Halo 2 Anticipation Thread: Hype Vs. Reality

[NeilMcRae]

Ok I've just spoken to the actual Beta guy (I just played the Beta) and he tells me it goes like this.

Basically you have a 100% shield and 100% health. You take xx amount of hits and you're down to 30% shield. Run away and it'll recharge.

Back into the fight, you lose 100% shield and take a shot to the chest with an assualt rifle and say lose 50% health. You now have 50% health, and you run away and the shield will return. That health remains fixed but CAN return if you get a health pack.

I hope I've understood your question clearly. You're talking about the health BEHIND the shield - it DOESN'T recharge.

This was the Beta though - so may well change. A few things already have apparantly

Matt,
the beta thats in the field at the moment is months old and alot has changed.

Neil.

[SuperBrother]

Wow, such a long thread - back to the original point.....

HYPE: Best game evarrrr!!!!!

REALITY: Best console FPS, looks pedestrian in comparison to HL2, STALKER & Far Cry.

[Matt KB]

Matt,
the beta thats in the field at the moment is months old and alot has changed.

Neil.

I did say that at the start.

[November Tango]

Wow, such a long thread - back to the original point.....

HYPE: Best game evarrrr!!!!!

REALITY: Best console FPS, looks pedestrian in comparison to HL2, STALKER & Far Cry.

No, not reality. To quote The Dude:

"Well, that's, like, your opinion. Man."

[Thompo]

Wow, such a long thread - back to the original point.....

HYPE: Best game evarrrr!!!!!

REALITY: Best console FPS, looks pedestrian in comparison to HL2, STALKER & Far Cry.

So you've played or even seen some of the single player version of this then? And Half-Life 2 as well? Spread some more of your wisdomlessness and insightful-o-bull**** knowledge please...

[SuperBrother]

Notice the use of the work "looks" in my post - try reading it again and rethink before acting the prat.
This is a discussion forum, if we are only allowed to discuss games we have played and have actually been released then this site would be ****ing quiet.

[mackemansj1]

I think any of the two huge game halo 2 and half life 2 will not live up to there hype. They have been hyped up beyond anything that can be done imho hype hype hype hype. All im hopeing for is two triple a games that move there series on from the last games.

[Adam Stone]

Mr mackemansj1, yep, that's what im after too.

You see, that?s the beauty of not letting yourself get sucked into the hype.

Its one thing getting overly exited about a game?s release (my god I would kill for the new Zelda?) but, as we?ve seen with Halo 2, people have already created their own realities of what the game must be like. Therefore its pretty much assured that many people will be disappointed.

meh ^_^

[Uli]

I think any of the two huge game halo 2 and half life 2 will not live up to there hype. They have been hyped up beyond anything that can be done imho hype hype hype hype. All im hopeing for is two triple a games that move there series on from the last games.

count me in! Halo is really that good, i can only wonder if there's any chance for Halo 2 to match up to the quality (technical stuff aside). but don't really care as long as the story is continued well enough to make me wet my pants in anticipation for Halo 3 :-)

my guess on the EDGE review score for Halo 2 is ... 9

[nips]

I can't possibly see how they could give it a 10. Only if Halo 2 were the launch game for XB live and the dreamcast hadn't been doing console online gaming before could I imagine it getting a 10. I can't see this doing anything revolutionary. This is Combat Evolved as opposed to Combat Revolutionised.

9/10 in spite of the fact that it is actually a more competent game than Halo. That is the one failure of the EDGE score system, it's nature means that the distinction between 9 and 10 isn't quality.

GE is a 10/10 game, PD is a 9/10 game.
Gran Turismo is a 10/10 game, GT2 is 9/10
Mario 64 is a 10/10 game, SMS is a 9/10.

[demon9k]

For anyone who hasn't seen them yet, there are beta previews over at IGN and Gamespot

Gamespot Link

IGN Link

Xbox Live figures out which player would make the best host for the entire group and chalks them up behind the scenes. Should that host (who won't even know they are hosting) quit, Halo 2 instantly switches to the next best host. This means that you can enter a game and just keep playing and playing and playing even as others bail out.

Best thing evar for xbox live! I always hate when the host has to leave on PGR2.

[Concept]

Its one thing getting overly exited about a game?s release (my god I would kill for the new Zelda?) but, as we?ve seen with Halo 2, people have already created their own realities of what the game must be like. Therefore its pretty much assured that many people will be disappointed.
meh ^_^

That's an interesting point. I think we can (and often do) create our own reality of what a game will be like, and because entertainment can't match completely with the individualistic expectations of what it can offer to its audience, then there has to be compromise. Disappointment isn't everything which results from this however, least not in my view, because it's possible to become 'stuck' on a title and then warp or fit what it becomes around the template you were intending to place it inside of. You've seen movies and albums hyped to hell in back where the core audience persuade themselves into a framework where it's impossible to be swayed. There comes a point when an individual's investment or dedication in waiting for a title exceeds what the end result actually delivers.

Just look at Driver 3. Examine discussions situated around the game's release and you'll find such a mixed reaction... People who can't stand it, and those who were still wildly trying to defend all the flaws at hand.

