I’m an 8 year Halo veteran, and I love Halo 4, it hasn’t ruined the series (IMO), and I look forward to seeing what 343 can do on the next-gen Xbox.
My question to you, fellow Halo vets, is: How do you feel about Halo 4?
And please, refrain from using nostalgia as an argument. Nostalgia leads to bias, and unbiased opinions are best and most constructive opinions. 
My own reasons for not playing
Not how my mother used to make it - nostalgia
I expected more meat and potatoes - guns, nades and melee- but got mostly watery broth that was pretty unsatisfying - infinity settings and bad drivers everywhere-
Also my utensils seem to be faulty -console is throwing random blinking triangles everywhere- I’m considering replacing but since I only play halo… I’ve I don’t feel its worth the investment.
I’m old. Really old. The whole reason I even own an Xbox today is because of Halo.
Personally, I really like H4, but I understand and can relate with those who do not like H4 and would prefer a more traditional experience. I have a feeling part of this stems from not having a classic playlist from day one. Had this been done, it may have saved a lot of frustration.
Hindsight is 20/20, and it’s easy to armchair quarterback this today, but I think it’s difficult to foresee these things. Reach had a lot of backlash from traditionalists as well. Looking back, that could’ve signaled the importance of having something integrated at launch.
I think H4 has been a great learning experience for 343i, and I’m sure there are a lot of lessons to be learned postmortem (i.e. ranks, classic playlists, forge, theatre, etc.).
10 Year vet here.
Halo 4 does some things great, while other aspects could use some tuning. The story is awesome and visually impressive, with a very convincing bad guy who I just love to fight. I enjoy the back story featured in Forward Unto Dawn, as well as how the campaign ties in to multiplayer. Halo 2 had the best story in my opinion, but it was set off by forcing me to play as the Arbiter. I am very glad that 4 does not make the same mistake. I am also very VERY happy with the absence of the flood in the campaign. I was just plain tired of them by the end of 3. As far as I am concerned they can stay gone. The one thing I liked about reach was seeing my armor choices in the campaign. I know this makes no sense here, since we are playing as the Master Chief, but it was still really cool. My biggest criticism of the campaign would be the small amount of EXP received from playing it. This would be solved by re-introducing more challenges for campaign mode, like Bungie did with Reach. Just bump up the level to match Spartan Ops. Also where did the campaign commendations go?
Spartan Ops serving as replacement for Firefight is also a welcome change. While at first I was hesitant, I was quickly won over. The intro Cut scenes are great to watch and allow me to get more involved in the motive. Yes, the maps are recycled, but that is nothing different from Reach’s firefight modes. The addition is that here we are playing with objectives, not just a fight until you die mentality, which is always more immersive for me. I love the Ops and only wish for more. I like that I can use my own loadouts, and that there are fresh challenges waiting each week.
Multiplayer is where my real criticism comes into play. I am very glad that Halo finally joined the scene for Loadout selection and customization. This has basically replaced my need for COD or Crysis. I really loved when assassinations were first introduced, and like how much attention they get now. I love the amount of challenges offered, as well as the new system for obtaining armor and weapons. It makes sense. I am glad I don’t have to save up my credits any more, but am rewarded just for leveling up. The commendations are equally addicting and rewarding, I just wish there were some for the campaign (hint). The specializations are awesome too, and offer cool perks and even cooler armor. But. The perks from specializations are all sort of lacking. A few stand out, but for the most part it is just not worth giving up dexterity or ammo for. I think there should be a separate slot for a Specialization Perk. However, this leads into an argument for a playlist just for people 50-, to offset the advantage that high level players would get. I get it, I know why specialization perks must replace existing ones, I just don’t like it. I want to be able to experiment with the perk I just worked two weeks to get, but if I have to give up one of my Tried and True’s it takes the fun out of it. I ended up choosing specializations just for the armor, which is a bit off…I also miss the automatic grenade pickup from the past games, and am a bit turned off that I have to use a perk slot to refill my explosives…
All this aside, the game is Good. 343 took a great franchise and almost re-booted it to match the modern gamer expectations. And they did a great job. Of course it feels different then past games (almost oceanic or aquatic), but that is the whole point. I bought Halo Anniversary so I could play a game with the same feel as the original. I didn’t buy 4 for that reason. It is a game I will play until the next comes out. Sure I would fine tune it here and there, but overall it is solid.
