Halo 4 will see more than just a continuation of Master Chief's story. It will also see the introduction of a vastly expanded multiplayer system with the addition of perks. These perks will heavily influence online gameplay and will make Halo 4 the first game in the Halo franchise to feature perks.
Shooter fans may notice a similarity in the newly announced perk system with Call of Duty. However, 343 Industries denies that the perks are the result of influence by Infinity Ward's popular series.
"I've never worked for Infinity Ward, or Respawn – for years I bet they were asked similar questions about how it's like the multiplayer system in Halo 2 or something like that," said Frank O'Connor in an interview with Eurogamer. "We're not chasing anybody else's tail – all the pressure comes from inside."
"What we do take very seriously is changing player habits. So rather than chasing Call of Duty or Battlefield and trying to do their thing and doing it poorly and doing injustice to it, we're trying to do our own thing, and do something fairly original but still something that's completely compatible with the Halo universe."
Given the existence of perks in a wide variety of shooters, it's no surprise that Halo is following suit to fit the needs of individual players. The addition shouldn't prove controversial, except to the most hardcore fans of Halo.
Halo 4 is exclusive to the Xbox 360. It's out this holiday season.
Source: Eurogamer