Ode to the Halo Vehicle... Part 2.

As part 2 of my observations on the lack of vehicle love in Halo 4, I am going to take you on a trip down memory lane... So come on and let's take a look at one of the things that made Halo's Multiplayer fun, unique and successful for the past 12 years. 

Please read Part 1. of this blog first.  

 

As a release title for the Xbox in 2001, Bungie finished Halo's Multiplayer by the skin of their teeth and although there was a lack of vehicle based maps; the two that did have them became instant classics to many fans. 

Multiplayer maps in Halo CE:   

• Battle Creek: N/A

• Sidewinder: Hogs, Ghost & sometimes Scorpions.

• Damnation: N/A

• Rat Race: N/A

• Prisoner: N/A

• Hang 'Em High: N/A

• Chill Out: N/A

• Derelict: N/A

• Boarding Action: N/A

• Chiron TL-34: N/A

• Blood Gulch: Hogs, Ghost & sometimes the Scorpion Tank.

• Wizard: N/A

• Longest: N/A       

Now here is where things got interesting... Developed by +Gearbox Software  Halo CE for the (PC/Mac) came out in September of 2003. It was clear Gearbox really got what made Halo's style of game-play so fun and unique for many fans. *Spoiler* it's the vehicles. By adding the Banshee, Rocket Hog and other weapons Halo PC was all fun in the sun. 
 

 The list of maps in Halo PC:

• Death Island: Banshees, Ghosts, Scorpions, and Warthogs.  

• Danger Canyon: Warthogs and Ghosts. 

• Infinity: Warthogs, Ghosts, Banshees.

• Timberland: Warthogs, ghosts and sometimes the Scorpion.

• Ice Fields: Warthogs, ghosts and sometimes the Scorpion.

• Gephyrophobia: Ghosts and Lots of Banshees. 

 In Halo 2 there were more maps with vehicle support in them than in the first Halo release. (Quite a few of the maps that didn't support vehicles in Halo 2 were remakes of Maps from the first Halo or other Bungie games long ago.) Looking back at the marketing campaign on Bungie.net, you can see from some of the images below; vehicles were a high selling point for Halo 2. Leading the pack in the majority of marketing images was the Warthog. This marketing ingrains in our minds the Warthog is quintessential Halo. Halo 2 also introduced the M12G1 "Gauss-Hog" which began dominating the playing field on maps like Zanzibar and Headlong, cementing our love for the king of the road. 

 
 
 







 

















Multiplayer maps in Halo 2:   

•  Ascension: A single Banshee. 

• Backwash:  Sometimes had Ghosts.

• Beaver Creek: N/A (CE Remake)

• Burial Mounds: Warthogs and Ghosts.

• Coagulation: Banshees, Warthogs and Ghosts. + Tanks.

• Colossus: N/A

• Containment: Two Kinds of Warthogs, Banshees, Tanks.

• Desolation:  N/A (CE Remake)

• Elongation: N/A (CE Remake)

• Foundation: N/A (Marathon 2 map Remake)

• Gemini: N/A (Marathon map Remake)

• Headlong: Ghosts, Warthogs,and a Banshee.

• Ivory Tower: N/A

• Lockout: N/A
  

• Mid Ship: N/A
  

• Relic: Warthogs and Ghosts.
  

• Sanctuary: Sometimes had Ghosts.
  

• Terminal: Wraith, Warthogs, and a Ghost.
  

• Tombstone: N/A (CE Remake)

• Turf: Had a lone Warthog.

• Warlock: N/A (CE Remake)

• Waterworks: Warthogs, Ghosts, Banshee and Tanks.
  

• Zanzibar: Warthogs and Ghosts. 

In 2007 Halo 3 is released on the new Xbox360, touting the biggest vehicle sandbox to date. As well as some of the biggest and by far the most open Maps in the series.

Here is the list of Vehicles in Halo 3: 
1. Warthog 1+2 (Gauss and .50cal versions)
2. Mongoose 1+1
3. Scorpion Tank 1+1
4.Chopper 1
5. Banshee 1
6. Ghost 1
7. Wraith 1+1
8. Hornet 1+2
9. The Prowler 
10. The Elephant 1+ 1 + Crew


Multiplayer Map vehicle support in Halo 3: 

• Assembly: N/A

• Avalanche: Ghosts, Wraiths, Hogs, Hornets, Geese and sometimes Choppers and Scorpions.

• Blackout: N/A

• Citadel: N/A

•  Cold Storage: N/A

• Construct: N/A
  

• Epitaph: N/A
  

• Foundry: N/A
  

• Ghost Town: Geese.
  

