Halo2

[nonny]

Ok well I guess I will kick off this thread then...

Got my copy of Halo2 in Sydney at the midnight launch yesterday and so far have dabbled in both singleplayer (midway through 2nd level on heroic) and online.

I have to say, keeping a level head, I already have a few niggling issues with it, mainly in campaign mode but it is easily the best online game I have played, possibly ever and also the best Xbox title to date. Why is no-one surprised?

The main issues with the game crop up in the first few minutes. Its been stated everywhere that its using normal mapping but the cutscenes really look terrible in places... there is pop in, framerate stutters and the normal mapping only kicks in close up. Its alot like what was seen in Riddick but not as prominent but still definitely distracting.

Thankfully when you get into the real gameplay it all fades away and stays smooth apart from the minor loading stutters. As I said I am only midway through the 2nd level so its only just got started and I havent hit any spoiler worthy material as yet. The first level, as before, is fairly boring and a training ground (hell you get messages popping up centre HUD for the whole level) to get used to the new weapons and dual wielding etc... So far I am not a fan of the dual wield setup but it works, the main reason is because I really adore the battle rifle. This puppy just has everything going for it and so far its my weapon of choice. Grenade throwing has been altered hugely so now you really have to arc to get any distance on it. Its different but I am finding my aim is still there.

The 2nd level is where it really kicks off and starts getting interesting. The models on the enemies now look excellent, particularly the hunters... which I spent so much time trying to get up close and personal I nearly forgot to sidestep their charge move...

All up campaign, even early on looks like it will deliver hugely and I cannot wait to finish work. On the flipside though the single most impressive thing so far has been online play, and the netcode, it is practically flawless.

Whilst the majority of people I played online last night were obviously from the same region I did not see one lag issue in games ranging from 8 right up to the full 16 players. We are talking rocket/vehicle/grenade explosion mayhem as well. It is truly excellent and everyone else in the server was commenting on the same thing. Expect good things all round here.

The XBL 3.0 implementation is great as well, heck you can even add friends gamertags in game like you can in the dashboard. Dont think any other game lets you do that? Plus the clan/party grouping seems to work great as well. All of it works and works well, the menu system in place is completely intuitive.

I will leave it there for now... its something you really have to experience. Basically though Bungie just delivered the best online console FPS game ever...

[Prine]

Words cannot describe the emotions im feeling atm

It doesnt get better then this folks. Scarab bit was spectacular.

[NeilMcRae]

R63 lets you add friends.

[SUMIRE]

Damn it ...Europe should be first :P

[demon9k]

Sounds like LIVE is all its cracked up to be! I really can't wait to take this online, the days of trailing around 4 TVs are over

Damn you can your 9th November release day Gameplay say mine is est. 9/11/04 ship date so I may see it tomorrow morning That would just be perfect, a whole day off Uni on wednesday AND no work at night. PLEASE!!11!++

[PeteJ]

Have you checked out the Bungie.net stuff yet? I tried to find the stats last night but couldn't find the page (is it even online?) - I just want to know how detailed the Game Viewer thing is!

Thanks for the impressions!

[demon9k]

Its been online for at least a few days, not sure exactly how long though.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/

You can get that page through the Stats link at the bottom.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStats.aspx?gameID=64311&player=Death%20Sting

Click on Game Viewer and your done.

[Bleeders]

Not long now.

Thursday couldn't come any quicker... unless our n0rty retailers break the release date. *hopes*.

[PeteJ]

Cool, thanks for the link

[November Tango]

First impressions from the first hour of play on Heroic...

Pros:

-The new front end menu is incredibly slick.

-The music is absolutely fantastic. It's also more "diverse" than Halo 1.

- Graphics are more than a couple notches above the original.

- Dual weilding isn't as over-powered as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong--dual plasma rifles can turn an Elite to mulch. But just when you begin to think you're untouchable, you'll encounter a situation that would be so much better handled with a well placed grenade, or a more surgical approach with the Battle Rifle. These situations come often enough to balance things out.

- The opening sequence is so detailed it's almost... surreal. Or maybe it's just the sleep deprivation catching up to me.

Cons:

- Ok, EXTREME POP-UP in cutscenes. Seriously. I am no graphics whore by any stretch. But this is ridiculous. Watching normal maps 'pop' on a character model is tolerable. But when you watch as entire CHARACTERS pop into a scene--that's just sloppy. Unforgivable.

- The game's pacing so far has been dizzying. New characters being introduced left and right and the game makes it seem like you should care about them. But everything goes by so damn fast I'm not sure I do. I definately like Halo 1's slower approach.

- Voices in-game simply aren't as good as Halo 1's (thus far). All the aliens speak english now, which I feel is a mistake. The voice of the Elite and the Grunt in particular seem watered down and dull compared to the originals.

- The Chief seems to have more 'tude than he did in Halo 1. *yawn*

Undecided:

- Not sure whether I like the new "no health" approach to the gameplay. I want to reserve judgement until I really find my groove with the game. So far it has made it considerably more difficult than Halo 1. Basically, imagine Halo 1 where you are permanently stuck at one unit of health. Heroic has utterly pwned me more than a few times thus far because of this. So utterly, in fact, that I actually exited out of the game to see if I had accidently picked Legendary. Holy crap, if this is "Heroic," then...!

- The Chief's throwing power with grenades has been toned down. No more hard-balling plasma grenades into an Elite's face from across the room. You really have to arc your throws to get distance. I don't like how it feels, but I might warm up to it.

[Commander Marklar]

The Chief's throwing power with grenades has been toned down.

I don't think so... I've been playing multiplayer a bit and it seems more in line with how the Elite's throw the 'nades in Halo; more of a 'chuck' than a 'lob'. It takes a bit of rethinking in places but overall it is a lot faster and more accurate

[VR46]

great links Demon9k ta, I'm no experienced Halo player, the stats are by game type/arena I guess, will make more sense when I have the game. Silly me also thought there would be an overall leaderboard....

[demon9k]

I would totally agree about the grenade throwing CM. When I first played it...in eh austrailia last night...yes...I noticed that was more of a pitching throw from a baseball player rather than a nice arc lob like before. I don't think it matters which way they do it, you just have to adjust your aim, which tbh doesn't take that long.

And davidhollis:

One Leader border: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/TopPlayers.aspx?hop=1



I think rumble pit is the overall players ranking but the other leaderboards are here: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Leaderboards.aspx

[VR46]

think your right, cheers.

[007]

Legendary is absolutely sick.

Me and my mate tried to do the first level in co-op (he's a bit of a Halo noob) And we just got laid the hell down. Done about 30% of the first level in 2 hours. I wish you could save.

Took us a few hours to do level 2, that was totally immense. Starting to prefer left right split to up down split to be honest.