Halo 3, 4, ODST, and Combat Evolved Anniversary

A slew of Halo games for Xbox 360 are now playable on Xbox One through backward compatibility, and if you don't own or don't care to mess with The Master Chief Collection, that's darn good news.

Halo 3, H3: ODST, Halo 4, & Halo: CEA have arrived to @Xbox One Backward Compatibility with free DLC for all titles! pic.twitter.com/YRWtG6i2UN

— Halo (@Halo) September 21, 2017

The timing here works out rather well. I've been getting some unmistakable Halo campaign vibes from Destiny 2's story missions, and while I'm not exactly looking to run throug??h these games right this moment, it's nice that the option exists going forward. I still have all my old discs!

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It's just an avatar item

Halo 4: Game of the Year Edition is coming out next week on October 8 for $39.99. Note that when we first learned about this package it was listed a??t?? $49.99, so this is a much better price now.

It's going to include the game itself, the Champions Bundle, the War Games Map Pass (which includes the Majestic, Castle, and Crimson map packs), and 15 pieces of ??in-game and avatar content from the Halo 4 campaign.

The re-release will also be giving us a cloaked Master Chief avatar item based on the Halo 5 trailer ??that was teased during E3 this year. Cute, I guess.

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Anyone else?

Proving that if your game has DLC it too can be eligible for that coveted "game of the year edition," IGN brings word that Halo 4 will find its way back onto store shelves with a new price. A convincing albeit unconfirmed image suggests an October rel?ease for the package.

For $49.99, 343 Industries will reportedly include the core game, Spartan Ops Season 1, the War Games Map Pass, and the Champions Bundle, as well as content originally obtained through pre-orders and the limited collector's edition. All ribbing aside, this is a solid pickup for anyone who has waited this long to play Halo 4 and wants that DLC.

Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition Outed [IGN]

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Who's still playing?

Halo 4 is receiving new some new updates next we??ek. Playlist wise, the Rumble Pit playlist will be added back as the premiere free for all mode. Rumble Pit will have 15 new voting options that includes new Slayer and objective gametypes, plus Regicide will only be available in this playlist.

Over in Spartan Ops, the matchmaking will be offering these Forerunner-??themed missions:

• Episode 1, Chapter 3: The Challenge
• Episode 1, Chapter 4: Sacred
• Episode 2, Chapter 5: Gagarin
• Episode 5, Chapter 1: Spartan Miller
• Episode 5, Chapter 2: Nothing Can Go Wrong

Lastly, there will be two new armor mods added for free: Rec?harge will decrease the time it takes for your shields to recharge, and Survivor will auto-eject you out of a vehicle before it's abou?t to explode.

There's also more info on the Halo 4: Global Championship which you can check out on Halo Waypoint. So, anyone still playing Halo 4's multiplayer?

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Oustsanding Main Title Design

I don't care if you like Halo 4, or any game in the series for that matter. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is far and away t?he best example of how to adapt a videogame franchise to a live-action setting. I watched it expecting little more than an hour and a half of marketing hype, and was treated to a well produced live-action videogame adaptation instead.

The Academy of Television Art & Sciences seems to recognize this in some capacity, nominating Forward Unto Dawn for an Emmy in Outstanding Main Title Design. Cynics may point out the relatively low esteem of the category, but it's a freakin' Emmy for a one-off web series, and is going up against HBO's Newsroom, FX's American Horror Story: Asylum, Starz' Da Vinci Demons, CBS' Elementary, and History Channel's Vikings.

Congrats to the folks at Machinima and 343.

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Weapon and power-up spawns tweaked as well

Yesterday's Halo 4 War Games update has brou?ght more than a few new additions. From weapons, maps, and gametypes, there's a good amount of tweaking here. Chief among them has to b??e the laundry list of overhauls to the weapon balance. These include increased damage for many weapons including the battle rifle, SAW, assault rifle, suppressor, magnum, storm rifle, and the chain guns on both the Mantis and Warthog.

Gametypes have seen some changes, with the King of the Hill score limit going from 150 to 250, and individual hills now offering up to 50 points instead of 25. Capture the Flag has seen an increase of two minutes of overtime from previously one, and the Community Forge Island playlist has gone bye-bye, with the Majestic DLC playlist folding into the featured DLC playlist. Additionally, 11 maps have had their power weapon and vehicle spawn points retooled. For full patch notes, click here and here.

It's honestly exhaustive what they've changed this go around. I haven't had a chance to test the new balancing out, but what do you guys think? I'm just happy to see 343 hasn't put Halo 4 out?? to pasture now that all the DLC maps are out.

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Map pass and specific map packs on sale today

Still playing Halo 4's multiplayer but haven't gotten any ?of the downloadable content yet? Well lucky for you there's a sale going on today where you can get them at a small discounted price.

The War Games Map Pass is running for 1600 Microsoft Points, originally 2000 MSP. If you'd rather skip out on the full season pass however, then you can get the Crimson Map Pack or Majestic Map Pack for 600 MSP each, a savings of 200 MSP each.

The only pack not on sale here is the Castle Map Pack, but that's probably because it just came ?out this week.

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A solid compromise

343 keeps things simple with its Halo 4 DLC. Three map packs, three maps each, no frills, bonuses, or extras involve??d.

After the fairly underwhelming Crimson Map Pack, which was littered with sprawling vehicle maps that not many fans asked for, the second Majestic Pack was a breath of fresh air, instead offering up a solid ??mix of close, tight-knit arenas that the core game severely lacked.

It seems as if a compromise was made then, as the third and final (for now) Castle Pack also has vehicles, and features fully open air environments throughout. But unlike Crimson, it consists of levels worth playing over and ove?r, and doesn't really? go overboard with its themes.

Halo 4: Castle Map Pack (Xbox 360)
Developer: 343 Industries/Certain Affinity
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release: April 8, 2013
MSRP: $9.99 (Part of the $24.99 Season Pass)

"Perdition" is my favorite of the three new maps on offer. It features an open, urban setting over the backdrop of an unstable reactor. Although ?the buildings look stories high, most of your firefights are going to take place on a low to medium height.

There's a lot of cool details ranging from the reactor itself, to the air, which is littered with ships flying about. "Perdition" supports pretty much every playstyle, fr??om close combat with the numerous indoor environments, mid-range rifle play with alleys and hills, and plenty of sniping.

It doesn't go vehicle crazy, instead just opting to supply Warthogs and Ghosts for an enjoyable, old-school-style cityscape brawl-fest. It's simple, extremely fun to play, and one I found myself voting for on a consistent?? basis.

