"Halo 4: I Get a Woman!" - Sgt. Mjr. A.J. Johnson, RIP

[Kornman00]

Observations:
* Campaign metagame (scoring) isn't available, but is still in the game code (haven't checked the tag data though)
* Social settings (a la Reach) seem to be stripped from retail
* Arena isn't available, but is still in the game code (haven't checked the tag data though)
* Films for campaign/co-op are gone. My guess is that they couldn't get Havok AI to play deterministically.
* I'm still seeing code data for Invasion
* I'm seeing some code data that hints that they were trying to do clans again

Am I blind or are there no skulls for SPOPs?

The UI is horrible and likes to bug the fuck out. At least Bungie won't be obligated to do a metro ui for their next game!

[Zeph]

Listening through the soundtrack on youtube. I can't figure out how the guy got the job to do the music. The guy can't write properly without a chorus or orchestra. All his 'advanced instruments' do nothing but limit him into a tone, range, and rhythm. He's focused too much on trying to make a noise no one has ever heard of before that he lost sight of what he was doing with it.

[thehoodedsmack]

Some of the music reminds me of Star Wars tracks.

[Arteen]

Damn... I don't remember being this excited for a Halo release since E3 2004 for H2. I'll brb I think I'm finally going to buy myself an Xbox 360.

And you can get Halo 3, ODST, and Wars, which are better games!

Reach is okay too. I just like bitching about it too much.

EDIT: Regarding campaign scoring, I wonder if will be put in with a patch. I was playing some Spartan Ops matchmaking, and noticed in the carnage report that is still shows enemy kill points:
Biggest Kill: Phantom
Points: 2350

Also, any idea how to see saved screenshots on whatever Microsoft's Bungie.net analogue is?

[Limited]

So last night a bunch of people from here and an annoying guy on my friendslist played a good number of games and, agreeing with masters, its the most fun I've had in Halo for a long long time.

They seriously need to add in the option, so you can avoid joining game in progress, it literally breaks the game. I played with Malloy earlier yesterday, we played around 8 games, 6 we joined in progress, which meant we joined a team that had 2 free spots, and unsurprisingly they were getting hammered and sucked balls. It wasnt fun to play at all. The 2 games we were there at the start we won, and we had a lot of fun, and even if we hadnt won, at least we had a genuine shot of winning from the get go.

UI is as bad as when I played it at Eurogamer, it feels like Halo 1, designed solely to work on a tablet. I loved the Reach UI, at first I didnt think I would like it, but the overall look and the easy-of-use was a total win in my books.


One thing I have noticed, the game seems to show a lot less medals on screen, and instead shows text alternatives. I hate this really, I loved seeing all the medals pop up when I achieved that goal, and when I kill someone, or get a spree, it doesnt feel special.

@Arteen, check Waypoint? http://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/

[Pooky]

Did you watch MLG Dallas at all? It actually worked pretty well given how fast-paced the game was, yet still kept that great Halo gameplay. The games weren't also as nearly one sided neither, at least until they stopped being entirely objective based. At that point though, it became really who was the better team at getting kills than flag scoring.

No competitive league is going to even consider a game that has such random factors as that. When there's thousands of dollars on the line, nobody wants to fail because they lost the roll of virtual dice and didn't get the ordnance drop they wanted. Fixed weapon spawns are the way to go for any kind of serious competition.

I feel bad for pro console players that have illusions of skill at a game, especially if the game has a PC version available.

Nobody cares.

Yeah man, hop in on the beta.

Also, the things people are complaining about in retrospect of playing the game are the things I predicted people would bitch about. Give it a month or two and people will be bitching up and down about mp.

Yeah, I'm afraid of that. I'm enjoying the MP now, but then it's early on and people haven't unlocked everything yet. The hardlight shield for instance, has been horribly annoying every time I've encountered it.

Observations:
* Campaign metagame (scoring) isn't available, but is still in the game code (haven't checked the tag data though)

This was something I really wanted. Maybe in an update?

[Limited]

There is a XP limit per day by the way, Masters hit it last night. Changing timezone does work, but you may get banned for it .

[DarkHalo003]

No competitive league is going to even consider a game that has such random factors as that. When there's thousands of dollars on the line, nobody wants to fail because they lost the roll of virtual dice and didn't get the ordnance drop they wanted. Fixed weapon spawns are the way to go for any kind of serious competition.

I'll take that as a no....

[Tnnaas]

So basically, the schmucks at 343i broke the game?

Wow, didn't see that coming.

(3)

[Bobblehob]

So far, I am quite impressed with 343's work. I wouldn't rate it the best Halo game ever, but it definitely holds its own. So far my only major gripe with the game is with the colors and particle effects. The color palate when it comes to the covenant is just too dull for me. I like the art and character models, as well as the changes in designs for the most part, but they would have looked much better with some brighter colors.

I know it is nit-picky but the particle effects are something that really bother me. Compared to Reach, they are really pretty gross in this game. The larger explosions, like those when you destroy a phantom, or a wraith, the brightness of the flares, as well as the sprites used for flame and such are very dull color wise. It is especially evident when you look at explosions from weapons like the tank shell, or when a warthog goes off. Also, the larger explosions are lacking in general.

I was hoping for effects like you got when you destroyed a Scarab in H3, or when the Savannah explodes in Reach. The bright lens flares, the solid particles, as well as 3 dimensional rotational effects just made each one very satisfying to watch. In H4 most are very dim, lacking in lens flares, and often use simple sprites that are visibly 2D due to clipping with the bsp.

Impact effects from things like bullets, plasma, and explosions are very inconsistent. Some surfaces don't have visible effects, while others work perfectly. The decals are interesting, especially those that come from bullet impacts on forerunner metal. The level of detail in them though is reduced a fair amount from Reach, some even to an H3 level. They also seem to be missing a lot of the 3d decal effects that were present in Reach, like those that happened when plasma impacts a surface. Some effects do still look quite nice, like those of the promethean weapons, as well as the dissolve effect that the Knights do when you kill them.


For me (Best to worst)
Halo 1
Halo 3 ODST
Halo Reach
Halo 3
Halo 4/Halo 2 equivalent
Halo Wars