Halo 3 - Hugely disappointing?

jesus_thats_gre

A-Trak wrote:

.....and here come the reviews

Currentlly sitting on a 97/100 mark from four reviews at metacritic - clicky

Gamespy and Gamespot are up & are usually fair enough review sites but I'll wait on IGN & Eurogamer.

But 97/100 off the bat is more than encouraging!

Edit - Fookin Hell, 10/10 on Eurogamer!! They gave both Halo 1 & 2 8/10 each!!!

Now I'm really excited!!!!

Fook, got goosepimples when i seen the eurogamer score

kaimera

eurogamer.net wrote:

You shoot bad guys, and that's it. If that's all you want to do, Halo 3 is perfect, or as near to damned perfect as this kind of game is going to get. For those who preferred the more cerebral moments of the likes of Half-Life 2 or Bioshock, though... Well, caveat emptor.

There is a moment late in the game, when the Master Chief wryly states that his escape plan from a tough spot is to "shoot my way out - just for a change", when the irony may cut a little close to the bone for some players. But just as you wouldn't criticise football for being too focused on kicking a ball, it's not valid to complain that Halo is too focused on shooting aliens.

Suits you sir and thank you very much.

jesus_thats_gre

Niceeeeeeee.......

eoin2nc

Ign gave it 9.5.........cant wait for it now

tman

Holy crap... I was planning on maybe buying this some time next year. very tempted to pick it up on launch day now after EG's review...

Helix

its fun, but not really groundbreaking

certainly ive seen nothing to warrant those kind of review scores so far in it anyway

kaimera

How good is the sound, in particular Marty O'Donnells score? [for those that have it already]

Loved the first two albums.

A-Trak

Hgelix wrote:

certainly ive seen nothing to warrant those kind of review scores so far in it anyway

Not that you will in the future either Helix but bear in mind all these guys are professional journalists and do this for a living and more importantly, have had the game for about 3 weeks, so are looking at all aspects and not just campaign etc.

(I'm assuming you've actually played the game from your post.)

Ciaran500

kaimera wrote:

How good is the sound, in particular Marty O'Donnells score? [for those that have it already]

Loved the first two albums.

From what I heard its just like the first soundtrack. Didn't hear any wailing guitars. NPC speech samples sound fantastic aswell, they all feel organic and play in reaction to what going on around them.

kaimera

Cool. thanks Ciaran.

Now to play the waiting game...

TheDoc

halo is all about the multiplayer imo, there has never being a great fps game with an amazing storyline since something like half life 2, lets be frank, fps is about shooting **** up, and thats best done online.

Its amazingly fun online and thats what gna make or break halo 3, unfortunatly not its single player.

I didnt really touch single player halo 2, all i know is that it had a **** ending, i dont care, multiplayer is so much fun.

Helix

A-Trak wrote:

(I'm assuming you've actually played the game from your post.)

yup, now granted ive only had it since today like

but at the end of the day its an fps with nothing new or innovative about it

mcgovern

Teamxbox review up,

9.7

jesus_thats_gre

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

halo is all about the multiplayer imo, there has never being a great fps game with an amazing storyline since something like half life 2, lets be frank, fps is about shooting **** up, and thats best done online.

Its amazingly fun online and thats what gna make or break halo 3, unfortunatly not its single player.

I didnt really touch single player halo 2, all i know is that it had a **** ending, i dont care, multiplayer is so much fun.

Half Life 1 tbh. Only for Ep:1, HL2 would have be way down that peckig order. Bioshock more recently.

tman

Limited edition preordered... funny how easily a review score on EG can sway my opinion:o

Retr0gamer

Funny indeed. Was just plotting a 3.30 exodus out of the lab on tuesday to Smyths after reading the EG review. The new wireless router should be arriving tomorrow as well so will be able to finally get on xbox live as well.

steviec

I'm still skeptical. The previous games got equally good reviews and it didn't stop them being crap. And I think it says a lot when the difference in score on Metacritic between Halo 2 xbox and Halo 2 PC is a good 30% - the review scores dropped sharply when Microsoft stopped pumping money into the hype machine, funny that.

