PAX is full of Indie games. The focus isn’t usually heavy on triple-A titles. Big games from big studios like to save announcements and new features for the bigger shows. 343 industries however, made sure to deliver some new information for Halo 4 during their PAX 2012 panel, keeping the hype train running at full speed.
343 Industries has been showing little tidbits of features new to Halo pretty steadily since E3. Objective based assassination kills were shown for the first time in July at San Diego Comic Con in a short video (the segment can be seen in their panel video at the 22:30 mark).
During the SDCC panel the gameplay footage showed how the flag carrier now holds the flag in one hand, with a pistol in the other.
This is the first time a flag carrier can shoot and move the flag at the same time in a Halo game, and on the floor in PAX this new feature was playable at the CTF section of the Halo 4 booth.
I was able to get my hands on with the revamped gametype and it was the familiar feel of classic Halo CTF with a refreshing modernization.
The map they were showing CTF on was Exile, which is a map new to Halo but felt to me like it was inspired by several past Halo maps (parts reminded me of Highground, Isolation and Highlands).
Exile is a medium sized, symmetrical map which is perfect for two flag CTF. The default settings for Halo 4 CTF does not require to have your flag at home to score.
Before the match started, we all selected our loadouts and entered the fray of a familiar red verses blue battlefield in a new generation of combat.
The faster pace movement, of everyone sprinting changes CTF on its own. Players need to focus much more on working together instead of trying the lone wolf approach.
Right away I jumped into the gunner seat of the reappearance of a Halo favorite, the gauss cannon Warthog. My driver zipped around the path and we took out a couple of reds guarding their flag. I hopped out of the hog, sprinted to the flag , popped off a couple of pistol rounds at a red spawing in the distance, and climbed back into the vehicle. The drive took us back to the base and we captured the flag.
We both earned points for this endeavor. I earned points for doing the actual flag capture, but the other guy earned points for being a chauffeur. Halo 4 distributes points in objective games a lot more like this, putting even more emphasis on teamwork.
In addition to the retooled CTF, another Halo classic was updated and shown at PAX. Oddball is back and while it wasn’t playable on the floor, 343 showed off some of the new features that were teased at Comic Con.
In the Comic Con panel they had a segment showing oddball specific assassinations where the obvious changes are the blue glowing orb like skull . If you were paying close attention to the video you noticed that the skull was thrown from one player, over an enemy, to the ally performing the assassination. This is a big change to the classic keep away mechanics of oddball.
Shown off on stage at their PAX panel, the throwing capabilities of the oddball changes the pace and the distance of oddballl. In previous Halo games the common strategy for team oddball was to hold up in a room and guard the entrances.
In Halo 4 oddball, with the ability to throw the ball, gameplay can change to span a much greater distance. Throwing in combination with sprinting can give advantages to playing the field, instead of waiting in a room. New medals and points are rewarded to players for playing catch with the ball, to encourage teamwork.
While the gameplay will likely spread out horizontally across maps, it also gives the options for players to take advantage of vertical space.
Oddball has always been a gametype that is unique to the Halo universe, and I am glad to see that 343 is showing it love by tweaking it and making it modern.
343 Industries is making it clear that their team doesn’t just make Halo games, but they’re also Halo fans themselves. The perfect example is how they officially picked up Griffball as an official gametype.
Griffball originated as a custom version of assault (plant the bomb), that played a little like team handball. Teams are armed with hammers and swords. The game starts and both sides rush the middle for the ball, and try and get it into the enemy base. The ball carrier gets a stat bonus to take more damage and turns the color orange (the armor color of the RedVsBlue character the gametype was named after, Griff). 343 took the user generated rule set of assault and gave it its own mode, with rules and customization options designed specifically for Griffball.
Frank O’connor after PAX confirmed in a tweet that only one of the maps coming with Halo 4 will be a remake from a previous game, but that it’s “not small”
With all of this information still being released for Halo 4 I can barley contain my excitement for the game. Only a few months left.
Here is the entire PAX panel if you want to feel like you were in the crowd.
Pingback: MonsterVine Weekly News Round-Up for the Week of 9/7/12 - MonsterVine