"Outcast"  is a medium-sized desert map with ground vehicles. Thematically it's bland and inoffensive, which pretty much sums the map up as a whole. There's some open ground but mostly it's obscured by scattered twisted caverns (the only? part I enjoyed).

This map is vehicle-heavy, and it's even advertised as featuring "frequent Mantis vs. Wraith battles" if that's your thing (it's not my thing). It also has Warthogs, Mongoose drops, and Ghosts for maximum vehicle carnage. The only cool extra it has is an occasional Flying Darter ship cameo from Halo Wars.

There's not nearly as much ing??enuity in th??e layout or the design of "Outcast" as the other two maps, and I often times attempted to avoid it. There's something about it that doesn't really make it a joy to play with both objective or kill-based gametypes. Still, it's not an unplayable map by any means

"Daybreak" is a lot like "Outcast" in that it's a semi-hilly map on a cliff, but has a lot m??ore personality to it. It hosts a good mix of outdoor terrain ?and structures -- think small, Blood Gulch-style bunkers -- that make objective- and slayer-based games fun.

In fact, this map thrives on objectives, as I couldn't stop playing Extraction on it due to? the massive amount of landscape variety you have to overcome -- but from what I can tell, it works with any mode. The multi-tiered layout allows for plenty of sneak attacks, and can be conducive to the jetpack loadout.

I'm constantly finding myself voting for both this and "Perdition," and it's a welcome, yet familiar addition to Halo 4's stable of maps. I actually think? "Daybreak" is so good that it will be the fan-favorite choice out of all? nine DLC maps on offer.

Castle is a decent compromise between the far too open and barren Crimson Map Pack, and the (ultimately superior) tight-knit Majestic DLC. It rounds out the cumulative map selection by offering up arenas that pretty much everyone can enjoy, and helps bump the Season Pass up to a solid two out of three packs, which makes it worth buying for any Halo fan.

Although these aforementioned three maps officially close out the Season Pass, as you are probably well aware, that doesn't necessarily mean that paid DLC is done for Halo 4.

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These guys know their nerd culture

If there's been on criticism of Halo over the years, it's the relative sam??eness of the experience.

Earlier today during a discuss of the new enemy designs in Halo 4, Scott Warner of 343 industries mentioned that some of their main inspirations for the development of the Promethean ??units were highly? advanced, amorphous foes.

That design philosophy is clearly evident in the final product. Prometheans and their weapons can disassemble themselves and then reconstruct, and their broad abilitie?s hint at technology far beyond even those of the Covenant.

At the same time 343 aimed to keep the same core battle strategies of Halo: "We wanted a strategic visual shorthand. Something that allows players to instantly understan??d the threat and how to react." 

Commitment to redesigning the experience while keeping it in line with classic elements of the franchise was difficult, especially as their team swelled from zero to 340 over the course of developmen??t. Hopefully as this new team goes on?, we'll continue to see a new vision for the Redeemer trilogy.

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Forge Island is coming on April 11th

343 Industries will be bringing a new Forge World map to Halo 4 on April 11th. Titled "Forge Island," the map? will allow players to use the in-game map editor to create something using this island themed map as a base for their creation. It'll also come with new Forge pieces.

There's some gameplay footage of Forge Island above if you're interested (the best footage starts at 47:00). Even though it's a pretty small token, I've really enjoyed the post-launch support Halo 4 has gotten -- between Spartan Ops, map packs, and playlist support, 343 has done a grea??t job keeping the game relevant.

The final map pack (that's be?en an??nounced so far, at least) will drop on April 8th.

Halo 4 Multiplayer [Halo Waypoint]

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First look ahead of release next month

The next set of maps for Halo 4 is less than a month away. The Castle Map Pack will be dropping on April 8, which should be plenty of time to continue playing the recent Majestic Map Pack. This third add-on emphasizes vehicle-ba?sed combat and adds a new six-??on-six playlist to War Games.

For 800 Microsoft Points (unless you paid for the Map Pass), Castle's three maps are Daybreak, Outcast, and Perdition, shown above with a trailer and also in the gallery below. People seem to be divided on what they want out of Halo 4 multiplayer -- where do you stand?

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Close quarters combat

In many ways, the Crimson Map Pack was a bit of a letdown for Halo 4 fans.

The over-emphasis on vehicles and the concept of giant new maps on top of over-saturated giant maps from the base game was really frustrating, and didn't do any favors for old-school Halo fans who were se??eking that cla??ssic arena-based feel.

If you were one of those frustrated people, you should definitely pick up the Majestic Map Pack.

Halo 4: Majestic Map Pack (Xbox 360)
Developer: 343 Industries/Certain Affinity
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release: February 25, 2013
MSRP: $9.99 (Part of the $24.99 Season Pass)

There's really no bells and whistles here -- you're getting three eight-player-centric maps: "Landfall," "Monolith," and "Skyline" -- an?d ... that's about it.

They're all fairly symmetrical and highly reminiscent of the origina?l game -- a??nd that's a good thing.

This map has potential for lots of mid-range rifle fights, thanks to the numerous openings and tunnels you can sneak your sights down into. In the end, it's not the flashiest level ever, but I have a feeling the competitive c?ommunity will love it.

The post Impressions: Halo 4: Majestic Map Pack appeared first on Destructoid.

Clueless Gamer reviews Halo 4

Conan O'Brien is back with another episode of Clueless Gamer, wherein he plays videogames and exhibits no signs whatsoever that he knows what he's doing. Today's game: Halo 4.

First he learns that the Covenant worship Theo Huxtable from The Cosby Show. Then Cortana be??comes his new girlfriend. Finally he finds the NPCs that he and his co-host Andy Richter provided voices for... and executes them. All in a day?'s work!

Clueless Gamer: Conan O'Brien Reviews "Halo 4" [Team Coco]

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Flagpole in the face!

Will Christiansen is a professional animator who worked on Halo 4, specifically focusing on the Assassination animations based on his show reel. Halo 4 on a whole is an amazing technical feat, so I love this more individualized look at the game. The animations look great as it is when you?'re playing, bu?t you really can't but help to appreciate it even more so when we get a focused look.

Will also has a demo reel of his work from Halo: Reach, and seeing the two side-by-side shows you how much Will's work has improved in just a ?few years.

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This is cooler if you've read the books

The second half of season one of Spartan Ops picks back up on January 21, and will go on until February 24. Are you excited? Probably not. Halo 4's main story was wonderful, but the Spartan Ops stuff felt pretty hollow by the end of the fir??st season.

That said, I've been hearing some good things about season two from some folks that recently got to see a preview of things to come. Good or bad, at least we're not paying for this extra content. Oh, and January 21 is also the?? same day that community playlists will finally be cycled into multiplayer. Yay!

