100°

Halo 4 - "Ragnarok" Multiplayer Map Walkthrough With 343i

Lead Multiplayer Level Designer at 343 Industries Kynan Pearson walks IGN through a modified but familiar large-scale competitive map. Weapon distribution differs from the past, as does the variety of vehicles. 343 recreated the geometry almost identically to the original, with rock shapes differing in minor ways throughout the map. The most significant addition is the inclusion of the Mantis.

BALLARD324219d ago

Personally, I would rather have Blood Gulch but it looks good nonetheless.

wwm0nkey4219d ago

With the DMR being a loadout weapon Blood Gulch would be a terrible choice since the DMR can easily ping you from far ranges, now if it was only the BR as the starting weapon? Sure why not but due to the DMR being there another Blood Gulch remake would end up worse than it did in Reach.

(Also Valhalla is considered by Bungie to be the successor to BG)

BALLARD324219d ago

Yeah you're probably right. I knew that Valhalla was supposed to be similar to Blood Gulch but nothing is the same as the classic Halo: CE and Halo 2 versions.

Knight_Crawler4218d ago

Blood Gulch is probably (IMO)the best mutliplayer map ever made in shooter history - the balance of the map is just perfect.

But I am glad that 343i is not messing with it at leaving it alone...making a new one or messing with it would be like adding a beard to the Mona Lisa...I can see the back lash the 343i would get if the remade it.

MerkinMax4218d ago

Blood gulch is only as balanced as the weapons you put on it. If everyone spawns with DMRs which are basically mini snipers in terms of range, an open map like turns bad. Open areas will no longer be used, spawns will suck etc.

hennessey864219d ago

Get killed a lot while admiring those stunning graphics.

FarCryLover1824218d ago

Play in forge and admire to your hearts content without the threat of death.... unless someone wants to drop a tank on your head.

Straightupbeastly4218d ago

Best looking game this gen hands down

MasterD9194218d ago

I like that they altered the landscape a bit...Rather than being overly-green like Valhalla was, you can tell they made it look more earthy with grass patched unevenly. I forgot how great this map looks.

I'd still love to see High Ground or The Pit remade, but this works great, especially with the Mantis (mech).

And Blood Gulch has been in 2 (if not more) Halo games already...so it makes sense why it wouldn't be included. Plus, with Forge, I'm sure it will be recreated again in Halo 4.

Summons754218d ago

Blood Gultch was in Halo CE and Halo2. The one in Halo Reach was complete trash and nothing like Blood Gultch. They need to make a true remake of the map. That and Sidewinder

MasterD9194218d ago

I can agree that the one in Reach didn't feel like Blood Gulch, but at this point I'd rather see another completely different map remade. And Halo 4's forge will probably have one made eventually (which will probably be better than Reach). It's just a large area of land and 2 bases on opposite sides. Not too hard to make...

Sidewinder however, is an absolutely amazing map that clearly they forgot about during the map brainstorming. It's HUGE but it absolutely destroys the Avalanche and Snowbound maps in Halo 3.

007Bond4218d ago

They need to remake or bring back the greatest map of all time LOCKOUT or BLACKOUT.

Dread4218d ago

I bet they do it throguh DLC in a few months with a different name and atmosphere.

Balcrist4218d ago

they'll be done through Forge, not dlc... Blackout is in reach if you take the time to look it up... though you can only use it for custom games... still, it would've been nice to play it in matchmaking...

50°

Master Chief Became More Than A Machine In 343's Halo

In Halo 4, 5, and Infinite, Master Chief became a more nuanced, human character.

In spite of the Halo series’ struggles, 343 deserves praise for adding nuance and characterisation to the ever-beating heart of Halo - The Master Chief. Playing through Infinite, it's abundantly clear that the events of the current and previous trilogies have irrevocably changed the iconic hero. He’s no longer the ‘blank slate’ that was previously presented by Bungie. He’s a fatigued, damaged and fallible protagonist, and one who is meandering through currents of grief, while reveling in his newfound agency. Giving the Chief a compelling and meaningful voice was no small feat, and 343 should be proud of that victory.

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
kingnick405d ago

This article completely misses part of the appeal of the original iteration of character in the original game trilogy. It was the Chief and Cortana vs an entire alien collective. The blank slate Bungie displayed in their games was genius, he was an mysterious hero a wide audience could identify with because he wasn't as clearly defined as most characters.

The books added a lot of lore and backstory but most Halo players just want a fun game with exposition that doesn't get in the way of gameplay, it's why the Cortana level in Halo 3 was derided.

Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty.

