Halo Reach

[EvilBoris]

Isn't Halo a space station though?

That is what I thought he was saying.

I.e. they are building another space station in H3 to replace the original Halo ring.

I assume he's talking about the original game. I'm positive there was no planet in the middle of the space station( halo)

[ItsThere]

I assume he's talking about the original game. I'm positive there was no planet in the middle of the space station( halo)

Agreed.

There was a planet next to it though. You could see it in some of the cut scenes.

[Brats]

The Halo story is so bafflingly stupid it's beyond comprehension. The first game was OK, then in part 2 is started going crazy. By H3 it was incoherent fanboy ramblings, seemingly there just to please other fanbois. Truly, truly awful.

Nice. So everyone who understands and enjoys the Halo story is just a Halo fanboy?

People can have different opinions without resulting to insults.

[EvilBoris]

Agreed.

There was a planet next to it though. You could see it in some of the cut scenes.

Yeah , but you are running around on a giant ring, the inside of it which is like a planet surface.

[jimtendo]

Just going back to Charlie's point about the Elites on Legendary. They are truely devilish this time. Yet they don't seem to have a cool down on their side dives like you do on multiplayer... ho hum.

Anyway.
Unless you've got a plasma pistol and doing the classic 1-2 weapon swap finish off, then you stand practically no chance close quarters. Before you could kinda get away with it, but due to the lack of power the MA37 ICWS Assault Rifle has at getting the shield down and that they are very nimble, count your prayers.

Even the gold/ yellow coloured Elites take about 3-4 sniper hits to the head :|
Most of the time I usually like to use either the DMR or Needler rifle, as it's good for just spacing and chipping away, providing there's not a lot of cover.

[Prototype]

While I wouldnt call it too easy, this certainly seems to be alot easier than previous games (which contradicts what I read in most reviews before playing it).

It wasnt that long ago that i played through ODSt and that was a heck of alot harder on Heroic than this.

It does seem alot more balanced now though and also seems to get harder as it goes on (unlike Halo 3 where the first level was strangley the hardest, or ODST where they throw about 4 Elites at you at once near the start of the game and never let up).

The balancing is just yet another reason why it is a big improvment for the series.

It really is a fantastic game.

ODST was obviously harder because of the lack of health regeneration with a trooper.

I'm on the fourth mission on legendary. And the balancing isn't really that great on legendary when there are abour four or five elites around the map, and those guys with the shields are annoying too.

[Matt]

Nice. So everyone who understands and enjoys the Halo story is just a Halo fanboy?

People can have different opinions without resulting to insults.

Anyone who reads the novels is a fanboy, yes. I can't imagine as literature the books hold much merit beyond servicing the fans. Which is fine, that's why they're written. And as apparently the only way for Halo 3 to make any narrative sense is to understand the backstory as told in the books (or so someone posted on here), then my conclusion must stand.

Calling someone a FanBoy is not necessarily an insult. I'm a fan of many things. I see nothing wrong with branding someone a fanboy when the shoe fits.

The truth is most games have crap stories and are told in a crap way. I dare say Halo has an awesome story going on, but if the devs are so far up their arse they tell it in random snippets with no coherence or logical structure, so only the diehard fanatics who salivate over every minor detail can piece it together, then what am I supposed to? Of course I ostensibly know what's going on in Halo, but all dramatic tension is lost by crap story telling.

But then I'd say the same about many games, including the Metal Gear series.

Now I'll duck out of the way as I get attacked en masse

[Matt]

Anyway, played 3 hours or so multiplayer last night. It's Halo with more people. Pretty much what I expected. Graphically much better than H3 though still not brilliant (expect the campaign to be an improvement on this).

Surprising lack of weapons in the maps. Of course I'm learning them still so not knowing where the weapons are, but still - barren! The default assault rifle seemed like a peashoot, hardly causing any damage. Though I'll get used to that, most FPS titles I've played recently are the now standard "2 to 3 shot kills" style, so going back to a more traditional Doom/Quake model is a shock to the system, made even tougher with the shield regen.

Played a few gametypes. HeadHunter seemed the best of the few, have to look at it more and see if it can be adjusted so there's a great risk/reward system for collecting multiple skulls (ie 1 skull = 1 point, 2 skulls = 3 points, 3 = 5 points, etc). I believe that was the standard in HeadHunter in Quake 2.

So far enjoying it enough, and welcome back to the photo mode. Looking forward to seeing what people come up with

[Brats]

As I said earlier in the thread, I've never read any of the books. I can follow the story fine. I'm not saying I'm super human, but it's just told in a different way that appeals to me. It's like something The Godfather where a lot of the story is propelled by conversations and off screen action rather than just what is overtly expressed to the viewer.

