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Subject: Why Halo 4 is thoroughly disappointing.

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

Posted by: DO0MTRA1N
Maybe theft is a hyperbole but my point is alot of ideas were borrowed when making Halo 4. My point is that it's unoriginal. It's not innovative there is nothing new here except the shiny new weapons and enemy models.


A lot of ideas were 'borrowed' for the original Halo trilogy, ODST and Reach... what's your point here exactly? Halo isn't an original series, the vast majority of it is copied from some source or other, yet only now does it seem to be an issue for you.

Halo doesn't need to be innovative or original, in fact the main complaint I'm seeing is that it's not enough like the previous games in the series. These people need to realise that they cannot have both...

By your logic because COD is so successful today every FPS should follow their formula. COD is cheap. They churn out a new one every year to keep their 12 year old fanboys salivating long enough to demand their latest remake of last years game from these kids parents.

I would like to see something new and unique. Not the same old FPS year in and year out. COD has dominated the market as far as FPS's go. Halo until Halo 4 held its own because it wasn't following in COD's footsteps. If that's what you want then fine, go and enjoy Halo 4 but my expectations were higher. Cater to the lowest common denominator.


No, this was not what I said nor what I even implied. Halo became popular and successful by stealing from popular games of its time (DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem, Metroid, Half-Life etc), the gaming community has changed over the past decade, what was once popular is now seen as a quaint, nostalgic throwback to a bygone age. Halo has simply adapted to the norm of today's marketed FPS games (which, I might mention, it helped shape by combining the elements it stole) while still retaining the identity it has held for so long.

Also, look at every FPS out there within the last 5 years. The vast majority of them have become what people refer to as 'COD-clones' because of its popularity. Halo 4 simply takes elements from that series and interweaves them with the already established formula.

I do prefer the more Quake-esque arena style that Halo CE-3 had, but I don't view this change to the current standard as anything particularly bad either.

As for wanting to see something "new and unique", you're playing the wrong genre if that's what you expect. The shooter genre has done every trick in the book.

What you view as failure is actually intention. If you read the rest of what ninja wrote you would understand that it was never practical to have this character development. Bungie deliberately didn't want Chief to explore this human and emotional side. Re-read his post.

He's not saying he can't be a hero, just that it's contradicting to who Chief was up until the events of Halo 4.


It's not contradictory at all to the Chief's presentation in the previous games at all though. He retains the exact same characteristics he had in Halo CE-3, he's still the stoic supersoldier out to save the day. He's simply got more depth, and the way it was done through his relationship with Cortana and the ongoing thematic elements introduced from the get-go culminated in something that was nothing short of poetic. They're sticking to the same literary device that was used in Halo CE-3 for John's gradual devlopment - the 'Hero's Journey'. This was a major focus in one of the A Hero Awakens ViDocs, and shines through in the game.

It worked perfectly, I honestly can't understand why people are gagging for John to become a sterile, boring, undeveloped archetype...

Which is exactly why Chief's story was supposed to end in Halo 3, so that it wouldn't get boring. Why do you think that Bungie went on to make ODST and Halo: Reach? To create an entirely new and immersive experience with a different plot and different characters. Keeping it fresh. 343i is trying to beat a dead horse. There is no depth in Halo 4 but if shiny new weapons and explosions is all you need to keep happy then by all means. You should also go watch the latest Transformer movies, you'd love them.

And pray tell what are these MAJOR plot points?

(* refers to points Halo 3 introduced)

1) 6 of the 7 Halo rings are still primed and ready to fire - a shadow that will forever loom over the Halo universe as long as it's unresolved.

*2) The Gravemind tells us that defeat at Installation 04B only delays his return at the end of Halo 3.

*3) Medicant Bias virtually screams to the player that the Chief's story is not done, informing us that:

*4) The Forerunners are not dead...

*5) ...and that the path to the Forerunners is "frought with peril," suggesting a new threat.

*6) No explanation whatsoever was given to these mysterious new beings referenced by the Didact called the Precursors. Later forming the basis of Greg Bear's 'cosmic game' in the Forerunner Saga, and which we now know is feeding directly into the story of the Reclaimer Trilogy.

*7) Nor was any explanation given as to what "following in Their footsteps" means when the Didact started talking about the Great Journey he will go on after he fires the Halos.

*7.1) Therefore, The Great Journey does in fact exist, but has been misinterpretted by the Prophets. What is the Journey, and what is the signifigance?

