Say goodbye to skill in Halo

Games Other Halo
1

I am and avid player of halo and always have been. I never used to get frustrated with halo 2 or even 3 much because if someone beat me, they were just better than me. I could get into a 2 on 1 firefight and come out on top a lot of the time. But there is just no reward for being skilled in Halo anymore. Everything has been dumbed down to cater to everybody so now everyone’s a winner. I still enjoy the game and the campaign is incredible but the multilayer threw us long time halo fans under the buss and ran us over and over and over. heres why:

Larger hit boxes - We can shoot five feet up down or left to right away from an enemy and shots ALWAYS register

Head shots don’t matter until the shield is down - i know the “ohhhh its the future that’s how shields would be” excuse explains this. but now there is no point in pinpoint accuracy that we have practiced tirelessly to attain anymore.

Sprint - Now if you get into a decent one on one for a change in this game, as soon as someone starts loosing, off they go. nobody fights back much anymore

ordinance - now instead of risking your life to get a power weapon, you and your team can hunker down and get allll the oversheilds and power weapons you want

Armor abilities and perks - they were broken in reach WHY bring them back WITH the addition of call of duty-like perks.

You die faster - I remember in past halos i could fight with someone for about 30 seconds jumping, strafing, beating, cutting corners and whatnot. there’s is none of that now everybody dies so fast and the movement doesn’t help, either barely move or full sprint.

And have you tried to defeat anybody that out numbers you?? dear lord its next to impossible. ask any long time halo fan it NEVER used to be this hard to defeat multiple people. the addition of all this listed above ruins any chance of that or even winning a one on one if you get shot first. I HATE HATE HATE to say this but it pacing and the “first to shoot wins” style of game play really reminds me way too much of call of duty. in which case they do all of the above better so why bother with a game that copies it??

I used to love halo because it stood alone from what everything else was trying to be. If someone practiced and did their homework they would always come out on top as a reward for their time and efforts. But now it’s just another online shooter that everybody can play and be a winner. It works when i want to sit back and laugh with my friends, but when i want to put to use what I’ve practiced so hard to master over all of these years, this games multilayer completely overshadows it for the casual gamers sake.

Its an amazing game but its just not halo. I am very disappointed with the direction 343 decided to go with the multilayer. but hey as long as you snag a couple of COD fans its worth it right?

2

no offense, but the gameplay is alright they just need more variety cough cough gametypes.

3

I think it just comes from playing Halo 2 a lot. Halo just isn’t what it used to be man. It’s everyone’s attempt to copy COD. Don’t get me wrong, I have an alright time playing Halo 4, but everything you said is true and they get worse and worse with each release (except I think 4 is probably better than Reach).

Especially the part about being outnumbered. I used to come out on top in 1 on 2, 1 on 3, even 1 on 4 BR battles depending on players skill. However, now it seems no matter how awful it is, 1 on 3 is NEARLY impossible without outside help. Halo isn’t what it used to be. We just have to accept it.

4

I like that someone can simply disagree. If you or anybody else likes it that’s perfectly fine. I agree with the playlists though along with a little more map variation. I like Haven just not 3 times in a row every time I sign on lol

5

I have to respectively disagree, based on 2 evidences:

  1. As a non-noob player with below average skill, personally I did not find Halo4 easier than previous titles. I still get my *** kicked no different than before :-). The difference is that with H4 I enjoy the game a lot more.

  2. I watched a lot of streaming on twitch.tv of pro players like walshy. The skill gap between him and his opponents in no way appear smaller.

My opinion: H4 is more enjoyable for less skilled players, while still giving advanced players enough edge in terms of gun-play skill gap. This is fundamentally different from CoD (which I play and enjoy as well).

6

Ive resorted to playing slayer pro and im loving it, can still get clutchy triple kills and such plus no ordinance or AA to make it seem unfair. Love this gametype! Gotta bring swat back though then it will be perfect.

7

> Larger hit boxes - We can shoot five feet up down or left to right away from an enemy and shots ALWAYS register
>
> Head shots don’t matter until the shield is down - i know the “ohhhh its the future that’s how shields would be” excuse explains this. but now there is no point in pinpoint accuracy that we have practiced tirelessly to attain anymore.

For background, I was an avid Halo 2 player, VERY competitive including several tournaments).

I have issues with several parts of your post, but I want to take issue with just these.

The hit boxes in Halo 2 were just as large as they are now, maybe even worse. watch this video for proof

Headshots also never mattered in Halo 2 or 3 (not sure about CE) until the final shot. It was ALWAYS 3 body shots then a headshot with a BR. Nothing has changed in that regard.

I’m not sure where all the anti-skill is coming from in Halo 4, I think the skill gap has increased; I am taking out multiple people more often; winning more BR battles after someone else gets a first shot. Sure there aren’t ranks and it’s more casual, but as far as skill alone, I believe this is closer to Halo 2 than it is Halo Reach.

8

You die way to fast, very very hard to win 2v1 battle.

