A mini Halo 3 review, in which I rant about AI

[Gormers1]

Obviously I don't want the game to be impossible, but I don't think they should create sections that should be impossible if the AI was smarter.

To knight templar... well I have played all three Halos, and encountered similar actions on the part of the AI... they're just not as aggressive as they should be. I understand that if they were more aggressive I would die, but as I say, the game should be designed so that I can have these kind of fights.

If you played through halo: CE on legendary, the enemies will rush you if you hide long enough. The first level where you are on that spaceship, the whole game gets transfered to a cat and mouse play where enemies will go after you and not let you regenerate your shield (it regenerates slower in that game). Often you have to run around pillars and that sort of thing. Of course they don't rush all at the same time but that would ruin the fun. I also remember one time my friend got chased around by the sword guy on one of the long bridges in assault on the control room (you have played the game right). Since he would walk slower when going backwards, and since the sword guy ran faster, he had to run around stuff to survive. This kind of gameplay is really intimidating and really, Ive never played a game with a better and more fun AI.
They don't flank you that much or cooperate as say in Far cry, but the AI is fucking fantastic. Every game you play really feels different, but that doesn't say the enemies will ever do something stupid (except maybe sometimes when a few of the flood guys will just stop and look at you, but I actually think that they were programmed to to that randomly).

And this has nothing to do with the AI, but the comments the marines and enemies make are fantastic. There must be around 10000 lines in the game or something like that. When you manage to jump with the worthog the marines will scream "woho!", the elites will laugh at you when they kill you, if shoot a marine when its dark they will say "hey, its mee!", or scream idiot if you throw a grenade at them. If you kill one or tho they will go "thats it!", and cheer when they kill you.

My opinion on halo: CE
The IA in halo 2 and 3 is also great imo

 

[Gormers1]

Dare I say it, I thought that AI in number 1 was smatter then in number 3?

Maybe this was deliberate for the brutes as they are pretty much monkeys but whats the deal with the marines. Did the Covernant spray earth with a retard disease while the Master Chief was out on Space Holiday?

Yeah I know, in halo 1 they often threw nades at you or them self accidentally, and in halo 3 they often would get stuck while driving. The marines could drive ghost in halo:Ce and other stuff in halo: 2, but it rarely was a problem there.

 

[Heroic One]

I am of the opinion that keeping everything the same but only increasing enemy power while decreasing yours is a stupid way to increase difficulty. While it is difficult, it isn't... I don't know the word, perhaps "refreshing". Interesting. To me, when games do that it's more of a chore then a "test your skills" game. You use the exact same method, it just takes longer.

I know that creating varying level's of AI tactical prowess must be very difficult, and an AI that could at least match a semi-competent human is even harder... but Bungie of all companies should be able to do it. They have the money, the time, and the manpower. =\

 

[Gormers1]

I am of the opinion that keeping everything the same but only increasing enemy power while decreasing yours is a stupid way to increase difficulty. While it is difficult, it isn't... I don't know the word, perhaps "refreshing". Interesting. To me, when games do that it's more of a chore then a "test your skills" game. You use the exact same method, it just takes longer.

I know that creating varying level's of AI tactical prowess must be very difficult, and an AI that could at least match a semi-competent human is even harder... but Bungie of all companies should be able to do it. They have the money, the time, and the manpower. =\

Actually, this is one of the things that I like about halo. I personally feel that the AI becomes more aggressive if who play at the harder settings. For example the grunts in Halo: Ce will throw more nades.

 

[stompy]

I am of the opinion that keeping everything the same but only increasing enemy power while decreasing yours is a stupid way to increase difficulty. While it is difficult, it isn't... I don't know the word, perhaps "refreshing". Interesting. To me, when games do that it's more of a chore then a "test your skills" game. You use the exact same method, it just takes longer.

I know that creating varying level's of AI tactical prowess must be very difficult, and an AI that could at least match a semi-competent human is even harder... but Bungie of all companies should be able to do it. They have the money, the time, and the manpower. =\

Yes, but the thing is, that most FPSs actually only do this to ramp up difficulty. I know that COD does it (to an extreme- ever try Veteran?), and I also believe Half Life does this.

