I’m not going to call myself a “pro”, I’m simply a run of the mill player who enjoys playing casually and competitively. As you are all aware Halo 4 has split the fanbase, I hesitate to use the words “competitive” and “casuals” as they come across as exclusive, yet for this thread they’re what I’m going to use. So here is my attempt at feedback for catering for both of these groups. Hopefully you guys can read all of this as I think it’s worth doing so.
- Personal Loadouts- these have been controversial, the DMR ruled supreme and the weapon balancing update made great headway into solving this, yet there are still problems. If 343 want to continue using Personal Loadouts, which in all likelihood they will, the weapons HAVE to be balanced with one another. In my opinion the following changes need to be made to balance it properly (assuming more weapons aren’t added).
The Boltshot needs to be removed. I know there are ways of avoiding this weapon e.g. a Hardlight Shield or nading to draw them out, yet you should not have to cater a loadout to combat a single secondary weapon. Nor should you be able to spawn with a 1SK weapon, regardless of range.
Plasma Grenades and Plasma Pistols need to be removed as loadout options, these have been the bane of vehicle combat. Coupling the low health of vehicles, with the ability to spawn with an EMP capable weapon and 3 plasma grenades means a warthog is not so much a “power weapon” as a double kill on wheels. I won’t go into the whole “suicide-sticking” debate, as the argument of it being “cheap” versus “If I’m to die I’ll take you with me” is ongoing. I personally think you shouldn’t be able to get a last minute kill in this manner but that’s not the major point really.
The BR needs to be changed from 11 bullets to kill, to 12 bullets to kill. You should get the kill for 4 perfect headshots, not 3 and a half-miss. I understand why this change was brought in, yet it’s too simple to kill people with this gun now. In my opinion the weapon of choice has simply changed from the DMR to BR on all but the large big team maps, where it is still used by some people.
Overall I like the fact that automatics now have the ability to complete with the precision weapons, kudos for this change 343, yet I think the Suppressor needs less spread for it to be a viable competitor to the AR and Storm Rifle. It’s simply too inaccurate at all but very close ranges. At least with the AR and Storm you can pace your shots/ burst fire to reduce the inaccuracy.
- Armour Abilities- for the most part, they are not game breaking or overpowered. I think they can have a place in loadouts, not as map pick-ups as many have suggested, Only Camo, Jetpack and Promethean affect gameplay too much.
I think Camo promotes static gameplay, particularly with the ability to spawn with long range weapons. Why move when you can spawn with invisibility and pick people off with headshots? Put it back to a powerup which both teams have to fight for, possibly increase how effective it is to compensate? More like the Halo 3 version.
The Jetpack allows cheap shortcuts, particularly to power weapons. I know many people use them to just soar straight up, equalling easy kills, yet that is not the true advantage they offer. It’s the quick map navigation and shortcuts that cause problems. The Incineration spawn on Exile is one such example of how it is effective.
Finally there is Promethean, you shouldn’t be able to see through walls, it is as simple as that. That’s what your radar is for, so you are aware someone is nearby and can act accordingly. It comes across as making the game too user friendly.
- Ordnance- I think this was a major problem for Halo 4. I’m not saying arrows to where the power weapons are is a bad idea, it’s Personal Ordnance that’s the true problem. Just like Camo, this can promote static gameplay, rack up a few kills and assists and you could potentially get an Incineration dropped at your feet!
This alone isn’t the problem, it’s the randomness of what options you actually get that is. You could get Rockets while someone on the opposing team might receive a Needler. You’ve both attained the same amount of points yet the difference in rewards is huge! In highly competitive games this can prove game winning, through no fault of the losing team whatsoever.
I personally enjoy Infinity Slayer on the whole, yet I understand perfectly why it detracts from the competitiveness of an arena shooter! In my opinion Personal Ordnance should be either removed completely or become a more specialist playlist, rather than the norm, which is what it was until the playlists were updated to include Team Slayer and Legendary Slayer as options within them.
- Custom game options- for some reason, whether it was time constraints or just daft decisions, these were severely hindered for Halo 4 from what was previously available in Reach. Why these changes occured is beyond me. There is no option to disable sprint, no way to choose whether to pick up the flag or not, no way allow the Flood to drive vehicles or use different weapons etc, essentially alienating a large part of the community. Custom games were a large part of Halo’s success, so why take away options that were already present to begin with?
I think that if the options to revert to a more traditional style of Halo were present, it would have been more likely that MLG would have continued supporting Halo, rather than dropping it.
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Lag and Framerate- this has been another issue for Halo 4, the fact that I lag far less on Halo 3 and Reach speaks volumes as to the poor connections made, my internet is very good yet I still lag every other game. The removal of filtering how to search for good connections only worsens this issue. Secondly, who on earth decided it was a good idea to implement forge maps into multiplayer, or customs, when the FPS for them is so abysmal? Split screen has been common throughout the series, why bring in changes to forge pieces (e.g. dynamic lighting) when you cannot play the maps effectively anyway? When I am online my friends and I specifically don’t vote for certain maps for this reason alone, you shouldn’t have to vote for a certain map due to the inability to play on an alternative.
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Conclusion- overall, despite these issues, I enjoy playing Halo 4. Obviously there are other minor problems with this game, which I won’t go into now, yet I think with a little work and revision on the more debated issues, 343 can put Halo back on the tracks. If you’ve read this far thankyou, feel free to debate or contribute to what I’ve put forward. Hopefully I’ve given a good analysis from an everyday gamer.
Without sounding rude 343, a little tip, provide a public beta for the upcoming title so flaws (like any game) can be pointed out constructively, so the final game is more polished for a final release.