to be fair, I was surprised when I first saw the changes, but I didn’t think they looked bad. However, I think that 343 Industries has a much different outlook on what the Covenant means to the game universe and to the game itself than Bungie did.

While Bungie treated The Covenant more or less like intelligent alien species equal in approximate intellect and cultural complexity to humans, 343 opted to make them monsters which seemingly exist only to kill humans and, more importantly, be killed by humans. While I have no problem with the designs themselves, as they do in fact look far more fearsome than they did, I also have an issue with the narrow-mindedness which is implied by the designs.

Creature design is a delicate balance. In order to make something appear scary, especially an animal (as the species in the covenant are animals), one must emulate the animals which humans are most afraid of. The vertebrates which we are most afraid of are the reptiles, and as such we find that the Covenant has taken on a much more reptilian overall motif. If a creature is to appear more intelligent, it must look weaker, more elongated, and have an upright posture. These are traits that we are inherently not afraid of, because they are traits which we possess. When something is hunched over, broadly built, or robust, we tend to assume that it is a stupid brute (not the Halo species, the term).

I don’t really have an opinion on the other stuff, to be honest. The fact that Forward Unto Dawn or Master Chief looks different, I could care less about. Let’s face it, the Chief’s just a giant guy in a green robot suit, and 343 managed to emulate that perfectly. However, when you rebuild a face, even an alien one, the changes you make can create a very big difference in how the player thinks of them, and while I’m sure 343 Industries knows that, I think they want to leave a far different impression than the previous games did.

I apologize for the length.

13

> > > New Covenant are made to be more fearsome.- <mark>Yes, but I believe that they could have don that without compromising their intelligent appearance.</mark>
> > >
> > > Chief is to represent that it is 343i’s game. Canonically Cortana changed him using nanobots already in his armor.- <mark>She changed his firmware, AKA his HUD.</mark>
> > >
> > > Forward Unto Dawn is so that a level can actually fit on it.- <mark>Makes sense.</mark>
> > >
> > > Specializations are there to allow the players to play how they want and shape the game to their playing style while keeping it balanced.- <mark>I just want to see this demonstrated in- game.</mark>
>
> Frankie said that Cortana changed it in a n interview. I’m working on finding that, but for now this will have to do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjswoU39AOY&t=0m30s

Okay, thanks for the link.

14

> Here’s my two cents on the whole “Covenant Redesign” thing:
>
> Personally, I like the new designs for the Covenant species. Now, to be fair, I was surprised when I first saw the changes, but I didn’t think they looked bad. However, I think that 343 Industries has a much different outlook on what the Covenant means to the game universe and to the game itself than Bungie did.
>
> While Bungie treated The Covenant more or less like intelligent alien species equal in approximate intellect and cultural complexity to humans, 343 opted to make them monsters which seemingly exist only to kill humans and, more importantly, be killed by humans. While I have no problem with the designs themselves, as they do in fact look far more fearsome than they did, I also have an issue with the narrow-mindedness which is implied by the designs.
>
> Creature design is a delicate balance. In order to make something appear scary, especially an animal (as the species in the covenant are animals), one must emulate the animals which humans are most afraid of. The vertebrates which we are most afraid of are the reptiles, and as such we find that the Covenant has taken on a much more reptilian overall motif. If a creature is to appear more intelligent, it must look weaker, more elongated, and have an upright posture. These are traits that we are inherently not afraid of, because they are traits which we possess. When something is hunched over, broadly built, or robust, we tend to assume that it is a stupid brute (not the Halo species, the term).
>
> I don’t really have an opinion on the other stuff, to be honest. The fact that Forward Unto Dawn or Master Chief looks different, I could care less about. Let’s face it, the Chief’s just a giant guy in a green robot suit, and 343 managed to emulate that perfectly. However, when you rebuild a face, even an alien one, the changes you make can create a very big difference in how the player thinks of them, and while I’m sure 343 Industries knows that, I think they want to leave a far different impression than the previous games did.
>
> I apologize for the length.

It’s fine, some of my posts can get pretty lengthy.

I see your explanation. We’ve been fighting these guys for over a decade, to the point where they don’t seem that threatening anymore. I know 343 was trying to put that threat factor back in, it’s just that they lost all look of intelligence. I see that it’s hard to balance that, but that’s just how things go I guess. For the Jackals I think they could find a decent compromise. Look at this pic: http://nero2103.deviantart.com/art/turok-velociraptor-106947072?offset=30

It’s threatening, but still looks intelligent. I think this look could work for the Jackals.

