FALOPIE

I'd like to start this complaint by saying that I think 343 has done a marvelous job with the franchise so far. The campaign blew me away, as did the superb sound design and second to none visuals. Seriously, thanks for adding character development to the series. Now on to the complaining. As longtime fans, my buddy and I were trying to figure out why we don't immediately love H4's matchmaking. After some thought, we decided none of the new maps stood out to us as remarkable. They all work fine, and the spawning is good, but something about them is off; we didn't get that insta-hook like we did with H1 (PC), H2, H3 and Reach's matchmaking. Then we played a custom game with random weapon spawns. Suddenly, the new maps were much more fun to play. What we thought was an issue with level design was actually just 343's decision to include custom loadouts. In previous Halos, I loved learning how to play every square inch of the maps with whatever weapons I had at any given moment. But when I spawn with the ability to reach out and touch somebody at the opposite end of the map, why should I learn how to best close the distance between me and that target? I'm of course talking about the ability to spawn with the DMR. In theory I like the idea of loadouts, but as it now stands it is flawed. I would suggest further limiting the weapons options in the loadout to secondaries only, or possibly removing the option of customizing your weapons entirely. I still like the idea of passive loadout options (jetpacks, faster reloading, radar visible while scoped) because of the subtle differences you see play out in matches which are noticeable, but there aren't any that you are forced to use simply to remain competitive. At the very least give us the option to have games where weapons spawn on the map and we all start with the assault rifle (thank you for making that gun sexy again, btw). Cheers, and thanks for giving us the best Halo campaign since CE.

I love that 343 brought back the slippery controls for the warthog. I didn't think it was possible, but I like the way the warthogs handle in Halo 4 more than H1, so way to go team 343. The handbrake is actually useful! My issue is with multiplayer. Now that everybody and their mothers have plasma grenades at spawn, vehicles are now almost certainly a deathtrap. I like the idea of loadout because it reduces a lot of the hunt for a decent weapon, but I think having plasma grenades should be a reward of either finding them on the map or having them airdropped to you for scoring points. Plasmas make having fun with the warthog (easily the best vehicle in gaming history) almost impossible on any map other than Ragnarok, and I'm kinda disappointed with Big Team Slayer (my favorite game mode). You shouldn't be punished for wanting to use the best vehicles in the industry.