Hey Dragon, You Can Have Her: Halo - Combat Evolved
- Thread starter SavingPrincess
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Apparently you don't understand Halo very well. Let me give you the rundown. Basically, most of the things you said made Halo worse than other games, made it very good for competitive play.
First of all, the pistol idea was genius. Giving people a gun that could kill in three head shots from pretty much anywhere on the map balanced the game immensely because anybody could out shoot anybody if they were the better player.
You say the weapons are unbalanced, but since everyone starts with such a strong weapon, it is not only balanced, it's almost favorable to just use your pistol over the sniper.
Also, halo is a mid-paced shooter. Not every game out there is trying to be Quake. Because of the mid-pace, there is a balance of thinking and reflexes that make playing the game a better experience.
Most people who hate on Halo just don't understand the depth of the game. The plasma rifle was was also far from useless as it had a freezing effect and would dominate you in close range.
First of all, the pistol idea was genius. Giving people a gun that could kill in three head shots from pretty much anywhere on the map balanced the game immensely because anybody could out shoot anybody if they were the better player.
You say the weapons are unbalanced, but since everyone starts with such a strong weapon, it is not only balanced, it's almost favorable to just use your pistol over the sniper.
Also, halo is a mid-paced shooter. Not every game out there is trying to be Quake. Because of the mid-pace, there is a balance of thinking and reflexes that make playing the game a better experience.
Most people who hate on Halo just don't understand the depth of the game. The plasma rifle was was also far from useless as it had a freezing effect and would dominate you in close range.
I see what you're getting at, but I think you're exaggerating a lot of the points.
Movement:
I can think of a point or two where you could have been feeling a little clunky, mostly in the wide-open levels. That said, most of the time you had a vehicle or could steal one given the opportunity. A lack of a sprint button was slightly annoying, but what the hey, nothing's perfect.
Weapons:
Okay. The pistol WAS broken, and the default assault rifle lacks anything interesting and has been... I don't know, shunned? by Bungie to this very day. It keeps returning unchanged and stays moderately to severely useless for most of the game. Okay for Flood levels like the Library for its high rate of fire and moderate damage where a headshot was impossible anyways. That said, you've exaggerated the problem: the Sniper rifle was exactly what it said, the rocket launcher was the same way, and those Plasma weapons become VERY useful vs. vehicles and shielded targets when things get nasty. Also, in multiplayer rapidly firing the plasma pistol would 'stun' you opponent, making it almost as cheap as the pistol. Oh, and the needler does suck. Fair enough.
Level design.
Nobody liked the Library. With you 100% on that one, it was the MOST arduous and boring part of the game.
As far as reviewing goes, you write very clearly. Had you not justified WHY you were reviewing this game I might have questioned that too.
Movement:
I can think of a point or two where you could have been feeling a little clunky, mostly in the wide-open levels. That said, most of the time you had a vehicle or could steal one given the opportunity. A lack of a sprint button was slightly annoying, but what the hey, nothing's perfect.
Weapons:
Okay. The pistol WAS broken, and the default assault rifle lacks anything interesting and has been... I don't know, shunned? by Bungie to this very day. It keeps returning unchanged and stays moderately to severely useless for most of the game. Okay for Flood levels like the Library for its high rate of fire and moderate damage where a headshot was impossible anyways. That said, you've exaggerated the problem: the Sniper rifle was exactly what it said, the rocket launcher was the same way, and those Plasma weapons become VERY useful vs. vehicles and shielded targets when things get nasty. Also, in multiplayer rapidly firing the plasma pistol would 'stun' you opponent, making it almost as cheap as the pistol. Oh, and the needler does suck. Fair enough.
Level design.
Nobody liked the Library. With you 100% on that one, it was the MOST arduous and boring part of the game.
As far as reviewing goes, you write very clearly. Had you not justified WHY you were reviewing this game I might have questioned that too.
Uhh...
Wow. You're entitled to your opinion, man, but I think you're completely wrong. I have been playing games since the NES, and FPS games since the N64 and PC. Tons of James Bond, Turok, Wolfenstein, etc. I don't know how you can say some of the things you did.