On topic: I agree with Anton, concerning your example. I was flanked and repeatedly cornered on Heroic. The bastards don't let you recover, so you're forced to run out of cover, without shields, into a pack of Brutes, armed with Spikers, Brute Shots, and even a Gravity Hammer. Not fun.

The AI in Halo isn't that bad. Granted, they're not the brightest bunch, but they're alright. They'll push, and they'll retreat, granted its on the higher difficulty. Hell, even on Normal, they'll advance if you're pinned down.

- A procrastinator

 

[implodingMan]

The AI in Halo 1 is fantastic. Especially on the later levels where you fight the spec ops elites.
I haven't played enough of Halo 3's campaign to comment.

The AI in Half Life is absolutely terrible.

 

[Knight Templar]

Dare I say it, I thought that AI in number 1 was smatter then in number 3?

Maybe this was deliberate for the brutes as they are pretty much monkeys but whats the deal with the marines. Did the Covernant spray earth with a retard disease while the Master Chief was out on Space Holiday?

All the smart people died. We misunderstood Jesus he actually said: "the morons will inherit the earth".

The AI is pretty dam retarted, but if your playing the game mostly you won't notice but when you do.......

 

[Drong]

I'm really bored of this Halo/HL flame war now, can't we just realise we all have our own opinions and we all have our reasons for them and there are lots of arguments some coherent and some not but it all comes down to a couple of points, Halo smells of wee and wears silly hats, case closed.

 

[chaosfenrir]

I think he's right on that level though, i played 2-player co-op with a friend on Legendary.
The Brutes were kinda smart, they did try and flank us often. But they were still a bit retarded. Only the Brutes in front and the Grav hammer guy will charge you. And never all at once. In fact, we sniped at the brutes at the far end of the room and all they did was move behind cover, deploy regen or another cover. After a while, another charged us. All we did was pick them off as they came. But seriously, it should have been near impossible.
And what do people have against Halo? Yes, Halo 3 is kind-of a re-hash of Halo 1, but it was still pretty good. (though not as good as CoD4)

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

Well the A.I is always stupid if you can find me a game where the A.I can outsmart you then well. You?re as thick as a post or lying; besides if there wasn?t particularly stupid A.I then you would just be destroyed at the first sight of a hunter. I think the idea is that you are meant to be smarter than the A.I. But well I don?t know might just be the unintentionally week area of the design team.

 

[Lion Fury]

I'm really bored of this Halo/HL flame war now, can't we just realise we all have our own opinions and we all have our reasons for them and there are lots of arguments some coherent and some not but it all comes down to a couple of points, Halo smells of wee and wears silly hats, case closed.

Wow. Child.

 

[PurpleRain]

I'm really bored of this Halo/HL flame war now, can't we just realise we all have our own opinions and we all have our reasons for them and there are lots of arguments some coherent and some not but it all comes down to a couple of points, Halo smells of wee and wears silly hats, case closed.

I concur... about the silly hats that is.

 

[Ultrajoe]

Escapist is an enigma, its the Anti-Halo side that have one mantra and always retreat to the time honored 'Halo sucks' point

as an impartial observer, thats my take on things so far, and for the record, as another impartial fact, Halo 3 sold like Gold-plated-Hotcakes and made A bucketload of money, so there's no point whining now, for Either side, Halo, as a Game (a product) did exactly what it was supposed to, your opinions either way count for less than the vote of a steaming pile of crap.

sorry, the Halo debate has ceased to be relevant, why can we never have these before everyone has bought it? now its just pointless,

Don't like halo? did you buy it? if so: good job Halo's Advertising team.
If not: what's the damn problem?, and if you didn't buy it your not exactly qualified to proffer opinion.

Liked Halo?: then don't feel the need to defend it, you got your moneys worth and, really, look with pity with those people who are to '1337' to enjoy a wider spectrum of games

done now?

didn't think so, but by all means keep going...

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Don't like halo? did you buy it? if so: good job Halo's Advertising team.
If not: what's the damn problem?, and if you didn't buy it your not exactly qualified to proffer opinion.

No, no. If you don't like something and haven't bought it, you should never condemn it.

