squidhands
Member
about to get my Batman on tonight, how u?
Halo |OT 24| In Before the Locke
- Thread starter Fracas
- Start date
- Status
PewPewPewBow
Member
Wait what. I spend an hour trying to find a game yesterday without any luck. Matchmaking is very slow in general, if it does work. Black screens after someone quits a game frequently result in kicking everyone back to the menu. Far too many smg and AR starts.
And this isn't on 343, but more than half of the players still quit out of every game they're losing. It's still not what it should have been like at launch.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I wouldn't be too optimistic. The game worked pretty well a few months ago, too, but then got borked by the next patch down the line. So who knows.
Biggest factor on how good your matchmaking experience is your location.
BUT MERCURY
Forerunner
Member
I'd imagine so. Most of the players giving positive impressions have been NA.
wesleyshark
Banned
Damn... It's been my favorite map so far. :/
Fahzgoolin
Banned
Dang man I'm sorry to hear that! Perhaps it's the playlists I'm favoring and my region? I'm in central NA. However, the MCC was straight garbage for me until the last few updates. It's now consistent for me.
I play:
-Team Doubles
-Team Hardcore
-Halo 2 Classic
-Halo Combat Evolved
-Halo 4
I don't dabble in anything else, besides BTB on occasion.
Forerunner
Member
wesleyshark
Banned
Maybe because it's the first week I've gone 9-0 lol. Who knows. Either way, I got to the Lighthouse finally and Thieve's Den was part of the reason.
PewPewPewBow
Member
The Netherlands seem like a decent location, I don't know? I do have a very fast connection and all other games work fine. Sometimes it'll get me in a match nice and quickly as it should, other times it takes so darn long to find those last couple of players, or any players at all. Yesterday I wasn't able to play at all. Quiters, AFK-ers and AR-starts don't make for a great experience either.
By the way, I'm playing BTB in a party atm and it's working fine so far. Now if only people would vote for Halo 3 BR starts over Halo 4!
Edit: Random game overs during the middle of a match are still a thing :}
Edit2: The lag in some games. damn that last game of doubles was ridiculous.
Dedicated servers.
I'm not sure why I subjected myself to this torture the past two days...
Oh yeah... right... :-|
GG shoutout to Gringo for helping me get the Titan chest piece at least.
ElzarTheBam
Member
Good, very good.
BTW Batman is just an amazingly badass game.
They outdid themselves
@Blue you know it baby
5 hours in and I have a blast. Excellent game, so far.
Blue Ninja
Member
I'm guessing the very framework upon which the collection is built.
ElzarTheBam
Member
JumPeRJumPzZ
Banned
So is there going to be another MCC patch or is that over now?
Fahzgoolin
Banned
Hey man, how's the combat in the game? Does it provide any more depth than the last games? I find the combat so mind numbingly easy and boring.
Blue Ninja
Member
Just had a weird glitch happen in Coastal Highway on ODST. Dare driving the garbage truck backwards, a Scarab frozen in place, it had it all.
Poodlestrike
Banned
I'd argue that the point of Arkham combat isn't doing it, but in doing it well. Which is trickier. Long combos, lots of variations, and no hits? Yeah, that's something.
ElzarTheBam
Member
Combat is still very easy, however there's way more variety to it.
Depth comes in the form of planning, so many gadgets and ways to use them before you get into the fight now.
AllIsOneIsNone
Banned
I was watching my friend play it last night for about an hour, honestly looked pretty similar from what I saw. The game looks fantastic but it's one of those games I'd almost prefer watching someone else play just for the story and graphics.
A few friends and I (midwest US) have played MCC extensively and come to the following conclusion: It works near flawlessly solo or searching with two people. Once you add a third, any third, the game breaks to the point that it will actually nuke your chat party as well as the game party on a regular basis. What we have found as a solution (and I've seen it mentioned in here before) is, once we can successfully get more than two people in one lobby, we run a quick custom game before entering MM. This usually gives us a good hour or so of trouble-free play before the shitstorm starts all over.
YMMV, of course.
YMMV, of course.
Blue Ninja
Member
Scarab just kept hopping in place, not a care in the world.
Ragnarok Flames
Banned
No. You had to play MCC on it before Dec 19 to get it free.
Fahzgoolin
Banned
Gotcha. So the game doesn't necessarily directly challenge you, it's up to the player to challenge themselves.