1. Movement was fine. I don't even know what to say here. I never noticed that I was moving slow.
2. Weapons were fine too! Pistol was nice and all, but not only was it not always available, but not everyone has an aimbot implanted in their skulls. The needler was friggin' great. Shoot enough of them into an enemy and they blow up. Not only that, but it homes in your target. It was almost overpowered. Also, the batteries on the plasma weaponry were rather large, and overheating helped balance them. Plasma weaponry plowed through shields while bullets plowed through flesh. As for being able to only carry two, that's all you NEED! You have to think about what weapons you want to take with you rather than just gathering everything you find.
3. I hated the level you mentioned in the level design paragraphs, but the rest of the game had damn good level design. The best one was the snow level, Assault on the Control Room, I think.
4. Console games had shitty multiplayer back then generally. I didn't really care for it myself, but it was acceptable. Multiplayer was much more important on PC then. I honestly cant' say much here, because I hardly ever played multiplayer on console before Xbox Live, but you're making a much bigger deal out of it than you need to.
P.S. The thing that made the game truly good was the charm it had. The grunts were hilarious, the sticky grenades were awesome, and it was satisfying as hell to take down your enemies with a mixture of the visuals, sound, and feel.
Wow. You're entitled to your opinion, man, but I think you're completely wrong. I have been playing games since the NES, and FPS games since the N64 and PC. Tons of James Bond, Turok, Wolfenstein, etc. I don't know how you can say some of the things you did.
1. Movement was fine. I don't even know what to say here. I never noticed that I was moving slow.
2. Weapons were fine too! Pistol was nice and all, but not only was it not always available, but not everyone has an aimbot implanted in their skulls. The needler was friggin' great. Shoot enough of them into an enemy and they blow up. Not only that, but it homes in your target. It was almost overpowered. Also, the batteries on the plasma weaponry were rather large, and overheating helped balance them. Plasma weaponry plowed through shields while bullets plowed through flesh. As for being able to only carry two, that's all you NEED! You have to think about what weapons you want to take with you rather than just gathering everything you find.
3. I hated the level you mentioned in the level design paragraphs, but the rest of the game had damn good level design. The best one was the snow level, Assault on the Control Room, I think.
4. Console games had shitty multiplayer back then generally. I didn't really care for it myself, but it was acceptable. Multiplayer was much more important on PC then. I honestly cant' say much here, because I hardly ever played multiplayer on console before Xbox Live, but you're making a much bigger deal out of it than you need to.
P.S. The thing that made the game truly good was the charm it had. The grunts were hilarious, the sticky grenades were awesome, and it was satisfying as hell to take down your enemies with a mixture of the visuals, sound, and feel.
There's a few areas where I find issue.
-Movement:
I think you blow it out to be far worse than it actually is. If you want a comparison for bad movement and physics: ALONE IN THE DARK.
-Shooting/Weapon: This is a weird one for me. I agree and disagree completely at the same time. The shooting balance was off, especially on the pistol. Taking down Hunters in ONE SHOT? Overpowered. Especially when compared directly to, oh, AR. One whole CLIP of AR = one pistol bullet WUT?
BUT! Although the Plasma rifle ate dong, the plasma pistol was quite nice in tandem with bullet pistol.
Also, the weapon carrying PROBABLY could have been implemented to three weapons at once, but I generally find that when games give a person 4+ options at once, it gets to the "Okay, which one do I use now?" For that matter, knowing that the Plasma Rifle and Needler are steaming heaps cuts down two weapons of the eight, meaning that you've got six left.
Now in terms of things I would've expected people to rank on, I'm surprised you didn't dig on the vehicles and the active camo. The fact that the Scorpion gave the same defence as the Warthog was always a huge disappointment to me.
The fact that a person could abuse active camo to cheese the levels that it was in was disturbing, along with the exposed glitches in Active Camo.
But, again, I think that you're being a bit too venomous. Despite the glaring flaws, for a first try on a series, I think CE was a damn good start.
-Movement:
I think you blow it out to be far worse than it actually is. If you want a comparison for bad movement and physics: ALONE IN THE DARK.
-Shooting/Weapon: This is a weird one for me. I agree and disagree completely at the same time. The shooting balance was off, especially on the pistol. Taking down Hunters in ONE SHOT? Overpowered. Especially when compared directly to, oh, AR. One whole CLIP of AR = one pistol bullet WUT?
BUT! Although the Plasma rifle ate dong, the plasma pistol was quite nice in tandem with bullet pistol.
