I just played with an assassin that would back grapple me 100% of the time, even though almost every time he was in front of me.
As much as I think this is a cop-out of sorts, I'll say it anyway: it's lag. And yeah, it's unpleasant. When I'm staring an assassin in the face only to be back-grapple insta-killed by that same assassin, my controller begs for mercy as I contemplate throwing it at a wall. I sometimes wonder aloud why I pay the amount I do for a solid internet connection when laggy players seem to have some sort of an advantage. I'm not joking.
I understand where you're coming from but I was a Tank and it was on LazeRazor. Almost every time he would run straight at me in a corridor and grapple my face (I killed him a lot but sometimes he got close to me) and every single time it was a back grapple. I heard from someone in my party that you can turn to the left and you get an auto-back grapple even to the front but I'm not sure.
People say it's lag, but it definitely has something to do with grappling at the side and turning into a back grapple. I play with a pretty high sensitivity and, as a result, move my view a lot when I'm lunging. Usually an assassin will grab me at the side and it magically turns into a back grapple. Very frustrating. This pretty much sums up my frustration.
You may be on to something with the "looking left thing", cause in halo (i know i know :roll: ), if you melee someones left or right shoulder from the side it turns into an assasination. So its most likely a combination of this + lag.
Playing as an Assassin, i noticed the complete opposite, when i am directly behind some and i grapple.. it turns into a front grapple, quite annoying actually as something that should of gotten me a kill ends up killing me. I'm sure its half and half, on other players' screens it looks like a front grapple turns into a back grapple, while for an Assassin somtimes a back grapple turns into a front grapple. Its all lag, proposed by the Devs awhile ago when i made a thread about it.
I've noticed this also and it's quite annoying I don't think it's lag because how can the assassin be the only character lagging?