No map control anymore, everyone can run round with power weapons. It was better when you had to fight for the power weapons and map control.

Starting games with unevener teams.

Join in progress is an abomination.

You die WAY to fast.

Too much auto aim to help noobs.

Please 343 keep to the old halo formula

Rip H2,H3,Reach :(.

9

If H2 is the frame of reference: then I can say with confidence that H4 is on par with it. In H2, I can win encounters with cheap techniques:

  1. the noob combo. Fire a magic plasma bolt from pistol, immediately switch to BR and simple follow up at the point where the bolt ends. As long as the first shot hits, it does not matter how good the opponent is :slight_smile:

  2. dual wielding: SMG + Plama Rifle or SMG + Magnum, enough said :slight_smile:

10

> You die way to fast, very very hard to win 2v1 battle.
>
> You die WAY to fast.
>
> Too much auto aim to help noobs.
>
> Rip H2,H3,Reach :(.

A 2v1 when both people have a marksman gun and can shoot alright has always been very very hard.

This is mostly because the game itself seems more fast paced but its not a bad thing if you learn to utilize the faster pace.

Plus halo auto aim has always been limited, halo 2’s auto aim even when the reticule was not on the other player was stupid.

The other points are right though, the unbalanced teams are sehr annoying.

11

Theres no skill in Halo 4? Ok…

My Halo 3 K/D was negative

My Halo: Reach K/D was negative but went positive.

My Halo 4 starting K/D was 1.12

Just because your not decent at Halo 4 doesn’t make it not have skill. “Oh, I’m dying too fast” Maybe if you actually work with your team you’d get a kill. I’m getting plenty of kills.

12

> Larger hit boxes - We can shoot five feet up down or left to right away from an enemy and shots ALWAYS register
>
> Head shots don’t matter until the shield is down - i know the “ohhhh its the future that’s how shields would be” excuse explains this. but now there is no point in pinpoint accuracy that we have practiced tirelessly to attain anymore.
>
> Sprint - Now if you get into a decent one on one for a change in this game, as soon as someone starts loosing, off they go. nobody fights back much anymore
>
> ordinance - now instead of risking your life to get a power weapon, you and your team can hunker down and get allll the oversheilds and power weapons you want
>
> Armor abilities and perks - they were broken in reach WHY bring them back WITH the addition of call of duty-like perks.
>
> You die faster - I remember in past halos i could fight with someone for about 30 seconds jumping, strafing, beating, cutting corners and whatnot. there’s is none of that now everybody dies so fast and the movement doesn’t help, either barely move or full sprint.

  1. I can’t judge on this yet, I need more experience in Halo 4’s MM.

  2. They never have, unless you’re referring to bleedthrough.

  3. If you get someone one shot, the maps are designed well enough to the point where you can almost always finish them off.

  4. Well, that’s Infinity Slayer only.

  5. I’m indifferent to these. None (besides jetpack, I’ll always hate that ability) are game breaking in the least.

  6. Movement speed only feels slow due to a constrained field of view, it’s actually pretty fast. Also, killtimes are still pretty long, and this doesn’t exactly match up with complaint #3.

13

> You die way to fast, very very hard to win 2v1 battle.
>
> No map control anymore, everyone can run round with power weapons. It was better when you had to fight for the power weapons and map control.
>
> Starting games with unevener teams.
>
> Join in progress is an abomination.
>
> You die WAY to fast.
>
> Too much auto aim to help noobs.
>
> Please 343 keep to the old halo formula
>
> Rip H2,H3,Reach :(.

Regarding hard to win 2v1 & die fast: this does NOT necessarily mean the skill gap is lower.

There are 2 major components in FPS skills: 1) gun play; 2) encounter control.

H4’s change makes 2) more important. Blindly charge into unknown territories is very unwise. Good players assess the battle field intelligently and make smart decisions based on the assessment.

Watch this video from walshy: http://www.twitch.tv/walshy/b/338258854, which takes you through his first 13 hours of playing H4. The great thing about his streaming is that he spells out his thought process for the viewers, so you can see clearly into his frame of mind when playing. It demonstrates my points of “encounter control” very well.

14

Takes more bullets to kill players than previous games = dying too fast?

Please explain, oh wise 1337 pr0 gamer.

