Topic: Yeah, Halo 3's been announced.

[UERD]

Quote
Millions of people have a great time playing it.

I'd wager that they'd have even more fun if they tried out a computer FPS, or alternately that even more people would be having fun playing Halo 3 if the XBox came with a mouse-like input.

Quote
I'm sure you'd like it if Nintendo made it.

I hated dual-shock console FPSes before Halo came out, and I still hate them now. GP likes BioShock, and I like Starcraft, and neither game really has anything to do with Nintendo.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: UERD

Quote
Millions of people have a great time playing it.

I'd wager that they'd have even more fun if they tried out a computer FPS, or alternately that even more people would be having fun playing Halo 3 if the XBox came with a mouse-like input.

Quote
I'm sure you'd like it if Nintendo made it.

I hated dual-shock console FPSes before Halo came out, and I still hate them now. GP likes BioShock, and I like Starcraft, and neither game really has anything to do with Nintendo.

I don't hate Halo either, I just think it is an extremely overrated series and gets WAY more hype then it ever deserved, with that said I still think it is a quality series.  

[Kairon]

So in essence, she's jealous.

[TrueNerd]

So I just played the multiplayer for 3 hours. The series still stands as one of the better multiplayer experiences out there. That's not surprising. I very badly want to see if the campaign has improved over the first two games.  

[Bill Aurion]

It's like the previous two games as far as I can tell...Starts off strong, thens plummets off a cliff as you near the end...

I can't believe they still have backtracking!  THROUGH FLOOD...AGAIN!

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
It's like the previous two games as far as I can tell...Starts off strong, thens plummets off a cliff as you near the end...

I can't believe they still have backtracking!  THROUGH FLOOD...AGAIN!

DO you have to once again have to fight hordes of them?

[Bill Aurion]

Yep, and once again it isn't fun...

[bustin98]

Man, that's totally what I hated about the first two. Awesome fights all the way up that stupid part. Then you enter the frustration zone. Oh well, I mainly play for the online multiplayer.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: bustin98
Man, that's totally what I hated about the first two. Awesome fights all the way up that stupid part. Then you enter the frustration zone. Oh well, I mainly play for the online multiplayer.

You know that is sad when people play it for multiplayer, yet you hear people bragging about the plot all the time. Makes no sense to me!

[that Baby guy]

Anyone know if this thing actually sold Xboxes or if everyone already owned a 360 that wanted it?  I haven't heard that yet.

[wulffman04]

I just played the co-op campaign with some friends for a couple hours, got through the first for levels, it is extremely awesome, the landscapes are huge and the flood is super creepy as always, but the Gravity Hammer is a favorite of mine.
----------------------------
It's Hammer Time!

[Bill Aurion]

Quote
Originally posted by: wulffman04
and the flood is super creepy as always

Super creepy, more like super annoying and pointless...But yeah, the hammer is fun to use...

[bustin98]

When I read a book, I usually only read it once. Maybe going back to it after a couple of years. Just because a game might have a decent back story, its not incentive enough for me to run through the single player game again.

I hear that Halo3 ups Gears of War in the difficulty department. More enemies, extra turret guns, smarter AI depending on the level you play at. Exactly what I was looking for.

I don't think I've complimented Halo on its story. Hell, I don't even have an interest in reading the paperback books. I probably would read them if given the opportunity but I'm not going out of my way for them.

Mass Effect might be different depending on if there are multiple ways it ends based on what you do and say. And I don't mean a 'good' ending and a 'not-so-good' ending.

[wulffman04]

as i said before i played halo 3 with some friends for awhile and the difficulty level is a nice improvement. we were playing two player co-op on heroic, at first it seemed a little too easy but sections where there are many a enemy, it gets very hard to both stay alive, usually you were able to run back to a safe place to have your buddy respawn, but it wasn't the case in some areas especially later on in the levels, I haven't tried multiplayer yet but I'm looking forward to excellent matchmaking as always.

-Ultimately I'm not sure we would be able to handle Legendary, and we played Halo 2 pretty often, but if we had 4 people (instead of just 2) playing at once I bet we could take on the campaign on legendary.

[ShyGuy]

Played it tonight. So, did they steal the Helmet HUD overlay from Prime?  

[Shift Key]

Quote
Originally posted by: Svevan
I really wish at least one person here would admit that Halo 3 is an excellent game. It is no longer as innovative as it was, but that's because the formula still works. It is the standard for console fps (cue GP chiming in that there is no such thing as a good console fps). I played number 3 tonight for a few hours and enjoyed it quite a bit, as much as the others. I really can't talk about single player (and, hello, there's nothing wrong with that) but the mechanics are so tight and so, honestly, perfect that I'm sure single player will be a fun experience.

Get off your soapbox Burchfield. Why should I heap praise on a polished version of Halo 2?

I'll probably play it later this week (some of my mates were lining up at midnight for it) so I'll pass judgment after that. Until then I shall maintain my skepticism, no matter what other people think my opinions should be.

Quote
Halo 3 makes me want an Xbox 360 more than any other game I've played on 360 thus far.

... which makes me question why the 360's attach rate is so high.

I'm interested in how Halo 3 has affected 360 sales (given that Halo 2 was a Xbox title and all of the Halo players I know have already bought a 360).

[Svevan]

I think you're the first person I know online to call me Burchfield. It's a terrible nickname, but I trust you meant it lovingly.

edit: above comment not sarcastic. I really love the Internet right now. And I love you Shift Key. More than life itself.

After having played Halo 3, I really don't know how I could go back to 2. I don't think that's just because of polish (people).  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Could you go back to 1?

