Call of Halo - breaking down how 343 copied...

[TornadoFlame]

You said (...and I quote:)

 

 

 

Then when I explained that you suck, you said (...and I quote again:):

 

 

 

You sort of took apart your own argument. In any case, you lied at least once.

 

Then, you had the nerve to say...

 

 

 

To which I loled.

 

I submit to you that it is YOU who is the closed minded one, and YOU aught to keep an open mind going into this conversation, because it is YOU (yes, you) who has a problem with the game to begin with.

 

And you can rest assured that I have been playing Halo since CE was released in 2002 (or some odd 1 million years ago). Judging by your use of the word "brah" I will also submit that I am older then you, and have likely been playing more competently then you for a greater number of years...

 

But I digress...

 

For you to say that this game "copied COD" is moronic. Yes, some gameplay elements (that exist in every other AAA shooter... for a reason) have been adapted. Welcome to the world of THINGS CHANGE! The core gameplay experience is still a world apart from COD. Different pace, different strategies, completely different aesthetic appeal... the list can go on. If you don't like loadouts and running and ordinances and wild Spartan fun times, then tough! Your not going to get what you want, no matter how much you complain.

 

I am pretty good at both games. If they were anything like each other, I would probably play them both. But I play Halo.... because its different, and I like it?

 

Dont like my opinion? Suck lemons.

Older? hmmm Sure brah =D i didn't say i go 1 kill and die i said the way they have turned this game into forces you to Kill die kill die.. When you fight someone and you win but have to wait 6 seconds for your shield to recharge while they get 5 seconds to spawn next to you sprint to you and kill you Thats what i mean Clearly you don't understand sir. Moronic? Oh noes majority of the people are saying this game is Like Cod and plays like cod. Ask yourself this Had Cod Not been around do you think halo 4 would be like this? Hmmm? The core is different from any other previous halo title. Halo used to be a good you have to get good at Now i see kids pick it up and get 20+ kills with ease. different pace? when you can die and spawn the only difference is you have sheilds. thats all Take off your sheilds and you have Cod. what makes your opionon that halo is not like cod More important then the hundreds who claim otherwise i mean hundreds can't be wrong? Accutaly sir. they are coming out with a playlist to get rid of all this random luckbased things soon enough so obviously 343 understands and is putting one out i guess "complaining" payed off. =D https://forums.halow...e-Playlist.aspx Go check all the people who are happy these Cod like features will be gone here.

 

Of course CoD is a successful franchise, it's basically the only game people play nowadays. People don't like to think outside the box anymore... apparently that became "too mainstream".

yeah most people don't wanna get good at games anymore thats why its so successfull you can log into the game and get 20 kills with your eyes closed. I remenber in halo when you worked to get better. with the path halo 4 has gone its resembles cod New players can pop it in and get 20+ kills a game only its more frustrating then cod forcing more people to cod.. Companies are to scared to do there own thing like bungie did and make there own successfull franchise Now its copy some cod features call it another name and your good!

[HappehNinja]

yeah most people don't wanna get good at games anymore thats why its so successfull you can log into the game and get 20 kills with your eyes closed. I remenber in halo when you worked to get better now you can almost do the same if you have common sense.

 

Come back to me when that makes sense...

[Kevin James M]

Older? hmmm Sure brah =D i didn't say i go 1 kill and die i said the way they have turned this game into forces you to Kill die kill die.. When you fight someone and you win but have to wait 6 seconds for your shield to recharge while they get 5 seconds to spawn next to you sprint to you and kill you Thats what i mean Clearly you don't understand sir.

 

So, your saying this happens to everyone... except you?

 

Becasue, if it doesn't happen to me... and it doesnt happen to you... then what exactly are you talking about? Or are you just saying something you hate about COD and baselessly attributing it to Halo? Seems like that is the case...

 

Moronic? Oh noes majority of the people are saying this game is Like Cod and plays like cod. Ask yourself this Had Cod Not been around do you think halo 4 would be like this? Hmmm?

 

"The majority of the people", eh? You mean, the majority of the people on this forum, the majority of the people playing online, or.... you?

 

If COD wasn't around? What whimsical parallel universe are you babbling on about? I care not to speculate on your hypothetical reality.

 

The core is different from any other previous halo title. Halo used to be a good you have to get good at Now i see kids pick it up and get 20+ kills with ease.

 

Are you admitting again that you suck? I'm still convinced that the only reason you hate this game is because your terrible.