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Also, here's more info on Spartan Ops

The blowout post goes through quite a bit of Halo 4 info, from Spartan Ops play stats, to complete summaries of the episo?dic stories so far, to a teaser for Episode 6.

On Monday, January 21, Episode 6 will dr?op, as will the "Community Forge Test" playlist, which cycles in community made maps. As a reminder, two of the specializations will unlock for people who didn't get the Legendary Edition or the launch window codes.

In other news, it's a sad day for Halo 2 PC fans (yes, Halo 2), as the game's online services will officially end on February 15, 2013. Let's all pour out a Mountain Dew Game Fuel that day for ??our fallen brother.

The Halo Bulletin [Halo Waypoint]

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Two more DLC packs and Spartan Ops

The folks over at 343 Industries have posted a fireside chat of sorts, explaining the state of Halo 4, and what they intend to do with it in the months to come. In addition to a nice little note about the launch of Halo 4, 343 have dropped a bit of knowl??edge on us in regards to future conten??t.

Speci??fically, Spartan Ops Ep??isode 6, 7, and 8 (starting the week of January 21st), new playlists, and specialization unlocks. As a reminder, matchmaking updates will hit nearly every Monday.

In other news, the la?st two DLC packs are set to hit in February and April (so far, the leak has been accurate).

Week of 1/21

• Spartan Ops Episode 6: Five new missions and an accompanying new CG cinematic.
• "Forge Test" playlist (name not final): A rotational hopper featuring small Forge maps such as Relay. Help us test these maps by providing feedback and reporting bugs that will assist us in getting them ready for Matchmaking!
• Specializations: Pioneer and Pathfinder Specializations unlocked for all players.

Week of 1/28

• Spartan Ops Episode 7: Five new missions and an accompanying new CG cinematic.
• Grifball playlist: A rotational hopper featuring everybody’s favorite virtual sport. Catch the disease!
• Specializations: Engineer and Stalker Specializations unlocked for all players.

Week of 2/4

• Spartan Ops Episode 8: Five new missions and an accompanying new CG cinematic.
• Team Doubles playlist: A rotational hopper for those of you that like action of the 2 vs 2 variety.
• Specializations: Rogue and Tracker Specializations unlocked for all players.

The post Here’s what’s on the horizon for Halo 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

DLC buyers seemingly locked out of Xbox Live play

A number of players are apparently finding themselves banned from Halo 4 online play after ?purchasing the latest downloadable content. Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and i?s currently investigating. 

"We are not permanently banning players for previewing or purchasing the Crimson Map Pack," confirmed a 343 Industries forum moderator. "We are currently investigating the recent reports of p??ermanent matchmaking bans."

There's an official ban thread on the studio's message board, which should u??pdate with further information on the subject. 

What is it with Halo and bans? That series seems to attract these incidents like Calamity James and hilariously labelled falling weights. That Beano reference has absolutely no resonance here.

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Best of 2012

Our multiplayer picks th??is year looked at multiplayer as a whole, encompassing both cooperative and competitive experiences. Multiplayer in any aspect is a key part of gaming, yet sadly we see two many companies attempt to shoehorn the mode in just to meet some status qu?o that ends up hurting the overall product.

When done right, however, multiplayer will keep players coming back for more time and time again, whether that's to work together or beat each other up to r??each the top of the leaderboards.

As a reminder, here are our nominees for best multiplayer of 2012:

• PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
• Borderlands 2
• Journey
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Halo 4 

Halo 4

Developer 343 Industries had a lot to prove when they became the masters of the Halo franchise, and they nailed it out of the park when it came to many aspects of Halo 4. T?he biggest improvements came with the multiplayer, wh??ich was overhauled dramatically by introducing many new additions to make for a super addictive first-person shooter.

Yet at the same time, it still feels like that Halo gameplay we've grown accustomed to since the very beginning. Despite all the changes, the core Halo experien?ce is still there, offering a multiplayer experience unique to only?? the Xbox 360 exclusive shooter.

And let's not forget the Spartan Ops co-op missions. The episodic content is off to a rough start, but hopefully the upcoming final chapters more than make up for it. At the very least, the story elements presented are enough to give any Halo fanatic something to nerd out about.

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Hope it gets interesting

Halo 4's Spartan Ops will be taking a mid-season break this week. When will it be coming back? On January 21, 2013. Hopefully the final five episodes will be worth playing as I feel like I haven't missed a thing by just watching the cinematic videos on YouTube. Yes, not even bothering to watch them on the Xbox 360 because I don't want to swap out Far Cry 3 for anything right now.

During this mid-season break, you can go compete in the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge tournament presented by Mountain Dew and Doritos. There's going to be over 2,800 prizes given out including a new Ford F-150 car that has Halo designs on it and you can win a spot in Halo 5.

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Microsoft has started sending them out

Halo 4 takes a decidedly different approach to prestiging in a first person shooter. Normally after reaching max level in multiplayer in a contemporary FPS, you'll have the option to "prestige" and start over. 343 Studios has instead opted to go with "specializations," which net you new armor, and special abiliti?es after leveling them up.

Microsoft has stated that you'll have access to every specialization (all eight, along with the two base at launch) if you buy the Limited Edition of the game, or play Halo 4 online before November 20th. For the latter f??olk (myself included), codes started goin?g out late last night to your Xbox Live email.

The email is titled "Here is your gift from Xbox LIVE," and it should be from "xbox@engage.xbox.com." It seems suspicious, but clinking the link inside (after verifying the email as legit of course, as this is a prime time for scammers to do their thi??ng) brings you to the Xbox.com code redemption website, ?and allows you to register the unlock.

Just boot up Halo 4 and you're good to go! If you're having issues, check out this thread.

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New mode detailed

The first in a planned trio of map packs for Halo 4, the Crimson Map Pack (800 Microsoft Points), is scheduled to introduce three new locales for War Games on Monday, December 10. The maps are titled Wreckage, Harvest, and Shatter (shown above); 343 Industries has images of all three, so take a look if you're eager to pla??y in some ne??w environments.

On the same day, Halo 4 matchmaking will gain access to another mode, Extraction. In it, two five-player teams compete by placing and protecting t??heir beacon in specific extraction sites to earn points. How are you holding up? Is this extra content coming soon enough? I'm particularly liking the art design for Shatter.

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Keep on Spartan-ing, Spartan

Episode 4 of Halo 4's Spartan Ops campaign is dropping today on Xbox Live. Like past episodes, all you need to do is boot up your game, go to Spartan Ops, and it'll automa?tically show up.

Make sure you play them in the most fun method possible: multiplayer on Legendary. In addition to Episode 4, an "FFA throwba??ck" list has been added today, and includes Oddball and King of the Hill.

