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[Pfhunkie]

The graphics looked really lackluster. That was a very big disappointment. I would have been disappointed with that on the XBox One let alone XSX. The art style of the weapons seems to not align with either the 343 or Bungie style.

Seeing that sprint and clamber are still in just destroys most of my interest. If that's still in multiplayer, it will completely turn me away at this point.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

Anyone else notice how fast the guns are running out of ammo? Looks like 343 completely ignored that piece of criticism from their previous games. The blood isn't splattering anywhere on the ground, maybe they're trying to hold that T rating? People saying this felt like old Halo and I don't see it at all. It brought some old artstyle stuff back but nothing gameplay wise reminds me of old Halo.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

I hate to say it, but... that was pretty underwhelming to me. Something seemed really off.

 

[Pfhunkie]

Anyone else notice how fast the guns are running out of ammo? Looks like 343 completely ignored that piece of criticism from their previous games. The blood isn't splattering anywhere on the ground, maybe they're trying to hold that T rating? People saying this felt like old Halo and I don't see it at all. It brought some old artstyle stuff back but nothing gameplay wise reminds me of old Halo.

Yeah, I didn't get the feeling that this was like classic at all. The grapple hook seemed to fun with throwing fusion coils but other than that, nothing that either made me want to play the game or made me feel like Halo was getting back to its roots like the marketing was heavily implying.

I could see that some of the grunts looked more like they did in Bungie's games but some looked like 343 style. Other than that, most all of it looked like something completely new. Some people are saying they "married" the designs but I don't see much in the way of classic art style other than Chief himself.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Sprint and clamber aren't the end of the world but i was quietly hoping they wouldn't be in Infinite. That doesn't mean the game won't be good, but I agree with those who didn't really get a classic vibe from the video shown.

 

[Pfhunkie]

Sprint and clamber aren't the end of the world but i was quietly hoping they wouldn't be in Infinite. That doesn't mean the game won't be good, but I agree with those who didn't really get a classic vibe from the video shown.

That's like... your opinion, bro.

Anyway, here's the BR:

Oddly, it looks like the SPv3 one

 

[jdouglas]

Sprint is in?

LMAO. Bunch of coasting, group-think, yes-men at 343.

Anyone else notice how much astroturfing is going on in a certain websites release thread?

 

[SCB3]

I liked the look and feel of what I could see, very slower-paced Halo like, the Banished weapons look and seem a bit better than the Forerunner/Promenthien weapons from 4/5

However, taking Halo open world feels like a mistep, Halo is a linear level shooter with that unique level design, taking it open world kinda defeats what Halo is for me, aside from MP of course

That being said, I could be wrong and the Open world COULD lead to more linear levels (a lot like Destiny 1 did actually) but I wanna see more of it, its got me intrigued at least.

 

[Pfhunkie]

Plot twist: The toy leaks were actual in-game screenshots.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Still so much of the game we know nothing about. We saw the beginning cut-scene for a level in the game last year at this time. This year we saw like the next 2-3 minutes of that same level lol. I'm still excited about the game even if what was shown was a bit lackluster. There are a ton of gameplay options that 343 could explore within an open world halo game. I'm a huge fan of exploration. So realistically when do you guys think we could see the next preview of the game?

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

That's like... your opinion, bro.

Anyway, here's the BR:

Oddly, it looks like the SPv3 one

What is going on with the way the guns look, I really hate how they all look like plastic toys.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

What is going on with the way the guns look, I really hate how they all look like plastic toys.

Could always be touched up before launch but not holding my breath.

 

[Casanova]

Really just interested in seeing multiplayer gameplay before writing this game off. Multiplayer is what makes Halo and what will bring Halo back into relevance, imo.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Where the fuck was the innovation? Where was the new elements of gameplay with the 12TF hardware coming into play?

