Halo 4: First Impressions

maximoose

aaronjumper wrote: »

Dont think I have touched ops since episode three.
War games hardly lags for me at all and is just way more fun.

Mastered the Bolthshot. My kills have gone up but my rep has gone down.
It is unsporting to use it apparently haha.

Its like my own personal shotgun. Got a bulltrue with it on Adrift two or more nights ago.
That guy was very angry. :pac:

It's a piece of sh*t and I hate you all :pac:

aaronjumper

maximoose wrote: »

It's a piece of sh*t and I hate you all :pac:

Guess I was wrong then, I can keep using it :P

maximoose

I think getting killed by a camping boltshotter definitely is the most annoying thing in this game.

aaronjumper

maximoose wrote: »

I think getting killed by a camping boltshotter definitely is the most annoying thing in this game.

I generally dont camp with it or anything else, Promethean Vision keeps me on the move. I have yet to play a game where no one was using it.

Plus if someone has a power weapon I consider them fair game.
One time I went around a corner to Boltshot somebody, only to find they had the same idea. . . no survivors

Slugs

maximoose wrote: »

I think getting killed by a camping boltshotter definitely is the most annoying thing in this game.

Promethean Vision sorts this **** out straight away. My playstyle has evolved considerably since playing H4. Before I'd jump in order to avoid gunfire, take corners tight and enjoyed getting in close. Now, it's strafing around enemies, Taking corners wide and anticipating enemy movements and I've had to keep my distance, which has led me to stick to the DMR instead of the good feeling, fun loving BR... Alas, how I weep...

In all seriousness, if you know someone is camping with boltshot, don't run in, take it wide, take it patiently, and 75% of the time, you'll outplay him. It's all about outplaying...

maximoose

Slugs wrote: »

In all seriousness, if you know someone is camping with boltshot, don't run in, take it wide, take it patiently, and 75% of the time, you'll outplay him. It's all about outplaying...

When you know where they are camping, yeah it's easy to get rid of them. It's just very annoying getting killed by some mong who has been hiding the whole game and you haven't seen him there yet :pac:

maximoose

maximoose wrote: »

When you know where they are camping, yeah it's easy to get rid of them. It's just very annoying getting killed by some mong who has been hiding the whole game and you haven't seen him there yet :pac:

Generally if i'm killed by anyone camping with anything, or sniped too many times, or teabagged, or anyone does anything remotely embarrassing or annoying to me, they are target priority #1 for the rest of the game. It's straight out with Promethean vision, plasma pistol, explosives, and DMR, and I just spend the rest of the game following, hassling and double teaming that person, and generally f*king up their fun and making sure they don't get a fair fight against anyone else.

I'm looking forward to getting the nemesis support upgrade that puts a dot on my HUD for the last guy that killed me, it's gonna make doing this so much more fun .

maximoose wrote: »

I think getting killed by a camping boltshotter definitely is the most annoying thing in this game.

It's not as annoying as shotgun campers in H3, or cross-map sword/rocket launcher glitching in H2. I wouldn't be the biggest fan of the loadout perks in H4 but at least they make it harder to get away with BS like this for more than one or two kills.

kaimera

is the boltshot that good in MP?

Pardon the ignorance, but it seemed pretty **** from my bit of usage

kaimera

kaimera wrote: »

is the boltshot that good in MP?

Pardon the ignorance, but it seemed pretty **** from my bit of usage

It's a pistol that doubles as a shotgun at close range and is available by default on every loadout. How would that be anything but overpowered?

Seriously, whoever dreamed that one up needs a good slap with the cop on stick...:mad:

aaronjumper

kaimera wrote: »

is the boltshot that good in MP?

Pardon the ignorance, but it seemed pretty **** from my bit of usage

If you time it right and then charge it up by holding the shoot button, it is like a shotgun. Short range but get in close and it is usually an instsakill.

Push back the range and it takes away shields, you can then mop up with whatever primary weapon you are using, in my case the AR.

maximoose

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm looking forward to getting the nemesis support upgrade that puts a dot on my HUD for the last guy that killed me, it's gonna make doing this so much more fun .

I could be wrong, but I think it only shows for a few seconds

kaimera wrote: »

is the boltshot that good in MP?

Pardon the ignorance, but it seemed pretty **** from my bit of usage

You are right, it's pretty sh*t yeah. But is a campers dream weapon, if someone doesn't know you are there it is basically a shotgun.

maximoose

maximoose wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I think it only shows for a few seconds...

Yep, for about 3 seconds after you respawn, but it tells you exactly where they are at with a red "X". Here's a vid of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=et4-t3awT-0#t=83s

There's actually not much point in it for the likes of finding campers and guys who killed you in a CQB battle (they'll still be where they killed you a second ago) but it will be useful for finding snipers and DMR users who took you out from long distance in big team battle games.

Slugs

Deleted User wrote: »

It's a pistol that doubles as a shotgun at close range and is available by default on every loadout. How would that be anything but overpowered?