Also, the weapon carrying PROBABLY could have been implemented to three weapons at once, but I generally find that when games give a person 4+ options at once, it gets to the "Okay, which one do I use now?" For that matter, knowing that the Plasma Rifle and Needler are steaming heaps cuts down two weapons of the eight, meaning that you've got six left.
Now in terms of things I would've expected people to rank on, I'm surprised you didn't dig on the vehicles and the active camo. The fact that the Scorpion gave the same defence as the Warthog was always a huge disappointment to me.
The fact that a person could abuse active camo to cheese the levels that it was in was disturbing, along with the exposed glitches in Active Camo.
But, again, I think that you're being a bit too venomous. Despite the glaring flaws, for a first try on a series, I think CE was a damn good start.
My biggest beef with Halo was how the story and writing was such a step backwards from Bungie's previous works. Sure, Marathon's plot was told entirely through static text screens, but the writing was good enough that I really didn't care. Pathways into Darkness had a cool little keyword-based dialogue feature where you typed in a word (rather than selecting from a menu) and the NPC responded to it.
It's not that I have anything against games with no purpose other than to kill things, but if there's an incorporated story I'd like for it to be done well (or else humorously.) Halo's plot wasn't vomit inducing, but it wasn't up to what I'd come to expect from Bungie.
It's not that I have anything against games with no purpose other than to kill things, but if there's an incorporated story I'd like for it to be done well (or else humorously.) Halo's plot wasn't vomit inducing, but it wasn't up to what I'd come to expect from Bungie.
I hated halo because it worked like this for me:
Start of Game: Hm not a bad game so far...Not really interested in the story though it's kind of meh...
First Gun: Really that's the best you can give me? A pistol? All the marines have those assasult rifles...Sigh. I'm sure I'll find a second gun in no time!...
First encounter with aliens: Pistols actually not half bad die you stupid aliens...
Second encounter: Um...Somethings not right...All you aliens are the same except with different colors...I guess it's realisti-...Bullshit people play games TO GET AWAY FROM REALISM. So stop making games more like real life damnit!...
Second Gun: Wow I took the pistol for granted it's actually good the assasult is okay...When do I get my shotgun?
Flashfoward to flood: Um...A creepyass guy shooting me and he's all ...Oh god..Well moving on then, man I like this shotgun worse than most other game shotguns but a shotgun is a shotgun. I hate this game now I get to fight same colour same looking zombies. Boring. Can I go back to the aliens who all look the same but different colors? That was less lazy design...Sigh I quit this sucks.
That's a summary of me playing...Note these are all subjective opinions the problems with the game for me are different then for you. I hate the two weapon thing I hate the unbalanced bs like Pistol is better for sniping then a goddamn sniper rifle...A SNIPER RIFLE. I hate the paperthin story with twists as surprising as the sun coming up in the morning and suspense that instead of telling you enough to be scared 'Sorry I wouldn't want to ruin the crappy twist you can see coming from a mile away!' which tells you nothing. I never played the multiplayer...Well actually I did and it's not half bad...By the way...First FPS I ever played...And it was the worst...Ever. For me. I can't believe I had the will to play other FPSes after playing that one...There was something else I had to say but I can't remember so that's all...
Holy crap that was a little bit much...Sorry...Um...Yea I don't like Halo...I HATE IT. IT IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE!...Nah that's a bit much it's an average game, it's been done before and it's been done better (See also: Bioshock).
Start of Game: Hm not a bad game so far...Not really interested in the story though it's kind of meh...
First Gun: Really that's the best you can give me? A pistol? All the marines have those assasult rifles...Sigh. I'm sure I'll find a second gun in no time!...
First encounter with aliens: Pistols actually not half bad die you stupid aliens...
Second encounter: Um...Somethings not right...All you aliens are the same except with different colors...I guess it's realisti-...Bullshit people play games TO GET AWAY FROM REALISM. So stop making games more like real life damnit!...
Second Gun: Wow I took the pistol for granted it's actually good the assasult is okay...When do I get my shotgun?
Flashfoward to flood: Um...A creepyass guy shooting me and he's all ...Oh god..Well moving on then, man I like this shotgun worse than most other game shotguns but a shotgun is a shotgun. I hate this game now I get to fight same colour same looking zombies. Boring. Can I go back to the aliens who all look the same but different colors? That was less lazy design...Sigh I quit this sucks.