Now that I remove the graphics reaction where is any of these elements -

• Zero information about a beta? So this thing launches in what 4 months and still no beta or flighting?
• Halo ring physics, they clearly went for a damaged, ravaged, altering Halo ring. Why do we not see the geometry animated, moving, set pieces destroying, shifting, materialising like Forerunner parts from H5/weapons.
• AI, none of these enemies had any tactics at all, straight up easy mode on display? WTF. With the new CPU power we should have seen a gigantic leap in AI, enemies on screen, pathfinding, player predictions etc. Basically there was a little scripting of brutes dropping in, a flying suicide grunt and fuck all AI really. The enemies were really stupid, like marine AI levels of stupid.
• The polish, the reveal trailers had a level of polish to them that far exceeded what we just saw in gameplay.
• Ray Tracing, the damned XSX is built and marketed around RT, Halo the flagship new engine and game doesn't even have any RT whatsoever. Really?
• Where was the focus on Chief? Again they miss the fucking point by focusing on Brohammer and his "character" emoting. Honestly look at the H2 trailer, badass Chief. Look at H3 trailers, badass Chief. They focused on the world and Brohammer, neither were impressive.
• Stuff like the turret that was hit with the grapple thrown blue plasma battery thing didn't even pop the turret shields, the enemy didn't jump out and flee or reengage nor did the turret take any damage geo wise. Where is that classic Halo feedback?
• Tires on the warthog didn't take on texture environment changes e.g. no dirt, dust or mud build up on the tires. Further the warthog has no lasting effects on the terrain e.g. handbrake maneuvers didn't mark the ground, they animate and then fully disappear.
• There appears to be no expansion on the brutes sandbox e.g. chopper, bruteshot, spiker+plasma rifle dual wield.
• Why didn't they show any cornerstone bombastic moments? Scarab battle (H3), 3 factions fighting (H2), flood horror reveal (HCE).

EDIT: I went and watched the 4K version instead of the shitty stream, there is marked improvement in textures and atmosphere but nothing that screamed next gen at me TBH. There is some really nice lighting effects and I think that will really showcase only when it's your console real time pushing to your 4K HDR screen in game at home.

 

[CreateNowSleepLater]

Where the fuck was the innovation? Where was the new elements of gameplay with the 12TF hardware coming into play?

Now that I remove the graphics reaction where is any of these elements -

• Zero information about a beta? So this thing launches in what 4 months and still no beta or flighting?
• Halo ring physics, they clearly went for a damaged, ravaged, altering Halo ring. Why do we not see the geometry animated, moving, set pieces destroying, shifting, materialising like Forerunner parts from H5/weapons.
• AI, none of these enemies had any tactics at all, straight up easy mode on display? WTF. With the new CPU power we should have seen a gigantic leap in AI, enemies on screen, pathfinding, player predictions etc. Basically there was a little scripting of brutes dropping in, a flying suicide grunt and fuck all AI really. The enemies were really stupid, like marine AI levels of stupid.
• The polish, the reveal trailers had a level of polish to them that far exceeded what we just saw in gameplay.
• Ray Tracing, the damned XSX is built and marketed around RT, Halo the flagship new engine and game doesn't even have any RT whatsoever. Really?
• Where was the focus on Chief? Again they miss the fucking point by focusing on Brohammer and his "character" emoting. Honestly look at the H2 trailer, badass Chief. Look at H3 trailers, badass Chief. They focused on the world and Brohammer, neither were impressive.
• Stuff like the turret that was hit with the grapple thrown blue plasma battery thing didn't even pop the turret shields, the enemy didn't jump out and flee or reengage nor did the turret take any damage geo wise. Where is that classic Halo feedback?
• Tires on the warthog didn't take on texture environment changes e.g. no dirt, dust or mud build up on the tires. Further the warthog has no lasting effects on the terrain e.g. handbrake maneuvers didn't mark the ground, they animate and then fully disappear.

EDIT: I went and watched the 4K version instead of the shitty stream, there is marked improvement in textures and atmosphere but nothing that screamed next gen at me TBH. There is some really nice lighting effects and I think that will really showcase only when it's your console real time pushing to your 4K HDR screen in game at home.

I am really shocked honestly. They had 5 years! The cross gen thing doesn’t make sense either, games have come out that have graphic and texture upgrades for the one x. The fact that they are saying this is the best version is scary bad.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I am really shocked honestly. They had 5 years! The cross gen thing doesn’t make sense either, games have come out that have graphic and texture upgrades for the one x. The fact that they are saying this is the best version is scary bad.

Even things like the brute weaponry or vehicles? Where was updates or inspiration from the chopper, bruteshot, spiker, dual wield a plasma rifle+spiker. I mean it's like this reveal literally took the most basic shit in the sandbox to demo. Where was a large scale battle or a pinnacle moment. It was elementary level of Halo gameplay. When you do a big reveal you put your best foot forward, if this is the best Infinite has to offer in its current state then it's a sad state of affairs.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Couldn't help myself, had to post this over at Halo Waypoint -

 

[Havoc2049]

Just some random thoughts:

-I like the glow of the plasma weapons, which reminded me of Halo CE on the OG Xbox (Not the crappy PC/MCC port).

-343 hasn’t lost the touch when it comes to making annoying characters that I hate and I wish the MC would just punch in the face. Can we just kill the annoying and bitchy Pelican pilot and bring back the likable Foe Hammer?

