Halo: Dubstep
343's weekly Halo Bulletin was posted a few days ago, and it is stuffed with exciting details and pretty pictures and the all around enthusiastic and reverent feelings for the Halo franchise we're used to seeing from 343. It's super long, but a highly entertaining and rewarding read - particularly the comments on the UNSC arsenal and Frankie's meandering heartfelt update. At the vey least, check out the videos to see the UNSC weapons in action, complete with their epic sound effects and an energetic dubstep piece of sweet new Halo musical goodness! Not sure how I feel about the dubstep, tbh, but I am excited to hear new stuff.
If this update, with it's focus on just the UNSC weaponry at this point, cements anything in my mind, it's the goodbye to standardized shootouts. Oh, undoubtedly, there will be a standard number of hit points needed to breech in order to take out an opponent, but both you and your opponent will have a variety of options to take away health and protect it or even, it seems, fortify it. In short, 5 headshots from a DMR may or may not kill your enemies like always in Reach. Their weapon may be superior to yours for the square off. That's kind of always been the case, but like Frank O'Conner expounded upon, even tiny adjustments have big impacts on split-second decisions and whether you live or die.
Many of the Reach Title Update improvements have been towards this end, I think, to ween us off the standardized hit counters, so to say. A small part of me dreads this loss, because exceptional players will be able to exploit these traits beyond what I'll be able to combat. However, the skill gap has always existed in Halo, and with all the customizations, I'm pretty sure everyone will be able to come up with formidable loadouts and tactics. Therefore, most of me is giddy about this implied change. Not only does it open up new and grand possibilities, but it will help eliminate the sting of lag in games, because hey, maybe it was lagging, or maybe his loadout was just tailored to take mine out. I know that I for one will defer to that second assumption, because if there's one thing that sets me off in gameplay, it's lag: at least give me a fair shake, even if I would have lost!
Also, with all the options present in the sticky detonator: hellooo claymores! XD I have been waiting for you for a long time!!
The more I find out about multiplayer, the more I'm inclined to believe that I'll never have a need to play COD again. - Not that I won't want to; just that Halo will have everything and more -minus care packages etc, thankfully- that COD has. I still love COD, but I've always wanted the two games to merge a bit more in tactics, loadouts, and possibilities.
BR vs DMR
These two weapons are my FAVORITES of Halo and any FPS out there. Naturally, I've been chomping at the bit for any tidbits of information on these guys. Mostly, this is me musing to myself, but be my guest and read on if you want to know entirely too much about my playing style. (I'm kinda psyched to find out that I play pretty similar to Frank's approach, not gonna lie!)
From the time that I saw they would both be present in Halo 4, I've been spending entirely too much time wondering which of the weapons I'll prefer. Obviously, I won't really know until a week or few into playing, but based on what's present in this update along with the multitude of multiplayer videos I've watched, I think I'm probably gonna be a DMR girl.
David - This might surprise some people, but based solely on pure lethality, I’d have to give the ever-so-slight edge to the DMR right now. As Frank mentioned, it’s incredibly precise and simplified with lower rate of fire than in Reach. Now the only info you need to juggle in your head when going toe-to-toe is the middle of the reticle as you line it up to dome your unfortunate foe. For my money, BR with groupshot is greater than DMR, but if you're lone wolfing, DMR is the way to go.
They also mention that getting that final headshot is more difficult than with the BR because the DMR releases just one bullet. But it's a powerful bullet, and one that relies on the skill of the player to line up the perfect shots. Well, if I'm down for anything in Halo, 4 or otherwise, I'm down for honing headshots. I would love to get that last shot on a mid/close range opponent using the BR to my DMR - or anything else in their gauntlet-ed grasp. Designated Marksman Rifle: Despite the Battle Rifle being my first love, I've always enjoyed the DMR's full designation. I'm the chick in MP rounds who usually has the most headshots of the game, regardless of the game type. Out of the 18,000+ kills I have with precision weapons, 85% of the kills were also headshots.
This all being said, I wonder which weapon I'll prefer in SWAT. Theoretically, I'm gonna lean towards the BR for the added benefit of sweeping shots with three bullets as opposed to one, even though I'll have to compensate for the shorter range. Of course, they describe the DMR specifically as precise, and when it comes down to weapon choices for me, I always gravitate to precision.
