Topic: Yeah, Halo 3's been announced.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
"Well I haven't had any problems with glitches. Actually I take that back, anytime I control the turret on the vehicles, the AI takes forever to drive up a hill"

That is just the friendly AI being absolutely horrible...

You know you are a Halo marine when:

1) When someone gets on a turret, you will always feel the desire to run in front of it...
2) You end up killing more friendlies than enemies when you toss a grenade...
3) When you plow over Master Chief while driving a Warthog without a care in the world...
4) When Master Chief gets in your vehicle you desire to drive in circles over and over until he finally decides to jump out and toss a grenade under it...
5) When firing rockets from your vehicle, you don't take into account blast radius, so you end up blowing up enemy vehicles when they are right next to you...
6) When you want to ride shotgun in a Warthog being dropped by a Pelican, and you end up getting crushed by it (I'm not kidding, this happened once...The guy just RAN UNDER the dropped Warthog...)

Are you saying that maybe the Halo series isn't as polished as people make it out to be? BLASPHEMY!

[Smash_Brother]

Been playing it online for the first time: this game IS Marathon, I mean, Marathon + Grenades, a melee attack and vehicles, but it's STILL Marathon.

That's not a bad thing, per se, but it irks me that piles of Halo fans have no idea that Bungie had a legacy before MS bought them out.

However, while playing it, I can't shake the feeling that Unreal Tournament already did this before even Halo 1 came out. I'm just not seeing what separates this from all the other run n' gun FPSes, except that I'm playing it with a pair of cumbersome analogue sticks instead of the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
Been playing it online for the first time: this game IS Marathon, I mean, Marathon + Grenades, a melee attack and vehicles, but it's STILL Marathon.

That's not a bad thing, per se, but it irks me that piles of Halo fans have no idea that Bungie had a legacy before MS bought them out.

However, while playing it, I can't shake the feeling that Unreal Tournament already did this before even Halo 1 came out. I'm just not seeing what separates this from all the other run n' gun FPSes, except that I'm playing it with a pair of cumbersome analogue sticks instead of the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard.

Actually when I think about it, you are right. The game feels like Unreal Tournament, I knew I got the same feeling elsewhere. Not to say the online player isn't fun, because it is, but it isn't groundbreaking (Also like you said the controls dampen the experience a bit). Though I will definately admit a team 16 player battle is fun for a console FPS, though I personally would rather play BF2, or even Unreal Tournament, then again you can't play any of those while relaxing in the bedroom.

[NWR_pap64]

I've been playing it for the last couple of hours and while the game is fun I don't understand HOW it got so insanely popular.

The story's pretty basic and the characters are sandwiched between "mildly interesting" and "a bore", so I don't know how THAT got a ton of praise. In fact, my nephew keeps telling me that Master Chief reminds him of Solid Snake. I admit that he's an interesting character and does push the game forward but he's not great enough that people should consider him the best character ever.

The graphics are beautifully dull. Seriously, there are times where the graphics are beautiful. The textures are amazing and the lighting gives it a sometimes eerie natural effect and the creature and ship design is good. But then there are some rather dull environments and the character design is rather boring. Its like the guys grabbed a book called "Basic sci-fi design", nothing is totally bad but I don't understand how reviewers have been pounding the crap out of Metroid Prime 3 because of its graphics when clearly Halo 3 doesn't push it either.

In fact, I'll be very blunt; the Halo series is the videogame equivalent of Paris Hilton, a one shot celebrity that became famous because of ONE thing. In short, a stupid spoiled whore.

[Kairon]

It's not THAT bad pap64, surely. What about the videogame equivalent of ... umm.... the rock?

[Smash_Brother]

The game became as popular as it did because of the multiplayer, and because it's a great multiplayer FPS for a console but if you'll notice it sells like crap on the PC because there are infinitely better FPSes on the PC.

[NWR_pap64]

I understand how the multiplayer might have driven Halo into popularity but even then its a bit too much. Hell, the popularity is so out of control that the Puertorican press has dedicated multiple pages on the Halo 3 release! I don't recall any game doing that. I mean there have been great multiplayer titles throughout the years but Halo's the only game that drives people crazy go nuts.

[SixthAngel]

Halo's multiplayer made it popular, especially the co-op multiplayer.  Online play has helped its success but it is not the reason.  Halo 1 was huge and had no online at all.  People need to stop overlooking this.  The ability to play with someone in the same room is the reason and vehicles like the Warthog continued to push this and make it fun.  In co-op with someone right next to you and in Halo 2 you could play online with friends next to you, the most important part always being the person with you not the online component.  That is why I think it has the mass appeal.  I like counter strike but I can't invite a friend over to play.  Even when all my roommates played Warcraft 3 mods together it was still a hassle compared to turning on the box and picking up a controller.  Can anyone tell me how 4 player co-op is?  It sounds cool on paper but I think it would be too easy to actually be much fun.  Do they still have the retarded idea that on legendary co-op when one player dies you both start at the last checkpoint?