And I think fanboy is pretty derogatory. Fan is perfectly fine, but fanboy implies ones critical faculties have gone.

[Matt]

Motivations and flow are always clear in The Godfather. If they're not, they become apparent later on.

As I say, the biggest issue I have with it is the simple fact the story, and thus the game, could be truly epic if the narrative and cut-scene direction was good. In Halo 3 it's not even competent. As it happens I started co-op H3 the other day with a friend who has never played any Halo games, and he literally had no ****ing idea what was going on. And I can assure you, he's incredibly intelligent.

I think part of the problem is the way the story is told. It's not engaging. It's very easy to phase out during the cut-scenes.

With that soundtrack you could get an amazing emotional response from the player / viewer.

In case you can't tell, crap narrative and story telling is something I really have an issue with in video games. As graphics get better and devs strive for a more cinematic style, the more their inability to tell these stories shines through.

Regarding telling stories in different ways, I think the best example in a game is Ico. It shows you just enough to make up your own reasons for your actions, but there's a clear flow of that story throughout. Oh, and I'm very partial to something like Elite where you make up your own story based on your current actions. I'm drawing a blank right now on stories I've played in a game that have emotionally hit me. Something will pop into my head later....

[englishbob]

I guess you didnt take much notice of the story in any of the games.

I tried, its ****ing impossible to be honest. There is a fair split of persons here who agree and others who think it isn't.

I can only speak from personal experience, but this "series" is as close to Metal Gear Solid in its difficulty to understand as it gets.

I know that a high majority of games suffer the same fate, not just Halo. But with such a fuss over Halo every time it is released, I expect something better with regards to the script for its single player element.

[SuperBeatBoy]

My limited edition just turned up! Finally. Will play this as soon as i turn on the lights.

What a great limited edition though, Halsey's Journey is lovely.

[Brats]

Motivations and flow are always clear in The Godfather. If they're not, they become apparent later on.

I think they are in Halo too - I know people who've watched the Godfather and not been able to follow what's going on.

As I say, the biggest issue I have with it is the simple fact the story, and thus the game, could be truly epic if the narrative and cut-scene direction was good. In Halo 3 it's not even competent. As it happens I started co-op H3 the other day with a friend who has never played any Halo games, and he literally had no ****ing idea what was going on. And I can assure you, he's incredibly intelligent.

He could be Steven Hawkins, but even he would have difficulty working out is going on in Halo 3 without any exposure to the previous games. Knowing the events of Halo 1 and (particularly) 2 are essential, and I kind of like the fact that there is no refresher at the beginning - just straight to it.

I think part of the problem is the way the story is told. It's not engaging. It's very easy to phase out during the cut-scenes.

But a lot of the story isn't told in the cutscenes, it's wrapped into the conversations with Cortana, Guilty Spark and Gravemind during the gaps between fights or in the actions of the protagonists. I find that because of that, the games have a very natural flow to them. Cutscenes are sparse and infrequent because they are usually about moving from area to another. Halo is the complete antithesis of most games where cutscenes are used to propel the story, whereas in Halo they just bookend the levels and are more 'practical' than story focused.

If you just follow the cutscenes, you won't have a clue what's going on, and it will just seem like dudes moving between different locations and fighting one another.

[Matt]

Now I found those "flashes" disrupting and frustrating. I'm going around doing my thing, and a loud voice starts yelling nonsensical jargon at me and the screen slows down.

I think you're also touching on a big issue with Halo and many other games there - too many "factions" and characters, with incomprehensible names. It's like a really badly kids cartoon. I accept games are different to films, but games could learn a thing or two about storytelling. Again, it's a dev thinking they're creating some epic mythos or something. It happens time and time again, they have a hit, and then flood the sequels with such contrivances my brain explodes. Gears 2 and Modern Warfare 2 are great recent examples.

There's also an argument against telling the story while the game flows, as the player is already engaged in an activity (ie playing). HL2 does it well - you're still playing as the story unfolds, but you're standing there, no action going on. I recall the Gravemind nonsense from H3, yikes that was bad.

Seriously, "Gravemind" and "Guilty Spark"? They need to find a writer who has completed puberty.

[MJ]

The only downside to the level design is that they've blatently copy and pasted multiplayer spaces into the single player. They are litterally exactly the same. Normally I'd expect single player design to get carried across to multiplayer, but this was clearly done the other way around.

I've noticed this too and thought it was an odd design decision. I've recognised the area from one of the beta maps and I've just finished the level that includes the section which is the Ivory Tower remake. I haven't paid attention to other multiplayer maps to spot them in the campaign.