• Guardian: N/A
  

• Heretic: N/A

• High Ground: Ghosts and Geese. 
  

• Isolation: Ghosts and Geese.

• Last Resort: Ghosts, Geese, and a Gauss Hog.

• Long Shore: Ghosts.
  

• Narrows: N/A
  

• Orbital: Ghosts and Geese.
  

•  Rats Nest: Lots of Hogs, Geese and a Ghost.
  

• Sandbox: Choppers, Hogs and Geese.
  

• Sand Trap: Choppers, Lots of Hogs, Geese, a Banshee and 2 Elephant Mobile Bases.
  

• Snowbound: A lone Ghost.
  

• Standoff: Gauss Hogs, Geese, sometimes had Banshees and Choppers.

• The Pit:  N/A
  

• Valhalla: Warthogs, Banshees, Geese and sometimes Wraiths and Scorpions.
  

  
Yet, the other side to this was there were many maps that supported small vehicles like the Ghost and Mongoose, but lacked the size to support things like the Warthog. If you look at the list of maps above, you will see a decent balance of Large-scale Vehicle centric maps, Smaller "Arena" style of gaming and finally maps that catered to medium sized Attack/Defend game-types.

Which brings me to three key halo Play-styles that make up the population of Multiplayer. There are the Social, Competitive, and the Creative players.  (Many players switch back and forth with what they enjoy doing and aren't locked into one rigid style of game-play.) With these play-styles we begin to develop what maps we really like playing on. Why those maps were enjoyable for us is easily reflected in what kind of player type you tend to gravitate towards most. Now I'm not stating you have to be only one kind of Halo gamer; for that's the wrong way to think about things. But there are aspects of the game that some players get more enjoyment out of than others. I myself enjoy Social-Competition the most. I have never made a successful custom game-type like Griffball or Zombies, nor have I made any amazing Forge maps, because I just didn't enjoy toiling for hours Forge in Halo 3. But I do love playing with groups of people and winning games. I'm not however a Hyper-Competitive Player like the ones that form clans which organize practice games and keep an eye on the game clock for when Power Weapons re-spawn. I don't enjoy the MLG game-types, and I hardly ever rage quit when my team is losing. Because I play for fun.

So when a vehicle like the M12LRV Warthog or the Mongoose in Halo 4 is so useless I can't drive around the map with my friends in tow, it really hits me hard as a player. All of the Large Vehicles in Halo 4 are 1 or 2 seats maximum. The lack of Cooperative vehicle mayhem hurts a key aspect that made Halo unique and fun for players like myself. 

(Skipping Reach)

Here is the list of Vehicles & driver + passenger count in Halo 4: 
1. Warthog 1+2
2. Mongoose 1+1
3. Scorpion Tank 1+1
4. Mantis 1
5. Banshee 1
6. Ghost 1
7. Wraith 1+1


The Multiplayer map list in Halo 4: 

•  Adrift: N/A   
  
• Abandon: N/A
• Complex: Geese, Ghosts
• Exile: Gauss & M12LRV Warthogs, Ghosts, the Scorpion, and Geese.
• Harvest: 4 Warthogs and Ghosts.
• Haven: N/A 
  
• Longbow: Warthogs, Geese and Ghosts. 
• Meltdown: Warthogs, Ghosts, and the Mantis.
• Ragnarok: Hogs, Ghosts, Geese, Banshees and the Mantis. 
• Shatter: Ghosts, and the Mantis.
• Solace: N/A
• Vortex: Ghosts, Geese, a Wraith, Rocket Hog, Regular Hog.
• Wreckage: Warthogs and Ghosts.  

As you can see above, there are many maps in Halo 4 that have a good selection of vehicles... But so many of them are easily destroyed now due to the Plasma Pistol + Plasma Grenade combo picked in load-outs. Another reason vehicle game-play in Halo 4 isn't as fun as before, is the layout of the new maps. Some of the brand new Large Maps in Halo 4 are not open enough to allow vehicles to drive around uninhibited. Shatter, Meltdown and Wreckage are good examples of this "Cluttered" kind of Large Map style. 

Even Exile (which is a good example of a decent Halo 4 vehicle map) has it's tight spaces. The most open area on the map (Which I have circled for you below) points to where vehicles tend to stay alive longer. So now you have your vehicle wedged against the wall, where you have the best sight lines for oncoming hordes of people charging you with their charged Plasma Pistol aglow and you may get a decent kill streak going. Oh did I also mention this is the M12G1"Gauss hog" I'm talking about and not the M12LRV. That Warthog usually sits at each base, rusting away the majority of matches.  

