I'm less than compelled to play the competative multiplayer of Halo 4 anymore. I'm a veteran FPS gamer, and Halo 4, to me, has got to be the most horrid for competative online.
First and foremost, the "Matchmaking" is more of a "Connect to Match", as there really is nothing other than choosing a gametype that allows for any kind of "Matchmaking". This is largely due to the fact that you cannot set parameters for matches that you are interested in, such as maps, games starting/in progress, and other parameters that make it a "Matchmaking" experience in the truer sense of the word. One huge oversight that I cannot understand why 343i made, was a setting to match you with players of the same skill level. Every match I get thrown in a game, I get put in with players who are Spartan level 30+. It's aggrivating to say the least. What makes a setting to match you with players of the same skill level so important is that it gives more experienced players the challenge of playing against people of the same skill level, and avoids new players the agony of being thrown into a slaughterfest caused by higher level players, as well allows everyone to progress at a comfortable pace to get to the skill level they want to be in while providing a fun experience for all players.
Second, the progression system in unlocking weapons, armor abilities, support ect. causes a huge unbalance in the game, giving players who spend more time on the game an advantage over those at lower levels, as their unlocks allow them to have extra armor or firepower. Everyone should have equal access to unlocks, period. I won't make the arguement of "Halo 4 is like CoD" because that's just a silly argument. What I will say is that what made the Halo experience unique from other FPS games is it put players, new and experienced, on an equal platform, because it didn't matter how much time you invested into the game, you still had the same access to the equipment you needed to pop the other guy's head off.
Third, why wasn't SWAT included?
Overall, I'm "meh" on Halo 4. The campaign had some issues, but those I can live with. The competative online needs these two issues addressed in order to really make it more captivating. I think 343i did an adequate job of making a "new" Halo game, and I can only see things going on the up with further iterations, however, I'm disappointed that 343i seems to have made some similar mistakes that Bungie did with previous Halo titles when it comes to the multiplayer. They had access to all the information they needed to make this game as good as it should have been, instead of making it as mediocre as it is. I think that if 343i can't pull it together with their next Halo title, not only would they be viewed as the wrong studio to take over Halo, but would very effectively kill the Halo franchise.
Perhaps they're trying to cater to a new crowd, but driving away older fans of the series by doing so would be extremely nonsensicle.