Still, the co-op is always fun so I'm sure I'll play through it and see what all the fuss is about.

Vyse

To day I was shocked at the EG review is an understatement. In the airort at the moment waiting to go off on holidays. DAMN:mad: Should be waiting for me when I get home though. Can't wait to get this on Live.

jesus_thats_gre

4 player co op is making me wet...

Call Me Jimmy

steviec wrote:

I'm still skeptical. The previous games got equally good reviews and it didn't stop them being crap. And I think it says a lot when the difference in score on Metacritic between Halo 2 xbox and Halo 2 PC is a good 30% - the review scores dropped sharply when Microsoft stopped pumping money into the hype machine, funny that.

Still, the co-op is always fun so I'm sure I'll play through it and see what all the fuss is about.

I think, judging from those scores it's quite possible that either the hype or bags with dollar signs on them have played a part.

Ciaran500

steviec wrote:

I'm still skeptical. The previous games got equally good reviews and it didn't stop them being crap. And I think it says a lot when the difference in score on Metacritic between Halo 2 xbox and Halo 2 PC is a good 30% - the review scores dropped sharply when Microsoft stopped pumping money into the hype machine, funny that.

Or maybe the game is great for a console FPS but pales in comparison to the PC competition?

Also I played the first Halo on the PC and the controls felt horrible, like most console to PC ports.

0ubliette

steviec wrote:

I'm still skeptical. The previous games got equally good reviews and it didn't stop them being crap. And I think it says a lot when the difference in score on Metacritic between Halo 2 xbox and Halo 2 PC is a good 30% - the review scores dropped sharply when Microsoft stopped pumping money into the hype machine, funny that.

Still, the co-op is always fun so I'm sure I'll play through it and see what all the fuss is about.

No, the review scores dropped for the PC version because it was a half assed port of a 3 year old game, not because the hype machine stopped rolling.
Halo 1 is still a classic sci fi shooter, despite what some people think it set the bar for shooters back then with a great story, and some nice touches (one of the first fps's i ever saw that used proper physics) the regenerating shield that 90% of all fps's copy nowadays...its a great series, and im really looking forward to wednesday now that i have the day off, im even more hyped now thanks to the EG 10

Ciaran500 wrote:

Or maybe the game is great for a console FPS but pales in comparison to the PC competition?

Is that a joke? Yeah kb and mouse is a better control scheme but this last year has hardly been something to brag about for pc fps's players. I havent bought one game for the PC all year. Anything that was really good, e.g. bioshock was on 360 aswell. In fact the 360 had the lions share of the best games this last year, i havent played one game on PC this year that impressed me as much as gears of war did, put it that way.

mickoneill30

0ubliette wrote:

Is that a joke? Yeah kb and mouse is a better control scheme but this last year has hardly been something to brag about for pc fps's players. I havent bought one game for the PC all year. Anything that was really good, e.g. bioshock was on 360 aswell. In fact the 360 had the lions share of the best games this last year, i havent played one game on PC this year that impressed me as much as gears of war did, put it that way.

It's better to not go down that road on this thread. It'll just descend into PC Vs Console. There are valid (and stupid) arguments on either side and neither side will ever change their minds. Who really cares? Do whatever floats your boat.

0ubliette

mickoneill30 wrote:

It's better to not go down that road on this thread. It'll just descend into PC Vs Console. There are valid (and stupid) arguments on either side and neither side will ever change their minds. Who really cares? Do whatever floats your boat.

Aye too right...back to halo 3!

My collectors edition is currently "awaiting dispatch" from sendit.com. Hopefully they'll post it out soon or I might just have to go and grab it from xtravision on the day.

Kanney

Have people got this?
My opinion is, people are raving about this for the last year and I have owned a 360 for 4 months now and have this prebooked (GAME in galway rang me yesterday to confirm). I havent played any of the other Halo games but looking forward to this. GAME in Galway are doing a midnight opening but I'll just get mine Wednesday. There is co-op single player yea? Now off to Wikipedia to learn more about the story of the previous games.