Yeah the gadgets look like great fun. I might pick it up on a sale since your all seem to enjoy it so much.
Yeah same here. The sandbox nature of it makes me wanna try it though.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I never find that stuff very satisfying. Like yeah, it's cool, but I'd rather just jump in and start swinging. Same way for all the traps and stuff in Bioshock and countless other games. I rarely use them.
Fahzgoolin
Banned
Co-op fun!
Hunters like their #butts spanked confirmed. confirmed:
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Sir Fahzgoolin/video/3750561
Brutes hate my wife and my wife only (she's Arby):
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Sir Fahzgoolin/video/3750555
Being all manly by warning my wife to be really careful in the next section, only to be embarrassingly taken out by an amused jackel:
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Sir Fahzgoolin/video/3750556
Hunters like their #butts spanked confirmed. confirmed:
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Sir Fahzgoolin/video/3750561
Brutes hate my wife and my wife only (she's Arby):
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Sir Fahzgoolin/video/3750555
Being all manly by warning my wife to be really careful in the next section, only to be embarrassingly taken out by an amused jackel:
http://xboxdvr.com/gamer/Sir Fahzgoolin/video/3750556
That's a nice synthesis, but I always disagree with the notion about Halo 2 being much more linear; which isn't particularly true on close inspection of CE. While Halo 2 lacks a Silent Cartographer esque mission, on the whole there are plenty of open spaces in the campaign.
The game is also arguably less claustrophobic than CE intentionally. CE really pushed the player into tight spots, especially in the later few missions where it was part of the atmosphere. Let's not forget that the only non-linear aspects of CE are the end of Halo and the Silent Cartographer; the majority of the rest of the game is corridor fighting, aside from a few canyon sequences which are still technically linear. There was nothing inherently interesting about the fact that those sequences were in a mostly featureless canyon; AotCR is a great mission because it involves the exposure of the entire sandbox, among other reasons.
Halo 2 similarly had plenty of corridor fighting; also infused with areas of open combat. I'd argue Halo 2 had more of the "medium" sized combat engagements, like fighting on the beach in Outskirts, or Delta Halo's structures. Things get even better on close inspection of the various "vacations" in the levels; with Halo 2 offering more of them into areas that had actual geometry.
Random synthesis:
PoA: 100% linear
Halo: Non linear (but I honestly found this mission really boring when replaying it)
TaR: Linear aside from a medium sized engagement; no different to Halo 2
Silent Cartographer: Non-linear
AotCR: 70% linear corridor, 30% linear canyon fighting. Similar to Sacred Icon and Quarantine Zone if they were one mission
343GS: Linear and claustrophobic
Library: Linear
Two Betrayals: AotCR Mk2
Keyes: Linear
The Maw: Linear
vs
Cairo: Linear
Outskirts: Linear but with plenty of extended exploration, multiple paths to complete the first section
Metropolis: Linear (but open spaced)
Arbiter and Oracle: Linear
Delta Halo/Regret: Linear but with great "vacations"
Sacred Icon Quarantine Zone; similar to AotCR from this perspective in terms of linearity
Gravemind/Uprising: Linear
Great Journey: Linear but open spaced
It's a really unfair criticism, aside from the lack of a Silent Cartographer esque mission. Both campaigns are very linear, as is the rest of the Halo franchise, aside from ODST. In fact, there are very few instances of asymmetric objective design; another example being ONI Sword Base with the gun and the radar dish section.
Halo 4's biggest mistake in this regard was not so much the corridor fighting, but the lack of major, epic moments or engagements outside of the cutscenes. That's something that the Bungie games all had at some point.
The Real Napsta
Member
Most of them are fixed.
Prinz Eugn
Member
Thanks guys! Glad you like it, was a fun night. I tweeted the cover to @Halo and US Weekly, no response so far. I'm @PrinzEugn if you guys want to blast it out there. ##standagainsttogglecrouchers
Joke's on you! The sticker is mine
It is a tempting format, just because headlines can be so fun to write.
yeah once I under a stale bridge, they did not bright left gomez
I thought about doing something, but couldn't think of anything interesting and was getting tired. 343I <3 #BU77S or the like.
Ha, glad someone noticed with the text in the way.
I have more HaloGAF specific jokes I didn't want to include, maybe I'll make another one soon.
