20 replies to this topic

[Keiya]

Well, here is my input - which won't really grab the attention of any important ears (AHEM343AHEM)

1 : Gameplay - The Gameplay of Halo 4, I feel, was on par with what it should have evolved into after over a decade of living the dream. The controls are smooth, walking was enhanced, being inside of the helmet gave me an immerse feel that I have not had since Halo 2. The feeling of firing the weapons I had grown to love made me feel like I was holding them - all save for the Magnum which felt a bit more like a pea shooter. The changes to the Warthog were different but welcome as they included a more realistic feel to them as to what they would actually need with the extra fuel, mounting room, and the sound of the engine. It felt beefier. Implementing more up-to-date looking weapons to match the technological triumph of the MJOLNIR armor was also a welcome change. Cheif moved and maneuvered the same as ever to me and thats' what mattered. Including the short button-mashing or dropping out of the way sequences was a bit different but again, welcomed.

2 : Aesthetics/Atmosphere - I feel like they -tried- to give us that Halo feel that we're used to : An ever expanding environment, filled with harsh terrain, different alloys, gleeming surfaces, and stunning visuals... but they fell short when it came to delivering it. I found myself staring at the Forerunner Pillar when you first walk out of the wreckage thinking " That's really nice! But.. it could certainly have a little more looming feel to it. " I wanted to look up at it and feel fear that it was going to topple over ontop of me. They gave us air combat, vehicle combat, a MAC cannon, and phenomenally animated cut-scenes.. but it was just lacking. There was too much emphasis on Drama and not enough on what John (MC) is good at - Blowing **** up. Going through we take note that the Sentinals are 'friendly'. Where was the coursing interaction where one floats up to John and he draws his Gun, only to realize that it's not fired and nor should he and accept that it's attempting to assit him? We needed action. We needed thrill. We needed the music with that single guitar rift going insane in the background like in Halo : CE while fighting Hunters. Speaking of fighting~

3 : Combat - Combat was very up and down. I felt alive when I ran into the enemy. I always play every first playthrough on Heroic and then on Legendary. There were moments through my first (and so far only) playthrough where I thought " Dammit! These Knights are beastly. " Then there were others where I pee'd a little as two hunters plummeted down in front of me from a Grav-Lift...but then there were the lack-luster contacts with the enemy where I just stood back, fired off rounds, and thought " Huh.. this could be more interesting." The Elites seemed...dumber. The Jackles were not as tenacious. Grunts were dead on, however. They were all for running up and unloading their rounds until the Elite dropped - then they scattered. Perfect to Lore. As for the Promethians...what? That was a pathetic attempt, 343. I mean THEY were neat. Their abilities and such were neat.. but don't you think they should have been a little more sparse, tactical, and overwhelming? We ARE talking about the FORERUNNERS here.

4 : Lore-Friendliness - I was disappointed.. sorely. My butt hurts so badly from how butt hurt the game hurt my butt. Leaving this fact out as well as the one following this one.. I think the game was an accomplishment. But really, 343? You picked up a UNIVERSE full of lore and branches and endless tethers and just kind of skimmed over it. It's like you knew the terms and some facts here and there but you have the HALO BIBLE. We have the books - and from the books we are left thinking " What the hell were they doing? Why write a game plot-outline drunk? " because we just assume you were drunk. We have spent over a decade talking up the Forerunners. Admiring their technology. Stressing how much more advanced the Covenant is and that Covenant technology is no where near Forerunners... and we're killing them with basic bullets? Hacking their software? Interpreting their transmissions? KILLING THEIR DIDACT?! Look, I've been a huge fan of the Novels as there is so much depth and I've become connected with every single spartan and from the Forerunner trilogy which has not been completed yet, connected with the Forerunners, the Didact (Bornsteller), Chakas, The Librarian, etc. WE WERE IN THE DIDACTS' HEAD. Now, everyone wants to say " It's the Ur-Didact" and not Bornsteller and while I stand to see that as true I don't quite think 343 did. We go from the lore we having with the Didact befriending, trusting, and assisting humans while preserving their race to "I'm going to blow you all up, kill you, and transfer you into the digital realm." Even Ur-Didact would be beyond this. The way the Didact looked? Off. Entirely off description. "Patches of Fur." turned into thick catfish hairs from the top of his head. I cried in my heart when he was shown. The armor? Awesome. Accurate enough. Showing his face? You're kidding me. Then you potentially killed him off? Wha-.. I'm stopping. This could go on forever. I'll move along, but just know that you absolutely need to pick those books up and read instead of trying to make something your own. You picked up a Universe already created - Do NOT try to restructure the Universe.