While I don't really care about high definition (I bought a Wii because I don't see much of a difference) Halo apparently runs at 640p, which is apparently below HD standards.  It wouldn't bother me but it is hypocritical of MS to advertise their console as the HD console and pretend it is so important and yet have their biggest game not be native HD.  

[Svevan]

After having spent over 20 hours with the multiplayer (via LAN and Xbox Live) and around 5 hours with the campaign, I can say that the mechanics are very different from previous games, if only because of the balance. Melee attacks feel more powerful, the x-button items add strategy, the levels work really well, and all the new weapons, vehicles, etc. add a ton. Infection is an awesome mode that we played (with eight people) for hours, and Forge is a great way to kick back and have some non-competitive fun (and I'm sure we'll be using it to make cool variants).

It doesn't matter if this stuff is original or not (most of my friends were noticing the same Unreal Tournament vibe that GP did); it's still miles ahead of anything else on console.

Multiplayer is a huge aspect of why this series is popular, but it also has a lot to do with the polished presentation, both in controls and the world. Even if the levels are very linear, the worlds Master Chief explores are huge and gorgeous, with extremely long draw distance and sharp details. Playing single player Halo, from the first game to the last, has always been fun for me almost entirely because of its beauty.

I used to play Quake pretty competitively when I had a PC that could run it (98-99, I think), and I dabbled in Unreal Tournament just a tiny bit. Though I can see the improvements in aiming with a mouse and keyboard, a controller feels more physical and involved, like its an extension of me, especially in a big group of people. Also, PC shooters always felt a little 'thin' to me, as did most PC games, whereas console stuff (especially on Nintendo's 3-d consoles) always had a lush, fully rendered look - PC's look generically sharp and artificial. This is by no means a knock on PC shooters, just a matter of preference - comparing Halo to any of these for an FPS fanatic might be silly (I'm not a connoisseur of PC FPS, so my opinion matters less). Nonetheless, Halo as a series has done more, more, and more than any other console FPS, and there's a reason millions of people play it, both campaign and multi.  

[GoldenPhoenix]

I've never noticed anything beatiful about Halo, the world designs always came across as extremely generic to me. The only real level that I can say was pretty neat artistically was the first FLOOD level. Still it has the same repetitive design as the previous games, there is just no substance to the single player campaign mode, you shoot lots of stuff while going down a linear path. Multiplayer is fun though, but also like I said I'd rather play PC multiplayer modes, but then again also like I said you can't do those in the comfort of your own room. Still haven't played infection, but it sounds a heck of alot like a mode in one of the mods for Half-Life 2 which had a similar premise.

[Svevan]

Yeah, Zombie modes have been around forever. What works here is the inclusion of swords for zombies, shotties for "the living," and the right map choice (with a good bunker to hide in). We did some crazy stuff on the old Zanzibar map where "the living" would put up a pretty good fight against the "zombies," even though they have the advantage.

edit: I forgot that we were playing "Save One Bullet" which I believe is a Bungie created variant included with the game. It removes all the ammo from the map so you only have what you carry with you, meaning that if you fight off the zombies for too long, eventually all you have is melee attacks. And you die.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Regardless I do want to play it. Still trying to figure out how exactly to get the games I want with matchmaker. One thing I can say positive about Halo 3 is that the single player and multiplayer is leaps and bounds better then the even more overrated Resistance Fall of Man. The multiplayer had 0 heart and the single player was super linear, not to mention alot of the enemy designs were ripped straight from Halo!

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
I've never noticed anything beatiful about Halo, the world designs always came across as extremely generic to me. The only real level that I can say was pretty neat artistically was the first FLOOD level. Still it has the same repetitive design as the previous games, there is just no substance to the single player campaign mode, you shoot lots of stuff while going down a linear path. Multiplayer is fun though, but also like I said I'd rather play PC multiplayer modes, but then again also like I said you can't do those in the comfort of your own room. Still haven't played infection, but it sounds a heck of alot like a mode in one of the mods for Half-Life 2 which had a similar premise.

Ditto. Like I said earlier, the game is an odd mix of the beautiful and the generic. Beautiful textures, lighting and effects but uninspired character design.

[Svevan]

Your mom is an odd mix of the beautiful and the generic.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I realized something else, Resistance Fall of Man is Sony's poor man version of Halo!

[Bill Aurion]

Does that even work when it's the more expensive console? =O

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Does that even work when it's the more expensive console? =O

Ok, the desperate man's Halo 3! ROFL

[Flames_of_chaos]

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Does that even work when it's the more expensive console? =O

Ok, the desperate man's Halo 3! ROFL

I wonder if that would mean that Team Fortress 2 would trump them all when Orange Box fever comes out.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I've been playing team fortress 2 and LOVE it, the art style and gameplay is top notch.

[Flames_of_chaos]

 Yeah Im planning on buying it during the toys r us Buy 2 get 1 free deal that people on GAF are tipping off on the week of Oct 14.  Im actually thinking about getting: Orange Box for 360, Folk Lore for PS3 and a Wii game that I can't decide on, if I can't find a Wii game I'll probably get Warhawk on PS3.