The worst problem about this game versus Reach, 3/2/1:

[Combat]

In my honest opinion, the worst difference about this game is that it is MUCH harder to find targets. I was a decent to good player in the previous games, but picking out an enemy before he saw me was never a strong suit. In fact, I'm horribly deficient at it. In past Halo games, this didn't matter so much because the limited number of weapon spawns forced people to move to a few spots, dictating the flow of the battle.

 

Now, I alternate between being really, really good and absolutely horrible, and the main difference is just finding guys. On BTB maps like Valhalla, the forward movement has died, and all most people do is camp (with a DMR or Sniper Rifle). There is NO reason to advance, and I find that change to sometimes ruin the Halo experience.

 

It makes maps like Complex seem huge and empty because the map is just a cover to hide behind instead of an interactive object. The only way to find players is to use precognition and guess where they will be, and I am just not good at that. I'll have to go to theater and watch hours of tape in order to find out where people travel without the incentive of power weapons (and places to use them).

 

This has created a bunch of maps I absolute HATE. I have no idea why people like them, because I've never had a positive experience with them. They basically reward camping and are no fun at all to play on. A couple of those maps:

• Valhalla (no clue why people adore this map)
  
• Vortex (pretty sure, talking about the rock map with a central base)
  
• Complex (too big and empty for small teams)
  

 

You may wonder why I don't put Exile in that list. Well, mainly because Exile is the map that I believe best recreates the traditional Halo feel. It doesn't have weapon spawns, but the additions of the Gauss Hog, Scorpion, and Banshee create a more concentrated ebb and flow of players, instead of Halo 4's random smattering of players across the map.

 

What can 343 do to fight this? Well, for one, new maps need to be smaller. Without weapon spawns, players are far more spread out than normal, and it is just not fun to spend most of the match looking for fights. The most annoying thing in the game is to spend minutes not finding anyone only to die from shots in the back from an opponent half the map away. A map the size of Complex should be a BTB map, and personally I think even an 8-on-8 match would feel a little spread out on Complex.

 

One other thing they could do is to focus more on vehicles. Regardless of whatever 343 may think, constant DMR fights in every playlist eventually are boring. Unlike previous Halo titles, it feels like every single match is a small team match because only one map really diversifies the game with heavy vehicles. Maps like Valhalla start off with a vehicle rush, but the recharge times on the vehicles pretty much stop regular usage of them. New maps should have more Wraiths, more Scorpions, more Gauss Hogs (and don't restrict those vehicles to one per map), and should reintroduce vehicles like Revenants, Hornets, Falcons, and other vehicles not currently present.

 

The final thing 343 can do is make maps with less hiding spots. Complex (man, I hate that map) is the worst about this. There are more buildings to hide in then players to hide in them, and it just hard to find a line of sight towards a target. Vortex is another map with tons of useless hiding spots. The entire exterior ring of the map is a bunch of hiding spots that just make the gameplay boring and campish. Simpler maps would be preferred by this player.

 

TL;DR version: It is hard to find players. The game is boring if you spend most of your time looking for targets, and the randomization of weapons has spread out players so much that the entire game has become camping with a DMR with brief spurts of power weapons from ordinance drops. This leads to a bland and unfun experience, and 343 needs to try and keep people more concentrated to prevent this.

[LiQuid BioniX]

Actually I totally agree with this analysis. I find myself wanting to sit back in BTB rather than rush forward for this exact reason. I used to run around with plasma grenades and a plasma pistol in order to destroy vehicles, but there are seldom any vehicles for me to destroy sometimes.

 

On the other hand, some games are all vehicles, at least from my point of view. I'd rather have BTB be a nice mix between long range battles, up close shotgun/assault rifle battles, and vehicle play.

 

Right now it's more favoring the long range than anything else.

 

As far as the maps go, I like Complex for SWAT and all but it does get very hard to actually finish your kills of if you are playing straight up Slayer.

 

I hate Vortex. I. Hate. It. I can't move anywhere it seems, and people tend to just sit around the outsides of the map and pick you off, which is all well and good, but it shouldn't be the whole team, all the time.

 

And I don't know why I like Ragnarok (Valhalla) but I just do. It's a weird sort of fondness I have. I couldn't point out specific things, but I think it plays relatively well and I love the Mantis battles that happen. They get pretty epic sometimes.

[Real Talk]

I disagree with the Ragnarok flow of battle. In my games the flow goes people take control of center cliff or they rush through the turret side of the map. Either way people go forward in my games to the other side, granted there are plenty of people that find a spot to camp with their DMR throughout the whole game -.- . As for Vortex.....its just not good.

[Combat]

I disagree with the Ragnarok flow of battle. In my games the flow goes people take control of center cliff or they rush through the turret side of the map. Either way people go forward in my games to the other side, granted there are plenty of people that find a spot to camp with their DMR throughout the whole game -.- . As for Vortex.....its just not good.

 

Valhalla is a unique case. The problem is that a few spots have very long lines of sight (the cliff in the center), so teams rush those. This does tend to concentrate the game somewhat. However, I hate the 99% of the combat is long-range DMR "fights" (which end up being one-sided if one person shoots a second before the other). And that style of gameplay means that once people get to the cliffs, the game stalls. It isn't like weapons constantly respawning. I never feel like I can change anything on that map, whereas in Reach I'd always be thinking about what I could do to get an advantage.

 

And for some reason, I absolutely cannot get a kill on Valhalla. I've just never had success on that map, because I always get shot first or overwhelmed from multiple sources of fire. The worst thing about it is how utterly boring the map is. No diversification of gameplay, just DMR, DMR, DMR, get a vehicle, its dead, DMR, DMR, DMR (throw in sniping for the DMR if you are a sniper). The Banshee gets shredded easily, the Warthog isn't incredibly effective, and the Mantis is just about the only thing that changes the pace of the game.

 

It is even worse then Hemorrhage, but at least I was really good at Hemorrhage.

[Meta Knight]

I like it when people are fully into the game going head to head, then people who camp

[TRF BaDInTentZs]

Meh, BTB is a BK list and should be done away with anyway.

[SkItZo1041]

I find it somewhat easy to find people, but that's simply because people do nothing but camp... Complex it's the same room in the middle with windows on both sides, Ragnarok the hill, Exile usually is all over along with Adrift, Abandon up in the middle at the top of the lift, Solace sucks, Haven you usually have the guys camping the corners with their whole team so that the only way to approach them is from the top, Vortex the base in the middle, Meltdown you just don't know what the hell is going on, Longbow is usually that base up in the middle. The common theme here though, is an elevated area in the middle obviously. This is why Exile, Adrift, and Haven are some of my favorite maps. Ragnarok is a nice map and all, but I get so sick of having to play a defensive game because people do nothing but camp in the middle with camo and a DMR/Sniper. Although, this camping method is also a common theme in any other map.

 

At first when I started reading though, I thought you meant just simply it's harder to see people. I was going to agree with that, but it's not what you meant haha. I don't like the bleached colors we have of red and blue really, people kind of blend in with their surroundings a little better. That's what I hated about Call of Duty at first. Yea, it's something you get used to, but I really liked the way Spartans stuck out like a sore thumb in the previous Halo games, as if their red or blue was highlighted, if that makes sense.

[Combat]

At first when I started reading though, I thought you meant just simply it's harder to see people. I was going to agree with that, but it's not what you meant haha. I don't like the bleached colors we have of red and blue really, people kind of blend in with their surroundings a little better. That's what I hated about Call of Duty at first. Yea, it's something you get used to, but I really liked the way Spartans stuck out like a sore thumb in the previous Halo games, as if their red or blue was highlighted, if that makes sense.

 

This might also be a factor. I think that some maps (Solace and Adrift for instance) give red team almost a form of camo.