Halo series

[Foggle]

Then again, if the game is indeed being kept exactly the same as it was 10 years ago aside from graphics, than that means it'll be moving at 30fps instead of 60fps, which may take some adjusting to as I've grown really used to the faster gameplay from the sequels.

I doubt it. The PC version runs at 60+ FPS.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

But that's the PC version. I thought 343 was basing this remake off of the original XBOX version of the game. Then again, it would make more sense to base it off of the PC version if that did run at 60fps, because if they wanted to introduce CE to a new generation of gamers, most of them would probably be too spoiled by games playing in 60fps to adjust to a game with exactly half of that frame-rate speed. I guess I'll just have to see for myself when the game comes out.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Giant Bomb made a Halo Anniversary Quick Look that's pretty good.

Some interesting opinions within on FPS games and Halo in general as well as a look back on when the original came out.

I wish I had money for all these games coming out this holiday. Especially for something like this...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Judging by its reviews as well as general fan reception, the game has aged pretty well on the whole, even though some things about it might come off as dated or jarring if you haven't played it in years. Most noticeably, if Halo: Reach was the last Halo game that you played, getting back into HCE may take some getting used to since unlike in Reach, there's no weapon kick-back in that game whatsoever (which technically makes aiming easier, but it also feels kind of awkward compared to modern shooters). Either way, though, the core gameplay is still great according to most people, and the AI are still quite impressive even in this day and age (of course, if you're experienced enough with the original, you can also have just as much fun exploiting them for their weaknesses).

[Spark Of Spirit]

So why couldn't they just take Halo 1 multiplayer and add online to it? That's all I really wanted from multiplayer, since I loved the Halo 1 maps.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

There's actually 2 reasons:

1. This was a budget project, and they spent most of the money and resources they had put aside for this game on the campaign mode. Believe it or not, doing the same stuff they did like running 2 engines simultaneously for a fresh coat of paint on the graphics would have been very costly and more complex for the multiplayer maps. Of course they could have just released the maps in SD if they wanted to, but I suppose that would go against the idea of this being an HD remake.

2. 343i Said that they didn't want to divide up the Halo multiplayer community too much. Its already divided up somewhat between Halo 3 and Reach (which is why Reach never had as many people playing it online as Halo 3 did when it was the only halo game on the XBOX360), and if they were to additionally give HCE its own multiplayer, it would even further divide up the community which would severely affect matchmaking in Reach, which would in turn piss people off and get even more people to stop playing, or something to that effect.

Personally I wouldn't have minded if they at least gave us HCE's multiplayer for offline so that I could still play it with my friends in college, but I guess we have the original Halo for that, and if you want to play it online there is always the PC version.

My main gripe is that I don't really like Reach's multiplayer. I hate most of the maps and I hate the Forge maps even more (and those make up more than half of the maps in the entire game). And, while its technically more balanced than any previous Halo games, its also more boring for it because the more fun weapons are kept to a minority in the multiplayer and instead you are either stuck with either a DMR or AR most of the time. I'm also not really a fan of the armor abilities in terms of competitive play.

To me, the best Halo multiplayer experience would be Halo 3's mechanics with Halo 1's maps. But putting that aside, even with just the great campaign mode alone, I still think that this game is worth picking up. I'll probably end up getting it for Christmas, though, along with maybe Sonic Generations if I'm lucky.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

While watching that quick look from Giant Bomb, I noticed caught onto something interesting that they were talking about in that video during their conversation, when comparing the game to the recently released Modern Warfare 3 and how different their design philosophies were. When I think about it, Halo and Call of Duty are pretty much the 2 dominant console FPS franchises in terms of popularity, and its interesting to compare them because they are also completely opposite in so many ways.