That's a summary of me playing...Note these are all subjective opinions the problems with the game for me are different then for you. I hate the two weapon thing I hate the unbalanced bs like Pistol is better for sniping then a goddamn sniper rifle...A SNIPER RIFLE. I hate the paperthin story with twists as surprising as the sun coming up in the morning and suspense that instead of telling you enough to be scared 'Sorry I wouldn't want to ruin the crappy twist you can see coming from a mile away!' which tells you nothing. I never played the multiplayer...Well actually I did and it's not half bad...By the way...First FPS I ever played...And it was the worst...Ever. For me. I can't believe I had the will to play other FPSes after playing that one...There was something else I had to say but I can't remember so that's all...
Holy crap that was a little bit much...Sorry...Um...Yea I don't like Halo...I HATE IT. IT IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE!...Nah that's a bit much it's an average game, it's been done before and it's been done better (See also: Bioshock).
Are you kidding me? Hyprocrite. Seriously you CLEARLY read his review for five minutes he commented on the (good) music and the (bad) story I believe. What he said about the movement was true. Sit down and read the full review and when I say 'read' I mean actually fucking read the thing not skim over it.sonofzoltan said:
You certainly enjoy stirring a hive in order to gain attention. It's a brilliant, if not overused, tactic, as well as a tad unprofessional.
Regardless, many points that I planned on making have already been made (i.e. Don't compare console games to PC games, etc.), however, I feel as if you're overgeneralizing a tad. Halo was not my first shooter, I did have a decent gaming PC, and the original Xbox was not my first console, yet I still managed to deeply enjoy the game.
I really don't see any problems with the movement or shooting; both worked just as well as they should, and the weapons weren't as unbalanced as you exaggerate them to be. Sure, the pistol was strong and the needler was useless (thank god they fixed that), but the same could be said with any game. Hell, half of the goddamned weapons in the Unreal Tournament series could be described as pieces of shit, but I'm getting off-track.
As for the level design... Go back and play something like System Shock or Half-Life (Xen anyone?). The level design is atrocious. I feel like Halo did it right by making the levels a tad more open, easy to navigate, and, just in case you're dumb as nails, chock full of waypoints.
The thing about Halo is that everything worked. There were no glaring flaws with the game and it was just really fun to play. Isn't that good enough to say that it is slightly above average?
Regardless, many points that I planned on making have already been made (i.e. Don't compare console games to PC games, etc.), however, I feel as if you're overgeneralizing a tad. Halo was not my first shooter, I did have a decent gaming PC, and the original Xbox was not my first console, yet I still managed to deeply enjoy the game.
I really don't see any problems with the movement or shooting; both worked just as well as they should, and the weapons weren't as unbalanced as you exaggerate them to be. Sure, the pistol was strong and the needler was useless (thank god they fixed that), but the same could be said with any game. Hell, half of the goddamned weapons in the Unreal Tournament series could be described as pieces of shit, but I'm getting off-track.
As for the level design... Go back and play something like System Shock or Half-Life (Xen anyone?). The level design is atrocious. I feel like Halo did it right by making the levels a tad more open, easy to navigate, and, just in case you're dumb as nails, chock full of waypoints.
The thing about Halo is that everything worked. There were no glaring flaws with the game and it was just really fun to play. Isn't that good enough to say that it is slightly above average?
I'm a massive halo fanboy(creating an account just to reply to this thread is testament) which will get me some criticism but I'm not the rabid type that rag on people who hate it for its abundant flaws. The xbox was also my 4th console (nintendos before that).
The weapons is my main point for disagreement. Yes the pistol was unnecessarily over powered.
As for the convenant weapons the plasma pistol/rifle were both very handy for shields both elite/jackal. The reason why you couldn't reload the plasma weapons was because the humans couldn't figure out how to. The needler was spectacularly effective against elites especially when dual wielding. I also don't feel grenades were as much of a focal point as you're making out.
I didn't particularly notice the movement speed as being too slow. It may have seemed like it was extremely slow due to the expansiveness of some of the levels, which thank goodness usually had some vehicles to traverse it with. I did however find that the jumping was like moving into a low gravity environment and always wondered how a 1 tonne power suit wearing man could float through the air like a feather.
The level design aspect; I think you're probably referring mainly to the library level(which I loved unlike so many). It was an installation built by aliens to imprison another parasitic alien race and tended to by machines. I don't know if you've seen a prison lately but they aren't exactly decorated with pretty murals and pictures. I think this was also mainly done to add to the atmosphere of the level. The control room to fire halo built by the same race was much more "pretty" and a lot more effort was put in there visually.
