I have a couple things to say.
1: Did the Game Informer team play anything besides slayer? FFA slayer is described, but nothing else.
Instant respawns make sense for FFA. It’s meant to be frenzied and hectic. I’m 99% sure that 343 knows full well that instant respawns would completely break Team Objective (and Team Slayer too, to a lesser extent). They play Halo, too.
2: Random weapon spawns haven’t been explained very well. I’m against them in any form, but I highly doubt they’ll be standard in every playlist. Just calm down. Map control is one of Halo’s core elements, and they know this. Just wait for more info.
3: The new Forerunner Vision AA can only benefit the competitive community, as it discourages camping. Will be awesome to use on smaller maps.
4: Custom loadouts are a GODsend to competitive players. Never again do I have to avoid Team Slayer because of the AR starts. I can spawn with a BR regardless of gametype? THANK YOU, 343!!!
5: The BR, DMR, and Carbine all have been confirmed as returning. And they’re hitscan! This is the best news ever. Imagine using a BR in all 4v4 playlists and a DMR in 8v8. A dream come true.
I think Halo 4 will be a much better game than Reach or Halo 3 ever was. And even if it isn’t, you all know you’re gonna buy it anyway. Can we please, as a community, just take a deep breath and wait for more clarification on the things we don’t like?
343 has always been helpful to the competitive community. Think about it… The FIRST thing they did after taking over the franchise was reduce bloom in a majority of Reach’s playlists, even giving us a gametype (and playlist) with it removed completely. (This single-handedly saved the MLG Halo community.) They said they’re taking competitive map design and gameplay seriously this time, which seems to be more than Bungie ever did. For my part, I trust them. And I’m waiting to see what they tell us next.