RisingPho3nix

Honestly, the population is about what I expected it to be. Halo has been out of the limelight for quite a while. It'll take time for the interest to pick back up to the levels it was at during the Halo 3 days.

So you think that we should balance the game based on the idea that the only valid method of attack is head to head?

Most of the internet is bitching because that's what the internet does. They buy into the hype, or let their own expectations run wild. I deliberately ignored everything I could about Halo 4 so I could judge it on my own, and I've been very happy with what 343 has given us. I have my complaints to be sure. The Spartan Hub user interface is TERRIBLE, and most of the armor designs I find downright ugly. I also don't understand why the Master Chief's armor needed to be redesigned. If you think Halo 4 is an insult to the series, fine. Think that all you want. But that doesn't make it fact. The reason why the negative voices are the loudest is because the people who have positive thoughts about the game don't generally feel the need to scream their opinions over every internet outlet they can find.

I personally think the game is fine as is. The AR got a significant buff from Halo: Reach, and to counter the slightly increased accuracy of the DMR, it also has a somewhat slower rate of fire. After the number of times DICE patched the weapons in Battlefield 3, absolutely breaking the mortar tube in the process, I do not want to see 343 do the same thing to Halo 4.

You sir, absolutely nailed it. I am sick to death of people begging developers to change weapon balances rather than simply adapting to the game. DICE absolutely broke the mortar tube in Battlefield 3 because of this. As far as I'm concerned, the only Halo game where a weapon or weapon combo was truly broken and legitimately needed to be changed was the infamous Plasma Pistol/BR combo from Halo 2. Yes, the DMR is a powerful weapon in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. It is not the be-all-end-all game breaking gun the OP is making it sound like. Close range, the assault rifle/shotgun/scattershot wins easily. Mid-range, the BR is just as good. Long range, sniper weapons win. And lets not forget the ordanance drops. Learn and adapt, or die. Simple as that.

I don't know about that. I've heard some pretty decent theories in different threads here.

This^

Legitimately curious: Did you read my first post?

The only thing I've noticed changed between the Reach DMR and Halo 4's DMR is the accuracy. The DMR in Halo 4 is a bit more accurate, and honestly, I think it's fine the way it is. I use it as a starting weapon, but if I use it in the wrong situation, I get killed. Honestly, I hope 343 leaves all the weapons balanced the way they are. My biggest pet peeve is when developers are constantly tweaking weapon balances, as it runs the risk of making certain weapons absolutely useless. I would also venture to say that 343 built the DMR the way they did so that the BR still had a valid place in the sandbox. Otherwise they'd basically be the same weapon.

Keep in mind, Call of Duty didn't have a practice mode until Black Ops. And even then, I don't think it was included in Modern Warfare 2. I haven't played Modern Warfare 3 apart from the campaign. In all honesty, it sounds like you're simply just new to Halo. Give it time and patience, and you'll adjust to it.

The problem with using characters like Johnson and Miranda is that they are fellow soldiers, and the Master Chief is used to losing fellow soldiers. Their deaths fell well within his comfort zone. In order to initiate the character change required, the Master Chief has to be taken dramatically out of his comfort zone. He has to be forced into situations he doesn't know how to deal with. The deaths of Miranda and Johnson were the deaths of fellow soldiers, something the Master Chief has dealt with dozens, if not hundreds of times before.

But keep in mind that she's not the be all end all of Forerunner leadership. It's highly possible that making us the Reclaimers was a collective decision.

So I posted this in a different thread, but given all the different threads about Cortana and the ending, I thought I'd post my thoughts in their own thread so I don't wind up repeating myself in a dozen and one threads. So without further ado, here are my thoughts on the ending. I understand it if you don't like, or flat out hate, the ending of Halo 4. My only real hope and aim here was to give a different perspective on it.

Most of the backstory is covered in the books, as has always been the case with Halo. Halo: Glasslands and Halo: The Thursday War are two books in a trilogy that cover the period between Halo 3 and Halo 4. As for your question about humanity, I would imagine it was because since we were the only race powerful enough to pose a serious threat to the Forerunners, they realized that we would be the best candidates to replace them as guardians of the galaxy after they fired the Halo Array.

I actually hope Cortana doesn't come back. As much as I loved her character and the Master Chief being the invincible, unstoppable super-soldier, the time has come for things to change. Otherwise the story gets stale, gets repetitive, gets boring. For this trilogy to top the original trilogy in terms of story, the threat can't just be to humanity generally this time. It has to be a threat to the Master Chief personally. There has to be not just the chance, but the very real possibility that he can fail. What better way to set that up than by having him fail to protect the person closest to him? On another level, I want this trilogy to end with the Master Chief finally getting some measure of personal peace. He's been fighting (or training to fight) for almost literally his entire life. It's time he gets to see the other side of life. But in order for that to happen, he has to come face to face with his own humanity. He has to feel things he's never felt before, he has to think things he's never thought before. He has to start questioning both who he is and, almost more importantly, what he is. And the best way to do that is what 343 actually did. For the Master Chief to evolve and become something more than the perfect soldier, things cannot go back to the way they were. At the very least, Cortana cannot come back in Halo 5 and if/when she does come back in Halo 6, she absolutely cannot come back exactly the way she was before. She needs to change as well, although not to quite the same degree John does.

There's always Spartan Ops. Playing that with my friends tends to scratch the objective itch. Still, I agree. After playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, I need my dedicated Attack/Defense gametypes. Assault, Single-Flag CTF, oh how I miss you.

Yeah, I hear you there. I haven't enjoyed Slayer nearly as much since I got into Battlefield as well. My biggest personal hope is that we get a dedicated Single-Flag CTF playlist. I love the Attack/Defend dynamic of that gametype.

Single-Flag CTF is the gametype that has kept me playing Halo. I know it's only days since launch, but I really, really want and hope we get a dedicated Single-Flag CTF playlist.

For me: Halo 4 (no question) Halo 3 Halo: Reach (custom Noble 6 in campaign was AWESOME!!! XD) Halo CE: Anniversary Halo 2

I immensely prefer Halo to Call of Duty, but I love the changes 343 has made to the multiplayer. It's kept it from becoming static and stale, ironically, like CoD has become.

As far as I'm concerned, Halo 4 still plays and feels like Halo. It has more modern trimmings, sure, but I still love this game.

I think people are dramatically overstating similarities to CoD. You wanna talk "Loadouts"? Take a look at Battlefield 3. That game has a loadout system that is far more in depth than Halo 4's. I actually enjoy Halo 4's system because it means there isn't that initial rush to get a decent weapon, and you don't have to settle for second best. It lets me get right into the thick of the fight, right off the bat, and I love that. As for the killcam, I can see where people are coming from, but if that alone is ruining multiplayer for you, I think you have some other problems you need to sort out. I skip it all the time unless I have legitimately no idea how I died. In those cases, watching the killcam actually prevents my nerdrage from taking hold because it gives me proof that my death was in fact legitimate.

This. I have the DMR in my loadout and I rarely have a problem with running out of ammo. And on smaller maps, I usually die and respawn before I have to worry about ammo.

No one complains because it doesn't last that long, plus you get a pulse on your motion tracker when someone activates it.

This! A thousand times THIS!!! Any time any game comes out whose story I am excited for, I institute an almost complete internet blackout until I finish the story for myself. Thankfully, the two "spoilers" I managed to come across were false.