Seriously, whoever dreamed that one up needs a good slap with the cop on stick...:mad:

I think the idea behind it is very sound.

Bear in mind that the Halo Reach playerbase was extremely hardcore. Although they didn't intend it to be this way, the Halo 4 player base has also turned into this. Halo quite simply does not have the same appeal as it did in the past. Just take a look at the avg player count. 30k every evening.

Anyway, knowing that their players would find it infuriating dealing with hardcore players of a greater skill level, they had to bring in a weapon to give n00bs an edge, similar to the n00bt00b in COD. Knowing they've lifted enough from COD, they needed a different weapon like this to allow newer players to hold their own, and not get their ass handed to them every game. Thus the Boltshot.

EDIT: Took me 30 minutes... Didn't realise it was recently released.... *Facepalm*....

DeSelby83

any word on when the true skill rank is coming in?

maximoose

DeSelby83 wrote: »

any word on when the true skill rank is coming in?

April. Fresh ratings ie not counting stats so far, and as it stands - only visible in Waypoint.

In other words, a waste of time.

Slugs

Slugs wrote: »

...Halo quite simply does not have the same appeal as it did in the past. Just take a look at the avg player count. 30k every evening....knowing that their players would find it infuriating dealing with hardcore players of a greater skill level, they had to bring in a weapon to give n00bs an edge, similar to the n00bt00b in COD...

This is true. Not to re-tread old ground, but they have most definitely dumbed it down and made it more accessible since it's heyday, which was Halo 2 & 3 in my opinion. They made a conscious, business driven decision to change gameplay to cater more to players who came into FPS through the likes of COD, and it worked. A lot of people i know who played COD heavily and had no interest in halo 3, ODST, or Reach seem to enjoy Halo 4 and find it accessible and easy to get into.

DeSelby83

maximoose wrote: »

In other words, a waste of time.

totally agree, maybe there will be enough pressure put on them to actually bring it in game....hopefully

DeSelby83

DeSelby83 wrote: »

totally agree, maybe there will be enough pressure put on them to actually bring it in game....hopefully

I doubt it. It comes down to their desire to make/keep the game accessible to casual players, who (like it or not) outnumber the hardcore players by multiples, and all pay over their €45-50 for the game as well, and buy map packs on an ongoing basis.

Trueskill was well implemented in Halo 2 and 3, which (arguably) was Halo at it's best and most hardcore, and there was no real competition around. Halo 4 is operating in a different environment. It's well down the list of the most popular shooters, and has far from a hardcore player base. It's a casual-friendly FPS, and 343 and Microshaft aren't going to pander to the hardcore minority and risk annoying the casual players and biting the hand that feeds them, because they'll just go play COD, or Battlefield, or whatever.

Trueskill will be there for the hardcore who care enough to go find it in waypoint, but won't be in-your-face enough in-game to alienate the majority, the casual players, who probably won't even bother to ever look for it.

Slugs

Deleted User wrote: »

This is true. Not to re-tread old ground, but they have most definitely dumbed it down and made it more accessible since it's heyday, which was Halo 2 & 3 in my opinion. They made a conscious, business driven decision to change gameplay to cater more to players who came into FPS through the likes of COD, and it worked. A lot of people i know who played COD heavily and had no interest in halo 3, ODST, or Reach seem to enjoy Halo 4 and find it accessible and easy to get into.

What they've actually done is alienated the hardcore. By trying to appeal to other games, they've pissed off the majority of their home fans. Perfect example: mate of mine, Halo Reach rank: Eclipse (not sure on this, but regardless, he no lifed reach) has now moved to Black Ops 2, due to his frustration and boredom with Halo 4. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Halo 3 (My Bungie profile speaks for itself), despised Reach, and despite being satisfied with Halo 4 and being reasonably good at it, find myself playing GOME instead. The game has no more flair, no more interest, and has been watered down for the palate of COD boys...

I understand what they did... I don't agree with it and think it's a backward step for the franchise... There's the taste and ambience of a Microsoft executive's cock around there somewhere...

I could go on an hour rant about the faults and design decisions of Halo 4, but I won't...

maximoose

Also see that MLG have dropped Halo 4, although different reports about the reason behind it.

Weekly challenges back today, someone must have made a booboo yesterday and forgot them. Damnit, would have had that 20k To Be Precise already :pac:

Slugs

Slugs wrote: »

...I could go on an hour rant about the faults and design decisions of Halo 4, but I won't...

Yeah me too. I agree with a lot of your points, especially the bit about the microsoft executive (although you put it a bit more graphically than i might have ) but overall i just don't think H4 is going to stand the test of time in terms of replay value. I find myself having a love hate relationship with it already, and losing interest in the multiplayer. I haven't played now in over a week and haven't really missed it.

I'm gonna rank up to 50 this weekend and see what these specialisations are all about, and probably play through the campaign again for as many achievements as i can, but after that i have a feeling it's only gonna take the next big thing to come along for my attention to wander.