 

different pace? when you can die and spawn the only difference is you have sheilds. thats all Take off your sheilds and you have Cod.

 

lol WHATT!! Thats just... ridiculous. Go play SWAT, go play anything... the game plays nothing like COD. once again, your just talking.

 

what makes your opionon that halo is not like cod More important then the hundreds who claim otherwise i mean hundreds can't be wrong?

 

Yes, they can... welcome to the internet. lol...

 

Accutaly sir. they are coming out with a playlist to get rid of all this random luckbased things soon enough so obviously 343 understands and is putting one out i guess "complaining" payed off. =D

 

If a single playlist with different settings really fixes everything your concerned about, then your comparison between Halo and COD is officially BS. You can't have your cake and eat it too... unfortunately...

 

Lack of consistency + Baseless frustration + COD bashing = your a newb. Can't argue with math.

[TornadoFlame]

haha Bad good.. your funny. sir. and don't comprehend what i'm saying sadly Probably blinded by your love for the game which is understandable. go to waypoint heck go to anywhere and you will see. theres a reason the population constantly drops and doesn't improve It sucks you don't care enough about the game you play to realize it.. I'd Love to 1v1 you If halo decided to fix instant respawns. can we get back on topic? Its kinda funny all the evidence we are showing and people come here and think there own personal opionon is evidence. Crazy.. Lets not turn into one big flame that causes this to be locked.

 

Come back to me when that makes sense...

now sure what i was thinking there i edited.

[HappehNinja]

now sure what i was thinking there i editted it nice attempt at your little troll =D.

 

No, I get the message loud and clear. Good night to you sir.

[Kevin James M]

haha Bad good.. your funny. sir. and don't comprehend what i'm saying sadly Probably blinded by your love for the game which is understandable. go to waypoint heck go to anywhere and you will see. theres a reason the population constantly drops and doesn't improve It sucks you don't care enough about the game you play to realize it.. I'd Love to 1v1 you If halo decided to fix instant respawns. can we get back on topic? Its kinda funny all the evidence we are showing and people come here and think there own personal opionon is evidence. Crazy.. Lets not turn into one big flame that causes this to be locked.

 

 

You may want to learn how to use capital letters. Sentence structure wouldn't hurt, either. Then you might be abel to maintain some semblance of credibility.

 

Funny how you dub the words of people who like the game as "opinion", and of course whatever your talking about (not that anybody can even begin to understand) is "fact". Lol... some world your living in, all by yourself.

 

I have no interest in reading a bunch of complaints on the forum. The real gamer's are gaming online, or out living their lives until they get a chance to game online. They have no interest in your frustrated diatribe.

 

I "dont care about the game I play"... what does that even mean? Because I'm not on the forums complaining about arbitrary BS, I don't care? I care enough to play it on a regular basis, and enjoy it. Not only that, but I don't run my mouth about minor elements being implemented over the course of 6 years in Halo history.

 

Enough of your groundless complaints. Clearly Halo isn't for you, time to pack yo bags. Besides... your a newb, remember!

 

[TornadoFlame]

To lazy to really spell check and such you get the point.

 

i don't deem my stuff facts But My opionon is not alone you can go to any forum waypoint and see tons of the same.

 

If you have no interest why read and reply? i guess halo isn't that great if your coming on here and having some fun with me =D

 

Real gamers? i guess real gamers don't care about what they play if its a finshed product or not *my poor generation *

Guess your not a real gamer then :/

 

you obivously don't care enough to look from other points of view my good sir. MINOR? W00t!!

 

Cya later scrubby maybe one day when halo is fixed we can 1v1 and i can have some entertainment =D or 2v2 if ya got a mate *if i can get mine willing to play this game again.

[rush0024]

Just a few things to get back on topic:

 

They DID mimic CoD, it was NOT smart business.

 

Here's why it's not smart business:

 

If you copy someone else's product you sell it for CHEAPER, not the same price.

 

By selling it for the same price they pretended they had a more original game.

 

What you have then is them departing from the things that made Halo unique in order to copy another franchise, failing to net the other franchise's sales numbers and then failing to keep their own audience.

 

That's what happens when you copy someone, you lose your own identity without gaining theirs. You end up in between and an inadequate represenation of both yourself and the object of your mimicry.

 

How did they mimic CoD? I'm tempted to just look through my own posts and copy/paste some stuff, because I'm tired of typing this stuff over and over.