> I’m old. Really old. The whole reason I even own an Xbox today is because of Halo.
>
> Personally, I really like H4, but I understand and can relate with those who do not like H4 and would prefer a more traditional experience. I have a feeling part of this stems from not having a classic playlist from day one. Had this been done, it may have saved a lot of frustration.
>
> Hindsight is 20/20, and it’s easy to armchair quarterback this today, but I think it’s difficult to foresee these things. Reach had a lot of backlash from traditionalists as well. Looking back, that could’ve signaled the importance of having something integrated at launch.
>
> I think H4 has been a great learning experience for 343i, and I’m sure there are a lot of lessons to be learned postmortem (i.e. ranks, classic playlists, forge, theatre, etc.).
This minus the old part. I like Halo 4, good first effort for 343i, I’m looking forward to halo 5.
I have only known Halo for 5 years. I began my investment with CE (PC) and H3 (Xbox 360). I preferred CE. Then I tried out Halo 2, was comparable to CE. I got a rocky start with ODST due to pricing. Reach was abysmal but then I learned how it worked. Likewise, my reaction to H4 was unfavorable but I stuck with it since it fulfilled some things.
Da Truth:
•There is a noticeable decline in AI behavior (sans Prometheans, which just lack emotional appeal), difficulty balancing, and vehicle combat quality
•Gameplay was dumbed down for loadouts (tactical packages and support upgrades). This especially concerns me since it can be seen even in the Campaign
•The game is really pushing the console to it’s limits. It’s very noticeable, impacting gameplay severely
How do I feel?:
<mark>They prioritized some things and neglected other things. It feels like a half-hearted attempt.</mark>
I’ll be frank, I used to hate on newer Halo games. But now I just lose interest easily. Yet H4 manages to hold my attention; I find that it’s Co-op experience (sans Spartan Ops) is superb. But there is little reason to play Solo…
Halo 4 have some good ideas on paper. Unfortunately, the ideas ultimately ended up hurting itself due to it being over done.
Loadouts is a good addition. Unfortunately, 343 gave the player way to much power with cross-mapping weapons not giving players breathing room to move in, 1sk weapons congesting CQC maps and Plasma Pistols available at spawn making vehicle combat unenjoyable for those who were fans of it in previous games.
JiP is a good addition. Unfortunately, they forced of down upon everyone in almost every playlist. If stats weren’t being tracked in JiPed games(unless they win), it probably wouldn’t be seen in such a negative light.
Infinity Slayer is a.good gametype, but not good enough to be considered the selling point for those interested in Halo’s MP. They should’ve kept a playlist with the original setup, similar to Halo 3, in the event problems were to occur in the new gametype so players would have something familiar to fall back on instead of a previous game, or a different game altogether.
That being said, 343 is at least responsive on things that are possible to be fixed(mostly): Glitches have been fixed(save the AC glitch), Nerfs had been made and a complete retune on the loadout weapons is a big welcomed sign of things coming around. It won’t bring alot of fans back, but it ops showing that they are learning from their mistakes and willing to do what’s necessary.
I am hoping Halo 5 really blows 4 out the water, and that 343 handles MP in a more thoughtful approach to avoid months of frustration.
Halo: Spectacularly fun. The campaign was unique at the time and my first experience on the Xbox generation of consoles. Lan parties were crazy fun, but people forget how worthless some of the weapons were and the balancing issues.
Halo 2: Big disappointment because it didn’t live up to the most astounding E3 presentation of all time (which didn’t make it in the actual game). Xbox live was a huge addition, but networking issues and cheating were HUGE problems. Gameplay incredibly fun, but the problems would make you put a controller through the wall today.
Halo 3: My favorite Halo multiplayer experience. Thank god they removed the invisible Arbiter levels. The pit is my favorite Halo multiplayer map of all time. Duel wielding was fun for me, and equipment added just enough variety to gameplay to spice things up without turning into crutches. I have very few complaints with Halo 3. Trueskill seemed to work well, and for the most parts i found games VERY well balanced.
Halo Reach: I’m not a fan of armor abilities, but I crutched sprint hard core in Halo Reach. Noone will ever know the number of times I was literally squealing like a pig as I made it around a corner with no shields. Jet pack and armor lock completely broke game play on many maps. That being said, I enjoyed the weapon sand box and the grenade launcher is my favorite Halo weapon. Map design felt poor, but the level to which the jet pack was abusable has a lot to do with it.