5 : Audio - ..... There's stuff blowing up left and right...I'm in a Mantis firing off rockets with my shields sounding off...and what's that I hear in the background? A piano? ... What more can I say? The guns, environmental sounds, creature sounds.. all awesome. But that music.. terrible.

6 : AI - ...... Again.. what? We have ALWAYS known to never let the AI drive while you're gunning. You will be driven off of a cliff. It happens. But when the AI hops in a Banshee and slams into a mountain and just sits there.. or all of your Spartan IV's hop in a Warthog and just drive back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...and the Combat Assistance? Come on now..Even the Enemies weren't that much better. I felt like the Elites were childs-play. I want to FEAR them again, like I did in Halo 1. I want to see a Hunter and get a sinking feeling in my gut. I want to kill Hunter #1 and see it's linked brother roar in rage and become stronger and more brutal! Come on!

7 : Game Length - Shorter than what I was used to, but I was alright with the length. There was quite a bit of content

8 : Overall - I'm... content with the game. I was happy, sad, and mad. We are seeing obvious distortions of lore, lack of information, over-dramatic scenarios in situations where we should have explosions, and disappointment in places where we should be amped. Why am I seeing the librarian for a total of 1-2 minutes in the first gave you've released? You've taken over a decade old Universe and just " HEY! We're new here! This is what the Forerunners look like! AHAHAHA." It's sickening. These forerunners should be faceless, mysterious, and inspiring. At the end of the game.. OH MAN. I thought 343 was about to reveal John's face... I know that kid at the beginning was him - dead on from the books. BUT DON'T YOU DARE EVER SHOW JOHN'S FACE. We have a -vague- description from the novels. Never in a game should he be shown. Ever. When I thought that helmet was coming up, if I would have even seen an Eye I would have marched to the damn 343 Studio office and snapped my game disk at the front door. John needs to retain his line between man and Machine. We need to feel like he is more than a man. We need to never let this die. Keep the distance. Keep the separation between the Spartan II's and the Humans. NEVER show me the face of a Spartan II. When Halsey was shown I was happy as that's how I had always imagined her.. but don't get too damn happy showing faces. You crossed the line with the "Ur-"Didact and the Librarian. Hell, you didn't even get either of them right. The Didact is supposed to be large, massive, intimidating...and you made him look like a skinny human/brute half-breed. If I could find the artist over that I would punch him in the teeth.

Summary : I am -happy- with the game. I am not happy about certain aspects. I hope to see them do a much better job with 5 and I hope I'm not waiting 5 years for it. Stick do your roots, stick to the storyline, and for God Sake realize that this Universe is Pre-existing with all of it's lore covered. Don't erase lore and write over it trying to to make it "your own." If you wanted your own universe you should have never picked up the Halo title. Remember, if you let us down you're going to lose your player-base. Bring us a good game while sticking to the Universe you were given. You don't go picking up the 40k Universe and say "Space Marines are made from Bunnies. Magnus is back! " so don't pick up the Halo Universe and go " Forerunners are back! They're an Ancient Evil! Here's what the elusive, long since thought extinct race looks like! " Why? Well because the Forerunners were never evil, only put the humans on their knees because they thought they were a threat to the galaxy and were mistaken in such thought as the Humans were fighting the Flood. But hey, you should know all of this - you now own that universe.

Don't play with my heart 343.

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Edit : I soon, after typing up my review to 343, found the Legendary ending. This was my response in regards.

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WHAT?!

As I've stated in my first review of the game - I play my first time through on Heroic so I can actually enjoy the game as with most previous titles Legendary adds a whole new meaning to 'surviving'. At the end I almost had a panic attack thinking that they were going to show Johns' face.. and then sighed in relief when they didn't show it.

But THIS is what they did as gift for beating the game on LEGENDARY?! I'm outraged! You just come in, pick up a Universe that you not only did not create, but one which has connected with a fan-base this large.. and just stomp all over everything that we have come to know and love? You showed us a Forerunner : Which for BOOKS. GAMES. DVD'S..have plagued us as a masterful and mysterious race that was extinct and long since lost and just brought them right back. Then you let us seemingly kill one? And what's that? He was one of the most influential ones in the entire damn lore? As well as the Librarian?