Riesen_Meal

Oooh I cant wait!

(Until everyone is online that is!)

Then ill let the game begin, ive only done the 1st mission on campaign!

mcgovern

Kanney wrote:

b] There is co-op single player yea? [/b] Now off to Wikipedia to learn more about the story of the previous games.

There is 4 player co-op in the campaign.

So far its looking like it could beat Bioshock and have the highest review rating of the last god knows how many years. Currently 1 point ahead of Bioshock.

FranchisePlayer

Retr0gamer wrote:

Funny indeed. Was just plotting a 3.30 exodus out of the lab on tuesday to Smyths after reading the EG review. The new wireless router should be arriving tomorrow as well so will be able to finally get on xbox live as well.

No offense retro but what happened to halo is the most over rated game ever and the biggest bloated piece of crap in the universe:D

Retr0gamer

God damn Microsoft hype machine.

Halo is overrated but it's far from terrible. Thought the first game was excellent until the Flood appeared. The second started well but descended into dull corridor levels after you left earth. The story and soundtrack were pure **** as well. The problem with Halo 2 was it made all the same mistakes as the first game but did them a whole lot worse (more dull corridor levels, much more of the terrible flood etc.).

What I'm hearing about Halo 3 is that it's much more about the big open levels where Halo excels, decent soundtrack but poor story. At least co-op is always a blast and always took a lot of the tedium out of the duller levels. I also wouldn't mind trying this game when I finally get hooked up to xbox live this week.

kaimera

...soundtrack were pure **** as well

Wrong. Marty O'Donnells score throughout both Halo 1 & 2 is brilliant.

FranchisePlayer

Yeah man totally agree with you on halo 2.One question Why did you not like the flood they scared the **** out of me only 10 though:o .
Well hopefully halo3 will be kick ass read a the reviews posted here but want to judge myself:D

GUIGuy

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/finishing-the-fight-a-review-of-halo-3.ars

Arstechica review is up... graphics by no means crap, good but not class leading. Gameplay good but environments smaller than expected.

Retr0gamer

FranchisePlayer wrote:

One question Why did you not like the flood they scared the **** out of me only 10 though:o

You go from fighting the covenant who still have some of the best AI in any FPS game and are great fun to fight to the flood who have the same AI seen in a 15 year old FPS game were all they do is run towards you taking the odd pot shot. They just aren't fun at all to kill especially compared to the covenant.

As for Marty O'Donells score, Halo 1 had a brillaint orchestral soundtrack. Halo 2 had a few good pieces but overall it was ruined by too many tracks featuring awful screechy guitars that only appeal to american teenagers that really should know better.

An orchestral score is always better for film and videogames unless it's totally over the top like Devil May Cry where you need just as over the top screeching guitars.

faceman

im new to 360 world (since july) having defaulted from PS2. (PS3 didnt convince me)

I only played halo once on a multiplayer demo on a PC. therefore i have no real expectation for halo 3 (which i pre-booked) Im only really interested in MP games on 360.

However the last week i have been playin COD4 beta and i have to say, halo 3 has alot to live up to!

once the gameplay is top class does it matter if the graphics aint A1 Sharon??

event

A-Trak wrote:

Not that you will in the future either Helix but bear in mind all these guys are professional journalists and do this for a living and more importantly, have had the game for about 3 weeks, so are looking at all aspects and not just campaign etc.

(I'm assuming you've actually played the game from your post.)

aye, heaven forbid a 'journalist' gives an overhyped game a high score

thats never happened, has it?

0ubliette

Retr0gamer wrote:

You go from fighting the covenant who still have some of the best AI in any FPS game and are great fun to fight to the flood who have the same AI seen in a 15 year old FPS game were all they do is run towards you taking the odd pot shot. They just aren't fun at all to kill especially compared to the covenant.