Comparing to 2, I think that the biggest difference I notice is that Call of Duty is very much about the instant gratification for the player as opposed to having them earn satisfaction over a longer period of time. I'm not saying that there's no challenge to it or anything like that, but more than it puts emphasis on a rushed pacing, forcing the player to move from one big encounter to the next and trying to set up epic set-piece battle after epic set-piece battle. Even in the multiplayer this philosophy carries over somewhat from what I can tell, mainly in terms of how quick death comes to anyone and everyone due to the player only being able to take a minimal amount of damage before death.

Halo on the other hand opts out for slowing things down a bit (though, as they pointed out in their discussion in the QL video, the sequels ended up adopting a faster pace, but even then they slowed things down quite a noticeable amount of times), and rather than set-up huge set-piece battles, it instead goes for a more sandbox approach, giving you relatively large and open environments with lots of obstacles and structures that can be used for cover or can be utilized to form effective strategies. Battles take longer, and enemies take more damage before you can put them down, which forces you to be more methodical about how you take them on (unless you're playing the game on Easy, of course), and although you have recharging health you'll go down pretty fast yourself if you're not careful and observant of your surroundings, as enemies can flank you and swarm you with firepower before you have a chance to react properly. Basically, the challenge and fun of Halo comes more from overcoming challenging enemy skirmishes which usually have a few sets to them within each given area that's fairly sizable, with the much fewer times in which you're traversing through narrow corridors being the main exception to that rule. Rather than give you big scripted set-pieces, Halo always seems to be more about giving you a big sandbox to mess around in, but at the same time still keeps the objectives focused enough for those who want to keep the pacing going.

Its not all great, as sometimes it can blow past the line of fun and get into the territory of tedium, but most of the time I find it to be a really engaging and rewarding experience, though mostly only in the first game and more recently in Reach. That's not to say that there's anything really wrong with CoD's more scripted, movie-shooter approach to its campaign mode, and the quick-deaths in its multiplayer. Its just that its not really my cup of tea, whereas Halo seems to suit my personal tastes a lot better. Either way, it really makes for an interesting contrast between the 2 best-selling FPS franchises of the current generation.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, seeing as how Halo has its fair mix of fans and haters, I was thinking about what I myself like and hate (well, less strongly than hate, probably dislike) about the series in general, as a whole. Now, noticing some people saying that they don't "get" the appeal of Halo (which I can totally understand since for a brief time I was sort of a hater myself after Halo 3's campaign mode disappointed me), I kind of got to thinking myself and had to ask myself: "You know what? That's a good point. Why does Halo even appeal to me in the first place?"

Of course, after playing Halo: Reach which was the best Halo title since the first game, I was reminded a lot of what I initially loved about the series, but after having replayed through the game a total of 5 times (covering multiple difficulties and both single-player and multi-player) as well as having played through ODST, which was OK but not great, I also remembered some things that I'm not so keen on with the series. That said, I'll try and list down some of my general likes and dislikes, with no game singled out in particular, when judging the series as a whole, to sort of give an idea of why someone like me would find it appealing, but at the same time point out some noticeable flaws which I find the series to have.

Likes:

Primarily the combat. If that combat weren't any good the gameplay would feel stale and I wouldn't like the game at all. Thankfully, the enemies are smart and challenging if you play the game on Heroic or Legendary, and I love a good challenge as long as its not cheap to the point of being frustrating, and Halo is mostly pretty balanced. Whether its with guns or vehicles, Halo gives you tons of room to use strategy and each time you take down an enemy there is a sense of satisfaction that you get, like each kill is a mini-accomplishment of sorts, and after a long skirmish with tons of smart enemies, it gives you a very rewarding feeling for having made it through an entire battle alive. Few FPS games that I have played can match that sort of feeling that I get from Halo's combat system.

The relatively open environments are great too. They are still linear and aside from the first game you'll rarely ever get lost in them like you might in DOOM, but there are always little secrets and easter eggs to reward you if you go wandering off in some areas, and on top of that the open level design allows for you to use different strategies, like approaching challenging fights in different ways, or if you don't even feel like enduring a particular fight, you can skip them altogether if you're good enough at navigating your way through the levels. I much prefer this to the highly scripted nature of most CoD inspired shooter campaigns that we get these days. It allow for variety and as a result increases the replay value of the game.

