this topic isn’t me actually asking, its to point out a problem with what 343i have tried to do.
so, what is there different in halo 4 on the fundamental level for me to choose it over black ops 2?
IMPORTANT!: this is a comparison of experience not a comparison of gameplay!
sandbox balanced around empowering the individual:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
choose what weapon to start with:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
instant respawn:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
"killstreaks", or more aptly, rewarding players with upgrades for getting kills/points:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
no regular weapons available on map so you have to hunt for weapons off of dead bodies:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
power weapons available on map:
- halo 4
over-sized maps that don’t fit gameplay or play well:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
competitive ranking system:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
progression based ranking system to unlock weapons and upgrades:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
"perks", or better described as specialized character ability:
- halo 4
- black ops 2
a decent skill gap:
- halo 4
so, that’s only 2 things that give halo 4 the edge, both of which don’t mean much compared to the overwhelming fundamental similarities between the games, the only reason to really play halo 4 is for the campaign.
lets look at this through your average gamers eyes, i’m a die hard halo fan so obviously i’m going to pick halo, but, the average gamer will look at halo 4 and see that it contains the same features they’ve come to know and love from all the other games on the market, how ever the big difference is the core gameplay, even though the features are similair they’re still going to have to learn how to actually play the game effectively.
but, why should these gamers learn a new game that contains the same features as a game they already know and play to no end? they shouldn’t, instead of learning to play a game with the same features they can instead choose to play the game, that contains all the same features and don’t have to learn anything because they’ve already spent the best part of a year at least, most likely around 5 years learning how to play and be very effective at.
the point i’m making is that now, halo fails to distinguish itself on the market to give players a reason to play it over other games, instead it offers the same things but with different gameplay but the base experience remains the same as the other games which makes halo a stupid choice when you already know how to play a different game with the same experience. 343i have been hell bent on appealing to the mainstream audience how ever they’re not giving the mainstream audience a reason to play the game which makes there efforts go to waste.
the best way for halo to survive on the market is to be an individual, when it stands out and offers a different experience to other games on the market then the players will come to the game for that different experience, when it doesn’t sand out amongst the crowd its going to get lost in that crowd and we’re already seeing this happen.