This will be a detailed list of things wrong with Halo 4. Feel free to add, or comment about my list.
You could say that most of this is opinion, but the majority of it actually promotes worse gameplay, and I don’t think that is very much arguable.
I don’t expect you to read my entire rant on the flaws of this game, so I will break it up into sections; just skim through and see if you agree with most things or not.
I would like to firstly say that I am a competitive Halo player, always have been. Although my viewpoint may be different than yours, believe me when I say that these flaws affect all players of the game, of every skill level. A player doesn’t have to be competitive to know that some things in this game just don’t work right.
Also, if you are one of the people that like to comment “Halo is evolving and you’re just mad because you can’t adapt”, let me tell you, im the adapting master. I have multiple games where I’ve gone +40 with flag caps, and I still think this game is trash. Can’t I be good at it and still dislike it? Anyway, here’s my rant.
Matchmaking
Its clear to me, and to many Halo lovers, that the quality of the online experience has dropped terribly, even compared to Reach. Its no doubt that the lack of H4 sales was due to the flawed and what seems to be a “Unfinished” multiplayer.
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The bullet magnetism in this game is ridiculous. It makes it hard to miss shots.
With the accuracy and ease of killing this causes, it eliminates the necessity of teamwork. -
There needs to be Less personal ordinance and more static weapon drops on each map. There is no point for a player to even navigate the map if weapons are dropped at his feet periodically.
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There is an overwhelming need for separate Ranked and Social playlists, ill expand later.
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There is a serious lack of playlists on this game as of right now. In every Halo before this there has been Team Doubles, Snipers, multiteam, Slayer FFA, and a Hardcore/MLG playlist (Not “Slayer PRO”). I realize some of this wasn’t on H2 at first, but ever since then it’s been there. 343i needs to quit forcing players to play their playlist choices. (Regicide, Dominion, FFA regicide/throwback).
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There are TOO many vehicles on the maps! Its bad enough that 75% the maps in Halo 4 are BTB maps, but its even worse that they are overpopulated by every vehicle they could fit. Not to mention that the Ghosts respawn much too fast, and there are not enough weapons on the maps to take out these massive amounts of vehicles.
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It seems as though there is a lack of firepower on big maps, yet there is an overabundance of it on smaller maps! On a map like adrift or haven, there may be as many as 4 or 5 powerweapons in circulation at once, mainly due to ordinance.
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Weapons Despawn much too quick in this game as well. It may seem that I contradict myself by saying there are too many guns, yet guns disappear too quick, but its true. There need to be LESS weapons in circulation and they should Despawn a lot slower.
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Killcams - They were a terrible addition to the game. There are many reasons for not having them, including; You cant use your death cam to call out, you have no idea where your killer went afterwards, there is no more T-bagging (If you’re into that), and ontop of it all, the killcams are laggy and they barely even depict what actually happened. Useless.
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Respawn timers, they held multiplayer together in more ways than anyone realized. It stopped people from chasing you down after they died, because by the time 5 seconds had passed, they already lost the urge for revenge on you, and they went back to thinking about the game at hand. It creates havoc spawning throughout the map, making it almost impossible to have map control.
With instant respawn, players simply dont care about dieing anymore… there is no more “Punishment” for deaths, you just jam a button like it never happened. You have no time to reflect on what happened, you just get over it instantly… Instant-Respawn. -
Medals - There are way too many of them, and they are handed out for the stupidest of tasks. A simple “Kill” can now earn you a medal. What a joke.
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The maps: Wow what can I say about the maps in this game. Whats the word…horrendous…atrocious…flagitious. Who is working at 343? Is it just a raccoon pressing buttons? Because anyone could design a map better than what I have been playing on. The maps have no choke points, no strategic layout, no creative thought as to structures or terrain.
From the competitive view, these maps don’t flow at all, there is no clear point of control, so there can be no clear battle for it. Each map is full of players mindlessly walking around looking for the enemy, and I think that’s how 343 likes it. -
Auto Ball/Flag pickup - Not much to say here, 343i must have thought it was too much of a hassle for players to hold the or [RB] button. Ridiculous addition to the game that causes more problems than not.
- Joining session in progress: The next time that I join into a game that is 30 seconds from being over and my team is losing by 20 kills, I am going to blow up planet earth. This has got to be the most frustrating thing, not to mention, you get a loss for it. But the game doesn’t visibly show loses, so I guess no one cares like they did in H3.
This doesn’t apply to matchmaking, but the Main Menu and title screen are just a complete mess. It’s a big step down from the Halo 3 menu navigation.
- Many weapons and abilities should not be available in your loadouts, including:
Boltshot, Plasma pistol, Pulse and Plasma grenades; Active Camo, Jetpack, Hardline shield, and Promethean Vision. I believe that ALL of these items should be placed upon various maps as power-weapons and items of interest, creating the sandbox element that halo is custom to. Loadouts themselves are fine, just not when they’re cluttered with OP weaponry.
The gameplay is deathly boring. There is no Urge to win, and it is incredibly easy to be good at. It is entirely too easy to land your shots, making each encounter based on the situation, not on the individuals skill.
Moving on to customs now, because matchmaking is just a train wreck.
Custom Games
It is truly amazing how Halo Reach had a plethora of custom games options, and somehow, Halo 4 has failed in this department aswell. The LEAST you could have down is transfer the existing options over to Halo 4; including certain gametypes (One bomb, VIP, Rocketrace), and many more.
There are many things in Halo 4 that most certainly should be able to be turned off.
- Sprint. Why can we not turn this off in custom games? What is the big deal 343?
- Flag/Ball auto-pickup - If its my gametype, I should be able to drop the flag and pick it up as much as I please.
- Elites. Why cant players become elites in customs, or at all?? Its just a punch in the face to the community.
- File sharing has yet to work properly (Under the start menu). Really though, its not rocket science 343.
You guys can suggest more on customs, its just a disappointment to me.
