Regarding Halo 4 and its Storyline - Please Don't Spoil it.

Games Other Halo
#1

In light of the upcoming release of Halo 4, I thought I should voice my opinion on how to deal with showing us gameplay mechanics, and/or campaign.

I don’t intend to sound forceful or demanding; rather suggest a method to reveal new aspects of gameplay without spoiling the whole game, considering that the possible announcement of an entirely new story arc could spoil a lot in my eyes.

Halo 4 appears to be taking a huge change in direction in terms of both gameplay and story based mechanics compared to what we once knew.

‘Get to the damn point -Yoink!-!’ you’re probably saying - all in due time my friend.

What do I want? Not to be spoiled - Halo 4 appears to be exploring the background of the Forerunners and their past. I’m all for that, I love the information we might uncover, the new enemies we might encounter and possibly entirely new weapons - but what do I actually want? Well, really - I don’t want anything spoiled from your videos, keep the story completely secret other than a few diminutive pieces from trailers (Similar to the concept art one).

‘How do you get past demonstrating this without spoiling anything?’ You might ask. Well - Simple! If you’re going to be showing us gameplay mechanics, you could possibly take the easy option of showing us on a somewhat scenic map with several enemies (Possibly Covenant/Spartans to avoid spoiling things) alongside some of the key gameplay pieces, using this map throughout every piece you want to show us. Think of this as a ‘devmap’ you might use when testing/developing - but orientated for public display. You could also consider releasing some form of back story in the guise of A) DLC (for Halo: Reach maybe) or B) through some sort of animated short or comic.

Or maybe something completely different. I understand there’s not exactly much backstory to add for the Chief - considering he’s the main character and expecting more casual fans to have read into the back story might make things a little confusing to them - but possibly a way to introduce some of the newer aspects without it just being a simple announcement at E3 or something.

I have the impression that some of you are going to say rude and insulting things towards me and just reply “Well don’t watch the videos!” but I want to know about the game, but at the same time I want the story to be kept in tact for me. If 343 don’t want to any of my suggestions, and simply want to take the easiest way out of not spoiling this for anyone - simply add a warning to every gameplay video which might spoil somebody’s experience in discovering the campaign - be it through SPOILERS in the title, or a ~5 second panel at the start (Similar to the ERSB/PEGI notices you get).

I’m looking forward to hearing your response to my idea, and hope you can understand my need to preserve the storyline for other people, please - voice your opinions below, and thanks for reading.

#2

Well said, Zombie. Well said.

#3

Agreed. I like the dev map idea for showing stuff off.

#4

I wouldn’t mind seeing the new enemies, as long as they simply refer to them as ‘Hostiles’ or ‘Enemies’, not give out their names, what they are, why they’re here, etc, etc. New gameplay mechanics could then be demonstrated on a simple ‘devlevel’ like you said. A level that has several locales, and different objectives depending on what ‘devmission’ they choose. Though keeping everything secret would, inevitably, be impossible without giving us SOMETHING, they could keep much secret.

#5

I fully agree. Compared to the Bungie/Halo trilogy, this story looks like it could have an entirely new sense of depth and wonder to it - something I’d like to experience myself. I wasn’t able to do this for the first 3 games (as I’m a newer Halo fan), so I’m definitely interested in seeing more content, without being at risk of having the very beginning of the game spoiled.

#6

> I fully agree. Compared to the Bungie/Halo trilogy, this story looks like it could have an entirely new sense of depth and wonder to it - something I’d like to experience myself. I wasn’t able to do this for the first 3 games (as I’m a newer Halo fan), so I’m definitely interested in seeing more content, without being at risk of having the very beginning of the game spoiled.

The way I see it - Remember the first time you played CE? Discovering the secrets was magical - to be allowed to do that again would be brilliant in my eyes.