Mondays have basically become 343's Day to update everything, as the alleged dates for the map packs are slated for Mondays, Spartan Ops are released on Mondays, and according to 343 themselves, all exploit and glitch fixes will be patched on -- you got ?it -- Mondays.

As for myself, I need to catch up with Episode 3 first! The Wii U has been keeping me off Halo for a while, but I love how 343 has handled extra content with this model -- we can only hope f??or a Spartan Ops Season 2.

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We now have exact dates instead of monthly windows

According to this dashboard image found by HaloCouncil.com, the release dates for all three Halo 4 map packs have been allegedly outed. According to a German dashboard ad, the Crimson Map Pack will drop on Decembe??r 10th, the Majestic Map Pack is coming February 25th, and the Castle Map Pack will release on April 1st.

As a reminder, you can grab all three for 2000 MS Points, and each pack will ship with three maps. I've been having a great time with Halo 4's multiplayer, and I can easil?y see myself playing it months down the line -- so much so that I plunked down for the Season Pass already.

Halo 4 DLC release dates [The Halo Council]

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Sound off on one of 2012's biggest games!

Today is sloooooow. It's the day after the US presidential elections, and the day after Halo 4 launched, so the game industry is busy sleeping off one heck of a late night. We're still here though, and today's the perfect time for anoth??er QUESTION.&nb?sp;

Those of you who were giddy with excitement over Halo 4 have undoubtedly picked it up and spent some time with DA CHIEF by now. There have been glowing reviews, fan frenzy, and more Mountain Dew promotions than you can shake a stick at, but the burning question is this -- has it been worth i?t? Has one of 2012's most hyped games lived up to your expectations? 

Did 343 Industries step comfortably into Bungie's big shoes? Was the story all you'd hoped for? Does the multiplayer still hold up? Does it actually matter that?? they didn't include? iron-sights for the guns? Conversely, does it feel like it's too predictable? More of the same? Was it perhaps not quite the shining beacon of perfection you wanted?

Either way, the question is yours to be answered. Not mine. I have no opinion on Halo 4. I wouldn't dare.

The post The Question: Is Halo 4 living up to the hype? appeared first on Destructoid.

Racism and homophobia not given a looser leash either

Last week, Halo 4 was at the center of a brouhaha with word that sexist behavior in Halo 4 online play would net the user a lifetime ban.

While some folks applauded the measure, others asked why homophobic and racist activity wasn't due the same level of punishment. Others declared that free speech was being infringed upon -- not that free speech laws actually protect sexists, racists,?? and homophobes from XB?L bans. 

In any case, we spoke with Microsoft to shed light on these questions, and were informed instead that Xbox Live's banning policy had, in fact, not changed, and certainly wasn't being upgraded or altered for Halo 4. 

"While Xbox Live indeed does not condone harassment of any kind, account and console bans are issued based on a robust complaint and evidence-based system," said a spokesperson. "There is no difference in the Xbox Live Terms of Use and Code of Conduct for Halo 4."

In a clarifying phone call, I was informed that sexism is not treated with lesser tolerance than racism, homophobia, or any other type of abuse, and that Microsoft takes each case as it comes. All pricks are treated equally, in other words -- my words, not theirs exactly. 

So there you go. Your sexual harassment will be considered with just as much gravitas ??as your ??decision to insult somebody's racial background. That's what we're all striving for, isn't it? Everybody just being bigots together, in perfect harmony!

Or something like that, anyway.

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All the new things you should know

Halo 4 is officially out today and a lot has changed about the game now that it's in the safe hands of 343 Industries. Go read our review to learn what's new and improved!

Multiplayer especially has seen a dramatic overhaul, making it a far more engaging and competitive experience. This is far from the end all guides you'll see out there, but I figured with all the changes, I'd give a nice and simple primer over a number of things you can expect in the multiplayer, particularly since some of the core elements from the past Halo games have changed.

Loadout system

Obviously the biggest change -- other than everyone having the ability to sprint -- is the fully fleshed-out loadout system. That's right, now in a Halo game will you be able decide exactly what you want to spawn into a map with. On top of the default loado??uts that everyone can select from with each spawn, you have five custom slots that you can trick out and decide which primary and ?secondary weapons, grenade type, Armor Ability, tactical package, and support upgrade to equip your SPARTAN-IVs with.

For your primary weapon, you can choose between the Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, DMR, Storm Rifle, Covenant Carbine, Suppressor, and Lightrifle. For secondaries, you have the magnum, plasma pistol, and Boltshot. As for the grenade types, there's the trusty frag, the sticky plasma grenade, and the Promethean Pulse grenade. I'll expand more on all the weapons in the section below, but note that with the exception of the grenades, none of the primary and secondary weapons listed here spaw?n on the map at all in official game types.

Armor Abilities

A??rmor abilities are back, and there are eight in all:

Jet Pack: Very small amount of time you can hover in the air, way shorter than what it was in Reach. Probably the weakest of the AA options.

Hologram: One my favorites early on. Great way to trick enemies or to see if the coast is clear as it not only gives a visual cue, but it also appears on ever??yone's radar.

Active Camouflage: Go i?nvisible while standing still, or moving at a really slow pace. You gain some visibility if you move too fast. It no longer spoofs the radar -- instead, you see a few light-blue icons buzzing within the vicinity of where the invisible person is.

Promethean Vision: Allows you to see enemy heat signature through hard surfaces. V??ery small use rate, but helpful to see what's just around the corner.

Thruster Pack: Gives you a small burst of speed in whatever direction you're pointing at on the left stick. You don't ga??in a whole lot of distance though, and thi?s seems to be the best used in the Flood gametype.

Hardlight Shield: The evolution of Armor Lock. You generate a protect??ive barrie??r of hard light in front of you, blocking attacks and bouncing off rockets. Still vulnerable from the sides or back.

Autosentry: Produce a small sentry turret that hovers in the air and has an attack radio of 180 degrees from where it was spawned. Not the mos?t powerful of attacks, but it's beneficial as cover fire, and helps weaken enemies' shields down when they're blindly rushing toward you. Especially great in objective gametypes.

Regeneration ??Field: Releases a short-range energy field that heals up the player and teammates.

Tactical Package and Support Upgrade

These next two sections cover what can be equated to as Perks from the likes of Call of Duty. Once you've unlocked these features, you can equip one from each area on to your character. While it will make you think of CoD, these options ar??e nowhere near as weighty. These mods are about making a difficult choice over stacking ??your character, and it's more about complementing different play styles out there.

As it is, they're far from being game changers and? they don't mess with the core experience. That said, it's still early on and it remains to be seen what things will be like when there are way more players out there in the higher levels using? these perks. 

