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  • Subject: Thoughts on new Halo 4 E3 2012 information
Subject: Thoughts on new Halo 4 E3 2012 information

This is all coming from a skeptic of 343i's current advancements in the series and is completely opinionated. WARNING WALL OF TEXT
When I first saw the trailer, I was pretty mad; I was completely content and satisfied with Halo 3's ending and the cliffhanger on which the Legendary ending and Master Chiefs story had finished upon. From then, I had no desire of a new continuation on the franchise.
I'll admit, that through further development and the reveal of the gameplay and impressive- to say the least- trailer I think Halo 4 is going to be good.

A few criticisms however, In comparison to the previous instalments, I've found the enemies to be lacklustre in appearance. I dislike the Elites especially and quite a few of the promethium units; The elites seem to have gone down the Gears 3 route of having all their sleeve's removed and I'd would have much preferred their heads to have had that tumour removed since Halo: Reach, they looked quite squat and stocky as apposed to the 8ft tall wrecking crew that we saw them as in previous Halo's. The rest of the Covenant in the gameplay looked good however.

Covenant weapons and vehicles look a bit strange however, and have gone from representing an entire multicultural juggernaut with a variety of colour to plain and samey deep purple, this fills the role of the already taken UNSC W/V that are a gun metal grey and khaki to represent the industrialised, efficient war machine that the UNSC had to become, so I don't really see where 343i are coming from there, reducing the colour palette 'n all.

The new Forerunner Promethian units look impressive as well; following the forerunner style and staying in keeping with the game style, whilst diversifying the game play in general, their 'human like' skull teasing their origin (please forgive if I make any uninformed mistakes, as I have not taken the time to buy and read the forerunner series of books) . The same goes with the new weapons, stylish and incorporating new way's to play.

Style wise, I very much like how 343i are going their own way, It's fresh and appealing graphically, going a stretch further from the realism in armour that the originals aimed to make (excusing Halo: CE's cardboard armour for the marines, H4's we are yet to see) I don't, to be brutally critical, I hate: Chief's Armour. I understand it's 343i's decision and how they want it, but it does not scream to me 'Master Chief from Halo' He looks like a power ranger, a quote from Frank 'o Connor I believe was: "We wanted to make his armour more [military] and more 'Tank like'. Really? So why does he look like the S.T.A.G tank from Saint's Row: The Third? (Bad game btw) instead of an Abrams from Battlefield 3?

Let's talk about the HUD for a second, I took two things from the demo; Hit markers and Skype calls. Let's not delve too deeply about the CoDification (sincerely hoping 343i back the frak away from that already FUBAR territory) of Halo's multiplayer and hopefully not campaign, as I believe a game should stand completely up on it's own by it's campaign. (obviously MP details are yet to be released and nobody is going to get to play it till launch, cause 'hiho!', no Beta, and H:R's doomed MP is not being managed particularly well with 343i endorsing their direct rip Halo: Anniversary all over the damned place) so, hit markers can be useful, but really aren't necessary as you really ought to be able to see what your bloody well shooting at.

'Skype chat' now, -as I'm calling it anyway- Is your comm. We have never seen so much use of opening 'windows' on a Mjolnir HUD, usually it's in the books, and limited to text, so I don't mind it that much. Cortana uses it, and that's not what I'm diggin', you see when someone as important as Cortana is in your head you should really ought to know- as she is now the one character to watch in the new trilogy- whom she is, so why do we need to see her representation floating creepily around close to a 'camera' in cyberspace, suspended like the creepy car in Inspector Gadget? Another window is opened later on and it's the Cap. of the Infinity, I suppose I can't tell if we'll see him again so it would however be a good idea to at least get a good 'ol spy at our new ally, if not a brief one. Cortana never opens the window in the demo after the first time she talks, so I guess that's good, and as long as we don't have our screen filled with a conference call in the midst of battle that'll be fine. But why not make it more discreet.

Sound, It goes without saying that sound quality has to be the best in a game, the new guns sound great; futuristic and yet retaining the familiarity to the old series, the soundtrack sounds great, if not for the style especially apparent in trailers, the sudden burst of an 'Inception' esque instrumental, simultaneously flashing teases of gameplay, then followed by silence, and again, and again. I'd very much like to see a new sound, a motif to the forerunners if you will, but I also want it to sound 'Halo'. Keep those monks locked up in a cage for too long and their singing voice'll get rusty.