Shame about spartan ops. Pain in the @rse to play on your own, uselessly laggy to play with other people...

Mickeroo

maximoose wrote: »

Also see that MLG have dropped Halo 4, although different reports about the reason behind it.

It's still in the AGL though, there was a live stream on over the weekend. MLG has picked up CoD instead, Halo 4 is a much more competitive came imo, the ranked playlists in CoD were practically empty the last time I played. Would rarely go in them as it took too long to get a game. I reckon the fact that BLOPS 2 is released on so many different platforms and is a more popular game in general is the main reason MLG took it up.

Synyster Shadow

Slugs wrote: »

What they've actually done is alienated the hardcore. By trying to appeal to other games, they've pissed off the majority of their home fans. Perfect example: mate of mine, Halo Reach rank: Eclipse (not sure on this, but regardless, he no lifed reach) has now moved to Black Ops 2, due to his frustration and boredom with Halo 4. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Halo 3 (My Bungie profile speaks for itself), despised Reach, and despite being satisfied with Halo 4 and being reasonably good at it, find myself playing GOME instead. The game has no more flair, no more interest, and has been watered down for the palate of COD boys...

I understand what they did... I don't agree with it and think it's a backward step for the franchise... There's the taste and ambience of a Microsoft executive's cock around there somewhere...

I could go on an hour rant about the faults and design decisions of Halo 4, but I won't...

i agree with you very much....the fact is H4 will never come close to H3's online pop. as it stands its still not even a 1/4.

if 343 released a map pack for H3 again i would guarantee population would explode.....MLG has even jumped ship....there is not enough competitive gamers for H4


right H4 rant over.....lol i think i hate H4 and i've followed Halo from combat evolved bundle copy with my first xbox haha

kaimera

Q - mid-game, when it seems to be changing host I guess? (I have the scoreboard and loading screen)

What the **** is taking so long for me to get back into the game? I can see the scores refresh and ****, and my deaths going up but I'm not in game. Most annoying thing so far from the dozen or so games I've played.

Q2 - is it worth paying for the season pass?

maximoose

kaimera wrote: »

Q - mid-game, when it seems to be changing host I guess? (I have the scoreboard and loading screen)

What the **** is taking so long for me to get back into the game? I can see the scores refresh and ****, and my deaths going up but I'm not in game. Most annoying thing so far from the dozen or so games I've played.

I dunno, that seems to be happening to some people alright. What speed is your bb? Quite a few times I've been in a party and it goes to blackscreen, and I'd be back in the game a good minute or two before some of the others would spawn again (if they even do, sometimes would be booted out - and it's mostly Mickeroo I see it happen to :pac:)

kaimera

kaimera wrote: »

...is it worth paying for the season pass?

I wouldn't personally. The jury's still out on how long the game will be popular for. Halo isn't the juggernaut it once was, and there's no telling how long it will take till the population dwindles to low enough that there's no real point in playing.

Also there's the issue of paying for maps that may prove to be a load of crap and get voted down every time they come up in the DLC matchmaking hopper...

Slugs

At least 343 had the sense not to make the maps mandatory (like bungie did for H3) and have restricted it to just one playlist, otherwise they'd seriously piss off their playerbase...

Mickeroo

The DLC maps pop up a lot outside of the dedicated playlist when I'm playing on my own or in a party where everyone has them. The map pass has been worth it so far for me anyway.

TBH I think 343 are doing a pretty good job of listening to what the community wants. Every week since christmas they've been adding new playlists and tweeking the existing ones. Grifball last week, Forge test before that and team doubles next week. Team Snipers and a competitive playlist with more traditional Halo settings are on the way too. THe only thing they don't seem to be getting swayed on is having the trueskill rank in game, which is a shame.

super_furry

Finished the single player game on heroic. Very disappointed with the whole experience, there's nothing that's changed in it as a game since Halo 1. They even managed to reset the whole ending of Halo 3 and bring the Covenant back in as enemies. I mean it's just lazy to return to shooting the same Grunts, Brutes and Jackals and still trying to convince people that you're trying to move the franchise forward.

There was no personality to the enemies they did bring in, they felt like characterless robots and even the Cortana stuff felt like they just went back to the Flood controlled Cortana plotline from Halo 3. Worst of all though was the terrible story telling and the fact that they decided to hide anything interesting they had to tell away in Halo Waypoint. I only checked that stuff out after finishing the game as I thought it might spoil stuff, only to find that they gutted the game's main story and squirreled it away in a daft app for God knows what reason.

Maybe if I had known who the Didact or the Librarian were during the game, I might have cared about their actions and motivations, as it was they were two strange looking aliens from a dead race doing things that made little sense.

Luckily the multi-player remains great but as a single player experience, it only ranks ahead of Halo 2 and way behind Halo 3 and Reach.

Tinie

Big h3 and reach player, see this is 25 in Argos now. Is it worth getting or just stick with reach? Main playlists I play are team snipers and TDM.