The music. Not really much to say here except for the fact that I like it.

Plasma grenades. Ok, come one. Even if you hate Halo I don't see how you can deny how fun these are to use. Maybe its not original, I'm sure someone can point out some other games that may have utilized sticky-grenades like this, but Halo has the added bonus of having awesome successive chain reaction grenade explosions. Its awesome to see how chaotic things get if you manage to do so much as successfully get one sticky grenade stuck to a mere Grunt and then watch as it panics and runs into a group of its allies (your enemies) and takes a bunch of them down with it while setting off some nearby grenades and thus taking out even more of your competition. Moments like those are among my fondest memories in all of gaming, which is saying a lot.

The multiplayer. I'm not really a fan of multiplayer though I do play it casually, and if I am playing a multiplayer game with friends, any Halo game would probably be one of my top picks, as I can't really deny that the multiplayer is solid and is backed up by tight mechanics and great weapon variety. The maps really vary in quality, though, but for the most part its just plain fun to play offline with buddies whenever I get the opportunity to (though, admittedly that isn't much).

Now, all of that stuff is well and good, but there are of course things I'm not so pleased with in these games.

Dislikes:

The Flood. Aside from the first game in which they are pretty balanced, they are pretty much a nuisance to fight in all of the sequels. Well, if you're playing on co-op they aren't so bad, but I rarely have a friend to play with so its really noticeable to me how un-fun these enemies are to fight. They can be really aggravating and they don't play to the series' gameplay strengths at all, IMO.

I also hate how every single Halo game has such a mess of a checkpoint system. That's really all there is to say about that.

Your ally marines....good god are they far more of a pain to you than they actually are helpful. At their best they can probably distract your enemies and temporarily draw some of their fire away from you, but more often than not I've be hindered by these dumb-assed than actually helped by them. They can't drive vehicles for shit, and if they do and I'm not in it they usually run me over and kill me before the enemies have a chance to, and I've even had them step into my line of fire quite a few times  fucking up my focus in an intense situation.

The monotonous level design in some more lazily designed areas. This varies from game to game, but each Halo game has at least one notorious area that is guilty of being lazily designed, looking bland, and worse than that being hard to navigate unless you know the game inside and out due to how repetitive the level design looks. It can get aggravating at times and ruin the pacing of the games.

Anyways, that's pretty much all I can think of off the top of my head, but I can probably add more likes and dislikes later on if I remember them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've been reliving a lot of good memories while replaying Halo CE via Anniversary. I'm currently up to Two Betrayals so far (I'm actually about half-way through it, actually), and I thought that I would briefly share my thoughts on each level that I have replayed so far and how I feel that they hold up:

The Pillar of Autumn- This is a pretty basic level, as its really just a tutorial level. It did wow me back in the day as this was one of my very first experiences with an FPS, but at the same time its probably the 2nd most restrictive level in the game next to The Library, and while its decent it does pale in comparison to what's on offer in the much more open and exploration-heavy levels of the game.

Halo- This is basically the real first level of the game, and what a level it is. Still to this day the sheer scale of this level still amazes me. Sure, other FPS games can now support much wider scale with current technology and whatnot, but if you stop to think about it, most FPS games take the lazy route and instead have much tighter and narrower levels which are far more restrictive with how you can traverse the environments in those games. In the level Halo, you are free to explore every last inch of the level and while you don't necessarily find any rewards or special Easter eggs (well, you do in the Anniversary version, but not in the original), you do need to explore to find where you need to go next and its really rewarding to successfully make your way through such a vast level. Additionally, it allows for a near endless possibility of tactics to use against your enemies, such as using natural rock formations for cover and as hold points or cleverly sneaking around to try and catch your enemies off-guard. To me, this is where the player gets their first real taste of how Halo is supposed to be played.