Joke's on you! The sticker is mine
It is a tempting format, just because headlines can be so fun to write.
yeah once I under a stale bridge, they did not bright left gomez
I thought about doing something, but couldn't think of anything interesting and was getting tired. 343I <3 #BU77S or the like.
Ha, glad someone noticed with the text in the way.
I have more HaloGAF specific jokes I didn't want to include, maybe I'll make another one soon.
wesleyshark
Banned
Yeah, this is pretty much on point. The closest Bungie-esque moments in H4 were the Mantis sequence in Infinity and the Death Star... I mean Mantle's Approach trench run on the final mission.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
Has 343 even hinted that there would be a Halo 5 console?
If there is I'll trade mine and get that instead of the $250 LE statue. I'd hope the console would come with the $99 LE of the game, though, that'd be perfect.
If there is I'll trade mine and get that instead of the $250 LE statue. I'd hope the console would come with the $99 LE of the game, though, that'd be perfect.
NobleGundam
Banned
Yes
Frankie mentioned it will be like the Halo Reach LE Console for example. But I can't wait to see what theme it'll be.. Perhaps Forerunner Guardian or ONI. I don't care. Just reveal it. I have decided to buy it.
wesleyshark
Banned
link1201
Member
Halo waypoint Warzone q&a https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/...re/1eaba65d-bb2a-4f7a-b2eb-ed123a0bf472/posts
Josh Holmes said there is one. I think on twitter awhile back.
aHebrewMenagerie
Member
I wish i jumped on the Reach console, shit was sweet.
wesleyshark
Banned
Hope its as tastefully done as this Forza one.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
Oh, well, nice! If that console looks nice and comes with the $99 LE that might be what I go with. Even sweeter would be to have it come with a Halo themed Pro Controller.
wesleyshark
Banned
Yeah I'm not much of a car guy but that is a classy console design and I'm sure it'll make the Forza folks very happy!
jailbird20022
Banned
Off-topic, I don't have the heart to tell my sister how long she'll be stuck waiting for the Mario Kart 8 DLC to download after she finally buys it...
And if the poor girl tries to use youtube on her tablet to pass the time it might make it worse.
And if the poor girl tries to use youtube on her tablet to pass the time it might make it worse.
Do you mean a Halo themed Elite Controller, because these special consoles are mostly 1TB versions and cost 399$. They would need to bump up the price for that to happen and that seems very unlikely to me. Even with the LE bundled they would probably lose money with that price.
We'll see, though. Maybe they will have more than 1 SKU, who knows? Seems like a good idea with a new mainline Halo game.
I don't think the linearity of the campaigns is the issue, insofar as linear vs. nonlinear in game design is usually a much broader concept than how you're using it. It's more an issue of how it feels, how you can approach encounters, and the sandbox available. As you point out, few Halo missions offer any sort of nonlinearity beyond "choose which order to do this objective", but what makes the missions feel like a fun jaunt down the funnel to your ultimate end cutscene versus a slog is how you can choose what you want to do. Halo 3 is I think rightfully lauded for the sequences which allow a wealth of options for tackling encounters—the Brute pack outside the control room, the barracks, the assault on the scarabs. Halo 2's level design just didn't allow as much of that, and it was a more objective quantity made subjectively worse by the on-rails segments of gondolas and elevators. It's like you took "The Library" and scattered the worst bits of it throughout the campaign, at the same time robbing me of encounters like descending the ziggurat on "Two Betrayals" or smashing through the security door with a Warthog in "Silent Cartographer". I think it's fair to say that CE's campaign might be overly lauded over Halo 2's, but I don't think it's true to say those differences are mostly immaterial.
I think where Halo Reach and 4 ultimately stumbled was that they started getting overly proscriptive with your options, telling you quite clearly "hey, that Falcon dumped some AAs, I think you should use them" or "hey, shotguns and thruster packs, wink wink!"
With that said, I'd love for some levels in future Halo games to take a page from games like Bioshock or even ODST and allow us multiple avenues through a level, rather than (usually) having encounters and setpieces and then funneling to the chokepoint for the next setup (in a macro way I guess you could say "Halo" does this with its canyons, but I'm thinking more of a "Requiem" or "Sierra 117" where aside from speed running there's not really a branching area with multiple paths to the end (in other words—make rooms feel more like habitable spaces rather than corridors, or forests more like forests.)
Damn that's a beauty. I don't even like Forza and I'd buy that. Still, I'm happy with my "Cirrus White". Still reminds me of a Stormtrooper.
- Status