Exhibit A: 
 
 


















Now, Meltdown is an example of a really cramped vehicle map that isn't much fun to play on. Notice the cramped path-like areas vehicles like the M12LRV must stay on, in order to traverse this sort of map.

Exhibit B: 
 



















So: with their freedom of movement gone, numerous blind corners, Power weapons and the PP+ PG combo lurking about; light vehicles like the M12LRV Warthog/Ghosts/Mongoose are no real use (or fun for that matter.) to players who used vehicles because they were practical in previous titles. 
And on the cramped maps (Like Shatter) Slower vehicles like the Mantis get ambushed by players who just lay in wait in the tight spaces. Getting easy kills off a vehicle that would be quite formidable in an open area. 

The Warthog is so loved it spawned it's own Easter Egg.

 












Speaking of Easter...
Do you remember the story of the Velveteen Rabbit?

  















The story about a boy who loved his stuffed animal with all his heart (and that stuffed animal quietly loved him back.) They were inseparable until the day the boy gets terribly ill and the nanny ends up throwing out many of the boy's possessions afterwards; including the stuffed Rabbit who he loved so dearly. 

The Velveteen Rabbit was tossed into the trash pile, left unloved and broken in the corner...

The M12LRV Warthog is my Velveteen Rabbit 343i. And you have to be the ones that fix my unloved toy. 
 
 

 


 


 

 

























PS. The mongoose needs love too. 



 

Gotta Love Halo

Okay This is my first blog here, so let's get to it! I'm going to rant about a subject I am passionate about: The Halo universe, More specifically: Halo 4.

Once upon a time someone at +Bungie stated Halo had a "Golden Triangle of fun". This was supposed to be a balancing factor in what made the game work. Based on the Guns, Melee, and Grenade damage factors that made each a deadly part of the game but never overpowering one another.  This was all great and true in a sense, but as the series carried on both +Bungie and +343 Industries missed one thing: In many game-types, it was not just a triangle... (I'll get to that soon.)

 For players like myself, I have been in love with the Halo universe from the first time I set my eyes on that Magical Ring all the way back in 2002. What was the thing that pulled me back to the game? Sure it had a compelling story and beautiful sky-boxes... The AI was fun and challenging; and the physics engine was a blast to mess around with. But it was the Multiplayer that had me truly hooked. It was the Multiplayer that gave me a reason to lug my heavy Xbox and all my duke controllers over to my friends house to LAN party every Friday night for months on end. 

Then came Halo 2, and again the Multiplayer was the reason everyone bought a subscription to XBL back in 2004.  Which brings me to where the Golden Triangle first became apparent to the developers.
   In came Dual Wielding: a game-play mechanic which became (from a marketing standpoint) selling factor for Halo 2. Dual wielding was the new shiz that was in all the trailers. It made everyone cheer to see the MC wielding two guns at the E3 demo; blazing a path of bullets and destruction into the Covenant ranks. But alas: Dual Wielding actually broke Multiplayer in a horrible way, by making players start with half the killing power of others on the field... If you couldn't find a second weapon to wield before you ran into another player that WAS dual wielding, you were at a BIG disadvantage in a firefight. +Bungie  realized their mistake And when Halo 3 came out, everyone was back to starting with a single wield weapon. Halo 3 was by far my favorite in the franchise and it wasn't because the Battle Rifle was awesome-sauce; or because it had the best map selection of any Halo game; or even free DLC Bungie gave to their fans on 7/7/08; it wasn't because Single Bomb Assault was my favorite game-type either... 



It was fun because the G̶o̶l̶d̶e̶n̶ ̶T̶r̶i̶a̶n̶g̶l̶e̶  Nay! the Golden Wheel: one was the most balanced in the series.

The Golden Wheel is the true essence of the Halo series... And before we go any further YES there are other factors that can be added or removed to the wheel. And in each Halo game new "spokes" can be placed in the wheel. Such as Equipment in Halo 3, or the Armor Abilities that are in Reach and Load-outs in Halo 4.

*I will talk about Broken Armor Abilities soon. 

It seems the developers do a decent job of trying to balance the Triangle, but there is issue... Halo's fun isn't JUST found in a Triangle. It's a Wheel... And one spoke on that wheel is constantly overlooked as the series progresses.  Can you guess which one I'm speaking of? 








Time's up: the answer is Vehicles.

 Some Vehicles are SO utterly u̶n̶b̶a̶l̶a̶n̶c̶e̶d̶ unloved in Halo, they are no longer the fun killing machines they used to be. It seems each game comes out with a new way to destroy/kill/blow-up/disable/or just plain Stop vehicles with a prejudice... Now some go completely unused.