Tactical Package consists of:

• Mobility: Gives unlimited sprint.
• Shielding: Speeds up your armor's energy shield recharge rate.
• Resupply: Allows you to pick up grenades from fallen players.
• AA Efficiency: Increases the recharge rate for AA.
• Grenadier: Lets you spawn with more grenades than usual.
• Firepower: Lets you use a primary weapon for your secondary weapon slot.
• Fast Track: Allows you to advance in rank quicker.
• Requisition: Lets players choice a new set of choices when an ordnance is called in.
• Wheelman: Increase the long term durability of your vehicle and how it reacts to EMP charges.

Support Upgrades consist of:

• Ammo: Increases ammo capacity for both starting weapons and ordnance drops.
• Dexterity: Speeds up reloads and weapon swapping.
• Sensor: Increases motion sensor range.
• Awareness: You can see your motion radar while scoped in with a gun.
• Explosives: Increases blast radius of grenades and decreases the damage received.
• Ordnance Priority: Ordnance Priority offers more frequent ordnance drops to user.
• Stability: Steadies your weapon while being struck by incoming fire.
• Gunner: Increases how long before a mounted gun overheats and increases movement speed with detached turrets.
• Stealth: Dampens your footsteps, makes you harder to see on Promethean Vision, and increases your assassination speed.
• Nemesis: Marks enemy responsible for your last death.
• Drop Recon: Calls out ordnance drops in advance.

Ranking up

When you begin Halo 4, everything is locked with the multiplayer's loadout system and you'll first need to increase your Spartan Rank. There are multiple ways to rank up, with the core being the better you are in multiplayer, the faster you'll gain experience points. The progression system between Spartan Ops and War Games is linked as well, so completing the weekly episodic missions will help raise your rank. Like the multiplayer, the better you do against the AI, the better your results wi??ll be overall.

And of course there are the daily, weekly, and now monthly challenges you can partake in?? to give yourself some rank boosts. You can now create custom challe?nges yourself too! You'll be able to make up challenges through Halo Waypoint, and people can even subscribe to your challenge feed. 343 will be monitoring this of course, as they don't want people abusing the system to make players rank up way faster than they should.

Lastly, (as of the time of this writing at least) you can go stuff your face full with piles and piles of Doritos or Mountain Dew and use the XP codes to rank up faster. Side effects include the early onset of type II diabetes, and gro?ss, grease-stained Xbox 360 co?ntrollers.

Spartan Points

Like I said, you'll unlock stuff as you progress, but there's a?? catch. What you're unlocking is the right to purchase equipment. You're earning money called Spartan Points as you raise your Spartan Rank, and those points go to being able to purchase weapons and abilities. One of the very first things you unlock are the Battle Rifle and DMR, but you're not being given both guns. Rather, you have to buy one of the guns with Spartan Points. Everything has different costs, and eventually you'll have earned enough money to buy everything. 

Ther?e's a bunch of cosmetic items you'll be able to get too, and all of that content is just gated by your rank, meaning you won't have to spend any of your points for it. There's a staggering amount of different armor and emblems available for player, all of which can be mixed and matched.

Ordnance Drops

Another big change to Halo multiplayer is the way the weapon spawns work. At the start of the match, you'll be able to see on your HUD what exact weapon is available and where it's located on the map. More weapons will eventually drop in, and ??they typically consist of th??e higher-tier power weapons. There's a different rotation of weapons that spawn in, and it scales based on what the map is. For instance, you can expect the Spartan Laser when it's a map full of vehicles.

On top of map-specific ordnance system are personal ordnance system where players can summon a weapons drop. Players are earning points on top of the points dedicated to the scoreboard, and those points go towards filling up a meter. Once that meter is filled, you'll have the option to call in either more grenades, a new powerful w?eapon, or a player trait power-up that consist of either a shield, damage, or speed boost. Players that are doing exceptionally well should be able to call in around three ordnance drops on average.

Weapons

On the human side, you have the magnum, Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, D??MR, shotgun, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, Sticky Detonator, SAW, Railgun, Spartan Laser, and frag grenades. The Sticky Detonator is essentially a mini-grenade launcher that will stick to any surface. Once stuck, you just need to pull the trigger again to detonate. It's a very hard weapon to aim precisely, but worth if for the punch it packs. The SAW is a machine gun with a high rate of fire, and will shred anyone up very quickly. The Railgun packs the punch of the rocket launcher, but you need to hold down the trigger to charge it up first before firing.

The really important weapons are the Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, and DMR since those are the main loudout weaponry you'll get starting off. Both the AR and DMR have bloom, which means that the faster you shoot the gun the less accurate it is. Don't let that scare you -- bloom has been tuned down dramatically here. It's not as bad as it was in Reach before the title update.

With the AR, best practice is to feather the trigger so you shoot in bursts at targets in a medium distance. Of course, do hold the trigger down when targets are in close range. The DMR is a deadly beast, and a few well placed head shots will take enemies down. It's a great long-range weapon, and pretty effective at medium range?. There's no recoil either, so ??I wouldn't recommend scoping unless it's a long-distance target.

With the Battle Rifle, it's a three-round burst that doesn't factor in bloom but it does? have a little more spread to it. The main drawback with the gun is that it recoils so you have to be constantly adjusting your aim as you fire.

On the Covenant side, you have the Plasma Pistol, Storm Rifle, Covenant Carbine, Needler, Beam Rifle, Energy Sword, Fuel Rod Cannon, Gravity Hammer, Concussion Rifle, and plasma grenades. All the guns are pretty p??arallel to the human weapons for the most part, but I've found myself largely sticking to the human weapons. The biggest change with any of them is the Plasma Pistol, as it has less ammo, eats up energy faster when you hold down the trigger, and it's harder to track targets now too.

The Promethean weapons consist of the Boltshot, Lightrifle, Suppressor, Scattershot, Binary Rifle, Incineration Cannon, and Pulse Grenade. The Boltshot is like a pistol, and it's secondary lets you hold down the trigger to build up a shotgun-like blast. The Lightrifle, ??is a mix between the BR and DMR, as it fires three-rounds normally, or one shot when you're scoped in. The Binary Rifle and Incineration Cannon are both powerful sniper rifles and rocket launchers, respectively, but they have very small rounds and take a bit to reload.

Lastly on the w?eapon front is the trusty melee attack. Bleed through ??is back, so the damage you inflict when there's still some shielding left on someone carries over, taking out the remaining shielding plus inflicting some serious pain. You can't simply rush towards a player anymore though, as you will be slowed down slightly when taking enemy fire. Plus, melee doesn't really have big reach anymore. Melee hits to someone's back is an insta-kill of course, and holding down the melee when striking someone from the back will see your character perform a cool assassination attack. You are vulnerable while doing an assassination since you can't break from the animation.

