So I've been playing some CE Campaign...

Games Other Halo
#1

No, this isn’t a hate thread about the various multiplayer aspects of the game that are quite broken. I’m here to talk about campaign.

Mostly, the Covenant. Now, it’s awesome that 343 created new enemies. You can only fight the same people for so long (meaning forever, but whatever). I think the Prometheans are a great addition.

But I also feel the Covies hurt because of it. What stands out to me throughout the series is that the Covies are aliens. Their weapons don’t work like ours, their vehicles don’t work like ours, and their philosophies aren’t like ours. Namely, the UNSC is entirely focused on performance. No resources are wasted making stuff look good, it’s just left rough-and-tumble. Furthermore, everything has a certain extent of camo. The Marines and Spartans wear green, nothing stands out. I love it, it looks like how our human stuff might actually look in 500 years.

The Covies, on the other hand, are all about looks (even if they don’t mean it this way). Their vehicles and such are sleek and fancy. Every tiniest detail of everything is covered in vivid colors.

Which is what’s completely missing from Halo 4. Everything just looks gray. The grunts don’t even look like grunts, and the Elite’s armor typically just appears dark gray or black. Nothing pops. Even the golden elites look muddy than golden. And it really takes away from the atmosphere.

The same goes for vehicles like the Ghost, which is a very deep blue. What was wrong with the vivid purple? Or the Storm Rifle–the gun itself is black, and the plasma suddenly travels so fast that you can barely see it. Why?

Another area I am absolutely astonished by is 343’s decision to go with the Covies speaking their own language. Sure, it makes sense–until you remember that the Spartans have translators built into their armor. Sure it’s more threatening–except when I hear these stupid grunt whines, I just get annoyed and want to punch something.

I just really liked the old vocals. I realize they couldn’t get the same voice actor, but so what? It doesn’t take a whole lot of uniqueness to say funny things in falsetto. At the very least, why not layer it on IWHBYD so that when activated, Covies speak English? I want to hear about the strong ties between Flipyap and Yapflip, and about how much I ruined that little, bright red guy’s life. The sounds they make now sound like Shy Guy from Nintendo.

Anyone agree with me? On the visuals at least? I’ve heard a few people who hate funny grunts, so just layer it IWHBYD.

#2

The single player from CE is the best. I mean you just can’t beat it.

#3

I think 343i want to go with a more gritty, darker Halo…but in my opinion that isn’t what Halo is. Halo is meant to be campy sci-fi like the Starship Troopers movie or the original trilogy of Star Wars films. It gives it character that shows in its enemies, vehicles, weapons, etc.

I guess 343i just wanted to put their mark on Halo too much to the point that is overpowered Halo’s original feel.

BUT THAT IS ALL JUST MY OPINION.

#4

Those are good observations. It doesn’t bother me, personally, but I can understand how it might bother others.

#5

> I think 343i want to go with a more gritty, darker Halo…but in my opinion that isn’t what Halo is. Halo is meant to be campy sci-fi like the Starship Troopers movie or the original trilogy of Star Wars films. It gives it character that shows in its enemies, vehicles, weapons, etc.
>
> I guess 343i just wanted to put their mark on Halo too much to the point that is overpowered Halo’s original feel.
>
> BUT THAT IS ALL JUST MY OPINION.

I never considered the original halos campy. In fact halo 3 was kinda dark, and even more so with reach, halo 4 just took the style of halo 1 and amplified it, and made it more realistic. Aliens shouldn’t speak English, its the reason bungie made them not do it in reach.

#6

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#7

Hell yeah.

H4 Covies:

-believable animations, especially when they die
-patrolling Elites, jumping Grunts
-Japanese Elites
-dull colors (dark green Elites)
-copy and pasted Reach Hunters with faster animations and less melee cooldown time

CE Covies:

-even more believable animations (they don’t feel sped up, they vary, even their death animation can be convincing)
-more actions including Grunts and Jackals (pointing out player, rolling/sidestep, sleeping, patrolling)
-distinct voices (wort wort wort)
-varying models (curlback Grunts, squid-head Elites, Jackals with helmets)
-you can tell majors apart from minors
-aggressive Hunters that try to dodge incoming vehicles and pursue you everywhere

#8

I hate what they did to the Grunts and to a lesser extent, the Jackals.

#9

You have a good point about the General, I guess it does look a bit worn out.

But IIRC, CE Zealots weren’t 100% gold either, they had some dark areas. That was well-hidden by the energy sword’s glow so they looked solid gold.