15

> No, this isn’t one of “those” threads, just what I’ve come to believe.
>
> Now we’ve all seen the new look of Chief, the Covenant, pretty much all the characters, and even the Forward Unto Dawn itself, and even some gameplay elements. Anyone else think 343 is changing things just because?
>
> Now I’m aware that this is a new company, with different different goals, quality standards, designers, and artists, I get that. They’ve constantly said that they want this to be “their” Halo. I get that, but some of the changes just seem unnecessary.
>
> The Covenant for example, what happened? I realize that this is a faction, that’s not outfitted with standard Covenant military equipment, so they’ll have new armor, weapons, and the like. But my problem is with the design themselves, the Jackals as opposed to having their bird/raptor-like look, now look like a -Yoink!- piranha/crocodile crossbreed (assuming that’s what one would actually look like). The Grunts look more reptlian now, as opposed to to arthropods. The Elites are mostly faithful to their original design, but their mandibles are super short now, and eyes have more of a “derp” look to them. In short they just look like mindless monsters without a shred of intelligence. Hell, that can be said for all of the covenant we’ve seen so far.
>
> I’m just hoping that these are sub-species or whatever, because if not, it just seems 343 is changing the design of the Covenant to make it “theirs”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind redesigns, as long as they don’t stray too far from the source material. This is what 343 is doing the opposite of from some of the designs we’ve seen, and (to an extent) the gameplay.
>
> Next is The Chief himself. The same reasoning was used here, “to make it theirs”. I realize that 343 has aristic liberties, that’s fine, but changing things for the sake of it, ESPECIALLY the Chief’s armor just doesn’t cut it for me. The same can be said about the Forward Unto Dawn. Cortana’s design change actually makes sense canonically, so I’ll let it slide, plus, well… It’s Cortana. (I mean what else can she do for four years?)
>
> As for gameplay, the modifications, I don’t see as a necessity. How do they enhance the player’s play style (besides firepower)? I just think they’re there to be honest. I don’t see how they can be balanced, they seem just thrown in there. I also feel that Armor Abilities didn’t need to come back. In Reach, overtime, Sprint was really the only thing people used. With having sprint default now (I would prefer faster base movement), the AAs are now a reliance rather than a tool ( at least that’s how I used them as, a tool). I feel power-ups would’ve been better. You can modify them to whatever AAs can do. Faster movement, jump higher, and the like. You can even make them specific to that particular map.
>
> That’s just what I feel personally. Now I’m not trying to flame or hate, I’m liking how Halo 4 is shaping up so far, it looks to be good, even great. There are just “those things” that I think could have been done differently, and I hope I gave my opinion on things without sounding like a jerk.
>
> What do you guys think, do you agree? Do you disagree? I’m eager to hear what you guys think. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I kinda disagree. I like some of the new looks. They explained the new looks on some the enemies, mainly the Grunt, that it was to flesh out the race more, instead of having everything look the same with different looking armor. I’m more for variety in the looks of the enemy, instead of just “new game, same guy, shinier, more detailed version of the last look” trend.

Humans don’t look the same when standing next to each other, yet they’re both humans. Why can’t the covies get the same treatment?

16

I things I have problems with is changing weapon sounds drastically. Like the Needler sounds crap now, that’s the only way to describe it, it sounds like a UNSC weapon. It sounds human and modern, rather than alien and futuristic.

Not to mention, how can a weapon sound suddenly change? There’s no software on it that you can download new sounds when the weapon fires, so I do not understand how some of the weapons have changed so much.

I don’t like how a lot of them sound like modern day military guns.

17

I don’t think 343i is changing things for the sake of it, it’s with the calculated intention of moving things forward. The Chief and Cortana redesigns I think are pretty good and the Chief suit actually looks functional instead of just bulky. Most of the gun redesigns I think are really good (other than the sniper) and the amount of detail to them is amazing. As for the Covenant, I might step on some toes with this one, but the source material sucked. They are supposed to be scary and they never were and now they kind of are.

Gameplay changes are a topic onto itself but these to I feel are calculated changes to bring the franchise forward. I think we are in for something special.

18

> I things I have problems with is changing weapon sounds drastically. <mark>Like the Needler sounds crap now, that’s the only way to describe it, it sounds like a UNSC weapon. It sounds human and modern, rather than alien and futuristic.</mark>
>
> Not to mention, <mark>how can a weapon sound suddenly change?</mark> There’s no software on it that you can download new sounds when the weapon fires, so I do not understand how some of the weapons have changed so much.
>
> I don’t like how a lot of them <mark>sound like modern day military guns</mark>.

  1. What do you expect it to sound like? Pew pew pew, zoo zoo zoo, swish swish? For all we know, it COULD sounds like a pistol from the 1800’s. We don’t know, so it isn’t your right to judge soley on that.

  2. To be fair, everyweapon in the Game is a different Model. So they sound different, but either way, i don’t want to listen to Halo CE era sounds, THAT sounds like crap.

  3. 343I got their weapon sounds based off of real military gun FYI, so boo hoo for you.

19

Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m quoting 343 or sucking up to them, but Halo 4 is adding these changes because they want it to fresh and new. It is a new trilogy and they want to show it. Some may say that they are moving towards Call of Duty, but the difference is that this isn’t a Halo 2 or 3 clone with a gun and a new customization feature. Change happens, whether or not it is for the good or not, we will see.

20

> New Covenant are made to be more fearsome.
>
> <mark>Chief is to represent that it is 343i’s game. Canonically Cortana changed him using nanobots already in his armor.</mark>
>
> Forward Unto Dawn is so that a level can actually fit on it.
>
> Specializations are there to allow the players to play how they want and shape the game to their playing style while keeping it balanced.

Actually all they said cortana did to him was give him a firmware update.

EDIT: my bad did not read the above posts.