Vehicles

Warthogs with the chaingun, rocket launchers, and Gauss are all back, as are the Scorpion, Ghost, Wraith, and Banshee. Vehicles have a little more health to them compared to Reach, but they ca??n all still be taken out fast with a coordinated focused attack by a team.

The newest addition to the vehicles is the Mantis, a walking bi-pedal mech that has a powerful stomp attack, chaingun, and a five barrel??ed rocket launcher. It also has it's own shield?ing system, but it takes a long time before it recharges.

Vehicles are onl?y as good as the team you're on, and a well communicated team will have designated players that support vehicles by nabbing all the power weapons before the other team.

Maps & Modes

There are 13 maps on disc, but only 10 will be used in the official game matches at first.? The three other maps are all Forge World locations, and will eventually get rotated in. There are also only nine game modes to play on, but like the Forge maps, more modes will be added over time.

In terms of straight up deathmatch style games, there's Infinity Slayer, Big Team Infinity Slayer,  and Team Slayer Pro. The main difference here, besides the player capacity, is that Team Slayer?? Pro doesn't allow the use of personal ordnance drops. There are some other restrictions with Pro mode too, such as no radar, and a set loadout system that's equal for everyone.

Regicide also falls under the deathmatch category, and is a six player free for all mode. The twist here is that the player with the most kills is the King, and the more kills the King gets the higher his bounty increases. The King will als??o be given random bonuses based on how long they've held the crown, and all the other players can see where the King is at a?ll times on their HUD and radar.

Objective modes consist of Flood, Capture the Flag, Oddball, and King of the Hill. Dominion sees teams of six vs six capturing and fortifying three different bases on the map. The longer a team holds a bas??e, the more perks they're granted such as auto cannons, vehicles, and weapon resupplies. If one team manages to capture all three bases, the opposite team will then all be marked on the radar/HUD, and won't be able to respawn. The opposing team must recapture at least one base to be able to respawn back in, plus they're all given overshields during this period. 

Capture the Flag has changed so that the flag carrier can? wield a more powerful magnum at the same time. The biggest catch now is that everyone can see where both flags are at all time. No more sneaking arou??nd!

With Oddball, and Grifball, players can now tos??s the ball to pass to other teammates. Flood (previously known as?? Infection) sees a team of humans surviving against players infested as the Flood. King of the Hill is largely the same as it was before.

Matchmaking

The last thing to touch on is the matchmaking in that you're now able to join matches in progress. No longer do you have to wait ridiculously long to get a match going, nor will you be stuck on an uneven team getting decimated by the fully stacked team.

Questions?

So there's your simple little look at all the major elements of multiplayer. There's a lot to talk about though, so if you have any questions just leave them in the com??ments and I'll jump in with answers! Otherwise let's play a round. My Gamertag is Dtoid CTZ.

The post Your guide to Halo 4’s multiplayer appeared first on Destructoid.

Costly but worth looking into

Happy Halo 4 day! We noted a few months ago that the Halo 4 soundtrack was being released in a variety of flavors, includi?ng digital versions and standard/limited edition physical versions. We've got the most extravagant of them here in the office, containing the soundtrack, an extra (and awesome) remix disc, a "picture disc" vinyl, a signed art print, a massive booklet detailing Neil Davidge's work on the game, a making-of DVD, and more.

It better include a lot for the $80 asking price. It's an impressive set, and the pictures shown on the official Halo 4 soundtrack website don't really do it justice, so here's our unboxing video. There are? only 5,000 copies of the limited edition being sold, and I personally dig the remix disc more than the OST, so I'd recommend jumping on it if you're at all interested.

Watch for our review ??of the soundtrack next week and please share your thoughts on? the game's music as you begin playing today. I think it's a lot better in-game than the soundtrack CD would lead one to believe.  

The post Halo 4’s massive limited edition soundtrack unboxed appeared first on Destructoid.

No Doritos for sexists

The Halo series has a reputation for hosting some, let's say, "spirited" language from its millions of players, as ??trash?? talk and associated slurs have become a big part of the experience.

343 Industries, however, isn't particularly fond of some of these slurs, especially ones aimed at women. From now on, dishing out the sexism will earn the aggressor a lifetime ban from Halo 4. 

"I've seen many of the sites that have documented some of the more gender-specific slanderous comments," studio head Bonnie Ross told GameSpot. "This is behavior that is offensive and completely unacceptable. I'd like to think most of our Xbox Live players don't supp??o??rt this kind of behavior."

Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill added that giving adolescents a way to broadcast opinions anonymously can be ??"dangerous," and that the nasty side of the tee??nage mind will manifest itself in such an environment. 

Apparently, Microsoft does its best to seek out and ban anybody caught sharing particularly vile slurs -- a noble goal, but potential?ly damning when one considers that Xbox Live is still considered a cesspit of sexist and homophobic harassment. 

Still, one thing I believe worth a?ddressing is the stereotype that it's just "adolescents" who are being jerks online. Unfortunately, there are plenty of full-grown adults who get their jollies by going into online games and bei??ng nasty, or who attempt to bully others because of perceived differences.

Let's not limit this to the idea of it being all kids. That provides an excuse behavior that plenty of? adults are indulging in.

The post Online sexism in Halo 4 w??ill ear??n you a lifetime ban appeared first on Destructoid.

A strong start to the Reclaimer Trilogy

For over a decade, the Halo series was in the hands of development studio Bungie. In that time, they pioneered two generations of console shooters and created a phenomenon that has generated over $3 billion in sales. Bungie has since moved on from the series that helped establish the Xbox, handing the responsibility over to the new house of Halo, 343 Industries.

Halo 4 is the first sequel to be developed by the Halo-centric studio, and all eyes have been on 343 ever since the E3 reveal. They've had a lot to live up to, considering Bungie's past work, and the amount of pressure they must have felt is unimagi?nable.

Not only has 343 far surpassed any expectations of what a Halo title should be, they've also gone and created a Halo game that is? miles above any that's come before it.

Halo 4 (Xbox 360)
Developer: 343 Industries
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release: November 6, 2012
MSRP: $59.99 (Standard Edition) / $99.99 (Limited Edition)

Halo 4 marks the first entry in the new "Reclaimer Trilogy," bringing full focus back onto the Master Chief's story. The game takes place nearly five years after the events of Halo 3 and puts us back where we last left the Chief: fast asleep in his cryo-chamber aboard the UNSC vessel Forward Unto Dawn. The ship has b??een adrift for years due t??o its damaged state and has entered orbit around the Forerunner-created planet Requiem.

