• 22May 13

  Halo 4 Multiplayer thoughts

  Multiplayer is far more robust with its leveling system than previous Halo games, although I can't help but feel like Halo is copying Call of Duty. What made Halo different was that there were no loadouts, you scavenged for guns on the map making it even to newcommers and veterans. I find with Halo 4 that ammo is much more scarce than ever before because not all enemies drop their weapons or grenades. It's a customisable experience which leaves me ill. I want the Halo that I know and love, not the Halo that is a Call of Duty spinnoff. I want the Halo I grew up with. Bungie always talked about the three golden rules of Halo; Melee, Grenades and Guns. Two of those things are missing though. While melee is present and better than ever, grenades are scarce, and guns are scarce as well. It's hard finding ammo on maps. On the Valhalla remake I searched for the guns I know and love at they don't exist at the bases. There are no Battle Rifles lying for me to snatch.

  

  While certain game modes are more traditional, I miss my Assault Rifle/ Battle Rifle combo, and I don't want to sacrifice other perks to get them. This is not to say there isn't fun to be had in Halo 4 multiplayer. The modes are still great, although the maps have little variety. In my hours of matchmaking I have only played a small handfull of maps as the only the popular ones get voted. 

  Ordinance drops also feel like they are out of place. They are essentially killstreak rewards for Halo. I'm not sure I'm a fan yet, especially since I never really like the rewards. In a sense I feel like they take away the even playing field that Halo always enjoyed in favor of rewarding good play. While this isn't necessarily bad, its just not something I expect in a Halo game. In fact, none of the things Halo does that I don't like are bad, it's just not Halo to me. To me Halo 4 multiplayer is just another sci-fi shooter with the same distinct protagonists, although with alien gameplay. 

  

  The thing that bothered me most though is all the actions in Halo 4 multiplayer. Yes, the actions. Sprint, crouch, reload, special ability, switch grenade... there are too many actions to map comfortably to the controller. I find that either I can play bumper jumper and aim while im crouching or I can use default and look while I use my special ability although I can't do both (although I confess I haven't looked through all the controller setting yet). This really annoys me because I can't do what I'm used to. I can't jump and strafe and still use the shield equiptment thing. It's frustrating to see a game I love and grew up with change so much. When does Halo change so much that it's no longer Halo?

  • Posted May 22, 2013 12:40 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 8May 13

  Can Chevy Use Tetris like that?

  I feel like this is infringing on a trademark or something. Can Chevy just use Tetris like that?

  • Posted May 8, 2013 6:08 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 2May 13

  Beta Problems

  I've been playing the Settlers of Catan Online beta for a week or two now, and I gor really into it. Every few hours I went online for five minutes to make my moves and win the maps. Slowly I gained experience levels, acquiring new bonus cards as I went along. I had left the game for a short time due to school work, but I received an email highlighting the most recent changed so the game. The change that caught my eye was new board shapes. I've only played Settlers of Catan on a circular board so I was curiuos to find out how a differently shaped board affects gameplay. When I signed in though, all my progress was lost. It seems they decided to reset the servers, which makes sense in a beta, although I have no desire to build up everything again. I don't want to start from scratch again. Its a great game, but not that great. 

  This is the problem with betas. How do you keep players interested after resetting stats? How do you keep them coming back for more? The beta testers are sometimes the most devout fans of the title so they might not care, but others are casual gamers that just want to have a little fun, and if you reset the stats there has to be something to bring them back. With Settlers of Catan, the game just isn't that much fun to start from scratch, especially when new players get clobbered in games because they don't have the same bonus cards as experienced players. It's not that Settlers is a bad game, its just not worth leveling up again. Has anyone else had this experience in betas?

  • Posted May 2, 2013 3:01 pm GMT
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