 

What it comes down to is they decreased your capacity to influence your own fate within the game while giving you gambling options to better your odds. They gave you credit at a casino, it's technically money, but you can't really use it except to gamble.

 

They weighted the odds heavily toward getting one kill then dying (6 second shield recharge delay, circular maps + instant respawn + sprint for everyone + no grenade pickup w/o a perk + Promethean Vision keeps you from hiding + faster kill times but more shots to kill, and more).

 

Then they gave you the option to spin the wheel when you summon power weapons from the sky.

 

"Spin the Wheel and hope you get a good weapon!"

 

Needler + Speed Boost + Pulse Grenades!

 

"Oh no! Oh well, you can try again after scoring what you scored so far + 30% of what you scored so far! Look at that guy on the enemy team! He got a beam rifle! You could be him! Just 9 kills to go, even though you have starting weapons and they have beam rifles, you can do it!" Soldier on soldier.

 

Combine the above with taking the commitment out of the game and the rewards for it (No quit penalty, Largest experience amounts come from game completion not victory, Join in Progress tells you "It's OK if you want to quit") and the low learning curve (Weapons are very easy to use and kill faster than ever before, thus anyone can kill more quickly than ever before decreasing the amount of time you have to react and influence your fate), and YES, it starts to look a lot like they copied Call of Duty.

 

It is exactly the same? Hell no, and I never said it was. Did it take WAAAAAAAY too much from CoD? Hell Yes. It's a game about running and dying without thinking much, which is exactly what CoD is like. You even have the humiliating kill cams showing you not only how directly 343 copied CoD, but that 343 actually failed to do something very simple like copy CoD properly (Kill cams are wildly bad).

 

Amen to that.

 

And just to clairfy I was originally a Halo guy, not CoD. Halo used to be my favorite game to play. I was in high school and college during Halo CE and Halo 2. Those were the days. I didn't start playing CoD a lot until after Halo Reach came out. I played Reach for about a month and turned it in and started playing CoD. Before Reach came out I was as big of a Halo fan as there could be. I had posters, I went to tournaments including MLG, and I stayed up every night lost many hours of sleep because of Halo. So to go from that to where I am now is really sad. That is a direct result of the idiots making the decisions to change Halo into something it is not. Halo is better than that and it is better than CoD, or at least it was.

 

And also my statement on the people who keep insisting that Halo has not copied and that stuff like the oridinace drops are not like the care packages and so on. It's not that they directly copied. No the ordinances are somewhat different than care packages and how and when you get them. It's the STYLE of play that has changed and been copied. There not going to have a chopper come flying in over Haven and drop a little box for you. But it's the same idea. Same style of play. Getting random weapon/abiilty drops, no fighting for weapons on the map, everyone running around with different weapons and different special abilities. It's really not that hard to understand.

[TornadoFlame]

Amen to that.

 

And just to clairfy I was originally a Halo guy, not CoD. Halo used to be my favorite game to play. I was in high school and college during Halo CE and Halo 2. Those were the days. I didn't start playing CoD a lot until after Halo Reach came out. I played Reach for about a month and turned it in and started playing CoD. Before Reach came out I was as big of a Halo fan as there could be. I had posters, I went to tournaments including MLG, and I stayed up every night lost many hours of sleep because of Halo. So to go from that to where I am now is really sad. That is a direct result of the idiots making the decisions to change Halo into something it is not. Halo is better than that and it is better than CoD, or at least it was.

 

And also my statement on the people who keep insisting that Halo has not copied and that stuff like the oridinace drops are not like the care packages and so on. It's not that they directly copied. No the ordinances are somewhat different than care packages and how and when you get them. It's the STYLE of play that has changed and been copied. There not going to have a chopper come flying in over Haven and drop a little box for you. But it's the same idea. Same style of play. Getting random weapon drops, no fighting for weapons on the map, everyone running around with different weapons and different special abilities. It's really not that hard to understand.

Yeah i never touched cod till reach. Halo just has not been the same to me anyways Sure i can play 1 or 2 games but i probably play over 30k matches in halo 3 Stayed up all night with my friends getting the 50. Halo is not a bad game but its not a great game It's just there. They will be bringing out a competitive playlist to get rid of all these features that are not halo so thats all i'm waiting for. We already know this game wasn't finshed whenit first came out. lets hope 343 can fix it but I have to see results to beleive it.