Truth and Reconciliation- A classic pace-breaker level, not in terms of challenge or scale, but instead in terms of tone. This mission takes place at night and allows you to dabble just a little bit in stealth without losing focus on the game's combat strengths, and the 2nd half of the level in which you make your way on board a Covenant ship to rescue Captain Keyes proves to be an interesting endeavor as you are now directly in enemy territory and the game has the opportunity to throw even more challenging encounters at you (and the way you utilize this unique environment to your advantage really changes up the strategy from the more open outdoor area levels).

The Silent Cartographer- Another great level, which has a good mix of both large scale environments with action-packed and tactical encounters with some isolated and more quiet areas that help give the game a good sense of atmosphere. Other than that there isn't really much else to say about this stage other than its good.

Assault on the Control Room- I have to say that, IMO, this is probably the best level in the game. The reason for why I feel that way about it is because it essentially combines every good element that both previous and later levels have, and the way the level is structured and paced it manages to blend all of these elements very smoothly and seamlessly into one long but really enjoyable stage. You start out in some narrow and dark corridors but they are successfully atmospheric and still allow you plenty of maneuvering room for some good strategy to use against your enemies. Later you open up into a snowy battlefield and in addition to getting a good dose of the regular gun-play combat that you're used to, you now get access to the more heavy artillery within the game such as the rocket launcher and the Scorpion tank, introducing a new element of taking down other vehicles which you also see for the first time, like Wraiths, Ghosts, and Banshees, the latter 2 Covenant vehicles being ones which you get a chance to pilot within the level. And on that note, the vehicles play a big part of how you play this level. You can take a Warthog and have a fellow Marine help you gun down your opposition as you drive around, or you can take a Ghost take the shooting into your own hand while still also dealing with the driving. But of course my favorite option is to take the slow but insanely powerful Scorpion to demolish all of your opposition. Sure, it makes things almost entirely too easy, but I can't deny how much fun it is to just dominate tough enemies with such a over-powered tank. Also, if you're quick enough you can commandeer a Banshee before one of your enemies takes it to use it against you, and doing so actually gives you the option to skip a whole chunk of the level as you can personally fly it straight up to the end of the level, which makes it a really nice reward if you happen to be skilled enough to take out the enemies fast enough at that section in order to get to it yourself. In that regard its very much like getting to a hard alternate route in a good level of Sonic or Mario (yes, I just compared Halo to Sonic and Mario ). Overall its the quintessential Halo level, IMO, because it has all of the things that I actually really like about Halo crammed into one epic-sized stage.

Even though I've replayed past this point, I'll elaborate on the 2nd half of the game's levels after I finish replaying the game, as I do feel that the 2nd half has a drastic change in tone and gameplay from the first that warrants me to discuss it separately, even if I do talk about the levels themselves individually.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I'm up to The Maw in the campaign mode, which of course you all know is the final level. I actually got to this point a lot quicker than I expected, but that's probably because I remembered most of the levels well enough to navigate them without getting lost too much.

For the most part I think that a lot of the game holds up really well (except for The Library, which is every bit as tedious and annoying now as it was 10 years ago), but after having played Halo: Reach, recently, I am starting to feel that Reach just may have the upper edge for me, now, which is really saying a lot because I found every other Halo game to pale in comparison to the first game's campaign mode. For some reason only Reach seemed to get it right again, at least by my standards.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I beat the game on Normal. Personally I still think its one of the best console FPS games that I have played, and it pretty much trumps most FPS games that I have played this gen in terms of quality and fun, for the most part. I already started replaying the game on Heroic and while the first level is a breeze the 2nd level is where things start getting really intense, and I really like the added challenge. I'm not sure if I'll be able to complete Legendary by myself, though, as I remember the first 2 games having a significantly harder Legendary mode than any of the sequels (and at that even Halo 2's Legendary difficulty wasn't as hard as the first game's, IMO).

[Foggle]

The new Game Informer made Halo 4's single-player story sound pretty sick. So much so that I want to give the Xbox 360 games another try. I don't exactly have a lot of scratch atm, so this won't be happening for a long time, but I must ask...

