Halo has "a lot to learn" from COD4

Bungie's lead AI programmer, Damian Isla, has said he's keen to take a few tips from Infinity Ward and Call of Duty 4.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz Isla said he's a fan of COD4, adding, "We have a lot to learn from their success... They did some very innovative things to keep people going and their experience-rewards system was something that we paid a lot of attention to. I think it's a great game and single-player is obviously fantastic.

"They did a hell of a job with their set pieces, of scripting certain moments that they were really sure the player was going to actually see and experience first hand. The way that they use those moments to craft the player experience... Halo has a lot to learn from."

Sure, said Isla, there are plenty of scenes in the Halo that are scripted, in-game moments - but, "A lot of time players don't experience it, or they don't see the thing going on, or they maybe don't experience it in quite the same way we expected them to."

Isla went on to explain the "simulation" element can make things tricky when it comes to creating scripted moments. "I think Halo has always been an extremely simulation driven game... Simulation, I think, adds replayability - it adds depth to the game - but it also makes scripting much more difficult and it means designers have a much harder time."

For more from Isla, read the full interview.