[FleshBack]

People like to argue in technicalities and specifics to make their "no-big picture" argument shine more.

 

Example, "care packages are not exactly the same as ordinance, so it wasn't copied"

 

Yeah, technically it is different, but the functionality and the result are the same. Hit a preset kill limit, get something to keep it going. And that is the big picture and that is why people avoid it when arguing about this.

[ProudDrunkIrish]

Hahaha wow the trolls took this one over big time......

 

Have to agree with fleshback above ^^ although there are some differences between care packages and ordinance they are essentially kill rewards. They give you an advantage over the enemy.

 

Halo never had this the essence of the game was to control the map and thus the power weapons, it made you go out and fight, this gave the game an aggressive edge that few others had. The addition of a reward feature (yes CoD has a reward feature) has ultimatley changed the game and made it more a hang back game (exactly what CoD is).

 

The things like sprint, perks, loadouts, SR system, instant respawn are all CoD like (may exist elsewhere but all exist in CoD before introduction to Halo), each has its clear advantage and disadvantage in this game, for me they have made the game inferior. Now I have played Halo since it existed and it was my addiction until Reach, I had hoped for a revival of my old sentiment but it does not seem to be happening.

 

Things like fixed weapon start, fixed weapon spawn, respawn times, friendly fire, true skill ranking system were in my opinion part of the very essence of Halo, they forced a smarter and more aggressive style of play, team work was more automatic as people all had the same goals (power weapons, map control, win for rank).

 

Now I am happy to say change is good but it has to be the right change, they had to maintain what made the game great while adding things, at this at least for me they failed, they seemed to mash in features that succeeded for other games (yes people may have asked for them) without really considering what made the game so special..

 

So trolls unless you have a legit argument against what is stated in the topic, please stop yapping it gets tiresome........

[Vaulting♥Frog]

I will pose this question to the people who continue to state that Halo copied or was taking stuff from CoD... Where is the proof that they were directly taking features from that game? I am talking contracts, copy right agreements, you know paperwork. If they are taking stuff from CoD they would be needing to file paperwork for it.

 

Friendly question thats all.

[rush0024]

Hahaha wow the trolls took this one over big time......

 

Have to agree with fleshback above ^^ although there are some differences between care packages and ordinance they are essentially kill rewards. They give you an advantage over the enemy.

 

Halo never had this the essence of the game was to control the map and thus the power weapons, it made you go out and fight, this gave the game an aggressive edge that few others had. The addition of a reward feature (yes CoD has a reward feature) has ultimatley changed the game and made it more a hang back game (exactly what CoD is).

 

The things like sprint, perks, loadouts, SR system, instant respawn are all CoD like (may exist elsewhere but all exist in CoD before introduction to Halo), each has its clear advantage and disadvantage in this game, for me they have made the game inferior. Now I have played Halo since it existed and it was my addiction until Reach, I had hoped for a revival of my old sentiment but it does not seem to be happening.

 

Things like fixed weapon start, fixed weapon spawn, respawn times, friendly fire, true skill ranking system were in my opinion part of the very essence of Halo, they forced a smarter and more aggressive style of play, team work was more automatic as people all had the same goals (power weapons, map control, win for rank).

 

Now I am happy to say change is good but it has to be the right change, they had to maintain what made the game great while adding things, at this at least for me they failed, they seemed to mash in features that succeeded for other games (yes people may have asked for them) without really considering what made the game so special..

 

So trolls unless you have a legit argument against what is stated in the topic, please stop yapping it gets tiresome........

 

Nicely said. That deserves a GIF.

 

[LiQuid BioniX]

The game is similar. It's an FPS. It's how current-gen FPS games are.

 

I agree, Halo got away from it's roots. I concede that point. I don't, however, feel like it's a bad thing. In addition, CoD didn't invent all of these systems.

[rush0024]

The game is similar. It's an FPS. It's how current-gen FPS games are.

 

A big reason why Halo was so good was because it was NOT like the current FPS games. It had nothing in common with CoD. Conforming to modern day FPS games is a bad thing in my opinion. And no CoD did not invent anything. I don't know why this keeps getting brought back up. But CoD is the most successful, so games that are similar will be judged and compared to it automatically. If you don't want to be compared to it then be original. Oh wait Halo was already original, but then sold out. So lets go around in circles some more maybe after we repeat all of this hundred more times some people may start to understand it.

