We have entered this age where you buy a game, and you are locked out of 90% of the content from the start…
Armor, Weapons, Specializations, Expansions, Maps, Gametypes, Levels, Campaigns, etc.
On top of that, they re-use the same features, and hardware from previous games.
Let’s see: Stolen Ideas
Xp System (no ranks required)
Xp unlocks armor/wepaons/etc.
Loadouts
Killstreak Rewards (ordinance drops)
Low Amount of maps to encourage people to “buy map packs”
No voice communcation (yes, people used to talk to eachother in Halo 2-3)
No Skill Requirement
No Skill Ranking System
Skins/Armor Variations
“Paid Passes for Future Content”
Etc.
You can stop reading here, and just discuss your own thoughts.
So let’s see…we Pay, for a game which we believe has all the content included, but instead we only receive a small portion, and then have to unlock, or pay to play to get the rest of the content.
As far as Halo 4 is concerned…most paid $65+ for a 4 hour campaign, and multiplayer. The multiplayer “locks” or Xp caps you if you play too much, and it “locks” your level once you hit 70. To advance any further you have to “wait” for content to be “unlocked” by the developers. Remind you of anything? (Beyond 10th Prestige in MW3 months after the game launched, WoW level caps, Diablo 3 level cap, etc.)
The future…this seems to be heading down a very narrow path, where you’ll have to buy the game, and keep paying for content that’s already on the disk to “unlock” features. Making a $65 game, a $15/m+ subscription based game.
What you should do…
Never buy a game for over $50 on launch. (Bought Halo 4 for $43…)
Do not Pay Tax or additional fees for s/h or gas or any of that nonsense.
Get a good PC
Download Steam
Every day there is at least 3 50-75% off sales, and every season every game essentially becomes 75% off, making even the top tier Xbox 360 games as low as $10 or less…
2-3 Full Good Games, or 1 Map Pack?
What I do…
USB 3.0 is faster than anything at the moment.
External 3.0 Hard Drive Dock
Exchangeable SSD Cards (you could get 100-120GB SSD’s for $60-100)
I’ll buy games like Fallout 3 + all the expansions + New Vegas and the Expansions for like $15 or less combined, and load them on a SSD.
SSD = No loading times (or extremely fast loading times, the N64 modernized)
You can then, bring your “cartridges” over to a friends house
and they can play your games, or you can play theirs via steam.
Multiplayer Games can also be played with multiple controllers plugged in USB
You can play any PC game with an Xbox 360 Controller…even Diablo 3…
So, Halo 4 may be one of the Last if not the last console game I decide to buy. I bought Black Ops 2 on the PC simply because the graphics are so much better…again…for $45, not $65…silly rabbits…
I also buy GOOD games for a few dollars which serve a much longer, and more rewarding purpose than a “map pack” or “unlockable code” I also have access to typically free downloadable content, and more features like map editors and such. I also buy games when they are on sale even if I don’t intend to play them right away.
Conclusion: I feel as if, Microsoft has become Money Hungry, and so have many other companies. Video Games should be about making a great game, and building a strong community through care, not “Profit”…consider Halo 1-2-3, they were forced to cut out so much content because Microsoft had them on a budget, so many levels, and features were simply “thrown out” to make the game complete. So sad…now it’s like…
“let’s make a game look great, but have little content, but promise there will be more, but not tell them about all the strings and hidden costs attached”
My feelings about Halo 4:
Graphics = Amazing
Story = Horrible, no flood, no brutes, covenant are against you, random robots, cortana goes dead space, no Johnson, or the memorable characters, besides MC…what are you even fighting for?
Multiplayer = Awesome, but such a low selection of maps…I pretty much play the same 3-4 maps over, and over…
Xp Cap = Sucks! Don’t make a 2xp promotion + commendations + challenges, if you are going to cap me every morning…
Level Cap = sucks! Basically, if I don’t get a code, I can’t play past level 70?
Ranking System = sucks! No skill, ranks mean nothing!
Loadouts = sucks! There’s always that 1 or 2 good combos that make you > all. ( Example: Dmr + PP + Camo + Supply + Explosions = OP
Campaign: Way too short…I played it at a friends house, and after 2-3 hours, he’s like “we almost beat the game”, and I’m like…wait a minute…we are on legendary, and the game’s over?!
Spec Ops: Firefight for noobs…instead of playing online, you get more xp by killing grunts…okay…
Armor Codes/Specializations: Horrible Idea!
Total: I like the game, but feel like Microsoft/343 Industries were very greedy, and copied too many ideas from Call of Duty…the small things really irritate me as well…like being Xp capped everyday…or not receiving a code that I should have earned, and Microsoft Support blowing me off “we will email you within 24-72 hours”…okay…FU…I do know what that means…it means “i don’t care about your complaint”
I’ll reach the cap soon, likely next week when I have time to play, when I do, I won’t play anymore unless there’s some reason to. No skill, ranks don’t mean anything…I got to 50 in like 4 days…blah. and they are already showing off a “map pack” which I will buy…not. Consider this…I bought the Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition + Ledgend of Grimrock for $10…> a few maps.