Negatives
- Lower Shields: From the multiplayer footage I've seen it looks like they've sped up the gameplay through the reduction of damage  a player can take. It's still not at extremely low levels such that it's "first seen, first killed" but the longer and more tactical battles is something I've always felt set Halo apart from the majority of recent shooters and a lot of encounters look to be incredibly shortened.

My take on everything I've seen so far:

Positives
- Production values: The graphics and sound have definitely been a focus of 343. Sound effects pack a punch, voice acting is timed to perfection and the visual flair and sheen added to everything really helps put you in Chief's boots.
- More chatter between Chief and Cortana: This beckons back to the first game in the series where Cortana was constant discovering the world and updating you as you found new places. It really helps engage you in the process of discovery.
- Living world: I don't know if anyone else noticed the string ray looking animal near the top of the screen early in the gameplay demo but touches like that really help flesh out a bizarre new world and give it some identity. I hope to see more of that as it was really only done in early levels of Reach (the first level and the night level).
- Spartan Ops: I'm glad that they decided to at least replace Firefight with a co-operative mode. Spartan Ops looks like it will be a great time with buddies and I might even feel compelled to buy DLC's (I've only ever bought 2 pieces of DLC on consoles and they were on sale - and never on PC) for it if they decide to go that route.

Negatives
- Linearity: The demo itself seemed to function much like the initial levels of the Halo games of yesteryear in that it was mostly linear to introduce you to various gameplay mechanics. I wouldn't be surprised if this section of demo doesn't even make it into the game and was solely created to introduce things like the thermal visor and new enemy (and weapons) during their brief SP E3 showing. Having said that, I've stated my fear that 343's goal to make the latest entry more cinematic might come at the cost of some of the openness and scope of the level design. My fear isn't fully justified as I haven't seen a whole lot of the game but what i have seen so far doesn't aid in mitigating it either. 
- Soundtrack: Yes, it does convey the more serious tone that they want to take with the series and it is good quality music but it just isn't memorable. It's a lot like what I think of Uncharted's music - it fits the bill and is fun to listen to while playing the game but it doesn't have that extra special something like the soundtrack of TES, Halo, Zelda, SoTC, or AC2 that really gets your heart and emotions going.
- Lack of Firefight: It remains to be seen if Spartan Ops can fill the void that removing Firefight will have on my interest in the game. So far it looks almost up to the task but Firefight was seriously my favourite game mode of Halo since ODST.
- Lower Shields: From the multiplayer footage I've seen it looks like they've sped up the gameplay through the reduction of damage  a player can take. It's still not at extremely low levels such that it's "first seen, first killed" but the longer and more tactical battles is something I've always felt set Halo apart from the majority of recent shooters and a lot of encounters look to be incredibly shortened.

So there you have it. Some good and some bad. I'm a heavily single player focused player (with a huge love for co-op modes) so the lower shields isn't as big an issue to me as something like linearity or lack of firefight (in fact it isn't even close to the importance), but I thought I'd share all that I noticed and maybe describe something that someone else couldn't quite put their finger on in their own analysis. Nevertheless, I'm feeling better about Halo 4 than I ever did about Reach so it looks like 343 is taking some steps in the right direction.

Millenium said: Some of us should get together on LIVE when the game releases, we'll make the VGC Squirtan Ops group

I agree!

- Lower Shields: From the multiplayer footage I've seen it looks like they've sped up the gameplay through the reduction of damage  a player can take. It's still not at extremely low levels such that it's "first seen, first killed" but the longer and more tactical battles is something I've always felt set Halo apart from the majority of recent shooters and a lot of encounters look to be incredibly shortened.