With Covenant forces also in Requiem's orbit, Cortana, the Master Chief's ?artificial intelligence ally, wakes him up so the pair can fend off the incoming Covenant attack. Eventually, the duo make their way to Requiem, where a large majority of the game takes place.

The story does stand on its own, but I do feel like there was a lot of information and assumptions that players are forced to accept about the overall plot going on in the universe. Some kind of refresher or preface would have been nice to help players have some grounding, especially those just joining in for the first time. It's those fans who have read the books, comics, and other Halo media who will get a lot more satisfaction out of Halo 4's overall narrative.

In a lot of ways, Halo 4 echoes the feelings of Halo: Combat Evolved. You're plunged into the middle of a conflict that you don't fully unders??tand at first, in an extremely encompassing alien world. You're fighting for survival against a relentless alien collective, eventually coming across an even greater threat, and must do what you can to save mankind.

Part of what makes Halo 4's story so compelling is the amount of time and effort that went into the performances and character design. The ???Master Chief is still the strong and silent type, but he has more spoken dialogue here than seemingly the first three games put together. It's also a humanizing story, where we see the Master Chief and Cortana as more than obedient military soldiers, and the interactions between all the characters is made extra special thanks to the facial and body motion captures.

It took four games before Bungie gave any heavy emphasis on character development with the fifth, Reach. Sure, there was a good story in each entry, but it was the grand scope that was compelling rather than the actual characters. Th??ere was something wrong when the books pres??ented a better story for the Master Chief than any of the games did.

343's bigger focus on the Master Chief this go around finally brings?? some depth and makes you feel something for the character beyond? his just being a genetically engineered badass. Cortana's tale is just as important as well, with moments where you can't help but care and feel being invested in her struggle, despite her being an AI construct.

The visuals, lighting, and art direction are phenomenal too, adding tons of detail and pushing the Xbox 360 to points I haven't seen in any other game on the console. Comparing Halo 3's visuals to Halo 4's is night?? and day, to the point that the former look??s last-gen in comparison.

What brings everything home is the audio -- this is some of the best sound de??sign I've heard in a game, period. No audio from past games was carried over; the team focused on starting fresh. The audio gives a real sense of depth to the weapons and characters, so you really feel like you're walking in the ?shoes of the Master Chief with every thud of his tank-like armor.

The levels are humongous in scope, but the paths you take are s?till linear in design. Level pacing is pretty stellar in that there's always something to do, whether it be attempting an objective or fighting against a group of enemies. Very rarely ??did I come across any long stretches of nothingness as I made my way across the stages.

Gameplay wise, it's largely what you would come to expect out of a Halo. The biggest change is that sprinting is no longer tied to an Armor Ability, instead a default part of the controls in all aspects of the game. There are a few segments that break up the run-and-g??un/vehicle combat elements too. One section early on involves forcing open an elevator door then c??limbing up the shaft while avoid falling debris. These moments are very few and far between, however.

Armor Abilities are back in Halo 4, and in single-player, you'll be able to swap out Armor Abilities as you find them. Returning abilities include the jet pack, active camouflage, and hologram. New ones include Promethean Vision, which gives y?ou an infrared view of the environment; Thruster Pack, which gives you a quick burst of speed; Hardlight Shield, a protective shield barrier; and Autosentry, a small, deployable automated turret. There's also the Regeneration Field that produces a short-range healing energy field, and while I neve??r came across it in the campaign, it appears in the other modes too.

Armor Abilities, especially ones like the Autosentry, are very useful on the higher difficulties, as the enemy AI (and for once the human ally AI) is much improved over past games. In terms of Covenant forces, you'll be encountering Elites, Jackals, Grunts, and Hunters, plus their vehicles like the Ghosts, Banshees, and Wraiths. Elites may have been fierce enemies in Reach, but they're nothing comp??ared to the new Promethean ?forces.

Prometheans, essentially the Sentinels of Requiem, come in three flavors. Pro??methean Knights are the toughest of the bunch, as they dual wield one projectile weapon and one melee weapon. They can take a lot of punishment, have the ability to teleport around the map, and can produce Watchers from their backs.

While Knights are dangerous, you'll always want to?? focus on taking out the Watchers first and foremost. Watchers take to the air with their range attacks, but the real danger is how they can support other Prometheans. They can produce a light protective?? shield around their allies, fling back grenades you've thrown at them, and even resurrect Knights you've just killed.

Lastly, there are the dog-like Crawlers. They're like Grunts in that they are cannon fodder, but what makes them especially da?ngerous is that they can climb any surface to attack from. They're especially challenging in groups, but usually one clean head shot will kill them instantly.

The Prometheans standoffs are very intense, and part of that is thanks to their weaponry. There's a wide range of different Promet?hean weaponry -- from pistol-like guns to fully automatics -- that you'll wind up mastering as they are the bulk of the weapons you'll come across on Requiem.

A lot of the staple Covenant weapons are also present, but the human weapons are some of the better ones of the bunch. Both the Battle Rifle and DMR are in Halo 4, and joining the mix of classics are newcomers like the Saw, a fully automatic machine gun that will cut anyone up almost instantly. Another new one is the Sticky Detonator, a small grenade launcher-like weapon that proves useful on big hazards, so long as you can stick a target that is. Lastly, new for all the zoomable weapons in all modes of Halo 4 is that? you will no longer be kicked out of your gun's scope whe?n you take enemy fire.

Melee is still around, and performing a melee to the back of anyone is an instant kill. Assassinations, triggered by holding down the melee to perform a special move when you've hit someone from the back, return as well. There are ton of unique animations, some so gratifying th??at it's worth spending a few extra seconds killing someone even though you're potentially exposed to enemy attacks.

Along with the nice variety of weapons is a surprising amount of vehicle missions scattered throughout the story, more so than in past games. There are a couple of satisfying levels in which you make use of the n?ew Mantis, a big, bipedal mech. It comes equipped with rocket launchers on its left arm and a machine gun on its right arm, can stomp down its foot to crush enemies and vehicles that have come to close, and has its own shielding system.

On Normal, the game is about a good seven to eight hours long, with the campaign ending on a satisfying note while giving a small glimpse at what's to come in the rest of the Reclaimer Trilogy.? Ramped-up Heroic and Legendary difficulties will take longer, but you can of course still play four-player co-op online ??and two-player co-op locally (regular multiplayer can be played with four players locally).