Halo 4: Still not a huge fan of armor abilities. I use jet pack as a mobility enhancer now that it isn’t contemptably broken and I don’t have to sacrifice sprint. I don’t HATE personal ordinance, but I don’t like the snow ball effect where if a team is sucessful they get weapon advantage which helps them to then be more successful and get a larger weapon advantage. I much prefer preordained map spawns (opus has reminded me of that), though they need to implement a system where it has a countdown timer ahead of time if they are going to make way points. Instant respawn is a minor mistake, imo. Kill times FEEL much faster than previous Halos to me, though apparently hard data disputes this. This may just be because Reach made me used to having a massive mobility advantage.
Here is my big complaint with Halo 4. The “beta” complaints seem more and more accurate. No CSR, no death X, only a few maps at launch, theater with nerfed functionality, poor custom game options. Now they are doing pretty huge weapon tuning adjustments to try and rebalance things.
Halo 5: The gameplay in Halo 4 is still super fun for me, and my complaints are those of a loving friend trying to help you reach your potential. Instead of innovating for Halo 5, I would like to see them find a middle ground between Halo 4 and Halo 3. Bring back map spawns (use ordinance markers if you must), get rid of personal ordinance in the standard game types, I want a ranked hoppers and social hoppers seperate. 4vs4 ranked team slayer using something akin to the Halo 3 trueskill system. PLEASE.
I love Halo 4, People need to stop -Yoinking!- about it.
Halo 4 was let down in everyway. From the 5 hour campaign playing through solo legendary to the instant respawns and picking your own equipment with no classic arena Halo gametypes, the game was just a mess.
You also have the obscene bullet magnetism that breaks pretty much every weapon in the game to the point that they require no skill to use.
The removal of firefight was an awful decision. With Spartan Ops you are tied to the same levels doing the same things and hearing the same things over and over. Firefight allows a vast amount of customization. Want to fight endless waves of hunters and wraiths? Got it! How about some mindless grunt-only killing? That is there too. Instead we are given this hollow, half–Yoinked!- attempt at a secondary campaign called Spartan Ops. And the Spartan IVs? Yea, professionally trained, military killing machines really shouldn’t act like spoiled children that just got shiny new toys.
Don’t even get me started on the campaign. Cortana and Chief were always plot-armored to a degree, but in 4 is elevates to the point that Cortana somehow magically saves Chief despite him manually activating a nuclear warhead at point blank range. And the only interesting character was Lasky. Del Rio and Palmer were both veritable -Yoink–hats that shouldn’t have ever been deemed fit for any form of command.
We also have the gutted theater system that only works for certain things.
A death X that has only been added recently and even then it follows the body instead of staying stationary at place of death for investigation.
A broken forge system that doesn’t allow people to accurately and precisely place objects that instead tries to force a broken magnet system onto users.
Can i state my opinion, although i got Halo ce in 2006 with Halo 2?
I simply love Halo 4.
> I simply love Halo 4.
Agreed. Campaign was GREAT, kept me on edge more than any previous title, and equal to Reach as far as this factor goes anyways.
For me the sole reason I own an xbox is for halo. I am so glad now that halo is no longer a driving force behind the console, makes the decision for what console to get next gen that much easier.
For me halo 4 is one of the worst games ive played. It advertised its self as a sequel to halo 3 and it plays and feels nothing like halo 3. It has every feature from modern shooters (which I hate mind you) and some features from previous halo’s all shoved into one game.
The gameplay is boring, and frustrating. The game its self is inherently unbalanced, thanks too some features that were added.
Previous games kept me coming back for more and more. The gameplay was fun, skillful, and not random. Hell I still play halo 3 to this day and find it to be so much fun, so “nostalgia” really isnt something that can be thrown around.
My favorite part of halo 4v4, in halo 4 4v4 is honestly one of the worst games for 4v4. What with ordnance both global and personal, loadouts, sprint, instant spawn, aa’s, flinch (it is worse in btb environments), and the two small things no one seems to mention but affect gameplay greatly, hit markers and grenade indicators. All of these things together ruin the experience for me. If I even get the next xbox you can bet I will not be getting halo 5 on launch I will wait a month or two and see the fan reaction to the game.
> Previous games kept me coming back for more and more. The gameplay was fun, skillful, and not random. Hell I still play halo 3 to this day and find it to be so much fun, so “nostalgia” really isnt something that can be thrown around.
