The Halo franchise is viewed highly by its fan base for many different reasons, and multiplayer may be the biggest one of them all. Gamers were treated to a brand new Halo 4 campaign trailer at Microsoft’s press conference earlier this week, and while it looked great, it didn’t cater to the desires of fans longing to obliterate friends and strangers online. At this year’s E3 we managed to score some hands-on time with Halo 4‘s multiplayer, and it was far from a disappointing venture.
After booting up the game, it became immediately obvious how much better the game looks than its predecessors. Halo 4‘s visuals have been given a noticeable overhaul, and the multiplayer is looking better than ever before. Explosions are impressive, the new suits of Spartan armor have a nice shine, and the levels are more vibrant than ever before. Audio has also been upgraded to provide players with more authentic atmosphere – although realistic sounding guns may be the least of fans worries when their character can leisurely jump 15 feet in the air.
There were a few control alterations. Crouching/teabagging is no longer performed by pressing down on the left analogue stick, but has instead been moved to the Xbox controller’s ‘B’ button. Clicking down on the left analogue now makes the player’s Spartan sprint; an option that is no longer an Armor Ability, but is now a standard gameplay mechanic amongst every player online.
The option to sprint whenever the player feels the need changes the overall speed of multiplayer matches significantly. Making the player faster makes the multiplayer faster as well, that much is obvious, but that’s far from a bad thing. Being able to dash away from enemy fire or charge into the heart of battle is a breath of fresh air for online multiplayer, and adds emphasis on the ‘fight or flight’ mentality that comes pre-installed in every human psyche.
Sprinting ahead of a trailing enemy and around a corner also sets up an opportunity to use a new weapon called the M363 Remote Projectile Detonator. This little gun seems rather puny at first, but after firing the gun off once its significance will immediately become apparent. The first shot taken with this weapon will send out a small explosive device, and it will stick to whatever it hits. After the explosive has been launched, all gamers have to do is pull the trigger one more time to set it off.
Getting the M363 weapon can be a challenge though, but the game is more than willing to give it to you. After decimating the competition (something I accomplished with relative ease), I was able to have munitions dropped off for me on the map. An icon will appear on the screen, seemingly at random during several points in the match, giving players an option between one of three drops. Two weapons (including the previously hyped M363) are available for deployment, but there’s also a third option that’ll drop an armor ability to run faster.
I had the opportunity to try out the Longbow and Wraparound multiplayer maps, and each was constructed with the player in mind. Wraparound is a smaller map that provides numerous sharp corners and escape routes in case you run into one or more members of the opposing side. Longbow, on the other hand, is a larger map that has several vehicles (including a Warthog, Ghost, and Mongoose), as well as buildings for players seeking shelter from the vehicular combat occuring outside. Each map looks great, and that’s thanks to the game’s new visuals.
Weapons will also randomly drop on the map throughout the game, and their presence will be marked on the screen. Rocket launchers, M363′s, and pretty much every other powerful weapons can appear on the map at any time, and it takes away the monotony of knowing which weapons are where – although some weapons can still be found just laying about the map.
If there were any concerns about 343 Industries taking over the franchise, then they can now be put to rest. Halo 4‘s multiplayer is better than it’s ever been before. With awesome multiplayer, a fantastic looking single-player campaign, and an additional episodic campaign called Spartan Ops, Halo 4 looks at this point to at least live up to the hype it’s currently generating here at E3 2012.
Halo 4 launches for the Xbox 360 on November 6th, 2012.
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great write up! I wish i was at e3 to play it.
i do hope that there will be a regular halo game type with non-random weapon spawns… i like to know when and where my baby, the sniper, spawns. Random spawns can be fun, but do please to allow it to be optional
B is the crouch button now? But that’s my punching button! I hope they have a control layout that incorporates a more… familiar button layout a la the original Halo trilogy. Reach did it with relative ease.
How is the vehicle health? Are they made of paper mache like in Reach? Or well-fortified like in Halo 3?
The vehicles are about as durable as they were in Halo: Reach.
it’s noce that they’ve finally adapted the basic shooter control layout, this makes it all the more accessible to those of us that play other shooters as well as halo. the one thing i hated the most with halo was that they tried to deviant the control layout from every other shooters, this made it hard for me to transition from game to game b/c most my games had the same layout and i could just pick it up and play without having to spend a couple of minutes adjusting to the new layout.
i’ll probably have to hire this one and play through the SP and decide if it’s enough change to both by gold and the game for mp.
question is, was this demo displayed on XBOX or PC?
reason i would wonder, read many articles pertaining to E3- what stood out in many of them, and one in particular that documented this very question..
every demo they watched at E3 was displayed on the PC and not the console the game supported..
am not saying Halo 4 wasnt demo’d on XBOX – i wasnt at E3.just makes you wonder…
for a interesting reading on E3 –>
PC Gaming: E3′s Dirty Little Secret
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/07/pc-gaming-e3s-dirty-little-secret/#more-110953
halo 4 is xbox only so im gonna say it was on xbox
It was running on Xbox 360.
Not sure how I feel about this. It sounds like a lot of fun, but random weapon spawns? Killstreaks? Even the control layout sounds exactly like Call of Duty. Don’t get me wrong, COD can be fun, but I like that Halo is different and unique. That’s why I play it. Plus that new weapon that shoots the bombs sound ridiculously overpowerd. I gotta say I’m a little worried about this game. I’ll still buy it if nothing else just for the campaign, but this worries me.
I want some Forge details. Bad. Sounds good… I’m fine with the control scheme, however the drop pods and stuff better me made unique somehow. The combat better still be halo even though some aesthetics have changed. I’ll be upset if it isn’t still Halo combat.
I’m intrigued by the Prometheans… however, I think their design is a little cheesy. I’m still buying and preordering, I’m just still a little nervous about the Prometheans and Drops on Multiplayer. Everything sounds great though… I’m just hoping to not be disappointed with it when the time comes.
I don’t know about the random spawns. I think it will take away from the competition and just the Halo feel. And thats another thing that i am worried about is that it wont feel like Halo. All I can say is 343 better get this right.
killstreaks ruin the game
if i want them id play cod
people who play casually are at a disadvantage because of kill streaks
Huh? where did you read anywhere about killstreaks in Halo?
They are confusing killstreaks with the custom classes and weapon drops. There are no killstreaks in Halo 4, nor should there be, ever. Please dont spread misinformation
Killstreaks ruined COD…343 is smart enough not to follow their example
Black Ops 2 is being released a week after Halo 4…sorry COD, but as good as you have been in the past, your stale gameplay coupled with this bizarre uninteresting new story wont cut it for me, especially not if I have to choose between Halo 4 and BO2. Still, I will keep an open mind
Halo 4 forge mode…where are you? =( Please be good when we find you…
Sounds like kill-streaks to me.
“Getting the M363 weapon can be a challenge though, but the game is more than willing to give it to you if you get enough kills.”
I was awarded weapons after chaining together a few kills. It’s entirely possible that weapon drops are just randomly distributed to players throughout the match though.
HI, That You Should Think About This…Alot Of People…Do Wish That THEY COULD GET A TRIP, TO “E3″ But There Is A Difference between “Wishing” And “Going”.
I’ll be honest, I’m fine as long as they stay true to the gameplay that’s at least semi-familiar. Interested in trying the new weapons and the random weapon spawns sounds like it’ll keep things interesting. I am personally a bit dissapointed that i won’t be able to make my character a Sangheili other than that, it sounds awsome