But no~ No no no. Beyond that you have the audacity to show us the vague details of Johns' face? Don't you realize what the hell you've done? You just wandered into your new office and went " what have people always wanted to know about? " and then just tossed it out there like it wasn't a problem. The fact is : Chief NEEDS to stay faceless.

Halo 4 is going right back to be traded in. Another title will not be purchased. Thank you 343 for destroying the game. And here I was being content and giving you a chance. You keep Halo 5 and 6 where you'll likely give Chief a Spatula, tutu, and have a cocaine addiction that sets Charlie Sheen back 50 years "due to the trauma of losing Cortana."

[CruciasNZ]

I have to say I agree with parts of your assessment, and disagree with parts as well.

I love the new looks of all the vehicles (bar the wraith orb, I just liked the old blue ball of doom). However they feel overly weak and the Hog flips when it skitters unevenly across a paperclip.

New weapons are amazing, originally I thought some were just crap until I learned how to use them deviously in multiplayer. I have always hated automatic weapons, and was thrilled to get my Battle Rifle back.

I like how they humanised Chief. When I read the Halo Novels it struck me that they spent a lot of effort to portray Chief (and other Spartans eg Naomi) as a human and not a walking tank, he aches and fears, loves and hates - the previous games never made that connection. I am unsure how I feel about the Librarian but the Didact was suitably evil and his backstory was well thought out, but he did "die" in a rather embarrassingly simple way.

I will point out one mistake you made though, the Prometheans are not Forerunner; they are Humans that were "digitally converted" then reanimated. That reanimation process stripped them of their soul, humanity and made them similar to the Necron Warriors - hence explaining their funky combat prowess. All in all, a well played plot twist to introduce a new enemy; though I really do miss the Flood - like the Borg, the Flood are just that enemy that completes a universe.

All in all I think the game was amazingly well done and I only find one thing I cannot stomach. The Forward Unto Dawn was a Corvette Class UNSC escort (Frigate with underslung hanger), and we see it close up and to scale in Halo 3 when you clear the landing zone on the Arc. Yet in Mission 1 when we are firing the Missile, the scale seems on par to a Capital Ship like the Autumn or Spirit of Fire. May seem a bit weird to pick on that point, but continuity in a universe is important to me.

[Keiya]

I want to make a point that I meant that the Prometheans are "Forerunner Technology" and not Forerunner themselves.

Also~ The Didact was never about annihilating Humanity save for the point in History where it was deemed needed as the Humans were endangering the Galaxy (IE; Running from the Flood) and actually assisted The Librarian, his wife, in saving them. He even assumed their assistance. This is, of course, referring to Bornsteller-Didact, AKA the Reincarnated Didact.

Both the Ur-Didact and Bornstellar Didact were above annihilating the humans all together. The menacing "Destroy all the humans and transport them to the digitized world!" just doesn't come off as being the Didact. His size, attitude, appearance.. nothing is relating to either Didact we are familiar with. I am under the assumption that this is not the Didact and, in fact, a Builder. The Librarian is assumed dead but per Guilty Spark she is alive. It is entirely possible that the image left behind was fragmented and unaware that this was -not- the Didact. He never referred to her as his Wife during their short interaction and they were deep and intimate partners.. so who knows?

[fade]

... This really doesn't help me figuring out if I should get the game now, because there are tons of things I see that are just too dam cod(y) (just shield now really?? No health) to me

Does the ending make it feels like a ending (halo 1) or does it do the halo 2 of there is another game for coming for halo

Because I had enough of stories ending in cliffhangers or feels like your in a middle of the story then boom story ends

[CruciasNZ]

Story wasn't really a cliffhanger this time around. It's worth getting even if just for the multiplayer. Why don't ya borrow it first Fade?

[fade]

Can't really most of my friends are either living far away now or just like me, don't want to give halo any money in anyway because it destroy our trust so many times
Story is always important to us, to enjoy being in the same world as master chief etc, hell this is why I played space marine still even tho it has tons of problems
I am a space marine in the universe of 40k in the world I love, where the levels are more than just levels to me etc

[CruciasNZ]

Halo story is important to me, and to be honest Halo 4's story is very bad unless you read the Kilo5 Novels that take place between 3 and 4. Glasslands and Thursday War are out now, the third is as yet unreleased.

