Just as a background of myself, you can check my service record. ~200 games Halo 2, 10,000 H3, and 4,000 Reach. I’ve played my share and then some of this momunetal franchise.
Now for the thread. I was one who loved halo 3 to death, and despised everything about Reach, yet played it consistently for 10 months after release claiming my stake in Arena (I am a very seasoned and previously very skilled player). Throughout that time, I always thought to myself how much I despised the game yet still played it in light of the non-competitive elements. I think I now know, and I will get to that.
Halo 4 I bought despite my view that it wouldn’t be very good. To my surprise (I bought it a week after release), the game wasn’t bad, but the fun was completely missing from it. After about 10 games, I felt as though I had experienced everything the game had to offer, each game felt like the last. In previous titles, each game was a new adventure, and held exciting times to come. The reason being is that the game-play in this game is bland, very, very bland, and not at all challenging. We are able to start with a weapon (DMR) which outshines every other weapon in nearly every situation, discounting the niches of other weapons like the BR, AR, and map pickups. Right then and there, we have the most powerful utility weapon since the H1 pistol (which was much, much more challenging to use). The lack of scope knock-out restricts the movement of the map which is almost non-present and highly random. I am not sure what can be done about this as the game is likely the way the manufacturer wants it.
Next, there is no incentive to time or control weapons, or control the maps for that matter, as there are no weapons to be timed with any consistency, nor is there reason to leave spawn unless it is completely detrimental as we can spawn with a weapon so good. We’ve essentially removed from the game 5 core elements thus far (weapon control, weapon timing, map control, map movement, long range aiming skill(no de-scoping)) which halo, and Halo alone holds over every other title. What we have is another game entirely which looks very much like Halo, but doesn’t feel like it. We have sprint and I guess abilities to heal ourselves and other weird things I’ve never seen before right off of spawn. Grenade control (while less important) no longer exists and we cannot replenish ammo from out fallen enemies and comrades (very necessary when using weapons like the BR) so we miss that element there as well.
I guess what I’m saying is that this game, while it’s good (I cannot say that it is a bad game at all), is not Halo-like in my point of view and I am wondering if there are those who agree, and perhaps if others can offer insight as to whether things are planned to change?