Spartan Points

Spartan Points is the new currency system in Halo 4. They will buy things such as armor, armor abilities, Spartan Ops missions (see below), and some

Spartan Ops

This was probably my most favorite addition I saw. From how it was described, think fo Spartan Ops like Spec Ops from Modern Warfare but with a storyline. They will span out over several months, encouraging players to return to the game. Game Informer said that Spartan Ops will be comparable in scope and size to the in single-player storyline.

Why Reds Fight Blues

I think most of us probably guessed this, but reds fight blues and blues fight reds for training purposes. They fight in something called the UNSC Infinity. The UNSC Infinity is a 3km long ship sent into deep space on a mission. It contains a virtual reality sector that creates the multiplayer experience.

Sprint

So not only is sprint in the game, but it is a standard armor ability. You do not need to pick it up, it will always be available. You do not need to buy it with your Spartan Points, you will always have it equipped no matter what. So essentially, you can have two armor abilities.

Forerunner Vision

Ever wanted to be super man? Now you can! See through walls with your x-ray vision! I can't say I hate this armor ability, I haven't used it yet. I'm hoping it comes with its weaknesses and it discourages camping. Sorry guys, but camping in Halo 4 will not be a legitimate tactic.

Returning Armor Abilities

The hologram, jetpack, and active camo will make a return in Halo 4. It didn't elaborate on the abilities, but you can probably assume they'll be about the same.

Elites Not Returning to Multiplayer

Not much detail was given as to why elites will not see multiplayer combat, it was stated in a picture caption. The caption reads, "Competitive multiplayer focues on the Spartan IVs. Elites will not be playable.

Grenades

Now the article itself did not talk about grenades, but I noticed in the picture the Spartan had 4 grenade options. I assume the plasma grenade will return as seen from an explosion in the picture and the frag grenade will most definitely return as seen by the Halo 4 first look video.

Firefight

Once again, no explanation why aside from a picture caption. The caption read, "Halo 4's campaign is still playable with four players online (in reference to Sparan Ops, ensuring players that Spartan Ops will not replace the campaign coop experience). 343 Industries has no plans to include a dedicated Firefight mode. I'm torn on this, I don't normally play firefight, but I feel like it is a standard necessary feature in the game after Halo 3: ODST introduced it.

Regicide

Regicide is a variation of free for all. I think it's similar to VIP. Regicide, as stated by the article, "sets the leading scorer as the king. Every opponent that the king kills raises his bounty; other players have to kill the king to claim the reward."

Distraction and Revenge Medals

Don't feel bad anymore for not killing a single person in the game, you can get a medal for being a distraction! Oh, you just got killed and now you're raging at that player? Calm down and get rewarded for hunting down the guy that just killed you!

Let me make it clear that I do not necessarily see these medals as bad. They just may reward people that don't actually deserve one.

No More Weapon Camping

One the skills that separated veteran players from inexperienced players was the ability to time power weapons' spawns. In Halo 4, this will be near impossible. Weapons drop down in drop pods at random locations around the map. Quoted from the article, "This gives the matches other focal points, and it also helps alleviate the advantage longtime players always used to have over newer recruits; the best weapons are not always going to be found at the same spawn locations." Unless there is a distinguishable skill gap between players, I most definitely do not like this idea.

No More Respawn Delay

Immediately after you die, by tapping the X button you are sent back into the match. Now let's contemplate why this might be bad. Let's say Halo spawns are... not so great. A skilled player out BRs/DMRs/whatevers a unskilled player. Now that unskilled player can immediately respawn and find you before your shields even regenerate! I understand 343 is trying to speed up the game, but they must understand the consequences of instant spawns.

Joining In-Progress Games

So to solve the quitting problem, 343 implemented the ability to join games that are in-progress. My question is are we going to have the ability to search for games starting up instead? It infuriates me to join a game at the last possible second, not even offering me the chance to play.

Crumby wrote:
Honestly guys this has nothing to do with the gameplay at all.

Deuce wrote:
Join in progress, instant re spawn and weapon drops have absolutely everything to do with game play. These are huge game changers.

Deuce wrote:
Join in progress is what Call of Duty does. They fill spots in empty games when you search. This means you can join a game that your team is getting their asses handed to them (people quit when they are losing) and you end up joining a game that is destined for failure. Where's the fun in that? Rather than trying to get people to play the whole match, 343i is just saying "it's ok to quit when you're losing. Yo. u can abandon your teammates and leave them a man down until another joins to go find another game."

Also, there are no more power weapon spawns. They randomly appear at random times. It's all dumb luck. So, even if you were one or two men down, they still wouldn't be able to predict power weapon "drops."

I could have sworn 343i said there wouldn't be jetpack after E3 last year and I could have sworn that they said they were drawing inspiration from within and not from CoD.

Fallen Angel wrote:
Just because they are implementing join in progress does not mean they are abandoning the penalties associated with quitting games early, so I do not see how they are condoning quitting games. Instead they are taking steps to fix those terrible matches where half the enemy team quits and you are stuck playing hide and seek until the time runs out.

I like the idea of random weapon drops as it provides a more even playing field and now you are not going to be focused on continually controlling a certain spawn.

Lastly, if they said there wasn't going to be a jetpack, then I am glad they went back on their word because jetpacks are awesome!!!

Tungsten wrote:
so you think that having people suffer cus more than half there team drops compared to 1 or 2 of the enemy team is justified and games being one sided since one team controls the power weapon spawns ? alot of people prefere fun gameplay to competitive

And yes, Spartan Ops is as awesome as it sounds.

Deuce wrote:
Frankie's response to the leak

David Ellis' (multiplayer designer) response

Turtlez wrote:


So not awesome at all then?

Strike wrote:
Both responses seem very generic.

Kou wrote:


It actually sounds pretty cool to me. It's like Spec Ops mixed with campaign, to be released episodically. On one hand, it could be a second campaign that is being withheld from us just so 343 can maintain the player base for longer. On the other, how many games have a second campaign? So it's like getting free (or so it seems) DLC. But again, with no firefight or spec ops (which nowadays, we seem to believe we are entitled to from FPS games), it goes back to being something we deserve that is getting withheld.

Now you can't control power weapons at all and will likely have to abandon map control often in order to get power weapons

Crumby wrote:
Not nececarily, the weapons may drop randomly but they might even out the game so the loosing team can come back eg. giving the dominant team sniper/shotgun while the losing team gets rockets. This will also help make gameplay interesting, such as having to manuver yourselves to take out the enemy with rockets.

Personally I think that the well balanced maps and gameplay will outweigh all of thiese let downs and be a great game. Thats just what I'm hoping for atleast.

Shatter wrote:
The settings better be versatile beyond belief because I am not playing this game with MLG's weapon counting gone. It was a key variable in the game that good teams controlled and making it random is like adding bloom again... It takes away from otherwise competitive gameplay.

Isaiah wrote:
To me it sounds like "spartan ops" just wraps up those stories of falls of reach and ghosts of onyx 2 spartan team sqauds videos you see on halo waypoint and also if the map is indoors how do drop pods come into the map? is it like they crash through the roof. And also if its a drop pod and you get "squished" by the droppod because thats a terrible way to die. But all the other stuff sounds like BS to me.

Shatter wrote:
Spartan IV's are in multiplayer. This Spec Ops Spartan stuff could be either III's, II's, or possibly even I's. It may even be a combo of all 4 generations of Spartans.

Shatter wrote:
Spartan IV's are in multiplayer. This Spec Ops Spartan stuff could be either III's, II's, or possibly even I's. It may even be a combo of all 4 generations of Spartans.