[fade]

I guess I get the novels first

[JACCX023]

Halo story is important to me, and to be honest Halo 4's story is very bad unless you read the Kilo5 Novels that take place between 3 and 4. Glasslands and Thursday War are out now, the third is as yet unreleased.

hey cru you know of any place where we can read those novels your mentioning online? just asking man i would really appreciate it

[CotW]

Well I just watched the cutscenes on YouTube. Gotta say I'm not too impressed or amazed wiith what I saw. I'm still tempted to get the game but not sure it is really worth full price since I will not play mp much if at all.

[CruciasNZ]

hey cru you know of any place where we can read those novels your mentioning online? just asking man i would really appreciate it

No I don't; to tell you I would have to google search and then report the results. Plus we don't link to pirated stuff here as per the forum rules.

They're certainly worth reading, very well done and immersive story

Well I just watched the cutscenes on YouTube. Gotta say I'm not too impressed or amazed wiith what I saw. I'm still tempted to get the game but not sure it is really worth full price since I will not play mp much if at all.

If you're not going to play MP then you loose nothing waiting for the price to come down. I enjoyed the campaign but it was by far the shortest of all the Halo campaigns (inc ODST).

[CotW]

If it's shorter than ODST that makes me a sad panda. Oh we'll I'm sure I can find fun in Black Ops 2, Skyrim and Mass Effect until a price drop. I really liked ODST and Halo 1-3 but never got Reach since the MP isn't my style. I'm torn between liking Halo but not $70 worth of it...

Never read any books but am curious about them. Any recommendations? I understand there are a bunch but am skeptical about them. Of course I will have to finish War and Peace first (no joke I'm 40% done according to my Kobo).

[JACCX023]

dudeee i wasent asking for piracy xD sorry for not being clear i meant like can you buy digital copies online because i doubt i can find the books where i live (i allready tried to find them with no luck) and on ebay they are way to expensive because of the mailing service

[CruciasNZ]

dudeee i wasent asking for piracy xD sorry for not being clear i meant like can you buy digital copies online because i doubt i can find the books where i live (i allready tried to find them with no luck) and on ebay they are way to expensive because of the mailing service

My apologies for the misunderstanding. I think you can digitally get them from Amazon.

If it's shorter than ODST that makes me a sad panda. Oh we'll I'm sure I can find fun in Black Ops 2, Skyrim and Mass Effect until a price drop. I really liked ODST and Halo 1-3 but never got Reach since the MP isn't my style. I'm torn between liking Halo but not $70 worth of it...

Never read any books but am curious about them. Any recommendations? I understand there are a bunch but am skeptical about them. Of course I will have to finish War and Peace first (no joke I'm 40% done according to my Kobo).

I liked the story of Reach, it's cheap as now.

Read "Contact Harvest", then the original trilogy and then the Kilo 5 trilogy. I that's t, chronological order. All were amazing reads

[Keiya]

dudeee i wasent asking for piracy xD sorry for not being clear i meant like can you buy digital copies online because i doubt i can find the books where i live (i allready tried to find them with no luck) and on ebay they are way to expensive because of the mailing service

My apologies for the misunderstanding. I think you can digitally get them from Amazon.

If it's shorter than ODST that makes me a sad panda. Oh we'll I'm sure I can find fun in Black Ops 2, Skyrim and Mass Effect until a price drop. I really liked ODST and Halo 1-3 but never got Reach since the MP isn't my style. I'm torn between liking Halo but not $70 worth of it...

Never read any books but am curious about them. Any recommendations? I understand there are a bunch but am skeptical about them. Of course I will have to finish War and Peace first (no joke I'm 40% done according to my Kobo).

I liked the story of Reach, it's cheap as now.

Read "Contact Harvest", then the original trilogy and then the Kilo 5 trilogy. I that's t, chronological order. All were amazing reads

You get a new respect for Jenkins when you read Harvest.

[drpockets66]

You guys really needed to put a disclaimer on this post that this was going be a big spoiler

[Keiya]

There is! Lmao.

[drpockets66]

DAM MY SKIM READING!!!!! >.<

[CruciasNZ]

Haha!

Yeah Harvest really does Jenkins justice

[DusteirTax]

What do you expect it's not made by bungee