So I’ve just finished my 5 hour Halo 4 session, which was mostly Spartan Ops but I did get a chance to try out the two brand new gametypes: Lockdown and Hivemind. I’ll give you my opinions on them.
Firstly with Lockdown, in case you are unaware it is exactly the same as Dominion except with only one base, rather than the standard three, leading to a very hectic battle. One tendency I found with the three matches of this I played is that the team who captures the base first always wins, but maybe this is just coincidence. Nonetheless I found it to be very fun, maybe because I was on the winning team 2 thirds of the time. I played this gametype twice on Vortex and once on Exile, and it played well on these three maps.
Secondly we have Hivemind, a new take on the classic Flood mode. One of my favorite features in this new gametype is the lack of armor abilities for the Flood, which used to lead to much annoyance for the survivors, notably with the Thruster pack. An issue for me with Flood has always been the lag, which is present even with my more than decent internet connection. The ability for the Flood to perform one hit kills on the survivors made this very infuriating, but now with the Flood requiring 2 hits to kill, this issue has been virtually eliminated. Rather than the standard shotgun, survivors now spawn with assault rifles and magnums, which plays interestingly: it’s always fun to fire away hundreds of rounds at the incoming horde, although everyone tends to just pick up shotguns anyway found in various locations around the map. Another notable difference is the reduced movement speeds for both factions. This gives survivors more time to react and aim their shots. Unless I’m mistaken I think the Flood now have shields, so they actually have a chance slowly moving towards the survivors. Now the gametype is more about the traditional zombie experience: being overrun by their numbers, rather than the former overpowered super fast Flood bringing your inevitable demise.
So what are your thoughts on these gametypes? Do you find them hard or easy? Do you think they play well or badly? Are they fun or boring? Do you prefer Lockdown or Hivemind? And are they better than their traditional variants: Dominion and Flood? I’d love to read your opinions.