#7

> > I fully agree. Compared to the Bungie/Halo trilogy, this story looks like it could have an entirely new sense of depth and wonder to it - something I’d like to experience myself. I wasn’t able to do this for the first 3 games (as I’m a newer Halo fan), so I’m definitely interested in seeing more content, without being at risk of having the very beginning of the game spoiled.
>
> The way I see it - Remember the first time you played CE? Discovering the secrets was magical - to be allowed to do that again would be brilliant in my eyes.

Most definitely.

#8

Agreed. I feel like the sense of wonder and mystery we felt in Halo CE will be here since we know so little and so little will be familiar to us

#9

I agree wholeheartedly with you, OP. And I can’t be too sure, but I am going to be. I believe that 343 will do similar, if not the same, marketing scheme Bungie has done in the past: the whole ViDoc things, and almost nothing related to the in-game story. At least like in Halo 3. This is of course, the next big installment since the last one, so of course they have to keep things tightened up! I would still be clenched up if we don’t get anything about any of the new enemies or weapons. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind one or two new weapons or enemies being shown, as long as I see something new.

So all-in-all, I think we’re gonna maintain being in good hands :wink:

#10

I agree. I’d like to be as surprised as I was with Halo CE and the flood.

P.S. - You should also post this in the Halo feedback thread.

#11

Yeah so much was spoiled for me with Reach that it just ruined everything. Not just story but the actual campaign levels… I knew what every level’s environment was going to look like so I didn’t get the same feeling as playing the other Halos campaigns. It was Bungie’s fault because they actually showed too much before release, i did watch some leaked stuff though but still…

#12

> I agree. I’d like to be as surprised as I was with Halo CE and the flood.
>
> P.S. - You should also post this in the Halo feedback thread.

Good idea.

#13

> Well said, Zombie. Well said.

#14

> In light of the upcoming release of Halo 4, I thought I should voice my opinion on how to deal with showing us gameplay mechanics, and/or campaign.
>
> I don’t intend to sound forceful or demanding; rather suggest a method to reveal new aspects of gameplay without spoiling the whole game, considering that the possible announcement of an entirely new story arc could spoil a lot in my eyes.
>
> Halo 4 appears to be taking a huge change in direction in terms of both gameplay and story based mechanics compared to what we once knew.
>
> ‘Get to the damn point -Yoink!-!’ you’re probably saying - all in due time my friend.
>
> What do I want? Not to be spoiled - Halo 4 appears to be exploring the background of the Forerunners and their past. I’m all for that, I love the information we might uncover, the new enemies we might encounter and possibly entirely new weapons - but what do I actually want? Well, really - I don’t want anything spoiled from your videos, keep the story completely secret other than a few diminutive pieces from trailers (Similar to the concept art one).
>
> ‘How do you get past demonstrating this without spoiling anything?’ You might ask. Well - Simple! If you’re going to be showing us gameplay mechanics, you could possibly take the easy option of showing us on a somewhat scenic map with several enemies (Possibly Covenant/Spartans to avoid spoiling things) alongside some of the key gameplay pieces, using this map throughout every piece you want to show us. Think of this as a ‘devmap’ you might use when testing/developing - but orientated for public display. You could also consider releasing some form of back story in the guise of A) DLC (for Halo: Reach maybe) or B) through some sort of animated short or comic.
>
> Or maybe something completely different. I understand there’s not exactly much backstory to add for the Chief - considering he’s the main character and expecting more casual fans to have read into the back story might make things a little confusing to them - but possibly a way to introduce some of the newer aspects without it just being a simple announcement at E3 or something.
>
> I have the impression that some of you are going to say rude and insulting things towards me and just reply “Well don’t watch the videos!” but I want to know about the game, but at the same time I want the story to be kept in tact for me. If 343 don’t want to any of my suggestions, and simply want to take the easiest way out of not spoiling this for anyone - simply add a warning to every gameplay video which might spoil somebody’s experience in discovering the campaign - be it through SPOILERS in the title, or a ~5 second panel at the start (Similar to the ERSB/PEGI notices you get).
>
> I’m looking forward to hearing your response to my idea, and hope you can understand my need to preserve the storyline for other people, please - voice your opinions below, and thanks for reading.

^^^^^This