Then again, there are other variations on the illusions we create for ourselves in terms of interaction/involvement with hype attracting us to certain titles. Sometimes the way this is sustained is through the social basis with which it all builds... Communities who are brought together fixated on a point (they can relate to) helps them build a defense or a line for themselves with regards to the reality and the proposed one they'd like to believe in. At the moment, and if I'm going to attempt to be objective here, Half-Life 2 fits that bill. It doesn't matter if the game released ends up being another Daikatana (which it probably won't), there are going to be people who aren't going to want to trash their expectations, hopes and dedication in light of a recognised 'truth'. Even I can acknowledge that I've been sucked in partially wanting a game to be something more than it is, a game that's managed to extend from it's own shadow and generate expectations which relate to a personal perception.

This is how we choose games to become excited for I think. We all like to think there are those 'big' titles on the horizon that give us the reason to wade through the weeks and months in order to get to them. It keeps this medium looking forward and provides a sense that there's continual momentum. But I do think an important point of this aspect which specifically relates to the times were currently going through in gaming is that choice exists. And significant choice at that.

For me Half-Life 2, and the recently announced Wanda and Colossus, are currently the titles which will keep me going to feel that sense of particular anticipation which helps to prevent stagnation from setting in. For others it might be Biohazard 4, Killer 7, S. T. A. L. K. E. R., Okami, Fable, Metal Gear Solid 3 or of course Halo 2, which helps us to create those sets of expectations serving to keep the ground fertile in terms of interest. There's a diversity evident at the moment, which although admittedly sequel fixated, I believe helps gamers from all walks of life have 'their' title which they can pin personalised hopes on.

This is why I think a pre-determination can occur in our viewpoints that defines exactly how we're going to see a game before we may even get to play it. I'm not suggesting we can't be surprised if a title differs from what we expected of it, but rather we contribute our own specific kind of atmosphere and feel to a title through what we happen to create mentally. That's why Adam's experience of playing through Ocarina of Time is going to be different from my own due to the differing circumstances and situations we were in at the time of it's release. Even though the content of said title will have been completely identical in terms of how we could interact.

I think everyone here will be aware of this... That discussing titles we relate to, whether it be out of enjoyment or hate, is also a fragmentation of contextual shifts defining what they mean to us, partly due to the fact our own interpretations and feelings are based on how we approach them.

It can also work from a negative standpoint.

Take Galleon. Around that particular game there developed a culture of cynical apathy in my opinion. People had already talked themselves around prior to it's release that they were going to be disappointed, and while the game was evidently flawed, some managed to find something which could subvert that flavour. Just by being the public, we create the overall perception which a title is going to enter into, and that's why like Adam said, the reality of how we see something maybe just as powerful as the impact of the product at hand. Especially if it alters the way it will be perceived.

Coming back to Half-Life 2, while arguably it's the expectations generated from the team responsible for the game which created the almost impossible-to-live-up-to-hype, the people who've bought into that belief also have something to lose if they acknowledge their hunger for what they've been waiting for wasn't worth the wait.

That's the template we create, one that could possibly be viewed from some angles as a delusion we specifically enter into a contract with... To shield ourselves away from the double edged pitfall of a disappointment highlighting what the game wasn't, and what we potentially wasted in relation to it.

I do realise this is speaking from a worst case scenario though.

There are other times a game substantially lives up to a number of it's claims, and manages to be strong enough in itself, to help validate and satisfy what we expected to see of it.

Yet for me, perhaps the best games of all, are the ones which creep on you... Which you don't much expect out of because you've lacked the knowledge, anticipation or awareness to let a set of expectations build up inside the mind. The kind of game which does it all for you as you play.

I know I've already encountered such a game. As I'm sure most of you have with regards to yourselves.

Apologies if I got slightly sidetracked from Halo 2 in this post, but I feel some of the points are relevant to how it's hype may possibly be perceived.

[Uli]

today i've read that Bungie denies there will be a 4-player coop mode but unfourtunately they didn't say anything else about coop modes at all! wtf!?!

so, someone knows anything new about the coop features in Halo 2?

[Uli]

Bungies Peter Parsons confirmed 480p and widescreen support for Halo 2. this is some really good news.

source: www.hdtvarcade.com

Peter Parsons interview:

https://www.xbox.com/media/games/halo2/vid-halo2-interview-01-hi.asx

Jenny Mc"Blond&Dumb" Carthy at the Halo 2 demo booth:

https://www.xbox.com/media/games/e32004/vid-jenny-number5-hi.asx

[Uli]

here's some good and exciting news from the latest "Frankie update" (http://rampancy.net/node/view/8169):

"Actually, widescreen is a very cool feature, since the multiplayer game can then split vertically (for two) giving each player a great deal of real estate in co-op or MP.

The event was long enough for people to finish the game on NORMAL difficulty level, but then go back and try HEROIC: "Wow, that was freakin' hard!" And then they tried LEGENDARY: "What is wrong with you people!?" We should note that nobody completed it on LEGENDARY or frankly, more than a couple of levels. LEGENDARY is a whole new sick twist on game difficulty. LEGENDARY includes bizarre stuff like perma-death for co-op players ? meaning that you can't hopscotch like you can on other difficulty levels. Once a player dies on LEGENDARY, both players are hurled back to the last checkpoint. It's brutal. Also, that place where you encountered two grunts and a flowerpot on NORMAL? Well now they're Hunters, high-ranking, sword-carrying Elites, and they're all PMS-ing. Seriously, sticking your head around a corner on level two can get it shot clean off."