Halo 4

After Halo Reach successfully disenfranchised a significant portion of Halo’s fan base, the pressure was firmly applied to the next iteration of the series to reinvigorate the franchise.  After playing, how do I think Halo 4 fared?

Campaign wise, I didn’t find it particularly exciting.  It looks amazing, yes, with fantastic textures and amazing architecture, but just felt mundane, otherwise.  343i tried to make the story significant but ended up going too far, making the events seem less like the previous universe and more like something out of Star Trek.  The loss of believability is important, as it was the raw sense of immediacy and importance that gave a sense of urgency and purpose previously.  I honestly enjoyed Reach’s campaign more.  In terms of campaign gameplay, nothing too amazing.  The new enemies are tough, but my brother and I played co-op and ran the campaign in about five hours on heroic.  Elites don’t seem to be as strong as they used to, which is a shame, and have been usurped by the Knights in terms of durability.  High powered weapons saturate the landscape; you can honestly keep a fuel rod cannon loaded for a good duration of gameplay, or replace it with something else quite frequently.  This detracts from the pleasure of killing a tough semi-boss like enemy, as previously they were more rare and differentiated between enemies better.  The campaign also seems to try to characterize individual people in the game, as well, which feels a bit out-of-place in Halo games.  This could simply be just because we are not familiar with it, but 343i’s attempts to humanize certain elements of the universe makes me think they are laying the groundwork for something (it’s just too random an element to arbitrarily add).

But really, we bought the game for the multiplayer, right?  The good news is, it isn’t as miserable as Reach.  The bad news is, it just can’t seem to leave other games alone.  The pacing is fine, the controls are tight, customization is nice; all in all, for a casual gamer, the game is very smooth and approachable.  However, there are some issues.

Perks are back.  Let’s be honest, yes, perks and modifications and such are great in CoD, but let’s leave them there.  I didn’t buy Halo 4 because I wanted to play CoD; that’s what I have my CoD disk for.  So keep CoD out of Halo!  I get it, 343i is trying to persuade some CoD fans to join the party, but in doing so has made the game less appealing for the Halo players that have been fans since CE.  Granted, they are not at all overpowered in H4 (they are actually pretty balanced and limited in scope), but still.

Weapon spawns are now random.  Yes, shock waves through the Halo community on this one.  Halo has always been an area control type of game; you want to insure you control the areas of the map that will provide you with access to the set weapon spawns.  This provided a sort of stability to matches, and added layers on layers of strategy.  By switching the weapon spawns (you will start with your designated loadout that you can customize) to random weapons and locations, the gameplay has just become more…well, random.  Adding to that fact is the capability to designate a personal ordnance drop (think care package from CoD and make it indoor capable and take about half a second) that contains three random items after your Spartan earns enough points in a match.  These points are basically thrown at you (stare at an enemy hard and you get an assist, seriously), so drops are fairly common.  The end effect of all this is unpredictability.  Players are running around the map, picking up random weapon drops, calling in random ordnance drops.  Who knows what weapons each player has anymore?  Don’t try to get distance; somebody might have dropped a sniper rifle.  Close distance?  Go for it, rockets only have so much ammo, right?  It just makes the game more chaotic and less consistent.

The weapons, themselves, however, are balanced well.  Grenades are less “floaty” and less damaging (the new grenade type seems completely useless), but don’t feel too weak.  The long range starting primary weapons all feel roughly equal, with slight differences.  The close range starting primary weapons do actually slightly trump long range in close quarters consistently, so at least that degree of rock-papers-scissors remains intact.  Honestly, though, the ability to customize your loadout seems pointless.  Pretty much everyone is going to choose a long range rifle, Boltshot, and frags.  Just make that standard and remove the option. 

In terms of the actual combat is very refreshing, though, especially coming from the “clunkiness” of BF3.  The controls are very responsive (a sensitivity of ten feels just right), and hit detection feels good barring some lag related encounters.  The BR duels feel like the battles of Halo 2, which is great.  Tactics remains squarely team oriented and still reward sophisticated team play.  When all said and done, the game is definitely a step back in the right direction from Reach.  A few things could be improved or removed, but the game is generally very much a good time.

More to come…

–MP

Halo 4: Some Wishful Thinking

Whenever a new game or movie is released we can’t help but look back at what we enjoyed most about earlier releases and hope that those elements remain intact or are improved.  When a new version of our phone comes out, or when the next season of American Horror story final debuts, we recall the memorable, the way it made us feel and why, and hope that the experience could be recreated or enhanced.  Which, honestly, is why I hope Halo 4 takes some serious time out for retrospection and emerges to closely resemble Halo 2 in function and spirit.

Let’s back up a minute before I have my opinion eviscerated by avid fans and evaluate why first person shooters are amazing.  FPS games are amazing because of competition and the way victory over able opponents feels.  FPS’s are amazing because it takes quick mind and trained reflexes to succeed, and a gradual struggle to achieve progress (and the way boasting about that progress feels).  Competition, clear and simple, is putting two players in a room and giving them identical weapons, then proceeding to see who is better.  And they want to see who is better, because they love the competition.  That is why FPS’s are fantastic.

And that is why Halo 2 was such a great game.  Let’s forget the fact that is was so new (we all remember trying to figure out the new matchmaking system for the first time), but look at the two elements that made it the best game in the series so far.

1.  The ranking system.  This has to be one the greatest elements introduced on Xbox.  Granted, it inspired modding, bridging, standbying, and griefing, but who cares?  It gave you such a simple focus and allowed goals to easily set.  And, more importantly, it gave you something to lose.  People cared about their rank, and generally tried to secure a better one.  Even in self-interest, it was mutually beneficial for them to help their team, and team work became the primary path to victory.  In Halo 2, if you started the TDM lobby countdown, you meant business.  You just don’t get that in many games anymore.

2.  It’s overall simplicity.  All in all, it was a pretty simple game, both in weapons and gameplay.  Weapons, while unique, were pretty straightforward with superiority determined by skill and weapon range.  Long range, BR’s trumped SMG’s, but the tables (generally) turned at close range.  Because of this simplicity the game just felt firm and made sense.  Victory was because of skill, tactics, and weapon implementation.

Together, these two concepts came together to create a game that inspired concerted effort, teamwork, and aspirations.  We all remember seeing that level 43 in a pre-update lobby and doubled down in an attempt to catch up.  We never got tired of doing it, either.  In no other game do I really feel compelled as strongly.  But, alas, as with many commercial endeavors, the need to add “new” content prevailed.  While not a bad thing in principle, I think it took the series in a different direction, culminating with Reach, a random mish mash of special abilities, weapons and incongruity.  That is why, I, with fingers crossed, silently hope that Halo 4 takes a few steps back on the timeline.  It’s ok, though, Bungie; we will buy your game regardless.  For we are the faithful.

Anybody else share a similar opinion?

–MP