There is one vehicle in particular I am talking about that really stands out amongst the crowd, because every time I see one drive off into the distance to it's inevitable death (& subsequent double kill for the other team) I shed a small tear for what once was the king of Halo Multiplayer vehicles. 

It's our old beloved friend the Warthog.

The M12LRV Warthog is a veritable double/triple kill factory for any decent Halo player. Now, there could be an argument for the M12G1 "Gauss" Hog being Over-powered in Halo 4, I say: Leave it alone! it's doing just fine. Compared to the Gauss Hog's shooting speed in Halo 2 or 3; The M12G1 in Halo 4 is the sibling that sits in the bleachers taking puffs from his asthma inhaler, while cheering his older brothers on as they win Olympic Gold Medals in killing things. 

But I digress. Let's look at the history of the Hog, and see what and where the spoke on this wheel broke down. 
 

Halo 1 The hog was fast, Light, And the mounted  M41 LAAG that sat in the back, put holes in anything it saw fit to shoot. It couldn't be destroyed, and was just an all around ball of fun and killing (You can still find many videos of people sending them into space).

 

In Halo 2 they introduced destructible vehicles, which was fine by me, But H2 also added the Lock-on Rocket ability; which was the first in a series of Golden Wheel-breaking anti-vehicle mechanics that get introduced later in the series.



In Halo 3 they removed the Rocket Lock-on, but added the disable feature to the Plasma Pistol; as well as the Power Drain, Missile Pod and the dreaded Spartan Laser. (Not to mention the Halo 3 Beta Trip Mine's ability to stop anything and everything it was thrown at.)



In Halo Reach they added the over-heat to the Hog's mounted turret as well as a "Spin-up" period before the gun could start shooting. Leaving the Golden Wheel even more lopsided.


 
And So we come to Halo 4...
Here is what a Warthog looks like in Halo 4: 

 
Now, let me give you a list of things that are putting Warthogs on the endangered species list: 

1. Spartan Laser
2. Rockets
3. Banshee Bombs
4. Grenades
5. Incineration Cannon
6. Sticky Detonator 
7. Sniper and Beam Rifles (Both able to destroy a hog or used for sniping the inhabitants out of their seats due to the open canopy)
8. Binary Rifles
9. Rail Guns
10. Tanks (both of em) 
11. The Mantis
12. Fuel Rod Guns
13. And worst of all the Plasma Pistol. 

Now, why is the Plasma Pistol of all things the worst?? Because Halo 4 gave us all the ability to pick our load-outs. Letting just about anyone with some common sense to have the vehicle-stopping powerhouse in their back pocket. Before Halo 4 you had to find them on the map, and if you died: you lost it. Now: anyone can carry it with them into fray and if they die, they just re-spawn with a fresh one ready to go. 
This, in combination with the ability to select Plasma Grenades in your load out; allows everyone to stop and then kill any number of vehicles* if they so choose: a quick Overcharge blast and two sticks.

*Ghosts, Banshees and Gooses are on this list too.
 

This essentially is the biggest flaw in the wheel, When ALL players have a starting weapon + grenade combo: the M12LRV as we know it stands Obsolete and broken. 

So what can be done about it? There must be some options to get the M12LRV back in working order... Give it some speed? (actually all human vehicles are a bit slow in Halo 4.) Make the gun overheat a bit slower? Reduce the bullet spread coming from barrel of the M41 LAAG so it can actually hit something at range? (which would allow it to stay at a decent distance from grenade throws.) Give it some resistance against grenades, or add some stopping power to it's mounted gun? 
Any combination of these things could help to tip the scales back in its favor. Honestly why did the developers overlook the Hog's shortcomings so much? 


What did it ever do to you?

 


Forever Alone In The Warthog.
 




So 343i , 


 
Please for the love of all that is good and holy, make it worthwhile to ride the M12LRV again. fix the hog! I want to have epic flag runs like the ones I had playing on Blood Gulch, or The frantic Hog fights that riddled Rat's Nest; To see a Hog battle on Valhalla (Ragnarok now) that wont involve a bloom-filled fiery death for me and my passenger buddies. Fix the  Golden Wheel of Fun that is Halo's core balance, for I still love and enjoy Halo 4 immensely. 
I look forward to your next batch of DLC and I love the amazing story that is unfolding in Sp-Ops! 
  

But until the M12LRV gets some kind of balance update, I'll stick to walking thanks! 



And if you took the time to read this, Thank you!