This starts my first thread of a series of threads called “What I like and don’t like” about Halo 4. In this thread I will (obviously) be talking about what I like about Halo 4’s multiplayer. I’m going to cut to the very point because people stop reading and never reply when my thread is too long.
Likes:
- Exciting, fast-paced action
The fast-paced action of War Games is intense, it gets your heart beating and having so much fun in the video-game. Halo 4 is for people who want a pace of action that is much faster than Halo: Reach but significantly slower than modern shooters like CoD. In Halo 4, weapons are much stronger, or shields are just weaker. CoD is too fast for me and Reach was too slow. Halo 4 is about right for people like me 
- Wide arsenal of weapons
We’ve never had a wider selection of weapons to choose from! With so many weapons, 343 has managed to have a weapon in the game to suit many different play styles. There’s some weapon in Halo 4 for everyone. Are you a good sniper but can’t get that one-headshot-kill? The Binary Rifle is for you. Are you a player that likes to DESTROY everything? Then there is the Rocket Launcher and Incineration Cannon. Are you a player that likes to spray and pray with an automatic weapon? There’s the Suppressor, Assault Rifle, SAW, and even the Storm Rifle. Are you a player that prefers long-range combat with a weapon that pretty much dominates the entire game? There’s the DMR. See what I mean? For me, all of the Halo 4 guns are so much fun to use.
- Loadouts
Loadouts bring a huge element of strategy into Halo, turning it into a class-based shooter that values strategy and even skill with all the tools you’ve chosen. All weapons, mods, grenades, and AA’s have their own advantages and disadvantages. You must choose them wisely, and suit them to your playing style to perform well in Halo 4.
- Limited Grenades
Less grenade-spamming. We all know how Reach went. I died more times from a single grenade than an actual gun.
- Flag Tossing is gone
I was a good flag tosser, but I found it unfair when my team’s flag carrier couldn’t flag toss while the other team could. I also found it no fun to flag toss at all and found it extremely boring and unrealistic.
- You can throw the Oddball
This encourages more strategic play. You’re being attacked while you’re holding the Oddball. Is it best to throw it to the attacker so when he catches it he can’t attack you? Is it best to throw the ball off the map? Quick, clever thinking is valued. You can also pass the Oddball to your teammates, which brings in an element of teamwork (which brings us to my next point).
- Team-based game
Although kill-times are faster, Halo is still a very team-based game. With loadouts with different weapons and different armor abilities and armor mods, every Spartan is unique. Make the most of your team, and use each of your team’s talents to reach victory. For example, have a few people on your team with Promethean Vision? They can help your team with callouts, scout ahead and find enemies and missing allies. Jet Packers and Spartans with Mobility can help the team in getting to places faster such as grabbing the flag before the enemy can. Spartans with the Regeneration Field AA can follow the ‘fighters’ of the team and heal them by placing the Regen Field to recharge their shields.
Most of the Halo 4 playlists require and significantly reward team players like Capture The Flag. Escort the flag carrier to deliver the flag, points rewarded to you for helping your flag carrier! This brings us to another point.
- New points system
The new points system rewards teamwork, and for doing very important tasks such as being the “hero” in Dominion, or killing a flag carrier in the last few seconds of a CTF game when he was just inches from his destination.
- War Games fits the story
I found it quite uninteresting how Halo multiplayer was never “anything” in the Halo universe. It didn’t tie in with the story . . . at all. Why are Spartans fighting Spartans? Well, in Halo 4 they’re is a reason for all of that. We’re in a War Games, a training simulation for Spartans aboard the UNSC Infinity. This explains so much and helps players feel much more immersed in the Halo universe.
- War Games feels "arcade-y"
War Games feels much more “arcade-y”. With Jeff S. (the announcer) being much more enthusiastic, numbers and points flying at your HUD, and people with gamertags killing other people with gamertags on the left of your HUD, everything just makes more sense and feels more fun. Do you think that a real-life Assault Rifle would do more damage than how much it does in Halo 4 multiplayer? 343 has a reason for that. War Games is a simulation, and so the Infinity War Games “Gamemakers” (a.k.a. 343 Industries) can do anything with the maps and control shields, and weapon damage. Bungie’s Halo was a military sci-fi. 343’s Halo is a sci-fi fantasy. When I played Halo 1-3 and Reach multiplayer, I felt like I was on an actual battlefield. When I play Halo 4, I feel like I’m playing War Games, a training simulation and that’s what I personally wanted.
- Playlist selection more organized
I know we all miss our favourite playlists and 343 has a lack of them, it’s still very nice that the playlist selection in Halo 4 is very organized, so we can explore and get to know a particular gametype better rather than switching from playlists all the time.
- Return of the Master Chief, Halo franchise taking a new direction
This is Halo taken in a new direction. It’s also the return of the Master Chief. We haven’t seen that guy in a very long time (Master Chief hasn’t taken a pee, dump, shower, or eaten in over 4 years lol). Although many of us don’t like the new direction 343 is taking the franchise, remember that a lot of people do. A lot of people don’t and a lot of people do. It’s your decision if you like the new direction or not. Although many forum-goers here do not like Halo 4 too much, I think it’s safe to say that most of us can agree on liking Halo 4 more than Reach. Although this isn’t the huge return of the Master Chief as we had hoped, Halo 4 is still a fairly strong game that is stronger than Halo: Reach, but ultimately falls flat compared to Halo 3.
But remember that there is still hope. This is 343’s first game, and who knows maybe Halo 5 on the new console will bring back and make a few golden days 