Halo managed to do what few games have done for me - entertain me enough so that I want to replay them. The only games I've replayed more for single player would be Golden Eye Perfect Dark and Modern Warefare 1. And the only games I've played more multiplayer would be Golden Eye and Counter-strike. Isn't that the point of a game? To entertain the player enough so that they want to play it over and over again.
The weapons is my main point for disagreement. Yes the pistol was unnecessarily over powered.
As for the convenant weapons the plasma pistol/rifle were both very handy for shields both elite/jackal. The reason why you couldn't reload the plasma weapons was because the humans couldn't figure out how to. The needler was spectacularly effective against elites especially when dual wielding. I also don't feel grenades were as much of a focal point as you're making out.
I didn't particularly notice the movement speed as being too slow. It may have seemed like it was extremely slow due to the expansiveness of some of the levels, which thank goodness usually had some vehicles to traverse it with. I did however find that the jumping was like moving into a low gravity environment and always wondered how a 1 tonne power suit wearing man could float through the air like a feather.
The level design aspect; I think you're probably referring mainly to the library level(which I loved unlike so many). It was an installation built by aliens to imprison another parasitic alien race and tended to by machines. I don't know if you've seen a prison lately but they aren't exactly decorated with pretty murals and pictures. I think this was also mainly done to add to the atmosphere of the level. The control room to fire halo built by the same race was much more "pretty" and a lot more effort was put in there visually.
Halo managed to do what few games have done for me - entertain me enough so that I want to replay them. The only games I've replayed more for single player would be Golden Eye Perfect Dark and Modern Warefare 1. And the only games I've played more multiplayer would be Golden Eye and Counter-strike. Isn't that the point of a game? To entertain the player enough so that they want to play it over and over again.
No, and while I suspect they're not up to the standard I'm looking for either, I'd be willing to give them look. (I've been pleasantly surprised by such things before.) Halo's plot didn't really engage me enough to actively seek out or purchase the books, however.
Also, patching up story deficiencies with ancillary books feels a little like cheating.
Also, patching up story deficiencies with ancillary books feels a little like cheating.
I'm also supprised that no one mentioned the graphics CE had. At the time in 2001 the PC game for graphics was return to castle wolfenstein, a brown blocky mess if there was one. So something with duel(iirc) graphics engines like halo with all the blues, purples and greens +lighting effects was nothing sort of stellar.
I can't help feel that your points are pretty petty and misplaced especially for such an old game. To deny that it wasn't THE game of the early 2000s due to its MP balance and diversity is to be sticking your head in the ground. (go to any console lan and it was 95% going to be halo)
I can't help feel that your points are pretty petty and misplaced especially for such an old game. To deny that it wasn't THE game of the early 2000s due to its MP balance and diversity is to be sticking your head in the ground. (go to any console lan and it was 95% going to be halo)
Well i originally got an X-Box and Halo because i won $200 and all my friends loved the game and wouldn't shut up about it. Playing the single player all i could think was "Huh, Goldeneye007 was better then almost all of this. Vehicles are fun though." Of course the Halo multyplayer was my first real experience in anything like that. Until then all i really did was single player games (except Smash Bros.) But getting to play the multyplayer with all my friends taught me something. First that i suck at FPS games when not playing against a comp, and second that slayer with all rockets is so fun you don't care who wins at the end.
In the end i won rather then earned the money to get the system and game so i don't have any regrets about it. When i played with my friends it was fun, although mostly for the comradely we shared. Playing online sucked though. Everyone online is a dick with a mouth to boot. Stupid microphones...
In the end i won rather then earned the money to get the system and game so i don't have any regrets about it. When i played with my friends it was fun, although mostly for the comradely we shared. Playing online sucked though. Everyone online is a dick with a mouth to boot. Stupid microphones...
