Halo Reach

[SuperBeatBoy]

Im finding quite a lot of players are simply leaving the plasma pistols without realising how deadly they are. The new charge restriction on it (hold it and it depletes rapidly) means you can only hold the charge a few times and need to time it well, but it's still the ultimate way to drop someones shields and then with the DMR they're a 1-2 shot kill.

I haven't played it online yet. Went straight onto the campaign again on Legendary. Bloody love it. Thats preety much my technique for the elites, they piss easy that way. Also i shoot the hand of the jackles, they drop their shield and then i finish them off with a headshot. Makes me feel like a badass.

[nonny]

Does anyone know if there is a comprehensive guide to the Forge editor out there?

I've been messing around with it on the weekend and I never bothered with it in Halo3 but there doesnt seem to be much information in the manual or on bungie.net that I can see on how to edit. Is there a way to select more than one object at a time? plus is there a way to be really precise lining up objects other than pressing B and going into edit co-ordinates?

[Neon Ignition]

Well, finished this yesterday after setting the weekend aside for it and final verdict after a spotty relationship with Halo in the past is:

The Good
Before really cracking on from here I'll stick my neck out and say that in all fairness this is likely the best of the Halo games and fair play to Bungie that they managed to pull this off at the last leg. I'm another one for the Plasma Pistol/DMR combo, it makes quick work of anything. Towards the latter half of the game there are some decent sequences in place and despite the limitations of the engine they manage to put together some great imagery. Musically the game is spot on again and the campaign is a decent length. I've done some time messing about online and though not addictive it's holding me better than Halo 3 or ODST's did.

The Bad
I've seen a few places rank this as one of the hardest Halo's which seems odd as it's really quite easy. After finishing it on Heroic I messed around in some levels on Legendary to see what it's like and it wasn't that different. Despite the claims to the contrary it's wildy obvious that there is no AI working behind the scenes as enemies run randomly left and right in a loop without purpose and staying outside their trigger area allows you to kill them without them even moving. The same goes with close combat with it often being as simple as running and gunning as Halo isn't and hasn't ever been a cover shooter, using cover to keep your health up in a fire fight is no different or frustrating at times as it is doing the same in COD because the difficulties ramped up.

The Future
Based on where the series is at the moment, with or without Bungie it has to be clear the engine needs throwing out. Personally, though prettily drawn, I find the reliance on 2D backdrops to be a little illusion breaking. I'd change cutscene/story people too as I wasn't engaged with the Noble Team or Reach's plight at all. I'd even (that's right ) change the combat system. It's alright but I find it to be too clunky and lacking when it comes to pin point aiming.

Verdict
I ummed and ah'd about the score for a while but being fair I'd say it's a strong finish for an overrated series which is a dignified way to leave for Bungie - 8/10

[Malc]

I haven't played it online yet. Went straight onto the campaign again on Legendary. Bloody love it. Thats preety much my technique for the elites, they piss easy that way. Also i shoot the hand of the jackles, they drop their shield and then i finish them off with a headshot. Makes me feel like a badass.

When playing the game co-op on Heroic, I've found that Elites are too smart and dive out of the way when I go in for a Plasma shot. The AI is too intelligent in this game.

Another pure brilliant moment of AI which I've never seen before in a game, was when we encountered a white Elite with a Plasma sword, it ran up to us, took some gunfire, and then retreated back down the corridor. As we went round the corner and down the corridor where we thought it went, Boom! The Elite had hidden around a doorway on the left side of the corridor and took out my brother from behind. The Elite had actually stood still as well, so it didn't show up on our radar. We recorded the footage in theatre mode and you can watch it from the gamertag: Michael Woolgar or my gamertag: Malc Johnson. Just in case anyone doesn't believe me.

Absolutely, positively the best AI I have ever played against in a video game, and that was just on heroic.

[Neon Ignition]

This is what I find really interesting. By the end I found it easier because the enemies are so predicatable. They don't react to situations out of intelligence, simply being programmed to move based on objects or pre-scripted triggers. In the end enemies became easy to deal without because I knew exactly when they'd run or dive. It's certainly better than anything you'd find in COD etc but for me it's far, far from being impressive.

[stevie vip 99]

Just finished solo legendary, loved the game. Tough at times with some good A.I and some terrible A.I on both sides.

Overall I really liked it and I'm not really a halo freak.

[Jebus]

Why does this feel so much different online to me?

I don't feel as **** as I normally am, sometimes even doing the best on my team! There's one map I adore in team slayer, using jetpacks...forget the name but it's a small arena in the sky, lots of grey roofts etc and gangways...love it!

[Riskbreaker]

Peeps need to start posting some clips up.

I've got some render time on my Bungie Pro account so if anyone has something they want posted up, dump it on your file share and let me know

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/RenderedVideos.aspx?player=PerfectSmith

[nonny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nepzE188y7w&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I got lucky with my second grenade...

[jimtendo]

Why does this feel so much different online to me?

I don't feel as **** as I normally am, sometimes even doing the best on my team! There's one map I adore in team slayer, using jetpacks...forget the name but it's a small arena in the sky, lots of grey roofts etc and gangways...love it!

Because you're not dieing in 3-4 bullet hits, a la Modern Warfare. If someone gets the jump on you 9/10 you're dead. In Halo if you can read the situation, you can recover to fight back. The map is 'The Cage' and yeah, it's pretty good.

For me, the most winningest mode is Matchmaking Firefight score attack - Gruntpocolypse. I'm super addicted to it.

[mr_sockochris]

Yup. Modern Warfare is mostly just a case of whoever sees who first wins, there's much more to Halo's combat online, especially with the added armor abilities. The fact that you spawn with decent weapons this time around really helps too, it's not so much of a fight for the rocket/sword/etc like Halo 2 and 3 were and it's so much better for it.

[SuperBeatBoy]

The only multiplayer games i like are Battlefield 2 and the Halo series. I guess its because of the huge open maps and multiple ways to kill people that keeps me entertained. Theres alot of strategy to them whereas there isn't really any compared to anything else.

[Jebus]

I hate Halo online...or I did, last night was a real eye-opener to me. Loved every minute.

[englishbob]

I hate Halo online...or I did, last night was a real eye-opener to me. Loved every minute.

It won't last, those elbow-one-hit-kills get tiresome real quick.

[Riskbreaker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nepzE...e_gdata_player

I got lucky with my second grenade...

I like the way you followed it to the edge to make sure