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

[Warsaw]

1. I see no issues with the Forerunner creations and orange lights. That said, I think they did that so they could turn them blue when Cortana takes over control of the Prometh--oh sorry, didn't mean to spoil the game.

2. Sniper box scope is LOLhuge. Sounds like plastic when firing. The whole weapon set in this game amuses me. As a side-note, it would be cool to start off the game with some up-res'd Halo 3 weapons, since that what Chief finished with, and then use new ones afterwards. Also, the player in that video is LOLbad.

3. I don't mind not zooming out, it just means you have no idea how dead you are and could get caught off guard. I think a more balanced approach than de-scoping would be a more vivid screen flash, because in campaign that whole unscope thing is a killer in the face of badly-balanced AI and crap level designs.

Okay. Thanks for clarifying. I'll trust your judgment.

@Warsaw: I specialize in gameplay. That's my deal which is why I have such a strong opinion and view on this stuff. Sorry if I sounded generally hostile and ignorant, but I have very strong opinions due to prolonged periods of exposure to this kind of thing. For me, here is what CoD has boiled down to:
-Vanilla gameplay.
-Vanilla maps.
-Shallow design principles.

Thankfully I see these problems decreasing with BOPs 2 slightly. Either way, one gametype does not qualify a game's design being good. Sorry Pooky for making generalizations and assumptions based off of debates you've had in the past, but I'm positive you're definitely a player for the very-fast-paced gameplay that often demands a 1sk for every scenario. That's not a bad principle in itself because it demands tactics and intellect to keep from dying or losing. However, that does not sum up the CoD design models and thus my biggest issue with all of this is that you're gratifying CoD gameplay that simply does not deserve a pat-on-the-back.

^This all ties into:

Halo 4 is nothing like CoD though at its core gameplay design. There is still a lot it does better and should do better. I suppose my issue here is that people compare two completely different design principles and say they're the same. Sorry, I just have a long-time burning fire for this debate.

I'm a game-play person myself. I don't think CoD and Halo are anything alike other than that they are shooters; I am not defending and do not agree that Halo and Call of Duty are comparable. My main issue is just that Halo 4 seems to generally be following the same mold as Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo Reach with regard to multiplayer, a mold I didn't like on its 2004 debut:

It's a rock-paper-scissors game with this so-called "tripod of power" bollocks that Bungie THOUGHT was present but never was in the original title.

I want melee to go back to being the cool finisher it used to be and I want it to take skill and wit to use effectively instead of enabling that infuriating and game-logic-defying brawler play-style. I want to be able to pick up and use ANY gun effectively against a wide range of targets provided I can use my head instead of having to rely on the same three weapons. I wish for them to stop with these really long weapon timers/single-spawns; shotguns are NOT power weapons, and neither are Plasma Pistols or Needlers. (I guess this is a non-issue in Halo 4, but the point stands). I want my shields to be more useful, I want health packs to enable more murderous strategies, I want zero aim assist, I want bullet flight-time, and I want vehicles that can't be demolished by small arms in ten seconds flat.

Halo was a moderately-paced multiplayer experience at first. It wasn't the crazy, adrenaline-fueled, breakneck speed of Unreal Tournament, but it also wasn't slow and plodding like Ghost Recon. Now it's just this crazy grenade, melee spamfest with ridiculous armour abilities that borderline on game-breaking (in campaign, they DO break the game). Your guns are just a means to weaken their shields slightly so you can drop them with a single punch to the face. That has been my experience in Halo 3 and Halo Reach. Not quite as much in Halo 2, but Halo 2 didn't play anything like the original.

Bottom line, I want it to stop being so overly-friendly to new players--the smaller the gap between the freshmen and the seniors, the less satisfying it is to continue playing. I don't feel rewarded when I make a melee kill in Halo Reach, or pull off those crazy long-range headshots with the sniper rifle.

Now campaign is a whole different ballgame.

[Hotrod]

You guys know what is the best part about this game?

No more motherfucking armour lock.

[Warsaw]

Such BS whenever Covenant did that...was so much more irritating than in multiplayer.

[Siliconmaster]

Especially since they now made it almost a jackal shield type thing. That's all I wanted from the beginning, that's awesome.

[Hotrod]

Agreed, the Hard Light shield is much better than Armour Lock, despite working on a similar idea. Sure, the player is blocked from getting shot at by the direction in which he/she is facing, but he/she can still get killed from the side, or by a melee attack that goes through the shield, as well as vehicle splatters. Not to mention that they aren't invincible while having their shields regenerate for six seconds, and they don't break off any Plasma Grenade that's stuck on them, nor let out an EMP that takes out enemy shields.

[DarkHalo003]

I HATED how they never made much use of that during Halo 3 Multiplayer. In fact, they didn't make use of a LOT of things they could have for Halo 3 MP.

[Pooky]

I HATED how they never made much use of that during Halo 3 Multiplayer. In fact, they didn't make use of a LOT of things they could have for Halo 3 MP.

Wait, made use of what?

Deployable shields?

[DarkHalo003]

Wait, made use of what?

Deployable shields?

Yeah those and a lot of the other equipment that was reserved in custom games. Not that it would have revolutionized gameplay, but it would have made things more zany and fun in my opinion.

[Warsaw]

I wish the Bubble Shield had rolled around like in the alpha builds. That was an excitingly unpredictable feature.

[ODX]

Equipment > Armor Abilities

I guess it's because I liked that arena style gameplay that Halo used to have before they started to individualize it because everyone's all about that crap now. Sure I'll still enjoy the game, but (and I've probably said this before) I hope they have classic gametypes with same-weapon starts.