1. Medium-pace shooter by design - not supposed to be as fast as quake, nor as slow as op: flashpoint. Thus people who enjoy one or the other (or both I'm looking at you furburt) are traumatised by this - It's not a bug it's a feature.SavingPrincess said:
2. Weapons are very balanced: you wouldn't want to use the shotgun at long range but hurts up close. The rocket launcher is suitably meaty but limit ammo/clip. The sniper rifle works awesomely at long range. The assault rifle is good for wiping out lesser enemies(the grunts) but enemy shields eat bullets (also best fired in bursts). The human pistol is your finisher when dealing with shield-broken elites and hunters, but is pants against shielded ones. plasma pistol rips through shields and hurts light vehicles, but can't finish off an enemy to save its life. The plasma rifle is a mix between the plasma pistol and the assault rifle. And the Needler, I don't think anyone gets how awesomely broken this gun can be in the right circumstances. Put about 8 or more needles into someone, even on legendary and they turn into a pink explosion, if there are any grenades on the floor in range these will explode too. The problem with most people is spamming the gun mindlessly. That being said the game should really played on heroic, where all these things come to the fore.
3. Games like shattered horizon suggest that we might only be using one multi-purpose gun in the future. Also yes he could carry them all, but in what? Its not like he has a giant backpack, I mean those guns gotta go somewhere when he is not using them. And if he uses his hands, well he can't shoot can he.
4. Totally agree
5 It did have the ability to change aspects of its modes, you could make it so there were one-hit kills, weapon set on map and stuff like that (though no low gravity because it was their own engine as opposed to the modified havoc they rocked for the sequels)
Okay, I'm noticing a few recurring themes through this thread:
- Regarding Weapon Balancing
Everyone disagrees with me. The way they do this is by starting off with "I agree with you" about the pistol and the needler, and the assault rifle, and the plasma weapons in certain situations. I think only a few people who said they disagreed with me actually disagreed with me.
- Regarding Movement
Everyone disagrees with me. The way they do this is by saying "Yeah, so you moved a little bit on the slow side and the jumping was floaty." Again... disagreeing with me by reinforcing my point.
- Regarding Level Design
Everyone sort of disagrees with me. The way they do this is by saying "Sure, some of the levels (i.e. The Library) were bad."
- Regarding Shooting
Everyone disagrees with me. The way they do this is by saying "Sure, at times it would have been nice to be able to carry more weapons."
[sub]They also tell me there are more than eight weapons, they have done this by listing vehicles, different types of grenades, and weapons from other games in the series.[/sub]
Beyond that... I've been told that I don't "understand" the game. I've been told that the "story gets better once you read the books." I've been told that, "Yeah [insert aspect here] was broken but even the developers recognized that, that's why they fixed it in the sequels."
Everyone loves this game... that's fine... it was an okay game. The main problem I have is that when people love something, they inadvertently concede to a lot of the gripes I had with the game, then follow it up with "but" and proceed to tell me why an admitted shortcoming of the game was actually a good thing, directly after acknowledging that it was a bad thing.
In these comments I've been told:
- It's dumb to want realism, that's why it's okay that the Spartan moves slow and it's okay that he jumps super high and defies gravity because it's realistic.
[sub]The way I see it, pick a direction and run with it, if I can jump high, it makes sense to also be able to run fast.[/sub]
- The enemies can recharge their weapons with the pink crates. They told you this in the book(s).
[sub]I don't much like having to read a novel (or a lengthy expository instruction manual) in order to grasp the finer points of a lack of game design.[/sub]
- Multiplayer didn't matter; multiplayer was fantastic; multiplayer was great as long as you did it right; multiplayer is something unfair to judge as it was before Xbox Live! came out.
[sub]I was comparing the multiplayer experience to other experiences I was having (or have had) at the time, this means both online PC and console shooters like Goldeneye 007.[/sub]
I guess the point being that if there were consistency in the arguments defending this game, then I might be inclined to agree with some of them; however:
- A game developer admitting that a certain aspect of their game was broken and/or unintentional does NOT automatically fix the game itself.
- Just because you liked an aspect of the game that did not make sense, does not make it automatically suddenly make sense.
- Just because you had "fun" with a game, does not make it mechanically a great game (there are plenty of BAD games that I have had a ton of fun with... Onechanbara I'm looking at you...).
- "Better" sequels do not justify a game's "goodness."
There have been some incredibly valid points in the contention of the OP, but, they are far too interspersed with a bunch of shortsighted forgiveness of what was, to me, an average shooter (that was originally supposed to be a Real-Time Strategy, then a Third-Person Shooter).
The world will go on if someone does not like Halo for the actual Halo gameplay. Promise.
- Regarding Weapon Balancing
Everyone disagrees with me. The way they do this is by starting off with "I agree with you" about the pistol and the needler, and the assault rifle, and the plasma weapons in certain situations. I think only a few people who said they disagreed with me actually disagreed with me.