Which 360 Halo would you guys most recommend; 3, ODST, or Reach? Better yet, what do you like/dislike about their campaigns? Thanks.

[gunswordfist]

In Microsoft, I trust.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be honest, the preview kind of made it seem like the game might end up being more scripted than previous games in going for the more cinematic approach....which is something that would kill my interest in the series (not that I'm all that interested in Halo 4 to begin with). That said, I may still give this game a chance when it comes out since I have played every single main Halo game up until this point, and I must admit that I am curious to see how it'll turn out.

Which 360 Halo would you guys most recommend; 3, ODST, or Reach? Better yet, what do you like/dislike about their campaigns? Thanks.

Reach, by far. To me, it was the first Halo game since CE that realized what made that game so great in the first place. The levels are linear in terms of progression but the environments are huge in terms of creating room for combat strategy. There are a ton of different ways to handle each and every single fight in the game, whether you want to use vehicles, go on foot, or be creative and use some absurd method to get through certain fights (or even skip them, if you are good enough at utilizing the level terrain to you're advantage). Its basically the exact opposite of the tightly scripted and restrictive levels of Call of Duty. That said, definitely play the game on Heroic. Normal is way too forgiving, and even if you aren't that adept at playing an FPS on a controller pad, it helps a lot to adjust the sensitivity of the movement to your preferences, and at any rate its something that you could easily get used to after a couple of hours of playing.

Also, Reach has NO FLOOD. I can't begin to describe how much more replayable it makes that game than any other Halo game, IMO.

As for Halo 3 and ODST, I prefer ODST over 3 for multiple reasons, but both are decent games. I just have a lot of problems with each of them.

With Halo 3, I feel as though the game is just lacking something that is essential to the Halo experience. I'm not sure what it is, but to me it stands out the most from any of the other Halo games, and not really in a good way (this is only in regards to the campaign mode, of course). My biggest gripe with it, though, is lack of Elites as enemies. If there's one thing I'm glad Halo 4 has in it, its the return of the Elites as enemies (they are also enemies in Halo: Reach, but its not really a "return" since that game was prequel). I honestly don't give a shit how it fits into the story-line in a plausible way. I just want to fight Elites, since from a gameplay standpoint they have the best AI out of any enemy in the whole series.

The other thing I hate about Halo 3 is how uninspired the design feels. The game is never really downright bad (except for the level Cortana, of course), but its never really much above average, either. It just feels like a standard, forgettable campaign mode, with no moments in particular that really ever stood out as memorable, to me. Even Halo 2, despite the flaws of its campaign, had moments which I really liked and love to replay. For me, Halo 3 has none of that. Also, the game is just a chore to play through on Legendary. I FUCKING HATE JACKAL SNIPERS!

Halo 3: ODST, is certainly an improvement, IMO. I also like that it has no Flood. Honestly, I don't even mind how short it is if only because I got it for really cheap, anyways. I just feel that, while it feels much more polished than Halo 3, it largely suffers from that same problem of feeling uninspired. It just plays it safe for the most part and does stuff that we've already seen a million times in the series from the first 2 games, except just not as good, IMO. Also, it does have a hub world, but its pretty bland and boring and usually I just couldn't wait to get to the next level of the game since I prefer when Halo has more focused and straightforward objectives.

[Foggle]

To be honest, the preview kind of made it seem like the game might end up being more scripted than previous games in going for the more cinematic approach....which is something that would kill my interest in the series (not that I'm all that interested in Halo 4 to begin with). That said, I may still give this game a chance when it comes out since I have played every single main Halo game up until this point, and I must admit that I am curious to see how it'll turn out.

I meant the actual story itself. AI degradation causing computer people to go insane. Sounds awesome to me.

Also, Reach has NO FLOOD. I can't begin to describe how much more replayable it makes that game than any other Halo game, IMO.

Oh, nice! That alone makes me want to play it.