8) Mankind has yet to uphold their destiny as the guardians of the universe (as mankind's destiny is the entire thematic point of the series, not continuing the story would mean voiding the relevance of the franchise as a story). This forms the thematic basis for the Reclaimer Trilogy, as the name itself implies.

9) We do not know if humanity can survive the inevitable tensions between the Covenant client races, the Elites, and themselves.

*10) We did not know (at the time, until Cryptum) what made humanity so special and worth saving in the eyes of Librarian. She said that we held the answer to many Forerunner secrets, we were her solution to something.

*11) Cortana, who holds the largest wealth of Forerunner knowledge in the universe aside from the Forerunners themselves, is slowly drifting into insanity. How can anyone claim that Halo 3 provided any kind of satisfying closure when we spend the whole game building up to her rescue only for her to be discarded and left to rot into insanity half an hour later?

*12) And finally, Master Chief, the selected messenger of Medicant Bias, is drifting near a Forerunner world at the very end of Halo 3.

The novels add plenty of substance to these plot points and have developed them to set up answers in the Reclaimer Trilogy. Halo 4 covered a great many of these themes because that's what the basis of the entire story was built around.

It's not beating a dead horse at all, and Bungie wanting to take a break from John's story doesn't even remotely prove that - especially since they started drawing up their own concepts for Halo 4 before deciding to do Reach because they knew that by doing Halo 4 as their last game they'd be getting back into a story they couldn't finish.

Halo 4 has, by far, the most depth through its development of John and Cortana, and the fact that it's the culmination of over 5 years worth of fiction. Just because you don't like it, that doesn't mean there isn't depth or substance there - there is, the very fact that we are debating this is a testament to that.

Plus, you make yourself look like an idiotic twat with your Transformers quip. Are you trying to further discredit yourself, or do you just enjoy being a prat instead of arguing things in a reasoned manner?

  • 12.14.2012 7:37 AM PDT

Wake me when the jews are gone.


Posted by: ajw34307
Why cant we have like butons? they would be so usefull now.

  • 12.14.2012 10:52 AM PDT

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


Posted by: fsabran

Posted by: ajw34307
Why cant we have like butons? they would be so usefull now.


I've often wondered this myself, I think that Achronos believes people would just abuse it (seems to work just fine on most other sites, like Youtube...).

  • 12.14.2012 10:54 AM PDT

Wake me when the jews are gone.


Posted by: ajw34307

Posted by: fsabran

Posted by: ajw34307
Why cant we have like butons? they would be so usefull now.


I've often wondered this myself, I think that Achronos believes people would just abuse it (seems to work just fine on most other sites, like Youtube...).
Yeah, and it's not like people use it as an argument, Spacebattles has it and just because people get like they normaly dont use those as an argument or brag about it.

  • 12.14.2012 10:56 AM PDT

Again, I agree with ajw; especially on 'Chief's development. He says it so much better than I.

I think 343 handled the 'humanizing' of 'Chief delicately. He still has all the classic hallmarks of what we've seen in the past, but he now has more nuances to him that progresses him as a character, without destroying his status as a strong, stoic, inspiring, and extraordinary man.

What I loved about the novels is that you got to read his thoughts. How, even though it doesn't show on the outside, he presents very real emotions. It's all kept inside, but I can imagine there would be intricate details in the sound of his speech, or his body language; nothing too dramatic but just enough. He was so much more endearing, and I respected him more as a character. He is a figure of hope that fights many battles that we can't see. He became more than a shell.

I think 343 brings this to Halo 4. He has more nuance in his movement, and speech, but not enough to take anything away. Unlike the book we can never get inside his head, though. All that he feels is purely based on what we can derive from aforementioned intricacies. He doesn't make any dramatic gestures.

When all is said and done and he's walking through the Infinity - Spartan IV's looking on in awe - he still exerts this mysticism and strength. The same when he steps out of the Pelican, before the brilliant scene with Lasky. The Halo 4 Campaign doesn't ruin anything...only adds layers. He has progressed as a character, but he's still a badass super soldier.


  • 12.14.2012 12:08 PM PDT

It's all downhill from here!

Estimated 17,833 words in this thread. Wow.

  • 12.14.2012 12:20 PM PDT

Ach! Was ist los?

Posted by: ajw34307
Plus, you make yourself look like an idiotic twat with your Transformers quip. Are you trying to further discredit yourself, or do you just enjoy being a prat instead of arguing things in a reasoned manner?

For that lovely bit of hypocrisy, you win one gassed thread!

  • 12.14.2012 1:44 PM PDT

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