[Twinreaper]

Ok, so needless to say a lot of you folks have gotten off topic, and have no idea what your talking about. Kevin and I seem to be the only ones capable of researching a game genre properly enough to give a good analysis of the overall big picture here.

 

So following what kevin ahs tried to explain to you guys, copying off of, or imitating another franchise is not what is killing Halo, as you guys put it. But rather a new standard of a typical AAA game, as kevin has explained. To help illustrate Kevin's point here, I am going to try to teach a few of you a thing or two about comparing games, and where games from in terms of advancement...

 

( 2001) Halo 1: Straight out, pick up a weapon, and run around and kill the other guy. Turrets were usable, and up to 8 grenades. Lan MM included.

 

(2003) Call of Duty 1: Same as Medal of Honor, except they allowed usbale tuurets, just like Halo. Also able to carry 10 grenades, but no multiplayer.

 

(2004) Halo 2: Same as Halo 1, but included dual weilding and destructable vehivcles with boarding. Also began open Live matchmaking. First FPS at the time to include a true skill ranking system.

 

(2004) Far Cry: Built on Cryengine, it was the first game to have sprint, and upgradable weapons.

 

(2005) Call of Duty 2: Same as Call of Duty 1, except they upped the realism and made campaign the main focus. Multiplayer was included but featured no more than Halo, except for sprint, and the iron sights, down aiming. No true ranking system, but had leaderboard for unlockables.

 

(2007) Halo 3: Same as Halo 2, but added the ability to rip up mounted turrets. This feature was also sported in Far Cry 2, which preceded Halo by 1 year. Forge and Theatre mode were introduced. Armory of sorts was introduced so that players could customize their character.

 

(2007) Call of Duty 3: Same as the last 2, but added a multiplayer segragation. theya dded "player" and "ranked" sections...similar to what halo had already done with halo 2 and Halo 3.

 

(2007) Crysis: Talk about a game on speed! Crysis was the first game to expand upon weapon upgrades as a in-game adjustable feature as well as loadouts for multiplayer. The game came out 3 months before CoD 4, but had everything it had, but more.

 

(2007) Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare: This was the CoD that changed it all. It had all the thigns the previous had, but took the franchise into new territory with new features like Kill streaks, perks and air strikes and class based loadouts Everything else was pretty much the same. Character customization was added in the form of paint jobs iirc. Kinda like the armory idea from Halo 3, but far lamer. Perks were kinda like a mimic of the equipment found in Halo 3. The only difference was, CoD allowed you to start with them and unlock them for use before others...depending on how much time you played.

 

(2008) Call of Duty World at War: Introduced Zombies. Prettyy much all the same crap already in CoD. Nothing really changed.

 

(2008) Far Cry 2: 6 choosable classes were added, and contained much of the Crysis features. Basically Crysis without a nanosuit....

 

(2009) Halo 3: ODST Following the success of Halo 3, the only new feature added was Firefight. Firefight became a great addition and was an original feature compared to the previous decade which saw lame AI counterparts to fight in titles all over the market.

 

(2009) Modern Warfare 2: Same as the last modern Warfare...all features included and nothing new.

 

(2010) Halo Reach: Built on the same core basics as previous Halo's, it included a new expansive armory that greater allowed players to express and identify themselves. Built on the same principle of Halo 3. Firefight was now standard, and Forge was expanded upon. A loadout system was implimented to allow players a more customized variation of gameplay. Armor was unlocked via credits rather than than achievments like in Halo 3. Armor abilities were finally included and were meant to be implimented back in Halo 3, but the decision to go with equipment was used instead.

 

(2010) Call of Duty Black Ops: Same old tired stuff, zombies, yaddah yaddah yaddah.

 

(2011) Crysis 2: Great game. graphically superior to anything in current development now and then and future. Had everything that made Crysis and Far Cry 2 great, and expanded upon it. New game modes added and larger amount of customization. Things like Thermal vision (Promethian Vision), still there as well.

 

(2011) Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3: Introduction of a Survival counterpart that plays exactly like "Firefight Classic". Nothing new added...same old ranking system, and features.

 

(2012) Halo 4: Built on the core basics that made Halo what it was. New features were permanent sprint, which ahd been done already by MoH long before CoD was thought up. Also featured a more expansive armory that functioned like Reach. Included a new loadout system that forced players to unlock weapons for customized loadout usage. Ordinace drops replaced the simple placement of power weapons on the map. ordinace drops were much different than Kill Streaks, as ordinace drops gave players actual weapons that were not on the map, and did not include any type of extra perk. Forge was included yet again. Firefight was replaced with Spartan Ops, which resembled "Missions" from CoD.