Sort of like Hard Drugs then? Or Yiffing? or GTA Murder Simulators?

Oh whoops...Welcome to the real world.

I mean, why should people build interesting, challenging, original games when HALO twelvety billion will still sell?

Don't know why people write books either. Shakespear has already wrote some popular ones that everyone bought.

Music? Why bother? Britney produces enough music for all of us.

(Hint: There may be an overture of sarcasm here)

 

[Ultrajoe]

Don't like halo? did you buy it? if so: good job Halo's Advertising team.
If not: what's the damn problem?, and if you didn't buy it your not exactly qualified to proffer opinion.

No, no. If you don't like something and haven't bought it, you should never condemn it.

Sort of like Hard Drugs then? Or Yiffing? or GTA Murder Simulators?

Oh whoops...Welcome to the real world.

I mean, why should people build interesting, challenging, original games when HALO twelvety billion will still sell?

Don't know why people write books either. Shakespear has already wrote some popular ones that everyone bought.

Music? Why bother? Britney produces enough music for all of us.

(Hint: There may be an overture of sarcasm here)

thanks for the tip on sarcasm...

Why should we make better games when Halo Twelvety billion will still sell? heres a thought, i tried to stay impartial, but i can solve this enigma in one.

The. Reason. Halo. Sells. So. Amazingly. Well. Is. Because. It. Deserves. To.

a better game, by the very definition of 'better game';

better: something that is superior, achieves its aims more so than the competition
game: a product, designed to entertain the consumer and generate profit for the makers

will be more entertaining and sell better than halo twelvety billion, so provided Halo is a crap as everyone says, that wont be a problem will it? but wait! it IS selling well, so, i guess there must be something untoward happening here, could it perhaps sell because People Want It?

Halo does drive development, it means people have to beat the new standard, and that can only be a good thing. these original challenging games you speak of will need to arise because gaming is an industry, and to make money, things must progress

People will need to make better games to make money, and to do so will have to better Halos run, which is impressive, so what we have not reached is stagnation, but a new challenge.

Impassioned as i may be, please don't discount my points by simply saying 'fanboy'

Don't like halo? did you buy it? if so: good job Halo's Advertising team.
If not: what's the damn problem?, and if you didn't buy it your not exactly qualified to proffer opinion.

No, no. If you don't like something and haven't bought it, you should never condemn it.

Sort of like Hard Drugs then? Or Yiffing? or GTA Murder Simulators?

let me rephrase that: if all you have is hearsay as your experience, your not exactly qualified to proffer substantiated opinion, only your take on popular comment.

and, a bit off topic, what's so wrong with Yiffing?

 

[IceManPJN]

What the hell? One man against an army has always been absurd, but in half life and doom and excetera, you have had a collosal amount of health- the masterchief has a regenerating shield, and his enemies know this.

This sort of brings me to the various discussions about how awesome Master Chief is and discussions about Master Chief versus Samus Aran over the years (not here since this is my first visit to these boards and my first post here, but speaking from experiences elsewhere on the Internet).

Legions of Xbox fanboys (Don't misunderstand me here; I'm a happy Xbox and Xbox 360 owner.) beat off to all things Halo and to anything relating to Master Chief and worship his nuts, any time there's a discussion about the greatest _______ they always nominate MC or Halo even if it's a category where neither are applicable, and they insist he's so friggin' amazingly godly. Despite their Master Chief ball-worship, he's really not that great. He's not exactly original, for one thing, which throws out all nominations for him being gaming's greatest character, as he's just another space marine in sci-fi futuristic body armor.

The worst thing about his "awesome" armor however is that it's not even that great for future armor. Yes, it regenerates its shielding after he sits around in a corner wanking off for a bit, provided that a mosquito doesn't bite during the idle period or else the mosquito will finish him off and leave him for dead. However, it takes but a few bullets to deplete those shields, and even modern day body armor can normally protect me from more shots than that. You'd think that futuristic armor that's allegedly the godliest armor know to gaming would be able to take at least a few hundred shots before Master Chief has to look for a rock to crawl under.

