I’m been looking around for ideas on Halo 4, and…
Will everyone stop raging on Reach!
The AAs - Well, Sprint is useful, and the Jetpack opens up new avenues. I personally like Evade and find it useful for movement and escaping Snipers. The Hologram is a good tool for Stealth AND Assault, but can’t fool skilled players. Active Camo isn’t very good, and it really can sabotage your own team, and Armour Lock is a pain in the -Yoink-. Bubble Shields barely get any attention, so they should play a more important role. I think players also dislike people starting with Armour Abilities as Halo has never had that before. Here is my suggestion for AAs:
Sprint is the Armour Ability you spawn with by default, and remains relatively the same, but maybe can be stopped if you take too much damage.
Evade can be chosen for you to spawn with, but uses 100% charge, not 50%, to make it more of a tool for dodging rockets than spamming.
Jetpacks can be found if you explore the map, but because they can spoil Map Control, they aren’t as fast and run out of charge slightly faster.
Holograms can also be found around the map, and work the same, except for a few minor tweaks.
Bubble Shields should be able to be found around the map, and as well as healing you, they should slightly buff your speed and damage.
Active Camo is returned to the way it was in earlier games, a pickup that instantly activates and stays when you run, but not while sprinting.
Armour Lock should be removed, and we should all try to forget it.
The Bloom - Okay, Bloom is mostly a COD-like, un-Halo-ish element, so it should be removed.
The Ranking System - People hate on this a lot, but it unlocks Armour which has no negative OR positive effects. This should stay, but another system more like Halo 3 should be put in alongside for tracking the player’s skill.
The Speed - The Speed being reduced, and the lower jump height is for canon reasons, and it really shouldn’t be in Halo 4, because in Halo 4 you are the Master Chief, who is faster than Noble Team.
The Weapons - They won’t be in Halo 4 due to canon, probably (343i seem to really care about the canon), because the weapons on the Dawn are the ones in Halo 3. Also, because it’s set on a Forerunner world, Sentinel Beams and other, new, Forerunner weapons will almost certainly be entering the scene.
The Firefight - I don’t get why people hate Reach’s firefight! Probably the Maps. Anyway, I like it, and I also like ODST’s Firefight. But I do see a few problems:
-It isn’t infinite length, which spoils the survival element slightly, but does allow quick games.
-You get ordnance airdropped, which can make it easier and less survival-ish. It should be an option though.
I think there should be two modes - Firefight Classic (more like ODST’s Firefight) and Firefight Casual (more like Reach’s Firefight). Bit, the customization was amazing, so if that’s expanded on with a few more options like enabling interactive terrain and being able to choose what ordnance is dropped, if any.
Invasion - Invasion is a good mode. I really like it, but it does grow repetitive, being only Capture Territory and Capture The Flag. If they include it in Halo 4 (WHICH THEY SHOULD), they should add more elements, like:
-Bombs that must be planted to advance, and destroy terrain to make paths.
-Important NPCs like Forerunners/Monitors who have to be killed.
-Airstrikes that can be called in when you unlock the Designator.
-NPCs like Halo 4’s Marine/Grunt versions to add to the ‘War’ theme.
Forge - Anyone denying Reach’s Forge was better than Halo 3’s is obviously limited. Anyone denying Far Cry’s Editor is WAY better is obviously brain dead. For those who don’t know, Far Cry’s Editor allows you to edit terrain. I think that some terrain modification tools should be mixed in with the precision and simplicity of Reach’s editor to make Forge 3.0 brilliant.
Headhunter - To be honest, I haven’t played much Headhunter, so I can’t really say much about this mode, but it seems like a good idea and should stay. More on this tommorow.
Generator Defense - This was in the Beta, but not the full game (except custom games). WHY? I loved it, because it was a cross between Invasion (SvE, Defending Objectives) and Firefight (Enemies, 4-Spartan Squad). I found it really fun, and when it wasn’t in the full game’s matchmaking, I wasn’t a happy bunny. They should include it in Halo 4’s matchmaking, and improve on it somehow.
Vehicles - I’m not saying the Reach vehicle mechanics should be included in Halo 4. I’m saying that the variety of vehicles should be. Being able to hop in Trucks, Forklifts, Lorries, and even a Spacecraft at one point, in addition to the usual vehicles, really was interesting and entertaining. Of course, Forerunners must have had Hovercars, right? And Forerunner Forklifts and Trucks? Civilian Vehicles, while usually not all that good, are entertaining, and that is why they should be in Halo 4.
TL;DR/SUMMARY
Halo 1-3 Gameplay, (Speed, Gun Handling, Spawning, Map Design) but with some limited Armour Abilities, and the game modes from Reach taken and expanded on, and a hybrid Rank System taking parts from Halo 3 (for skill) and Reach (for Armory Unlocks).
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND NOT-GENTLE-MEN AND 12 YEAR OLDS AND ANNOYING GUYS WHO KEEP STABBING ME IN THE BACK IN INFECTION - YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!
Oh, and I’m FLAMELASHER on my XBox 360, but had to set this account up for these forums. God knows why.
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