 

So after really looking at this bitter rival history, you can clearly see that Halo started many things that CoD copied off of, and expanded upon during the first 7 years of their rivalry. It wasn't until the gap between Halo 3 and Halo Reach, that CoD made some changes to the game formula and became what we have now. This put Halo back a little, but not enough to stomp them out. Other games like Crysis and Far Cry fit in there between all the CoD and Halo games, and have had long before, or at the same time, had many features in which players here are now crying about...hence Call of Halo. But the reality is, they were in development at Crytek whileActivisiona dn treyarch were still wetting their diapers.

 

Halo has a history of changing things up. You can see this by the changes made across all titles. Some of the changes were big..some of them small. but the point is, Halo has been progressively changing, into what Halo 4 has become now. It's easy to cite CoD as a source of copy material...hell CoD is the only titles that produced more games than Halo just to try to kill it. But just because CoD is the biggest limelight game right now, does not emant they copied anything. In fact, historically looking at all FPS game realses, Halo 4 did nothing but change a few things about core gamplay, to properly catch it up to speed with the norm AAA game features of today.

 

Some people or even a majority of people are going to cry fowl....this is natural. halo players for too long ahve been sheltered from the mainstream AAA includes that we find in Halo 4. As Kevin said earlier, Halo must evolve and will evolve according to the current market and what is deemed normal now. In short, if you want your grandma's Halo...go play 1 thru 3.

[Vaulting♥Frog]

 

 

The only idea I am trying to get across is that people are making asumptions about why things are in the game and where they come from. Because they are asumptions they are not fact. Thats all, which in turn might solve a lot of claims people have been making about the game itself.

 

Beyond that I have already said, multiple times I might add, that Halo 4 is a new vision of Halo. It is 343i's vision. While it is not complete yet (yes I do have issues with Halo 4 but they are minor annoyance to me) it is still their vision. It pays homage to Halo's roots while still creating its own path in the gaming world. Its an abrupt change to be sure, but that doesnt make it a bad one. Halo being good or bad is a personal issue which changes from person to person.

 

Now then I have said enough here I think. Take what you will of my post.

 

BTW Twin, only the first small paragraph was directed at you.

[LiQuid BioniX]

A big reason why Halo was so good was because it was NOT like the current FPS games.

 

I'm with you on that point, I'm just saying that MANY games are taking pieced from the Call of Duty 4 model.

[Twinreaper]

My post was not meant towards those who KNOW exactly that halo copied nothing from CoD. My whole point was, that from the time of Halo 2, every single FPS game for console or PC had sprint and multiplayer extra type perks. Halo is the last and only game I know of before Reach, to not have sprint or unlockable extras to gain perks or advantages. Halo simply just caught up to the times that we have now.

[Bloody Initiate]

I was listening to NPR today on the way to work and heard about Research in Motion unveiling a new Blackberry phone that it hopes will establish a strong foothold in the smart phone market (The company is floundering and needs a hit product). They interviewed some guy about its chances of succeeding and the guy said something that reminded me a lot of Halo 4's problem:

 

He said the new Blackberry has a good chance of doing awesome things for its company because it's not a "me too" phone. Instead of trying to just have all the features other smart phones do, the company had focused on innovation and offering new capabilities. It can't compete in the app market, Droid and Apple own that, but it can do a lot of things people use apps for and compete in the functionality market. The thing that really struck me is how he said its biggest edge would be that it wasn't a "me too" product.

 

Halo 4 is a "me too" game. Yes the features it shares with CoD it also shares with shooters other than CoD, but the most upsetting thing was never the ideas it copied, it was the things it sacrificed to copy them. Halo 4 is just a "me too" shooter, it does almost nothing original and even sacrifices a lot of the things that previously made it unique ("Original" is when you come up with something someone else didn't, "Unique" is when you keep doing something other people aren't).

 

The reason I say Halo copied CoD instead of saying "Halo copied a bunch of other shooters which had a lot of different features from which it picked daintily" is because CoD is the sales king, and thus if you're doing what it does that a bunch of other shooters also happen to be doing, the one that gets to take the credit is CoD. Halo got the same priviledge when it first came out and did awesome because it was the only decent shooter on the Xbox, even though there had been multiple console and computer shooters before it, many of them with the features it offered.