It sounds like you’ve never used the Halo 3 BR or you completely forgot about the random spread the BR gives you.
> > Previous games kept me coming back for more and more. The gameplay was fun, skillful, and not random. Hell I still play halo 3 to this day and find it to be so much fun, so “nostalgia” really isnt something that can be thrown around.
>
> It sounds like you’ve never used the Halo 3 BR or you completely forgot about the random spread the BR gives you.
By not random I meant the way power weapons are handled in the game, and custom loadouts adding so many variables to the game. I know the spread was random, but the way power weapons were treated was not random.
> > > Previous games kept me coming back for more and more. The gameplay was fun, skillful, and not random. Hell I still play halo 3 to this day and find it to be so much fun, so “nostalgia” really isnt something that can be thrown around.
> >
> > It sounds like you’ve never used the Halo 3 BR or you completely forgot about the random spread the BR gives you.
>
> By not random I meant the way power weapons are handled in the game, and custom loadouts adding so many variables to the game. I know the spread was random, but the way power weapons were treated was not random.
So you hate Halo 4 because of the Infinity settings (which can be avoided), but you don’t hate Halo 3 which has a random Battle Rifle (which by the sound of your post, you use all the time).
Are you sure that you’re not viewing Halo 3 with rose colored glasses?
Edit: Completely forgot to post my opinion.
Halo CE: Played with my Dad and older Brother all the time.
Halo 2: Matchmaking was so broken that I spent most of my time in custom Infection games and people have the nerve to complain about a 5 shot DMR, how about a 4 shot BR that was hitscan?!
Halo 3: The BR spread really put me off and getting those annoying “Selling my level 50 account for 1600msp” every other game.
Halo: Reach: I loved the crap out of the Invasion playlist, but didn’t enjoy all the complaining.
Halo 4: I like it as much as the other games, however, I’m having more fun with it than Halo 3.
TL:DR- The community really ruins Halo for me.
> > > > Previous games kept me coming back for more and more. The gameplay was fun, skillful, and not random. Hell I still play halo 3 to this day and find it to be so much fun, so “nostalgia” really isnt something that can be thrown around.
> > >
> > > It sounds like you’ve never used the Halo 3 BR or you completely forgot about the random spread the BR gives you.
> >
> > By not random I meant the way power weapons are handled in the game, and custom loadouts adding so many variables to the game. I know the spread was random, but the way power weapons were treated was not random.
>
> So you hate Halo 4 because of the Infinity settings (which can be avoided), but you don’t hate Halo 3 which has a random Battle Rifle (which by the sound of your post, you use all the time).
> Are you sure that you’re not viewing Halo 3 with rose colored glasses?
I hate halo 4 for much more then randomness. I can deal with randomness, and yes I am pretty sure it isnt nostalgia. I still play the game to this day, I enjoy it. Yea there are parts of halo 3 that I find frustrating and I will point them out, the random spread on the br being one of them. But as a whole the game is enjoyable and fun. I cannot say the same thing for halo 4, if we stripped out everything from aa’s to flinch, then yes I would find halo 4 enjoyable.
> I hate halo 4 for much more then randomness. I can deal with randomness, and yes I am pretty sure it isnt nostalgia. I still play the game to this day, I enjoy it. Yea there are parts of halo 3 that I find frustrating and I will point them out, the random spread on the br being one of them. But as a whole the game is enjoyable and fun. I cannot say the same thing for halo 4, if we stripped out everything from aa’s to flinch, then yes I would find halo 4 enjoyable.
So remove everything that isn’t in Halo 3?
> > I hate halo 4 for much more then randomness. I can deal with randomness, and yes I am pretty sure it isnt nostalgia. I still play the game to this day, I enjoy it. Yea there are parts of halo 3 that I find frustrating and I will point them out, the random spread on the br being one of them. But as a whole the game is enjoyable and fun. I cannot say the same thing for halo 4, if we stripped out everything from aa’s to flinch, then yes I would find halo 4 enjoyable.
>
> So remove everything that isn’t in Halo 3?
Remove everything that doesnt work in halo. I can get behind aa’s but not off of spawn, if it was a tired system and you could spawn with thrusters holo and hardlight and have the rest as map pickups then I could get behind it. I am perfectly fine with new additions to the game, as long as them additions keep the same core gameplay and dont change it. Or as long as it isnt change for the sake of change, kinda like descope to flinch was.