I’ve been a long-term Halo series fanboy. Playing since the very early days on my xbox original console. So having played the game, pretty intensively, maxing 50s in nearly every Halo 3 hopper (happy to show). Doing well on the once-intense online MLG gamebattles. I’d say I have a pretty good idea of the ‘Halo’ experience, from a competitive point of view anyway.
So I thought I’d share my personal gripes and likes of this mixed-reviewed game.
The campaign is pretty sweet, not quite as epic as the original but probably the best since then. The graphics are, as expected, the best of any in the series to date. Those cut-scenes are truly phenomenal, as many people have said, sometimes it hard to tell whether what I was seeing was real or CGI.
But who cares about the campaign? You thrash it a few times and it’s done, matchmaking is where halo should really bloom.
Before I start on matchmaking or war games or whatever you want to call it, I have to say I am not in ‘Team Reach’. In my opinion, it just didn’t feel ‘halo’ the competitive aspect was null and I think Bungie really lost a lot of the community with that title.
Halo 4 matchmaking definitely feels more ‘halo’ to me than Reach did. So a big thumbs up to 343i for getting the feel better. The single thing that dissappointed me most when Halo 4 shipped was the lack of a Competitive Ranking System (CSR). I mean, Halo 2/3 didn’t have perfect systems, but they were good. I didn’t think sorting one out should be THAT difficult. But anyway it didn’t ship with the game and we were told it would come later …
The mundane:
Commendations and medals have had a bit of an injection since Reach and I think it works well. Armor seems to have been a bit overdone, some of the sets look like some throwback from a car-making factory, that being said, they still have most of the original sets in and that’s good enough for me. Player cards seem OK to me, a pretty feature I guess. I don’t particularly not knowing who’s in your party without having to press ‘x’ if you’re party lead.
Points system:
Why? Was there a need to go more COD orientated? What function does playing a game to 600 points, where each kill is 10 points over a straight 60 kill system? If personal points were included I could understand, so sprees and assists would add to the team’s points, but they’re not, so I don’t understand? Maybe 343i could explain …? I do like the idea of being rewarded for assists and distractions etc. Anything that makes Team-Work more attractive is a good thing. FFA assists? cough What? I’d like to see either personal points adding to team points or a revert to the kill per point system.
Weapons:
So many bad things … My biggest problem: the ability for anyone to choose to have a compact, overpowered and overused shotgun in their back-pocket. I am, ofcourse, talking about the Boltshot. It encourages the kind of ‘campy’ behavior that drives playing for individual gain rather than teamwork. Do we need it? No. We have shotguns and scattershots. Leave it at that 343i. Just nerf it. Before I throw my xbox360 out of the window. Please. Rifle imbalance is a hot topic at the moment and this is my view: Nerf that -Yoink- DMR. It is THE long range rifle, is that not enough? Why is its kill time greater than that of the BR at close/mid range? So wrong. Rather than improving every other -Yoink- weapon, Nerf cannon that thing. The carbine needs a buff, it just gets overpowered by every other rifle. The beam rifle’s auto aim is just a little too great.
Ordnance/Weapon drops:
Great new idea! But man the random aspect is not great, I think it should be tiered, with the first tier being the player’s selection of low power weapons/grenades/powerups (where only 3 of the lower powered selection are offered in game). And every tier after that being the player’s selection of increasingly powerful gear. This stops the frustration of imbalanced ordnance and rewards players for working hard. EVERY SINGLE MAPS NEEDS MORE RIFLE AMMO. Please 343i, all other halo titles had weapons on map, they need to be included. Period. Power weapons randomly dropping from the sky is also not exactly fair. I strongly prefer static, reliable weapon spawns. Doesn’t the Ordnance already throw in enough unpredictability?
Armor Abilities & Tactical/Support Packages:
343i went crazy this time. I like the differing strategies that come around from different the combinations. But I think some playlists should have more ‘limited’
selection of abilities. I personally always use either BR/DMR (BR for most, DMR for long range maps) Thruster, Mobility and Dexterity. There’s nothing worse than some noob camping in that corner with Boltshot + Camo + Stealth all game, every game. Maybe group abilities in team game such that each team can only have one out of each group, to stop regen field clustering, camo -Yoink!- and jetpack abuse. The new specialization’s packages are generally pretty rubbish. maybe something that changes game dynamic a bit more would be suited?
‘Competative’ Skill Rank:
CSR has now been introduced. Applauds. But I have to admit, it is by far the worst and most disappointing ranking system ever. cries just as I thought 343i were looking after their competitive community, it all, once again, goes to poop. No in-game rank, (where are the bragging rights if I have to load up waypoint or another external site, wait for it to load and then see my rank?) Seriously though, not having CSR in-game is the stupidest thing I think 343i have done. So, being into the competitive thing, i set about some time to chase down a 50 skill. My playlist of choice: Infinity Slayer. Currently at 48, in only a handfull of games and I’ve still matched with players as low as 8. that’s a difference of 40. 40!? Does CSR even work? How is it competitive if my 50 has been gained through playing against level 8’s. Seriously? So dumb. The CSR should be mainly based on W/L that is the ONLY measure of who was the best TEAM. The playlists are nearly all TEAM playlists … going up on a loss and down on a win because your in game score was low is ridiculous! Someone could have done all the work in the game and get the lowest score quite easily. So stupid. With reliable rank-resets ahead, and a ranking system that is not challenging, CSR will mean nothing.
Join in progress:
Has to be the most frustrating feature of H4. It doesn’t work, it needs an overhaul or an option not to be able to join in progress. It’s no fun matching 2 minutes from the end of a game with your new team 360 points down. What’s more is that it drags down your score and W/L ratio. It makes sense within the first 30 seconds of a game, but at 6 minutes, is it really a good idea?
Overall:
It’s exciting to see a future for Halo. Some of the new features truly are spectacular, the campaign is immersive and the graphics are great. BUT.
There is an awful lot to hate about halo 4 from a competitive aspect. It needs an overhaul for it to being a long-standing title like H3. Yet we still play it. It’s an addiction, just a like a drug. We need it. So please 343i save us from misery, save our 360’s from being thrown out the window, and save our H4 discs from being snapped.
P.S I’d write more, but my character limit is nearly up.
Flame on me if you will, it is the internet and opinions are, after all, not allowed.
Peace