Halo y/n?

0ubliette

Halo 3 scored 10/9/9/9 in famitsu this week. Looking better and better it is.

And johnny, halo was out a long time before HL2, playing halo after playing hl2 is obviously going to leave you unimpressed. Back in 2002, it were the fcukin bollocks. I still remember staring at the grass being like 'WOW! it looks like REAL grass!' The enemy AI in halo is still better than most modern games, and it still has alot more freedom than alot of more modern FPS's. It deserves its place among games like HL2 in the greatest games hall as, at the time, the only other fps that could touch it was HL1.

koneko

Halo 2 scored the same in Famitsu though.

savemejebus

Zapp Brannigan wrote:

Will be buying on release day, taking said day off college and then playing 4 player co-op on Legendary! God this game is gonna be awesome!

How are ye going to decide who get's to me master chief? It's him and 3 elites right?

0ubliette

koneko wrote:

Halo 2 scored the same in Famitsu though.

No, it scored lower, i think it was 36 or so. It scored the same in XBOX famitsu, but not in famitsu itself.

EDIT
It was 34/40 in famitsu weekly.

Retr0gamer

Being japanese famitsu doesn't have much experience of reviewing FPS games. Many don't make it to japanese shores. The Halo 2 was always a competent just totally out classed by similar games. I'll hold out for a eurogamer review (who incidently gave Halo 2 9/10, I don't know who to trust anymore ).

Riesen_Meal

Im gettin it tonight, happy days!

Cant wait for it, I love all the Halo games!!! Not that ive ever finished a campaign on any of them bar Halo 1!!!

0ubliette

Retr0gamer wrote:

Being japanese famitsu doesn't have much experience of reviewing FPS games. Many don't make it to japanese shores. The Halo 2 was always a competent just totally out classed by similar games. I'll hold out for a eurogamer review (who incidently gave Halo 2 9/10, I don't know who to trust anymore ).

i really dont trust EG anymore. Thier reviews are generally either way too generous or way too low for the sake of shock value. Thier 10/10 for bioshock takes the piss, its a great game yes, but its an 8, a very solid 8. I really havent trusted their reviews for a long time now.

A friend on another forum who runs www.presstartonline.com got it early and wrote up this SPOILER FREE mini review:

Eighthours wrote:

The good:
- The story is unobtrusive so far this time around, and not so clumsily written in the main.
- Massive encounters are back in. Lots of marines against hordes of Covenant, with many different routes to an objective. Some of the set pieces so far have been fantastic.
- While the graphics aren't at Gears of War level, the physics are better than previously (one of the new weapons takes full advantage of this), there's shedloads going on, and the only frame rate drop I experienced was in an area with no enemies at all, so I assume it was just a loading hiccup.
- Big outdoor levels are back. This is a good thing.
- The HDR lighting is very nice indeed. Graphically, it's a step up over the Beta.
- The music is absolutely brilliant. So far, no silly RAWK guitar bits either.
- The art direction is stunning. Some nice architecture and little touches going on.
- The loading screen. WOW.

The bad:
- Difficulty spikes. On Heroic, there are a few. Notably, on the very first level there's one where you basically run out of ammo and good weapons in a section where there are jackals with carbines in trees quite a long way away from you, as well as lots of grunts all around you shooting. It's pretty hard.
- Then, on the Tsavo Highway level (the one that's been previewed loads of times, so no spoilers!), there's a bit about three-quarters of the way through where if your fellow marines are killed (and they will be killed), you're up against a legion of Covenant troops, a fuel-rod cannon wielding Brute Chieftain and a Wraith (which seem harder to destroy this time around). This part took me upwards of an hour to get past. I was this close to throwing my controller across the room. Please note: on co-op, that part will probably be straightforward, and indeed better Halo players than me may well walk it.
- The occasional Fear-like flashes of I-won't-tell-you-spoilers work to start with, but then seem a bit... well... shoddy because of the dialogue.

From what I have played so far, the single player campaign is definitely way above Halo 2. Clearly beyond it. So that's great. Someone on rllmuk said something that I think merits inclusion, as it's what I think too: you're basically playing Halo updated to 2007. So imagine Halo 1 with an extra six years of tech on it. That's what it's like. It's recognisably pure Halo. The campaign mode doesn't reinvent Halo, but builds upon it... makes it better, smoother, bigger, more intense.

I haven't had that "Silent Cartographer" moment yet... but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's coming. On here, Hero of Canton said that someone he knew placed the campaign between Halo 2 and Halo 1. I disagree. I'm having much more fun playing this than I did either of the other two. Yes, it's not perfect, but it's streets ahead of other console FPS games, and I foresee extreme replayability. Each level so far has been good.

I had a very quick (2 minutes) play around with Forge. Unfortunately anyone who wants to pile a map with 30 Warthogs will be disappointed. There's not only a budgetary cap on things (each map has a certain amount that can be spent on it, with each new item having a cash value), but also a numbers cap too for many items. For example, from memory (after midnight, very tired memory) you can only place 3 extra Warthogs in Last Resort (Zanzibar remixed). You can, however, move every object in the game world, piss about with its respawn times, and generally fiddle around with everything. It'll be very interesting indeed to actually "play" Forge with other people. I'm not sure yet if you can actually choose game types while in there or not... I'll have a look.

One slight flaw with Forge is that it lacks a tutorial of any kind. The manual keeps referring you to Bungie's website for proper instructions, so have a look around on there. It seems straightforward enough, but there are likely hidden depths and strategies that could have been explained, and while Forge is user-friendly, it's not noob-friendly in terms of what you're told.

Not done multiplayer custom or matchmaking yet, as I'm concentrating on the campaign. One thing I will say is that the campaign in 4 player Live co-op is likely to be the best thing on the 360.

Zapp Brannigan

savemejebus wrote:

How are ye going to decide who get's to me master chief? It's him and 3 elites right?

Whoever is the host is the MC. But I wanna be the Arbiter!!

koneko

Hah, snap, I've got dibs on the Arbiter in our group too.

savemejebus

youse people are sick...sick i tells ya - faulty steath generator eurgh!

Riesen_Meal

Cant wait to see this flamethrower, and the brute chopper!!!!

Think ill have to hook up my surround sound laters!

godtabh

Fieldog wrote:

Cant wait to see this flamethrower, and the brute chopper!!!!

Think ill have to hook up my surround sound laters!

The neighbours would love the SS at 3am as you fly around in the chopper!

Riesen_Meal

I dont mind the neighbours, no one on my side anyhow!

Its my lil sister who has to be next door.... poor girl, BLAM!



She'll be hearing 9mm fire for the evening!

Im just watchn the clock here in work!!!!

0ubliette

seems like its not just specified bits of the campagn that get saved in the saved films option too, it saves your ENTIRE CAMPAIGN footage to the hdd, and in incredibly small files. The first chapter only came to 7.7mb apparrently

Zapp Brannigan

It got delivered today along with some Halo 3 t-shirts and pretty cool faceplates that go around the sides of the 360 aswell.
Can't wait until wednesday!

Zombrex

Retr0gamer wrote:

\

After the mediocrity of the much hyped and well reviewed Halo 2? Of course.

Most over hyped/over rated game series of all time ... but I'm probably still going to by it within the first week

Riesen_Meal

Ive never finished campaign in Halo 2!

Nor would I be arsed, its all bout the multiplayer for me!

Now that 3 has coop online, I might play it on legendary, I finished halo 1 but not halo 2....