Once the campaign is over, you can move on to Infinity, which contains Forge, Theater, Multiplayer, and the new Spartan Ops mode. Spartan Ops is an episodic story-driven experience that focuses on a group of Spartan-IVs exploring the planet Requiem. Each week for the next 10 weeks, players will be given a new cinematic video progressing the story after the events of Halo 4, plus five new playable?? levels that will last an average of an hour.

Levels are tuned to be played with four players on Legendary, but you are able to play with less and on other difficulties. The first week's content is already packed on the Halo 4 disc, and subsequent episodes will be released for free, bu??t 343 isn't talking about more Spartan Ops missions beyond the initial 50. At least you're getting 10 hours of extra content for free, which isn't bad at all.

Spartan Ops d?oes, however, effectively replace Firefight mode. Spartan Ops has that feel of Firefight ?-- you are fighting waves of enemies -- but each mission does come to a close at some point, so it doesn't exactly scratch that itch that made me love Firefight so much in the first place.

Multiplayer, now referred to as War Games, has brought about some welcome changes to the multiplayer formula. The most notable change is with the progression and loadout sy??stem, which is actually shared between both Spartan Ops and War Games. On top of the default loadouts, you now have full control over what primary and secondary weapons, grenades, and more you want to bring in with each of your five custom loadout options. But first you need to earn your arsenal by ranking up.

As you play in either Spartan Ops or War Games, you'll level up your Spartan Rank starting from SR 1. With each new rank, you'll also be ??given Spartan Points which are used to unlock weapons, grenades, Armor Abilities, Tactical Packages, and Support Upgrades. Cosmetic items, such as armor, get unlocked for free as you improve.

What you're unlocking in terms of weapons and abilities is the right to purchase them. One of the first things?? you unlock is the Battle Rifle and DMR. Once they're available, you then have to spend your Spartan Points on one of them in order to add it to your custom class. At first you have to make a choice, as you have limited funds, but as you progress, you'll eventually be able to buy pretty much everything.

Other big changes are the Tactical Packages and Support Upgrade. At first, they might make you think of Perks from Call of Duty, but while they're in the same vein as Activision's shooter, they're also v?astly different in that you can't really stack them to give you an extreme advantage. With Tactical Packages, you'll be able to ei??ther equip your Spartan with the ability to have unlimited sprint, carry more grenades, have faster recharging, carry two primary weapons instead of one, and more. Support Upgrades allow you to roll with more ammo, have faster reloading, improve weapon stability while getting fired upon, and so forth. I'll have a full breakdown at a later date of all the options, but what it boils down to is about making serious, hard choices rather than simply overpowering your character.

There are 10 dedicated multiplayer maps (with more to come through DLC). Weapons are no longer scattered across the terrain like in past Halo games, so in place of that is the ordnance system, in which a variety of weapons are dropped onto the battlefield throughout the match. Weapon drops will be indicated on the player HUD for all to see, so that mentality of rushing to the power w??eapons is still there, you'??re just now made more aware of what's available and what has yet to respawn.

In terms of modes, there are a bunch of new ones and twists on classics. Capture t??he Flag now sees the flag carrier using a more powerful pistol -- dubbed the Flagnum -- while holding the flag. Plus, everyone can see where the flag is at all times now on the radar. King of the Hill, SWAT, Team Slayer Pro, all return, as do Grifball and Oddball, though now players can actually pass the ball to each other like in basketball.

New modes include Dominion, whic??h sees teams fighting over and fortifying bases; Extraction, in which you must capture more data points than the others; and Flood, a fully fleshed-out version of Infection. Then there's Regicide, a free-for-all/team mode where the person with the most points is the king, and killing the king earns you more points over killing other players. While everyone can see the king on the map, it's worth being in first as you'll gain bonus points for kills and bonus player traits like overshield.

Lastly, there's Infinity Slayer, which is like traditional Slayer with two teams working to earn 600 points/60 kil?ls for the win. What's different is the personal ordnance system, which lets you summon a weapon drop to give you the choice among a new weapon, grenades, or a player trait modifier mid-battle. You need to fill a meter to be able to call the ordnance drop; killing others, getting double kills, supporting your team, and so?? on all go towards filling the meter. Really good players should be able to get at least three personal ordnance drops before a match is over.

The netcode has been optimized across the board too, and now you can join a match in progress. No longer are you stuck waiting for players to fill the lobby. You're thrown right in, solving the i?ssue of wai??ting in lobbies and filling the hole from a player who dropped out.

At one point in time, Halo reigned supreme and was the golden standard of what a console first-person shooter should be. Eventually, Call of Duty took that title, and part of that had to do with the Halo series making minor tweaks instead of seriously innovating. The changes implemented by 343, from sprinting to joining matches in progress, are just some examples of how they're keeping up with the times and creating an experience with an addictive quality over relying on stagnant mech??anics.

Yet Halo 4 is able to retain its identity of what makes it a unique and compelling shooter worth playing. It maintains that strength and weakness tradeoff meta-game, causing you to think and plan your attack against whatever obstacle is ahead of y?ou over blindly running in and hoping for the best. The customization features also lend themselves well to a more team-focused affair, making you want to work with others over lone-wolfing everything.

Forge, the player toolset that allows you ??to modify all the multiplayer maps, is back in a big way. There are three unique Forge worlds for you to play ??on now, each offering a distinct look, including one level that is set on an asteroid in space. New tools include creating a player trait zone that will alter player movement, shields, visibility, physics, and damage when in the zone; color-coded highlighting to know what you've selected; magnets that let you line up objects far easier; easy copy and pasting of assets; and the ability to lock down a set of objects so you don't accidentally alter something. And as always, you'll be able to upload and share whatever you create.

Theater is here again, remaining largely unchanged from past games. Halo Waypoint support returns too, letting you see your Spartan career ??and stats on the web, through the Xbox 360, and on mobile devices. Waypoint is also the only way you can see terminal videos that you find hidden in each of the campaign level.

One last thing to touch on is the musical score by Neil Davidge. Music is a big part of the Halo franchise, and it takes a lot to live up to Martin O'Donnell's legacy. Out of the entire experience, I felt the music was the weakest element. There are a few fantastic tracks for sure, but overall the score didn't wow me like it did in Combat Evolved, ODST, or Reach.

At its core, everything still feels like a Halo game. While there are new some new elements that change the gameplay a little, that weight of playing as a super soldier is well balanced between the sense of speed and strength in the multiplayer. 343 Industries have done a remarkable job at continuing the Halo legacy. They've gone all out, creating a fantastic sequel that brought forth a majo??r focus on storytelling while upping the visual and audio direction to a level that will be tough for anyone to rival with these few remaining years of the current console generation.

Above all else, Halo 4 proves that the franchise is in safe hands wi??th 343.

The post Review: Halo 4 appeared first on Destructoid.