-I’m torn, as some of the graphics look great and other aspects look fairly craptastic.

-The new Brute armor sucks and the brutes look like an overweight man wearing clothing several sizes to small.

-The no blood T rating crap is lame.

-Is looking down sights gone and are we back to a HUD zoom? It happened so quick in the trailer, I couldn’t tell. If so, good.

-Jason Jones becomes more god-tier with each 343 Halo, as Destiny still keeps the spirit going and Halo keeps loosing its soul. He just had/has a great vision of what makes a fun and great FPS and has the leadership skills to bring in the right people and bring it all together. Something seriously lacking at 343.

-I still have some hope. I’ll still buy Halo Infinite and will probably even get the Legendary edition if they offer it.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

-Jason Jones becomes more god-tier with each 343 Halo, as Destiny still keeps the spirit going and Halo keeps loosing its soul. He just had/has a great vision of what makes a fun and great FPS and has the leadership skills to bring in the right people and bring it all together. Something seriously lacking at 343.

-I still have some hope. I’ll still buy Halo Infinite and will probably even get the Legendary edition if they offer it.

These two points especially.

1. It feels like they really need one person to have a great vision of Halo and run the main direction of art, gameplay, story etc. After numerous games under 343 it has to be a leadership issue, they can hire whatever talent they need to make something happen. Indeed Jason Jones is the man, the art and moment to moment engagements of Destiny or god tier. You can't look at those environments or move or shoot in destiny and not objectively admin it's some of the best in the industry.

2. I'm all in with Halo but it's reserved to arm's length these days.

 

[SCB3]

AI, none of these enemies had any tactics at all, straight up easy mode on display? WTF. With the new CPU power we should have seen a gigantic leap in AI, enemies on screen, pathfinding, player predictions etc. Basically there was a little scripting of brutes dropping in, a flying suicide grunt and fuck all AI really. The enemies were really stupid, like marine AI levels of stupid.

Remember when Halo was the point of reference for AI? When I did my degree it was a major focus, I wonder if like you said, it was on Easy

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Where the fuck was the innovation? Where was the new elements of gameplay with the 12TF hardware coming into play?

Now that I remove the graphics reaction where is any of these elements -

• Zero information about a beta? So this thing launches in what 4 months and still no beta or flighting?
• Halo ring physics, they clearly went for a damaged, ravaged, altering Halo ring. Why do we not see the geometry animated, moving, set pieces destroying, shifting, materialising like Forerunner parts from H5/weapons.
• AI, none of these enemies had any tactics at all, straight up easy mode on display? WTF. With the new CPU power we should have seen a gigantic leap in AI, enemies on screen, pathfinding, player predictions etc. Basically there was a little scripting of brutes dropping in, a flying suicide grunt and fuck all AI really. The enemies were really stupid, like marine AI levels of stupid.
• The polish, the reveal trailers had a level of polish to them that far exceeded what we just saw in gameplay.
• Ray Tracing, the damned XSX is built and marketed around RT, Halo the flagship new engine and game doesn't even have any RT whatsoever. Really?
• Where was the focus on Chief? Again they miss the fucking point by focusing on Brohammer and his "character" emoting. Honestly look at the H2 trailer, badass Chief. Look at H3 trailers, badass Chief. They focused on the world and Brohammer, neither were impressive.
• Stuff like the turret that was hit with the grapple thrown blue plasma battery thing didn't even pop the turret shields, the enemy didn't jump out and flee or reengage nor did the turret take any damage geo wise. Where is that classic Halo feedback?
• Tires on the warthog didn't take on texture environment changes e.g. no dirt, dust or mud build up on the tires. Further the warthog has no lasting effects on the terrain e.g. handbrake maneuvers didn't mark the ground, they animate and then fully disappear.
• There appears to be no expansion on the brutes sandbox e.g. chopper, bruteshot, spiker+plasma rifle dual wield.
• Why didn't they show any cornerstone bombastic moments? Scarab battle (H3), 3 factions fighting (H2), flood horror reveal (HCE).

EDIT: I went and watched the 4K version instead of the shitty stream, there is marked improvement in textures and atmosphere but nothing that screamed next gen at me TBH. There is some really nice lighting effects and I think that will really showcase only when it's your console real time pushing to your 4K HDR screen in game at home.

I agree with you. I went into this thinking the biggest problem would be sprint/advanced mobility. I came out of it being genuinely baffled at the shockingly bad visuals and stunning lack of innovation.

Demos like this are supposed to show off some of the most impressive sections of a game. