Update has murdered Halo 4

[ItWasLuck3]

Hello all. Long story short, I've been a player since the beginning of the Halo franchiseand what a ride it has been. Halo 2 was my personal favorite... until Halo 4 came out. I give you guys (343) a lot of credit for recreating such a beautiful crafted game... until a few days ago.

 

I'm not going to go into detail, but your "weapons update" essentially murdered the game for me, and other players I have no doubt. As well, the "110% speed boost" was a pathetic decision. As if the game wasn't already fast enough, Halo is not call of duty, and it should not be your mission at 343 to cater to the Call of Duty player out there. You don't see the Gears of War series switching to first person because CoD does it... 

 

Granted that's a bit of stretch but you get my point. I've had Halo 4 since about a week after it was released. I'm just about a 90 in Matchmaking and I have just about mastered the DMR. Why? It's incredibly efficient long range, but you have to be precise. On small and midrange maps... I chose the BR, simply because of it's spread that allows me to not be deadly accurate at close range and still kill an enemy wielding a DMR. Very small maps? I'm that guy jet-packing around with the assault rifle. Point here is that not all weapons need to be efficient at everything they do. Yes it's true the DMR is the "go to" weapon, but it requires skill, and if you don't have the patience to lose enough DMR-battles before you start winning one, then maybe you shouldn't be using that weapon anyway. Consider the much more friendly BR, but you will lose long distance capabilities.

 

I understand the other weapons of the game were not as utilized, but that doesn't mean they aren't usable to players of different skill rankings, if not fun to use from time to time.

 

This update to me is like the change between gameplay in Halo 2, and Halo 3. The difference between top tier players and noobs is quickly shrinking into oblivion. Prior to this update, I can tell you I have dropped my jaw in awe in the precision and pure dexterity of some of Halo's top players (typically level 130 nonetheless). Unfortunately updates like this speed up gameplay to the point where precision isn't as necessary, you just have to know how to throw your grenades efficiently, then spam the trigger.

 

Furthermore, weapon spawn times are becoming absurd. I have now played multiple CTF games in a row where multiple players (and I'm talking anywhere from 2-4) are walking around with the same power weapon. I'm talking the sword, spartan laser, sniper, and not to mention the SAW. If you're trying to bring Halo in a new direction, limitless weapon spawns are not working. Ordinances, however, are a good start... It's reward-based perks... sound similar to kill steak rewards from CoD? Right, and as much as I hate that, it's fair and it's what makes games challenging.

 

All in all, Halo is becoming too "soft", and adapting to accommodate players who think Halo should be a variation of CoD rather than it's own successful franchise. The first instances of Halo being soft is when you could no longer go down in level. Think back to Halo 2... remember how tough it was to not only be a level 50, but to maintain it? That's what made the good players great. Now I'm not saying the leveling system should change... just an example.

 

Finally, while I am disappointed in this lastest update, and I understand it may never be reversed, I look forward to Halo 5 and hope 343 can return to the game that is Halo as I and fans everywhere know it.

 

I welcome feedback/ criticism/ trollers/ supporters/ etc. I registered and posted this simply to get a community feel of my lastest thoughts on the game.

 

Cheers.

[Ransom]

I agree with some of your points, but I feel that Halo 4 was catering quite a bit to CoD players at its release, having the instant respawn feature. Also, there was a need for an update in order to balance the "Big 3" primary weapons out, giving the light rifle more damage and making the BR a 4 shot kill. The speed boost is a problem, and it will allow for more Nade Spam/ Headsot combos, but that was the way it was before. I do wish that they would bring back level downs, as it would filter the imitators out (however, CSR is able to go down, but they do not show that in-game.)

[BaconShelf]

The DMR needed the nerf, other weapons were unusuable when people were crankin' away the DMR. The rest didn't need a buff, the DMRN needed to be nerfed. Badly.

[Ransom]

Agreed

[BeckoningZebra1]

I was wondering how long it would take for one of these threads to pop up.

 

You'll get used to the update soon don't worry about it. You'll get killed a bit more then you've been used to as of late but you'll adapt.  We all will.

[ItWasLuck3]

I was wondering how long it would take for one of these threads to pop up.

 

You'll get used to the update soon don't worry about it. You'll get killed a bit more then you've been used to as of late but you'll adapt.  We all will.

 

Glad I was first then. 

 

Just like you said, I probably will get used to it... but it's a tad disheartening knowing (personally at least) 343 is going the wrong direction with these updates. I love that 343 is so involved in their games with these constant updates, but it seems as though just as I get used to one change, I get slapped with another one. Of course, this one being much greater in magnitude.  The game is just fundamentally not the same. I can understand that between new games (like between H2 and H3 from my original post), but I think in an update months and months after a product launch is just sad. 

 

Trust me, I'm not the only one to notice that Halo 4 numbers are down in matchmaking all the time, and I wish I had the wherewithal to fix it and bring new players into the franchise. I think the tough thing about being a first time Halo player (not myself), is that you will constantly get destroyed, and this probably scares away a lot of players and sends them crawling back to the outdated cash cow that is CoD.

 

@BaconShelf... couldn't agree more. Perhaps the DMR is a bit "powerful" but rather than upping every other weapon, why not down the overpowered one? I've even got a CoD example for this one... Any who played MW2 in the first few weeks since its launch knew that akimbo (speaking of akimbo, why did you ditch that 343?) Model 1887 shotguns could practically snipe people across the map. The fix? Downing them... not "upping" every other shotgun or assault rifle. But enough with the CoD references.

[a live dinosaur]

Well, you see -- Oh, wait, you compared it with COD. Nevermind. This thread isn't worth my time and response.

[ItWasLuck3]

Well, you see -- Oh, wait, you compared it with COD. Nevermind. This thread isn't worth my time and response.

 

And yet, you did respond.

 

And I'm just gonna be "that guy" for just a moment longer: http://leafapp.co/compare/itz_meh_mari0/a_live_dinosaur

 

Thanks for your honest opinion.

[a live dinosaur]

And yet, you did respond.

 

And I'm just gonna be "that guy" for just a moment longer: http://leafapp.co/compare/itz_meh_mari0/a_live_dinosaur

 

Thanks for your honest opinion.

 

TBH, I have no idea what any of that means, I don't play competitively. I don't play casually either. I play for fun on a daily basis. Thanks for pulling completely irrelevant stats out of your -blam-. That will totally change everything.

[Tim Jones]

The update did the most good to mods. Lag cheaters were bad at times but they love this fast paced update. The only reason I have Xbox live was because I loved Halo. I am not great but only decently good. I have a hard time with great players but love trying to end their sprees or making them mad by killing their camps. But now the online play sucks so bad from the mods and lags it isn't worth playing. Time for me to find another game and dump Halo all together for online play. I will get the next games but not for online. MS better watch their back if users don't want to pay for a membership to play junk. I wasted 5 minutes on BTB watching a lagger get kills before the rest of the team could spawn at startup or even get to the good weapons. They even took the large spawns and snipes all from our side of the map so when we spawned they had already camped and started using all heavy weapons, vehicles and snipes on us as we spawned, That was just the start of the game. Swat is no better with the lag cheats and glitches.

 

If 343 even cares....you are dooming Halo and Xbox. I know many others who are even dumping xbox for ps3! What a waste.

[Eve]

You care about the game? at this point i think halo 4 is saveless, i still playing it but got bored very quickly not like halo Reach or halo 3 why?

 

Btw, why everybody say CoD on every topic of this game.... halo game?????...

 

You guys love CoD too much

[Ivesy]

I quite enjoy the update i think most things are more balanced.  I havent had any major lag problems (no more than before), 10% extra speed doesnt make much difference with lag cheaters anyway as even if you did hit them half the time its doesnt register. 

 

The game is still not perfect but its an improvement.

 

Although the scorpion seems to have disappeared entirely from BTB but otherwise vehicle balancing seems better.

 

 

Glad I was first then. 

 

Just like you said, I probably will get used to it... but it's a tad disheartening knowing (personally at least) 343 is going the wrong direction with these updates. I love that 343 is so involved in their games with these constant updates, but it seems as though just as I get used to one change, I get slapped with another one. Of course, this one being much greater in magnitude.  The game is just fundamentally not the same. I can understand that between new games (like between H2 and H3 from my original post), but I think in an update months and months after a product launch is just sad. 

 

Trust me, I'm not the only one to notice that Halo 4 numbers are down in matchmaking all the time, and I wish I had the wherewithal to fix it and bring new players into the franchise. I think the tough thing about being a first time Halo player (not myself), is that you will constantly get destroyed, and this probably scares away a lot of players and sends them crawling back to the outdated cash cow that is CoD.

 

@BaconShelf... couldn't agree more. Perhaps the DMR is a bit "powerful" but rather than upping every other weapon, why not down the overpowered one? I've even got a CoD example for this one... Any who played MW2 in the first few weeks since its launch knew that akimbo (speaking of akimbo, why did you ditch that 343?) Model 1887 shotguns could practically snipe people across the map. The fix? Downing them... not "upping" every other shotgun or assault rifle. But enough with the CoD references.

Saying the game is fundamentally not same seems excessive as it still plays like halo.  With such a major update months later it shows that 343 realise they made some mistakes and have tried to rectify them and to some extent i think they have succeeded.

[Bloody Initiate]

I like the weapon updates. The hog can actually be a threat again, the BR stands a chance at its intended range, and the Mantis isn't helpless if someone gets within its motion tracker range without walking into a rocket.

 

The speed boost works very well in Big Team, but I can't speak for how it's influenced smaller playlists. It makes a lot of sense in BTB (For the same reason that any non-vehicle loadout in BTB starts with Mobility and works from there), but if it's present in smaller playlists I can see how it would be a problem (Players already got around the maps plenty fast imo, although they couldn't strafe worth a damn).

 

Speed boosts present a problem because they further enhance sprint, when really what you want is EITHER a higher base speed OR an available sprint. I prefer a higher base speed, but the Halo community has spoken multiple times for keeping sprint, and generally speaking mobs don't grasp anything but the simplest ideas. "ME LIKE GO FAST" is all they have, which when combined with "ME DON'T LIKE MOVING TARGET" creates the catastrophic system we have, which is: You can go fast when you want, but you can't shoot at the same time. That may sound "realistic" or something else equally stupid, but it creates a certain kind of binary gameplay where you get the pleasure of moving around the map quickly AND easy kills because players who can shoot can't move fast, and vice versa.

 

The thing that frustrates players like me is we prefer a blend. We want kills to be challenging because then we can be a challenging kill. We're happy to work harder for our kills just so long as we can make you work for yours. That's not what the mob wants though, and that's not what they asked for, so that's not what we get.