Halo 2 Anticipation Thread: Hype Vs. Reality

[Alf-Life]

(Thanks for moving/merging, Mod, forgot about this 'hype vs reality' thread.... it's title is much more apt now with hindsight )


Anephric: I agree... and although you raise good points, I was much more disappointed by the trailer's promise of things to come than the gameplay.

However, as both seem to promise and picture the invasion of Earth, you have to wonder what went wrong...

I mean, I know the DVD says the E3 thing wasn't fun, fine scrap the level, but why then scrap that entire theme of total invasion?

The bombers taking out that Covie artillery were just... "omg, I'm *in* Command & Conquer" - the feeling I had when that Dropship hovered over me and cast its shadow on the ground below in the 2nd level of Halo 1 (and notable from Halo's RTS origins).

[Uli]

i see that there are a lot of "die hard" fans of Halo that feel the same way about Halo 2 as me:

disappointed - because of the bad storytelling, many changes from the good to the worse, the in many ways unsatisfying gameplay, the many little flaws and the lack of the original "Halo magic" and atmosphere.

disillusioned - i never believed in the hype but maybe i've always wanted it too much.

and left with little to no trust in future projects of Bungie.

besides the E3 demo level and the much talked about "Moon Base" scenario that didn't make it into the game there was also a lot talk about other content that didn't make it: new moves (e.g. sprint function), melee combos, new vehicles, command structure for allies and, maybe the most wanted feature of all, full screen co-op gameplay.

if you watch the making-of documentary on the Halo 2 special edition bonus dvd it gets very obvious that we, the gamers and fans, have been fooled, manipulated and misguided in our anticipation. therein Bungie frankly admits that the single player game got a complete redesign after the E3 2003. they had realized that the game they had constructed simply couldn't live up to the "graphics demo" shown at the E3. yes, you heared right, they admitted that the demo was nothing more than a graphics demo. they also stated that because of the Fall 2004 deadline they had to cut a lot out of the campaign simply because they struggled with the time schedule.

and you all know the result. Halo 2's multiplayer part is, bar the exclusion of any co-op game modes, very accomplished. the campaign is still fun but ultimately falls short compared to the original Halo experience. so, in conclusion, and Jason Jones already said it, after Halo 2 we will look at Halo with new eyes!

[Alf-Life]

lol!!!

Give it time, though, everyone's too harsh at first because of the bitter taste the ending leaves, the game gets back to being 'good ol' Halo' fun on Legendary, but it's still.... disappointing. It's like you said, they basically started again after E3 2003, but outwardly they were telling everyone they're taking their time because their game is so great and they don't want to spoil the amazing campaign, so everyone assumed they've been spending all this time adding all these promised features and then tweaking the hell out of the game.

I for one would've definately not been as hyped and would've enjoyed the game more if I'd know (/been told) there'll be a Halo 3, and that a lot of the features were unimplementable or not fun. I kept expecting to run into things glimpsed in the E3 demo, or even the different Warthog types shown way back in Edge.

Still, it's important to take the game on it's own merits and it's definately a 9/10er, maybe a high 8 even if you really didn't like the story/ending.

[Uli]

Alf-Life, please don't get me wrong, i am with you. Halo 2 is still great in its own way and i enjoyed it on my first time through on heroic. and the ending wasn't as bad as i expected it to be. actually it's quite promising for pointing directly to a Halo 3, respectively a Halo 2.5 or Halo whatsoever. moreover there is still the novel to pick up to get all story related infos (maybe it's just a marketing trick to sell all the books!?)

nevertheless i have this feelings about Halo 2. i think the game could have been much better and it deserves to be better. so let's not talk it a better game as it actually is. it's vital that Bungie is aware that there's much disappointent throughout the fanbase! i guess this will only improve chances that the next Halo fixes only what's broken and not the other way around!