- Regarding Movement
Everyone disagrees with me. The way they do this is by saying "Yeah, so you moved a little bit on the slow side and the jumping was floaty." Again... disagreeing with me by reinforcing my point.
- Regarding Level Design
Everyone sort of disagrees with me. The way they do this is by saying "Sure, some of the levels (i.e. The Library) were bad."
- Regarding Shooting
Everyone disagrees with me. The way they do this is by saying "Sure, at times it would have been nice to be able to carry more weapons."
[sub]They also tell me there are more than eight weapons, they have done this by listing vehicles, different types of grenades, and weapons from other games in the series.[/sub]
Beyond that... I've been told that I don't "understand" the game. I've been told that the "story gets better once you read the books." I've been told that, "Yeah [insert aspect here] was broken but even the developers recognized that, that's why they fixed it in the sequels."
Everyone loves this game... that's fine... it was an okay game. The main problem I have is that when people love something, they inadvertently concede to a lot of the gripes I had with the game, then follow it up with "but" and proceed to tell me why an admitted shortcoming of the game was actually a good thing, directly after acknowledging that it was a bad thing.
In these comments I've been told:
- It's dumb to want realism, that's why it's okay that the Spartan moves slow and it's okay that he jumps super high and defies gravity because it's realistic.
[sub]The way I see it, pick a direction and run with it, if I can jump high, it makes sense to also be able to run fast.[/sub]
- The enemies can recharge their weapons with the pink crates. They told you this in the book(s).
[sub]I don't much like having to read a novel (or a lengthy expository instruction manual) in order to grasp the finer points of a lack of game design.[/sub]
- Multiplayer didn't matter; multiplayer was fantastic; multiplayer was great as long as you did it right; multiplayer is something unfair to judge as it was before Xbox Live! came out.
[sub]I was comparing the multiplayer experience to other experiences I was having (or have had) at the time, this means both online PC and console shooters like Goldeneye 007.[/sub]
I guess the point being that if there were consistency in the arguments defending this game, then I might be inclined to agree with some of them; however:
- A game developer admitting that a certain aspect of their game was broken and/or unintentional does NOT automatically fix the game itself.
- Just because you liked an aspect of the game that did not make sense, does not make it automatically suddenly make sense.
- Just because you had "fun" with a game, does not make it mechanically a great game (there are plenty of BAD games that I have had a ton of fun with... Onechanbara I'm looking at you...).
- "Better" sequels do not justify a game's "goodness."
There have been some incredibly valid points in the contention of the OP, but, they are far too interspersed with a bunch of shortsighted forgiveness of what was, to me, an average shooter (that was originally supposed to be a Real-Time Strategy, then a Third-Person Shooter).
The world will go on if someone does not like Halo for the actual Halo gameplay. Promise.
First things first: Something you should know about Halo: CE is that is was the first good console shooter since Goldeneye, and the mechanics it used to do so have been nicked and adapted ever since. Which is the reason why it's overhyped in the first place; the original's status as a gaming milestone is hard to deny, at least where consoles are concerned.
The rest of what I have to say is covered in a review I made over a year ago on this very site. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.81344-Lord-Krunk-Reviews-Halo-Combat-Evolved]
So just be careful what you say, eh?
The rest of what I have to say is covered in a review I made over a year ago on this very site. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.81344-Lord-Krunk-Reviews-Halo-Combat-Evolved]
So just be careful what you say, eh?
... and I thought I based my arguments around opinions. Pure conjecture, and the Timesplitters fans will vehemently disagree. I think you meant to say it's the first popular shooter since Goldeneye 007.Lord Krunk said:
... yes, and I hate that personally. It'd be like all modern authors borrowing from Twilight instead of Dickens. So annoying.Lord Krunk said:
This is fact.Lord Krunk said:
No.Lord Krunk said:
Why do I have to be "careful" what I say? Everything I bring up in the OP is valid and totally open to debate. I back up my arguments. I have my opinions but don't shy away from them just because legions of people happen to think differently. I see, I play, I form an opinion. There is nothing wrong with that. There are a ton of games that I loved, but people thought they were horrible for extremely valid reasons. I think maybe only one or two comments in this thread said, "You know what, you're right in some ways, but I loved it anyway for [insert reason here]." I'll go to my grave spouting my love for Hot Shots Golf but recognize it's an incredibly silly game.