My thoughts so far on Halo 4 (Campaign only)
My thoughts so far on Halo 4 (Campaign only)
Finally the Assault rifle is worth carrying! It even sounds good coming out of my TV set. Fave weapon so far has to be the Storm Rifle; I'm amazed how this thing has enough accuracy over distance to be a threat to Jackal marksmen and snipers. Pulse the shots and they'll actually either kill him or make him dive out of the way. The Promethean weapons so far have been really good to me--Suppressor, Boltshot, and Scattershot have been some nice surprises. Most enjoyable weapon so far has to be the Sticky Detonator--oh, you're charging with an energy sword? *thoop*BLAM!* And, being able to wreck multiple waves of Covies with the Mantis felt really good, especially stomping flat that Ghost that snuck up around me.
Ah, skulls...Grunt Birthday Party, best ever.
I do appreciate the direction 343 has taken with storyline, it's definitely a lot darker than previous games. But, I miss Grunts saying funny things, you know? Cutscenes and graphics have been marvelous--does anyone have an HDTV they want to give away? My current set is only set up for component color, so I KNOW I'm missing a lot! Had a bit of a glitch on the target designator a couple of days ago; I was able to trace that issue to a malfunctioning controller's D-pad that made it tough to select. I wish I could read the icons in the radar screen...
Haven't been in multiplayer yet, but I sincerely hope the powers that be haven't nerfed the weapons, you know? I like how my assault rifle has some real punch now, and even the magnum is a worthy tool once more.
One question remains, though--does Ye Olde Host Advantage still rear its' head?
Are you playing on Legendary? I'm on the final level and really the "difficulty" is my only gripe. I don't remember the previous games being like this. It seems kind of lazy to me. Instead of making enemies actually harder to beat, they just went with the "let's make it harder by making the enemies take a billion bullets to kill"
I'm constantly using all my ammo to kill an enemy then running around looking for a new gun or ammo
Nope, no Legendary yet. One thing I noticed through the whole series is that when you play Legendary, if you don't use 'X' weapon set' at 'X' point in the game you'll die over and over again because all the programmers did is make your enemies have built-in aimbot and near-invincibility.
Oh, come on. Like you don't know the noob combo doesn't reign supreme 4 titles into the series.
Exactly what I was referring to. The higher difficulty forces one tactic to the forefront almost to the exclusion of all else. Remember clearing the barracks and rearming the bomb in Halo 3? Except for the Chieftain, if you don't have a plasma pistol and a BR or a Carbine, eliminating those enemies can be a real exercise in frustration, especially if you start at a rally point instead of playing through.
So, again, this is nothing new. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Host advantage is always present unless you have dedicated servers or are playing on LAN. 'Tis the nature of the beast.
I've been playing it at my brother in laws and it just doesn't feel the same. We are playing on Legendary and it's just not the same. On the fence right now if I will pick it up now that it's $40 new.
Like any Halo AI, you learn countering techniques. Shooting from a distance was always a good method but you had to conserve your ammo. It works in Halo 4 too. I like the new AI. Sometimes you get pushed into close quarters and and attacked by twice as many AI. Other times an Elite will unexpectedly cover more ground to attack. Many people here are very used to Halo AI and I like the changes 343i made. There are places where if the AI were any more difficult, I might not be able to defeat them.
A couple of ways to approach Legendary on H4...slug it out or use tactics and some skips. I recommend tactics and skips. Do the campaign on a lower level for the full story. Do legendary for the accomplishment.
Been playing it some more and right now, no plans on picking it up. I haven't played online yet, but my brother in law was showing it to me and the whole weapons load out, and having to unlock guns screamed CoD to me, not Halo. I'm home now and rented it for the week to give it some more time and to check out the multiplayer before I buy it.
For an example of skips check out the video below (set to highest resolution and full screen). The 5th mission, Reclaimer, looks like a beast on Legendary, I took it many steps further -- turned on all 13 skulls and turned the mission into a "Mythic" SLASO run - Solo, Legendary, All Skulls On, no deaths, no save and quits. Because of some subtle tactics (including a bit of hiding in the Mammoth) and a bunch of skips the mission turned out to be pretty easy (for me to say).
I was able to use the tactics and skips after watching legendary and speed run walkthrus as well as a video of a successful Mythic run all of which are available on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtLkVFq0ULE
Finished it last night, rather disappointed.
I played through on legendary in my first run and am happy to report it is the best campaing in all the series.