Halo 4 is a disappointment in my eyes, and is the only Halo game that has ever disappointed a Halo fan like me.However there is a particular reason why 343i couldn’t, and will never attain the masterful success in quality that bungie has.
People don’t see the obvious truth. You cannot pander to the competitive gamer and satisfy them, while also trying to crate a new game. They are opposing ideals. 343i tried to juggle this contradictory statement and failed. There are two options for success, 1. create a game virtually identical to a vanilla halo play experience with as few variables as possible (no new weapons, abilities or mechanics) or 2. to ignore the demands of the competitive crowd and create a successful innovative game designed with a cohesive vision. I prefer the 2nd option, and this is the philosophy bungie took. They created an excellent game, and the player followed. This is why I love all the Bungie Halo games. However, the 1st option is by no means bad, it would create a true competitive game that the hardcore want, but 343i would sacrifice halo staying as a large mainstream game, and single themselves into a niche.
343i fails because they tried to create both, and it is impossible to create both. It is not a matter of it being difficult, but impossible. Like creating a movie that is pure comedy and pure horror at the same time. They are diametrically opposing things. In this 3rd option they will always try to satisfy everyone, always trying to get closer, but will never attain their goal. It is like the paradox of taking halfway steps to your destination, therefore never reaching it.
this is their first halo game, and they have said recently they cannot fill the big shoes of bungie they left behind, i like the halo 4 change, give 343i some credit atleast, and they are updating and planning changes to the multiplayer, you either like the game or you dont, if you dont like the game dont go mindlessly making a thread about it and why they failed, i’d like to see you do better
Its more of a response to the feelings the community has on Halo 4. Disappointment for me may be to strong of a word. Halo 4 is an amazing game. But it is specifically the competitive community that needs to wake up to reality, and understand that they will never receive the game they want.
Given that MLG is no longer supporting Halo there is a good hope for 343i to start focusing on their own cohesive vision. I am not trying to belittle 343i, in fact I am trying to do the opposite. They can create a better game if they simply allowed themselves to, and took bigger risks.
Actually thats not the problem with Halo 4. It is possible to add new features to a game while keeping it competitive. Not to be cliche but look at League of Legends. Riot adds a new character every few weeks to that game complete with unique abilities yet the game still remains fairly balanced and very competitive.
What 343 did wrong is try to cater to a crowd that they believed would be their core demographic. I’m talking of course about the casual “CoD” gamer. They even designed a button layout especially to help them get into game. This also came with new features like “perks” and “killstreaks” along with very RNG based gameplay. But they made a mistake, those gamers didn’t stick with the game and most of the veteran Halo fans were alienated and stopped playing altogether. This is why Halo 4’s population is continuing to fall and why its 4th on the XBL activity list.
This is why Halo 4 isn’t competitive. You can’t have so much randomness and luck based ordnance in a competitive game. There is no map control, there is no way to deny the other team power weapons, and theres no way to know if the other team has a power weapon.
> Actually thats not the problem with Halo 4. It is possible to add new features to a game while keeping it competitive. Not to be cliche but look at League of Legends. Riot adds a new character every few weeks to that game complete with unique abilities yet the game still remains fairly balanced and very competitive.
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> What 343 did wrong is try to cater to a crowd that they believed would be their core demographic. I’m talking of course about the casual “CoD” gamer. They even designed a button layout especially to help them get into game. This also came with new features like “perks” and “killstreaks” along with very RNG based gameplay. But they made a mistake, those gamers didn’t stick with the game and most of the veteran Halo fans were alienated and stopped playing altogether. This is why Halo 4’s population is continuing to fall and why its 4th on the XBL activity list.
>
> This is why Halo 4 isn’t competitive. You can’t have so much randomness and luck based ordnance in a competitive game. There is no map control, there is no way to deny the other team power weapons, and theres no way to know if the other team has a power weapon.
In essence, you agree with me. They tried to appeal to too many different audiences instead of creating one cohesive vision, whatever it would have been.
> Actually thats not the problem with Halo 4. It is possible to add new features to a game while keeping it competitive. Not to be cliche but look at League of Legends. Riot adds a new character every few weeks to that game complete with unique abilities yet the game still remains fairly balanced and very competitive.
>
> What 343 did wrong is try to cater to a crowd that they believed would be their core demographic. I’m talking of course about the casual “CoD” gamer. They even designed a button layout especially to help them get into game. This also came with new features like “perks” and “killstreaks” along with very RNG based gameplay. But they made a mistake, those gamers didn’t stick with the game and most of the veteran Halo fans were alienated and stopped playing altogether. This is why Halo 4’s population is continuing to fall and why its 4th on the XBL activity list.
>
> This is why Halo 4 isn’t competitive. You can’t have so much randomness and luck based ordnance in a competitive game. There is no map control, there is no way to deny the other team power weapons, and theres no way to know if the other team has a power weapon.
Pretty much this.
On a side note, most of the randomness could be present with ordnance and still keep a competitive balanced touch to the gameplay, it’s just that i343 handled it wrong. Some small tweaks and most of the personal and global ordnance can be kept while keeping the game balanced.
If we had freedom to choose between classic and Infinity playlists, there wouldn’t be a problem. There is a problem when we are forced to play with Loadouts, AA, and ordinances.
Not really, I don’t see anything they did that suggests they tried to appeal to the competitive player or the halo veteran. They tried to appeal to a very specific audience, the casual CoD player because they know thats where the money is.
> Not really, I don’t see anything they did that suggests they tried to appeal to the competitive player or the halo veteran. They tried to appeal to a very specific audience, the casual CoD player because they know thats where the money is.
So true and so completely obvious I’m amazed EVERYONE doesn’t agree with this.