As for Marty O'Donells score, Halo 1 had a brillaint orchestral soundtrack. Halo 2 had a few good pieces but overall it was ruined by too many tracks featuring awful screechy guitars that only appeal to american teenagers that really should know better.

An orchestral score is always better for film and videogames unless it's totally over the top like Devil May Cry where you need just as over the top screeching guitars.

Did you not think that that was a good twist tho? One minute youre fighting the covenant, who are smart, use cover, tactics, etc, then all of a sudden its a fight for survival and both covenant and humas alike are overwhelmed by the flood? It gave you balls out blasting a la doom with the flood, and more tactical gunplay like HL with the covenant

FranchisePlayer

Yeah see your point retro the flood were pretty dumb alright but I thought it was cool the way they were introuduced alienesque style plus the fact as oubliette has stated it did seem humans and covenant were overwhelmed and gave you sense you were the last thing to stand up to the flood.
Does anybody know why the master chief was not effected by the flood I.E no turning into one of them???

A-Trak

event wrote:

aye, heaven forbid a 'journalist' gives an overhyped game a high score

thats never happened, has it?

I'm aware that some journalists can also get caught up in the hype machine like us 'mortals,' but..

event wrote:

but bear in mind all these guys are professional journalists

I wouldn't buy a game on the review of just one site/magazine etc, that's why I said all of these guys..

That's a hell of a lot of journalists getting caught up in the 'hype,' woudn't you agree?

Or maybe the best reviews are obviously drawn form Games forums posters, where their non professional stance as games journalists leads to a more non biased review?

Retr0gamer

FranchisePlayer wrote:

Yeah see your point retro the flood were pretty dumb alright but I thought it was cool the way they were introuduced alienesque style plus the fact as oubliette has stated it did seem humans and covenant were overwhelmed and gave you sense you were the last thing to stand up to the flood.
Does anybody know why the master chief was not effected by the flood I.E no turning into one of them???

I did like how they were introduced, very effective, it was fighting them that was the problem. I just found them boring to fight against. It felt like a serious sam clone(I still think that Doom is the only game that has done this type of FPS well) and thats a game I found really boring unless played in co-op.

johnny_ultimate

Dammit this feedback is getting quite positive.
[moral dilemma] Can I give into the hype machine and actually buy it, or stick to my guns and shun Master Chief? [/moral dilemma]
*wanders off too check if there are any tradable games stinking up the collection*

I agree that the flood were annoying to fight but they are an integral part of the story. In many cases I would run by them where I could to avoid fighting them or have them jumping at you from stupidly long distances.

I much prefered fighting the elites and I thought the in-fighting in halo2 was a nice twist. It will be interesting to see how tough the brutes are in halo3, I have a feeling they will be a little easier because they are going to be one of the staple baddies. It is also reassuring to read that the grunts will be better too because killing them was almost like a formality in the first two games.

jesus_thats_gre

Got a copy today (really can't say where from though, really sorry). Played a few hours on heroic and am really enjoying it so far.

awhir

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Got a copy today (really can't say where from though, really sorry). Played a few hours on heroic and am really enjoying it so far.

can i go to ur house

godtabh

Have played a couple of hours of it and its getting better and better. Easily out does Halo 1 and 2

jesus_thats_gre

awhir wrote:

can i go to ur house

There is 2 copies and 3 360s here and all

jesus_thats_gre

awhir wrote:

can i go to ur house

There is 2 copies and 3 360s here and all

A-Trak

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

There is 2 copies and 3 360s here and all

Here I am reading about it and you can play 2 copies at the same time, and if you're not you should be.

Look at me, I'm playing 2 games of Halo 3 at the same time!

Now that's showing off.

God I hate you so much;)

GrumPy

Playing the game from start to finish first time in 4 player co-op should be great.

jesus_thats_gre

A-Trak wrote:

Here I am reading about it and you can play 2 copies at the same time, and if you're not you should be.

Look at me, I'm playing 2 games of Halo 3 at the same time!

Now that's showing off.

God I hate you so much;)

Lol.. Nah, myself and my housemate both got copies.. Am semi gloating but not a complete **** like