 

That being said, I thought I should step in and defend the "get one kill then die" thing, since I say it a lot. Going 45-2 doesn't disprove statements about how the game is designed. The game's design lends itself to a certain type of conclusion, and that conclusion is "get one kill then die." The DMR is a better weapon than the BR, but you can still get beaten by a BR, that doesn't make them equal. The fact that you are weakened more by fights in Halo 4 than you were in previous Halos automatically leans to one conclusion: You are more likely to die after a fight. Most of the time you are only alive after a fight if you won it, so thus Halo 4 is designed for you to get one kill and die. It's much more elaborate and diabolical than that simple statement, but I'm focused more on the arguments against it at the moment.

 

Also K/Ds get pretty wild when you speed up the kill times of a game. If people are dying faster they have less time to think and defend themselves and luck plays a greater role, but so do positioning and teamwork (Positioning and Teamwork can also be the result of luck, you being in the right place at the right time isn't always due to your expertise, and getting good randoms is the pinnacle of good luck). I went 44-2 in a game of BF3 the other night, it's not because I'm amazing, it's because I had a position and a team that kept me alive while also allowing me to eliminate players before they could react (Being a military shooter that attempts to be realistic, BF3 kill times are pretty fast). I've played that same map the exact same way before and not gone so positive, or even close, because I wasn't as lucky in those games.

 

Next up: The biggest thing Halo copied from CoD is actually more abstract than specific features. It's more of the attitude and overall gameplay design, which can be traced through game features but you have to look at them as a whole to see the unmistakable resemblance. You can point to killcams and say "Look Halo copied CoD" but it's only when you gather a bunch of factors that you realize "Wow, Halo really copied CoD." The biggest obstacle I find to explaining Halo 4's mimicry is when people haven't played the two games enough to get a sense of their different feels. I've played much more Halo than CoD, and in fact I have played much less CoD than I would like since I enjoyed it when I played (Although I found the experience of getting butchered by some guy's AI-controlled attack helicopter absolutely appalling), but I've played both and most importantly I've paid attention with great interest to both.

 

Lots of shooters had features Halo did before Halo came around, and lots of shooters had features CoD did before CoD perfected them, but in the case of both games they were the first to create games with good enough production values to shatter the market. I never really viewed them as competitors because even when it fell behind CoD in sales Halo was still doing very well, I used to laugh at people who talked about them like warring Titans, since both of them were profitable enough they didn't need to compete.

 

So when I got Halo 4 and saw it was trying to compete with a non-contender for its market, I was appalled. CoD definitely sells a lot more games than Halo, but in my mind they were both different enough that each had a secure fanbase (I'm also pretty sure this is accurate in terms of sales, but I don't have that data). Then Halo made the fatal mistake of trying to get a piece other than its own, and sacrificed some of its already-smaller piece to accomplish this. That was a bad move, and I'm upset because I'm part of the piece it sacrificed.

 

To be fair, I didn't really like Reach either. But Reach just failed to be a good Halo, Halo 4 doesn't try that hard to be Halo. It's a lot of imitation, take your pick which shooters it's imitating, but take enough things from other sources and there isn't a lot of Halo left. It's just a "me too" game now, and that's not a winning strategy. Ask any successful innovator.

[FleshBack]

I will pose this question to the people who continue to state that Halo copied or was taking stuff from CoD... Where is the proof that they were directly taking features from that game? I am talking contracts, copy right agreements, you know paperwork. If they are taking stuff from CoD they would be needing to file paperwork for it.

 

Friendly question thats all.

 

Lol, you are joking, right? You actually believe that you need documentation to copy something and sell a similar product? C'mon, ever here of Transformers? How about Go-Bots? How about LEGOS and Kiddicraft Blocks? How about Hydrox cookies and Oreos? What about all the products Samsung makes that blatantly copy Apple, like their Tablet, phone, appstore, home designs, etc... Where is the paperwork for those stolen ideas?

 

Ever walk into an ALDI grocery store? You think all those knock-off brands have contracts with the name brand companies they are ripping off? No. They just make cereal that looks exactly like cocoa puffs and tastes ALMOST like cocoa puffs, but they call 'em choco-balls.

 

How about Walmart? You think they need written documentation from Dixie to make their own brand of paper plates, or just about anything Walmart makes their own brand for? No.