Why do people make the next-gen jump to 3 when previous games in the past decade provided a similar, relatively complete feature package?

Is it just "hey it's the new 2008 Toyota, I guess I should get with the program so I can participate on the same roadway that everyone else is enjoying?

it's the madden of space-marine games

[Svevan]

Well, I don't think so at all. For gameplay mechanics (grenade types, dual-wielding), graphics, level design, multiplayer options, Live options, and everything else, 2 really outpaced 1. 3's jump is less substantial, but we have to consider all the new weapons, vehicles, levels, new control scheme, the X-Button items, and again with more shlt to do on Live and in LAN, and of course the graphics. It's a far cry from the Madden series, since the first Halo came out in 01, and the second came out in 04. That's the exact same frequency as the Metroid Prime games, and (oh I'm gonna piss someone off) Halo has shown much more advancement within its own formula than Metroid Prime ever did.  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Svevan
Well, I don't think so at all. For gameplay mechanics (grenade types, dual-wielding), graphics, level design, multiplayer options, Live options, and everything else, 2 really outpaced 1. 3's jump is less substantial, but we have to consider all the new weapons, vehicles, levels, new control scheme, the X-Button items, and again with more shlt to do on Live and in LAN, and of course the graphics. It's a far cry from the Madden series, since the first Halo came out in 01, and the second came out in 04. That's the exact same frequency as the Metroid Prime games, and (oh I'm gonna piss someone off) Halo has shown much more advancement within its own formula than Metroid Prime ever did.

The Metroid Prime series has always been unique in gameplay to about any game out there, Halo 1-3 has been a poor man’s PC First Person Shooter (which is why it is always ripped when it is ported to PC). In fact your opinion completely falls apart because the Halo series has had a myriad of far superior FPS games to build off of, while the Prime series doesn't have the convenience of ripping off features left and right since it is a gameplay design that really is its own unique creation and is NOT an uninspired FPS whose artistic merit is terribly generic, where gameplay mechanics are ripped right from far better games on the PC (though dumbed down for the gamepad), or being outdated instantly by more complete first person experiences on, once again, the PC.

At least MP3 doesn't have a final level that the reviewers even admitted was flat out terrible and something they cringe at ever doing again. You seem like a walking contradiction sometimes Evan, you have always been this RAW RAW for independent films and BOOOO to Big Budget movies, yet in gaming you are defending perhaps gaming own monster budget "cool" movie. Yet you criticize Bioshock which actually has a lot of artistic merit and does a heck of a lot more in its single player campaign then the Halo series has ever done, which has been basically Serious Sam with a bit more polish. Not to mention the fact that I don't think it is a ringing endorsement for the Halo series that you don't think you can go back to the previous games. If a series is truly a great series you should find value in each game because it is special. As much as I like Madden I wouldn't call it a great series because I never want to play a previous installment.

[Bill Aurion]

Uh oh, Svevan's cover has been blown!

(Laugho, trying to compare Halo's single-player campaign to the Prime series results in Halo slaughter...)

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well for me Im going to boycott the game since I never did like the series and the whole fiasco on manufacturing.  In the US some standard editions have missing discs, the tins in the collectors and legendary editions are so crappy that they cant hold the discs in properly so that they fall out in the case and they end up to be scratched I personally think that for 70 or 130 USD its sad if you have to worry about your discs being scratched or not.

So in my route I would rather wait for the Orange Box or even Call of Duty 4.

[ShyGuy]

Wait, wait, wait. What formula advancements has Halo done that are bigger than the Prime series? You gotta back wild claims like that. If you say dual wielding....  

[hudsonhawk]

Quote
Originally posted by: ShyGuy
Wait, wait, wait. What formula advancements has Halo done that are bigger than the Prime series? You gotta back wild claims like that. If you say dual wielding....

Within the series, which is what he's talking about, Halo has added online play (which it did in an innovative and perfect way - the virtual couch is brilliant), a map editor, sharable instant replays, online coop, competitive coop, and a nice ladder system that does a good job of matching you against people of your skill level.

I love the Prime series as much as anyone, but the series hasn't really changed at all since the first one, save for the different control scheme in the third.

Halo deliberately caters to a broad audience with its simple gameplay, and it took something that was too complicated and intimidating for most casual gamers (online gameplay) and made it easy in a simple and innovative way.  It doesn't make things any more complicated than they need to be, instead focusing on simply having fun.

For me the fun of Halo isn't just that it's a fun game - it is, don't get me wrong - but its mass-appeal means that I get to enjoy it with people I wouldn't otherwise get to enjoy a game with - my brother, my casual-gaming friends, my wife's brother - and its so popular that it means there's always matches to jump into, usually with people I know.

Mass appeal, simple fun gameplay that brings casual and hardcore gamers together, innovative simple solutions to complex problems... reminds me of another company that I like an awful lot.  Only difference is that Halo gets faulted for it.

[bustin98]

There's something to be said here. If a game is released and gains praise, then the sequel is released and makes strides above the original, could it be that the original was really gimped and we just didn't realize it?

I have a heck of a time going back to the original Halo, mainly due to the controls. Timing is off, no dual weilding, melee attack is different, gernades are different, and the way enemies spawn is a cop-out (you'll approach an area with no enemies, then suddenly they are all over the place). Its not un-playable, just not as fun as it was originally.

Apply that to Metroid Prime. Its not exactly fair to compare the Wii version, but between the first and second, you can go back and forth without any trouble. Maybe because it was already as good as it gets?? Gameplay wise, I have trouble with Prime 2, but I think almost everyone hated switching from light side to dark side.

From a certain point of view, some games need to have elements grow beyond the original, others don't.