Further, a single blow from a Gravity Hammer does him in completely. How is he so godly if a whop on the head with a giant hammer kills him instantly? I mean, his fans keep insisting that he can crush Samus Aran in a hypothetical fight betwixt them, but she wouldn't succumb to a blow from a big hammer. In fact, with her full compliment of Energy Tanks, Samus can just stand in a room full of Covenent forces, polishing her armor as they unleash tens of thousands of rounds into her and bash her with Gravity Hammers until the hammers fall apart, and after they've depleted their ammo and worn themselves out she can dust herself off and strut out the door whistling a tune. That's to be expected of course because, unlike Master Chief, her armor isn't made out of Fluffypuff Marshmallows.

And why doesn't Master Chief's godly future armor have weapons built into it? I mean, you'll never hear Samus starting out a game saying "I need a weapon". (What was that, Halo 2?) Her amror has an energy cannon with unlimited ammo built right into it. Should Samus and Chief run into each other in a dark ally, Chief's screwed unless he can somehow MacGyver a weapon out of a trashcan lid.

Well, I could continue ranting into a dozen other details regarding Samus dominating Master Chief, but I digress I reckon. The point is: he's not really all that godly of a futuristic space marine, and his armor's just plain crap.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

and, a bit off topic, what's so wrong with Yiffing?

Heh, sorry and thanks for taking it in good grace. I had a roaring stomach ache this morning and it probably shows.

Reasons for disliking Halo : From not playing it : Fanboi-ism, Overtly Bright (I can't stand bright games), Plays like an overlong action movie.
BUT
I had it forcefed to me and then I played it.
Dull, Unwieldy, and Stereotypical.

If they keep making Halo to twelvety billion though, unbought gems like Psychonauts, Jagged Alliance, X-Com etc. will fall like Vanilla Coke. (which is lush)
I'm sure they could make a Halo I'd love, but every other person would probably hate it, so I'll stick to my little pile of gems I've found; because the HALO world bores me to tears.

If you enjoyed it, and you certainly seemed to, then good for you. I found it a major drag. Like watching all three LotR movies in a row.

It's not, however, ZOMG TEH GRATEST GAMEZOR EVAH!, whether you like it or not. And neither's Half-Life, which I admit to really enjoying.

I don't have to play it to know I really won't like it though. Even if it 'ported Kylie into the room to play it with me, I'd ask her if I could play something more enjoyable. And then after she slapped my face, I'd go back to Half-Life.

And, yiffing...what's the point when you could both be nekkid?

 

[Ultrajoe]

thats the thing, gaming aside, Halo is a great 'game'

it sells, makes money (there's a difference), and has a loyal fan-base

where pshyconauts falls through is these vital areas (i have played the game), and as such, its not that much of a history making game. To 'beat' halo, a game needs to be both innovative (i would argue that Halo did innovate, and once the legions of similar games rolled off the line, it became 'generic') and be a seller

games are a product, if they don't sell, they're not a 'success', however great they are (those you mention being some of the most fun i have had outside of my rabbit costume)

which bring me to Yiffing... (im taking it on faith that we both accept this as a running gag, right?)... I AM NEKKED! *sob* THIS IS MY TRUE SKIN! *beats fist at sky* WHY WAS I CURSED WITH THE FURR-LESS FORM!

Despite their Master Chief ball-worship, he's really not that great. He's not exactly original, for one thing, which throws out all nominations for him being gaming's greatest character, as he's just another space marine in sci-fi futuristic body armor.

not to further push my fanboy theme here, but the reason such characters are so common is that they are appealing, the reason they keep cropping up is because of demand. how often are we supposed to push the envelope? if something is good, we aren't allowed to keep at it while the going is great? there's been enough FPS's, so we should start moving on?

as for the entire 'Master Chief sucks' beat off (oh the irony) in there i think is quite ironic (a motif is born...) as for someone who condemns those who launch into love speils about the green goblin, you certainly seem to have some very polished responses concerning Samus Aran... the second half of your post seems to be in complete ignorance of the first

and, a Samus/Master debate? really? i though for someone so loftily above fanboy circle jerks you could avoid a pointless cross-game comparison, and please don't say all halo supporters do it, i don't. I could say all Metroid fans do, 100% of them having done so in my presence...