So that's my gist on my impressions only the future of my favourite franchise (obviously lacking MP) that has been put in the hands of a handful of old faces from Halo's development and climax at Bungie and the new dev's who will hopefully bring a brighter, better future to the beautiful game. I severely lacked in hope for this game to succeed upon its announcement, but now I feel it has a good future ahead of it and all the best to 343i, the game looks good, so for the multiplayer we'll have to wait and see.

So, what is your opinion on Halo 4, based on the current demo and E3 reveals?

Link to E3 demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1E m1MiiqT9A

  • 06.04.2012 1:49 PM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: MattTheGreat2117
I was completely content and satisfied with Halo 3's ending and the cliffhanger on which the Legendary ending and Master Chiefs story had finished upon. From then, I had no desire of a new continuation on the franchise.


You were satisfied with an ending where the only plot point that was wrapped up was the Human-Covenant war? You were satisfied to let the story hanging when we were told by Mendicant Bias that we were being sent to the Forerunners, the Gravemind states we've only delayed his return, the Flood will resurface one day, there are still 6 active and primed Halo rings and, worst of all, you were happy to let half of Halo 3's plot amount to NOTHING by just letting Cortana descend into rampancy aboard a derelict ship?

I'll never understand people who say the story should have ended with Halo 3, the amount of loose ends in that game was undreal.

I've found the enemies to be lacklustre in appearance. I dislike the Elites especially and quite a few of the promethium units; The elites seem to have gone down the Gears 3 route of having all their sleeve's removed and I'd would have much preferred their heads to have had that tumour removed since Halo: Reach, they looked quite squat and stocky as apposed to the 8ft tall wrecking crew that we saw them as in previous Halo's. The rest of the Covenant in the gameplay looked good however.

We've only seen 3 Forerunner enemies so far, as for the Elites the whole point of that change was to portray them as more run-down and barbaric compared to their more cerimonial appearance in the previous games. Post-Halo 3 they've had to fend for themselves and are completely impotent with the management of their technology - their new appearance is supposed to reflect.

Covenant weapons and vehicles look a bit strange however, and have gone from representing an entire multicultural juggernaut with a variety of colour to plain and samey deep purple, this fills the role of the already taken UNSC W/V that are a gun metal grey and khaki to represent the industrialised, efficient war machine that the UNSC had to become, so I don't really see where 343i are coming from there, reducing the colour palette 'n all.

wut

Firstly, see my above point. Second, the Covenant weapons/vehicles have ALWAYS been the same purple. I should point out that they've changed the vehicle colours for the Covenant - for example, the Ghost is now blue.

Sound, It goes without saying that sound quality has to be the best in a game, the new guns sound great; futuristic and yet retaining the familiarity to the old series, the soundtrack sounds great, if not for the style especially apparent in trailers, the sudden burst of an 'Inception' esque instrumental, simultaneously flashing teases of gameplay, then followed by silence, and again, and again. I'd very much like to see a new sound, a motif to the forerunners if you will, but I also want it to sound 'Halo'. Keep those monks locked up in a cage for too long and their singing voice'll get rusty.

Absolutely, I'm absolutely loving the direction that Davidge has gone with the Halo music. I physically cannot stop drumming the 'DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN! DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN-DUN!' beat and the choir sounds so eerily captivating.

  • 06.04.2012 2:04 PM PDT

@ajw I asked for what you thought about the demo, not what you thought, about my thoughts...
It's my opinion, why not say something creative instead of criticising it. I don't mind that Halo 3 left more to be desired, it was my favourite game and campaign so far. All I wanted was to talk about, no need to be all hostile because of opinions.

  • 06.04.2012 2:16 PM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.


Posted by: MattTheGreat2117
@ajw I asked for what you thought about the demo, not what you thought, about my thoughts...
It's my opinion, why not say something creative instead of criticising it. I don't mind that Halo 3 left more to be desired, it was my favourite game and campaign so far. All I wanted was to talk about, no need to be all hostile because of opinions.