15

> I am and avid player of halo and always have been. I never used to get frustrated with halo 2 or even 3 much because if someone beat me, they were just better than me. I could get into a 2 on 1 firefight and come out on top a lot of the time. But there is just no reward for being skilled in Halo anymore. Everything has been dumbed down to cater to everybody so now everyone’s a winner. I still enjoy the game and the campaign is incredible but the multilayer threw us long time halo fans under the buss and ran us over and over and over. heres why:
>
> Larger hit boxes - We can shoot five feet up down or left to right away from an enemy and shots ALWAYS register
>
> Head shots don’t matter until the shield is down - i know the “ohhhh its the future that’s how shields would be” excuse explains this. but now there is no point in pinpoint accuracy that we have practiced tirelessly to attain anymore.
>
> Sprint - Now if you get into a decent one on one for a change in this game, as soon as someone starts loosing, off they go. nobody fights back much anymore
>
> ordinance - now instead of risking your life to get a power weapon, you and your team can hunker down and get allll the oversheilds and power weapons you want
>
> Armor abilities and perks - they were broken in reach WHY bring them back WITH the addition of call of duty-like perks.
>
> You die faster - I remember in past halos i could fight with someone for about 30 seconds jumping, strafing, beating, cutting corners and whatnot. there’s is none of that now everybody dies so fast and the movement doesn’t help, either barely move or full sprint.
>
> And have you tried to defeat anybody that out numbers you?? dear lord its next to impossible. ask any long time halo fan it NEVER used to be this hard to defeat multiple people. the addition of all this listed above ruins any chance of that or even winning a one on one if you get shot first. I HATE HATE HATE to say this but it pacing and the “first to shoot wins” style of game play really reminds me way too much of call of duty. in which case they do all of the above better so why bother with a game that copies it??
>
> I used to love halo because it stood alone from what everything else was trying to be. If someone practiced and did their homework they would always come out on top as a reward for their time and efforts. But now it’s just another online shooter that everybody can play and be a winner. It works when i want to sit back and laugh with my friends, but when i want to put to use what I’ve practiced so hard to master over all of these years, this games multilayer completely overshadows it for the casual gamers sake.
>
> Its an amazing game but its just not halo. I am very disappointed with the direction 343 decided to go with the multilayer. but hey as long as you snag a couple of COD fans its worth it right?

I lol’d hard at that one.

What do you expect them to do? Let you kill them? lol

I’ve never seen a good Halo player go, “Ahh, he got me. Might as well run out there and let him finish me with the last shot”

NO…Good players run, recharge and take a different approach to wipe the floor with you. Patience is a skill unto itself, homie.

16

I like the campain in H4, but…

I’m not crazy about the muli-player match making as I don’t like Call of Duty that much. If you have time to play a lot from the November release date and built rank fast, then you are going to have power weapons (snipers and rail guns) as your load outs and the poor rookies that didn’t get H4 until Christmas is really going to hate it when he gets it handed to him every match.

At least in Reach I had a chance to get weapons and choose armor attributes. After that it was skill and determination (mostly luck…lol)when I played. My kill/death was still only a .91 at the end, but I had brought it up my playing harder and smarter. In H4 it looks more likely that if I shoot first and shoot fast my K/D will be a positive quickly now that I have a button lay out I like and start every game with a DMR already.

PS: IT REALLY PIVES ME OFF THAT I CAN’T GET MY EMBELM THAT I HAVE HAD SINCE HALO 2!!!

PSS: Thank you 343 for ruining HALO.

17

> I like the campain in H4, but…
>
> I’m not crazy about the muli-player match making as I don’t like Call of Duty that much. If you have time to play a lot from the November release date and built rank fast, then you are going to have power weapons (snipers and rail guns) as your load outs and the poor rookies that didn’t get H4 until Christmas is really going to hate it when he gets it handed to him every match.
>
> At least in Reach I had a chance to get weapons and choose armor attributes. After that it was skill and determination (mostly luck…lol)when I played. My kill/death was still only a .91 at the end, but I had brought it up my playing harder and smarter. In H4 it looks more likely that if I shoot first and shoot fast my K/D will be a positive quickly now that I have a button lay out I like and start every game with a DMR already.
>
>
> PS: IT REALLY PIVES ME OFF THAT I CAN’T GET MY EMBELM THAT I HAVE HAD SINCE HALO 2!!!
>
> PSS: Thank you 343 for ruining HALO.

Have you even played Halo 4 MM?

You can’t unlock snipers and rockets for your personal load out. Only in personal ordnance and everyone can do that from the start. What a nub…

18

> Theres no skill in Halo 4? Ok…
>
> My Halo 3 K/D was negative
>
> My Halo: Reach K/D was negative but went positive.
>
> My Halo 4 starting K/D was 1.12
>
> Just because your not decent at Halo 4 doesn’t make it not have skill. “Oh, I’m dying too fast” Maybe if you actually work with your team you’d get a kill. I’m getting plenty of kills.

Can you not see the contradiction in what you posted?

19

> > Theres no skill in Halo 4? Ok…
> >
> > My Halo 3 K/D was negative
> >
> > My Halo: Reach K/D was negative but went positive.
> >
> > My Halo 4 starting K/D was 1.12
> >
> > Just because your not decent at Halo 4 doesn’t make it not have skill. “Oh, I’m dying too fast” Maybe if you actually work with your team you’d get a kill. I’m getting plenty of kills.
>
> Can you not see the contradiction in what you posted?

What contradiction?

That I actually know how to aim and kill people?

20

I agree completely. the only reason i play halo over cod is because halo requires more of a skill base. but now its not the case. i just hope when the ranked system comes out in multilayer it will make the game more competitive again