BandarHub404d ago

A lot of people give the 343 version of Master Chief a lot of slack.
But Fundamentally he is still the same character, he just has a couple more dialogues. He has not changed in terms of attitude.
"Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty."
And that's what he has done at the end of the day, he did his duty. Watch his partner die, and was ready to destroy the weapon in Halo infinite....he is still the same soilder that everyone remembers

Halo Infintes one was a nice balance between both.

slate91405d ago

Chief and the halo franchise became a joke under 343

Sciurus_vulgaris404d ago

The 343i Master Chief has is based on the books. However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion.

Obscure_Observer404d ago

"However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion."

Which is awesome! I love how Master Chief become more John and less soldier.

Sciurus_vulgaris404d ago

I didn’t even notice my typos,lol

50°

Halo's Identity Problem Began With an Admirable Mess

It’s a law of nature that eventually, every long-running game franchise will have a particular entry that gets dinged for straying too far from what made it so fun in the first place. Your Super Mario Sunshine, your Dragon Age II, Assassin’s Creed III, and so on. Whether or not that opinion changes more favorably over time, the initial specter of negativity will forever hover it. Microsoft’s Halo is no exception, except that negative specter hasn’t hovered over one particular game, but one whole studio.

The3faces525d ago

True Halo 4 was a sign of 343i's incompetence and the decline of Halo.

180°

10 Years Later, Halo 4 Proves Itself a Disappointing Omen for Halo Infinite

Halo 4 released 10 years ago today, and its disappointing reception was just an omen of things to come with 343 Industries at the helm.

Read Full Story >>
gamerant.com
Sonyslave3534d ago (Edited 534d ago )

Halo 4 and infinite have a 87 on metacritic and five a 84🤣. 343i need contents and everything else will play it self out.

ChasterMies533d ago

Halo 4, 5, and Infinite reviews are good examples of the pressure on review sites to score everything between 8-10 out of 10.

ChubbyBlade533d ago

As if reviews scores are any indication of a franchises health.

Halo has been in shambles for YEARS

-Foxtrot533d ago

Halo 4-6 are like the Star Wars sequel trilogy

They all just seem like a brand new games with small connections to the last one but no solid arc connecting them, you’re just told stuff that happened off screen in between the games and nothing makes sense

It’s like they didn’t plan a new trilogy out

CoNn3rB533d ago

That's actually a pretty good way to sum it up

LucasRuinedChildhood533d ago (Edited 533d ago )

I would argue that the new Star Wars trilogy is still better. lol

Most Halo fans would kill for the equivalent of The Force Awakens at this stage (a competent rehash of what came before it). Halo Infinite tried to be that but was undercooked and failed. Halo 4 wasn't that either - they started messing with the formula straight away although the story was okay.

There was nothing particularly compelling about Halo 5's story besides the fake plot they advertised. The Last Jedi is a divisive movie but as RedLetterMedia would say, it was "sporadically interesting" because it tried some new things and set up things that could have been great (like Kylo teaming up with Rey after backstabbing Snoke). That conversation with Yoda is great and it felt like the real Yoda, not that CGI thing in the prequels.
- "Skywalker, still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose."
- "The greatest teacher, failure is ... Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters."
- "That library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess." (because she already took them, haha).

The Rise Of Skywalker is the only one where loads of stuff happens off screen ("Palpatine has returned") in between and nothing makes sense because ... they just needed a main villain and 100 star destroyers to blow up. They could have done something much better.

MrChow666533d ago

no, all disney star wars sucks also disney marvel and everything godamn disney touches

533d ago Replies(3)
Yui_Suzumiya533d ago

Um, didn't Halo 4 have the best campaign out of the new Trilogy? Lol

ChubbyBlade533d ago

Yep and even then it wasn’t very good.

Levii_92533d ago

I'm getting a good gaming laptop soon and i'm finally going to play through the Halo franchise again plus Infinite but i never played Halo 4 before .. can anyone tell me how's the campaign in comparison to the games before it and compared to Halo 5 ?

Stanjara533d ago

Halo 4 campaign great, multi bad.
Halo 5 campaign trash, multi good.

Best Cortana halo 4.

ChubbyBlade533d ago (Edited 533d ago )

Halo 4 was when they started turning it into a “modern” game. Aka taking tips from CoD.

The older titles were sandbox based with weapons that all filled a niche and vehicles that did the same. Open levels with multiple ways to approach in different spots with different weapons etc.

Halo 4/5 doesn’t have that. It’s a linear shooter and nothing else. The story is alright but that’s about it. If it wasn’t a halo game, it would be ok but because it is a halo game, it’s outshone by the previous games.

It’s a hell of a lot better than 5 though. I found infinite pretty meh

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