Anyone else have some thoughts or reactions to the weapons or anything else in the update? Any musings or questions about the game at all? In all seriousness, my mystery illness is getting worse despite everything, (I have now completely, mysteriously, lost my voice.) so I'm looking for distractions, and anything Halo is the best kind of distraction. I don't even care if you wanna talk about cover art or the shading on the Master Chief's shin guards: any comments on Halo are welcomed in this post! :D
If this update, with it's focus on just the UNSC weaponry at this point, cements anything in my mind, it's the goodbye to standardized shootouts. Oh, undoubtedly, there will be a standard number of hit points needed to breech in order to take out an opponent, but both you and your opponent will have a variety of options to take away health and protect it or even, it seems, fortify it. In short, 5 headshots from a DMR may or may not kill your enemies like always in Reach. Their weapon may be superior to yours for the square off. That's kind of always been the case, but like Frank O'Conner expounded upon, even tiny adjustments have big impacts on split-second decisions and whether you live or die.
Many of the Reach Title Update improvements have been towards this end, I think, to ween us off the standardized hit counters, so to say. A small part of me dreads this loss, because exceptional players will be able to exploit these traits beyond what I'll be able to combat. However, the skill gap has always existed in Halo, and with all the customizations, I'm pretty sure everyone will be able to come up with formidable loadouts and tactics. Therefore, most of me is giddy about this implied change. Not only does it open up new and grand possibilities, but it will help eliminate the sting of lag in games, because hey, maybe it was lagging, or maybe his loadout was just tailored to take mine out. I know that I for one will defer to that second assumption, because if there's one thing that sets me off in gameplay, it's lag: at least give me a fair shake, even if I would have lost!
Also, with all the options present in the sticky detonator: hellooo claymores! XD I have been waiting for you for a long time!!
The more I find out about multiplayer, the more I'm inclined to believe that I'll never have a need to play COD again. - Not that I won't want to; just that Halo will have everything and more -minus care packages etc, thankfully- that COD has. I still love COD, but I've always wanted the two games to merge a bit more in tactics, loadouts, and possibilities.
BR vs DMR
These two weapons are my FAVORITES of Halo and any FPS out there. Naturally, I've been chomping at the bit for any tidbits of information on these guys. Mostly, this is me musing to myself, but be my guest and read on if you want to know entirely too much about my playing style. (I'm kinda psyched to find out that I play pretty similar to Frank's approach, not gonna lie!)
From the time that I saw they would both be present in Halo 4, I've been spending entirely too much time wondering which of the weapons I'll prefer. Obviously, I won't really know until a week or few into playing, but based on what's present in this update along with the multitude of multiplayer videos I've watched, I think I'm probably gonna be a DMR girl.
David - This might surprise some people, but based solely on pure lethality, I’d have to give the ever-so-slight edge to the DMR right now. As Frank mentioned, it’s incredibly precise and simplified with lower rate of fire than in Reach. Now the only info you need to juggle in your head when going toe-to-toe is the middle of the reticle as you line it up to dome your unfortunate foe. For my money, BR with groupshot is greater than DMR, but if you're lone wolfing, DMR is the way to go.
They also mention that getting that final headshot is more difficult than with the BR because the DMR releases just one bullet. But it's a powerful bullet, and one that relies on the skill of the player to line up the perfect shots. Well, if I'm down for anything in Halo, 4 or otherwise, I'm down for honing headshots. I would love to get that last shot on a mid/close range opponent using the BR to my DMR - or anything else in their gauntlet-ed grasp. Designated Marksman Rifle: Despite the Battle Rifle being my first love, I've always enjoyed the DMR's full designation. I'm the chick in MP rounds who usually has the most headshots of the game, regardless of the game type. Out of the 18,000+ kills I have with precision weapons, 85% of the kills were also headshots.
This all being said, I wonder which weapon I'll prefer in SWAT. Theoretically, I'm gonna lean towards the BR for the added benefit of sweeping shots with three bullets as opposed to one, even though I'll have to compensate for the shorter range. Of course, they describe the DMR specifically as precise, and when it comes down to weapon choices for me, I always gravitate to precision.
Anyone else have some thoughts or reactions to the weapons or anything else in the update? Any musings or questions about the game at all? In all seriousness, my mystery illness is getting worse despite everything, (I have now completely, mysteriously, lost my voice.) so I'm looking for distractions, and anything Halo is the best kind of distraction. I don't even care if you wanna talk about cover art or the shading on the Master Chief's shin guards: any comments on Halo are welcomed in this post! :D