I'm not being hostile, I just have no idea why anyone would want to have an INCOMPLETE conclusion that branches off into a story with the potential for another trilogy (which has since come to fruition)...

  • 06.04.2012 2:19 PM PDT

And when I meant that the sound track was new, it is. There's more electronics than orchestral pieces, like Portal sorta.

  • 06.04.2012 2:20 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Except that fits for Portal, not really Halo.

  • 06.04.2012 2:21 PM PDT


Posted by: ajw34307

[quote]Posted by: MattTheGreat2117
@ajw I asked for what you thought about the demo, not what you thought, about my thoughts...
It's my opinion, why not say something creative instead of criticising it. I don't mind that Halo 3 left more to be desired, it was my favourite game and campaign so far. All I wanted was to talk about, no need to be all hostile because of opinions.


It's nice an' all to have the new trilogy, but where I'm coming from is; I bought Halo 3 first, and loved it, became completely enveloped by it, yet I still did not know the
canon and everything. This is before I became interested in the backstory and where it could've lead to. So I bought the rest and now adore the franchise, I was just unhappy that it might go the way of again not tying up loose ends, for example, we now know what it the forerunner AI was talking about with bringing the reclaimer to them.

  • 06.04.2012 2:24 PM PDT


Posted by: DecepticonCobra
Except that fits for Portal, not really Halo.

I feel the same way, it was a statement that it's more original and introduced to Halo, and that it fits with the forerunners.

[Edited on 06.04.2012 2:30 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2012 2:26 PM PDT

I wonder if those promethean knights are the new species for invasion that was hinted?

  • 06.04.2012 2:30 PM PDT
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Wort, wort, wort!

I reaaally don't like the Chief's new look and the random bloody thrusters (which are now way more pronounced on his back) 343i gave him. I sincerely hope that they explain the armour upgrade (but since I saw a screen of him in his new armour, in cryo, I guess they bloody won't) but the gameplay looks kinda solid, except maybe a bit too much scripted stuff (they had to make a good looking piece for the demo, so that's OKay). Remember 343GS referencing suit tiers back in Halo:CE? Would be cool if Master Chief would get a forerunner suit in the trilogy. Actually.. Why didn't 343i just do that? Old suit. -Bam- John somehow upgrades his old suit with forerunner tech.. and everybody's happy.

  • 06.04.2012 2:49 PM PDT

I think frank o connor mentioned in an interview that cortana used nanotechnology to upgrade his armor.

  • 06.04.2012 2:57 PM PDT
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Lackluster is right. I wish Elite Zealots were gold and shiny instead of being darker red, more armored majors. Hell, before they were named (on the toy box and by GameInformer), they were being equated with Spec Ops Elites by fans. It is simply a disgrace to the Zealot rank and is one of the reasons why I disliked Reach.

Zealots are Elites that have killed a heck lot of enemies with their swords on the front lines, not Elites that do stuff behind the scene and flee when caught red-handed. Absolutely repulsive. It's as disgraceful as making Spec Ops Elites not use any grenades.

Nonetheless, the new enemies are quite bright and shiny.

Yep, I'm definitely sober again. Now I can look at things rationally once more...

[Edited on 06.04.2012 3:21 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2012 3:11 PM PDT

On Waypoint I'm rocketFox;
http://halo.xbox.com/forums/members/rocketfox/default.aspx

Old GTs; RebelRobot, Flamedude

I have mixed feelings. On one hand I think the level design and scenery design is incredible and that some of the weapon designs are excellent (though these tend to be the ones that stayed true to the originals).... on the other hand there are some seriously weird, ugly or unoriginal designs in there.

Scattershot. Really? A forerunner shotgun that looks exactly the same as a human shotgun but with floaty bits.

Warthog. Take a great design that has some unique touches (like the linkage suspension) and replace it with boring bland pointless changes (such as double-wishbone suspension). Strange that they didn't change the Phantom or Banshee or Ghost but decided to mess with the Warthog.

Really mixed feelings about Halo 4. I can't help but feel that they have one amazing trailblazing art director and another that churns out predictable bland drivel.

  • 06.04.2012 3:26 PM PDT

Many gave their lives so that we could live on. I intend to honor them by remembering them. Remember Cyborg. Remember John. Remember Noble.

Sometimes it seems as if 343i takes books as sacred and Games as second sacred.
Bull-blam!- if you ask me.
Goddammit I can understand not wanting to be in Bungie's shadow - but pick a damn different storyline then! I'm interested in marines too. No need to mess up Chief and his storyline!

Edit: Also they really suck at cinematics. Chief moves like a damn wuss. He's a Spartan for god's sake! There was a reason he didn't flail his hands like a damn pony, he didn't have to make too many moves, because he was efficient even at goddamn looking at a ship. Now he's just fabulous.

Edit: Halo 3's ending was damn perfect. I never understand guys trying to shed light into an ending, wishing for Halo 4. Because they are unable to deal with mysteries.

[Edited on 06.04.2012 4:10 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2012 3:58 PM PDT

On Waypoint I'm rocketFox;
http://halo.xbox.com/forums/members/rocketfox/default.aspx

Old GTs; RebelRobot, Flamedude

I'm going to treat Halo 4 as completely separate from the original trilogy. Yes it leads on from Halo 3 but I am going to mentally prepare myself so I don't allow any "revelations" we learn from the new trilogy change what I think of the original Bungie trilogy.

I'd love to know what Bungie think about all of this new stuff. Some of it is good and some bad.

  • 06.04.2012 4:25 PM PDT


Posted by: George 257
Edit: Halo 3's ending was damn perfect. I never understand guys trying to shed light into an ending, wishing for Halo 4. Because they are unable to deal with mysteries.


We can be friends, k? Good way to put it, what's wrong with a good cliff hanger, something to leave it to your own imagination.

  • 06.04.2012 4:36 PM PDT

I thought the presentation was amazing. The story seemed intense, and the visuals and sound were incredible. Can't wait for this game. It looks like it may be (I realize this next part is ripe for flaming) the best one yet!

  • 06.04.2012 4:47 PM PDT

Multiplayer and Spartan Ops Gameplay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3kChUpIYXM

  • 06.04.2012 5:28 PM PDT

Here's a thread I started on Waypoint...some food for though regarding the new enemy...

I'm not so sure we're fighting Didact as much as we'll be fighting alongside Didact.

After all he didn't like the plan to cleanse the universe using Halo's the first time, why would he now? John and the Didact have similar paths regarding resistance to Halo's but both align in terms of upholding the Mantle.

Further we need serious firepower or allies on our side this time, all these new enemies, multiple factions, more advanced technology and being the disadvantaged underdog again I think we'll see Didact help or lead us.

Just look at the scanning that orange sphere did, it most likely confirmed who John is and then chose to leave him alone. The sphere and technology could have easily run over and killed or attacked John right there. It or more specifically I assume the Didact chose NOT to attack John.

This seems to parallel the Halo 3 trailer by intentionally misleading or not disclosing the allies vs. enemies too early.

After reading the books and seeing these vidoes with Didact's comment "I have dreamt of this day Reclaimer" I believe the connotation is he's happy to finally having a second shot a stopping the Forerunners and Halo cleansing plans.

What do you think?

[Edited on 06.04.2012 5:43 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2012 5:41 PM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.

Posted by: George 257
Edit: Halo 3's ending was damn perfect. I never understand guys trying to shed light into an ending, wishing for Halo 4. Because they are unable to deal with mysteries.

Damn near perfect? It brought little to no closure. It has nothing to do with being "unable to deal with mysteries."

  • 06.04.2012 6:17 PM PDT

Maybe the didact and his promethean machines will be enemies at first and then become our allies and help us fight the true enemies which i'm guessing would either be the master builder faber and his builder security or the precursor and possibly some of the covenant.

  • 06.04.2012 6:47 PM PDT

I feel that the red denotes that the AI enemies we will be fighting are corrupt or rampant...

  • 06.04.2012 8:02 PM PDT

52,000 kills in Halo 2 and more legendary playthroughs in CE than you can imagine. I am truly a God.
.................................,-;;-=-,_____
,-------------------------.___/-----i````````'\--`\ .
|-------------xvxvxvxvxvxv--o-~~~~~~o--,\======
|_______|_o_./``/--/`;````~----------------~`
....................../_/`` BR-55

Damn good demo.

  • 06.04.2012 8:16 PM PDT