 

If you believe game companies can't skirt around copyright laws the same way every other corporation that copies it's competitor, than you (not you, just anyone who follows this train of thought) are just naive.

[Vaulting♥Frog]

Lol, you are joking, right? You actually believe that you need documentation to copy something and sell a similar product? C'mon, ever here of Transformers? How about Go-Bots? How about LEGOS and Kiddicraft Blocks? How about Hydrox cookies and Oreos? What about all the products Samsung makes that blatantly copy Apple, like their Tablet, phone, appstore, home designs, etc... Where is the paperwork for those stolen ideas?

 

Ever walk into an ALDI grocery store? You think all those knock-off brands have contracts with the name brand companies they are ripping off? No. They just make cereal that looks exactly like cocoa puffs and tastes ALMOST like cocoa puffs, but they call 'em choco-balls.

 

How about Walmart? You think they need written documentation from Dixie to make their own brand of paper plates, or just about anything Walmart makes their own brand for? No.

 

If you believe game companies can't skirt around copyright laws the same way every other corporation that copies it's competitor, than you (not you, just anyone who follows this train of thought) are just naive.

 

1: Those "knock off" products you mention are made with different ingredients and methods. Thus not violating any copyrights, trademarks or patents. The Transformers and their competitors have had a series of issues between them however one side or the other comprimized so no issues were raised. Recently a new MechWarrior game got put on ice for having a Mech that looked similar to a robot from a different company.

 

Things like that happen all the time. So yes you need documentation if you are taking directly from another company. It is a legal issue.

 

2: You still havent answered the original question. Can you prove that Halo stole those things from CoD?

[Twinreaper]

Actually, those products that are knock-offs, are low quality left overs usually sold at bargain prices to other labels. Perhaps you should take a closer look at the actual manufacturer and do some research on them. 9 times out of 10, the bargain brand products are made by the same manufacturer that contract manufacturers the big brand products. And why choose Apple for an argument? Apple was the one who tried to patent a talking device in rectangular shape with a screen correct? Ever hear of Walkie Talkies? Bell telephone Company?

 

The rip-offs are not really rip-offs. Patents are made, adn they expire, allowing other companies to use similar or bought designs and offer them at competative or lower prices. It works the same way as the drug companies who have name brand Tier 1 meds, then another comes along and offers a generic 15 years later. Gaming in general cannot really compared to the same aspect as your mentionings. Gaming is much different and general. You can't really patent a "Sprint" or 'Perk" game feature. That would be like trying to patent the way you walk, or the way you specifically use soemthing like a phone, or a toy. Usage is implied, and very broad. Names and intilectual Property like engines however...that is a complete different story.

[FleshBack]

 

 

2: You still havent answered the original question. Can you prove that Halo stole those things from CoD?

No one can prove they stole directly from CoD, but we all know what direction Halo was taking when we opened up the multiplayer and looked inside, don't we? It wasn't a Halo in the spirit on last trilogy, it was a Halo in the spirit of modern FPSs, namely CoD. That is what makes it a knock-off. Just like those cheap brands you buy the the grocery store. Same stuff, different flavor.

 

Oh, and I'll admit my previous argument wasn't well thought out, but. I'll be the one to admit a mistake.

[Chris Hansen]

I remember when halo was good enough that it was one of the most popular games, without: Armor abilities/perks, instant respawning, ordnance. In a time where these features existed in other games like COD modern warfare.

 

These 3 things stand out to me as the biggest problems with the series as whole, in terms of multiplayer balance, and competitive balance.

 

 

Jet pack absolutely destroys map design, why have barriers or different levels to a map? Bypassed by jet pack. Sprint and instant respawn destroys small arena style maps. Random ordnance creates an unbalanced system where I could receive a concussion rifle or some other garbage while my opponent gets an incineration cannon or rocket launcher. 6 second shield recharge delay just means I need to camp even more with a DMR since aggressive play-styles are punished by the increased shield delay ( It used to be 4 seconds in other games) making going on sprees Rambo style (a trademark of the series) is almost impossible. But you know what it's OK in halo 4, because instead of fighting for map control I can just sit with my DMR to get to throw the whole game off with magically deployed power weapons. I don't like built in sprint, I just think Spartans should move faster like in halo 2 and 3.

 

These are all my opinions of the biggest things glaringly wrong with the game that COD has been using for years, minus the shield Recharge delay.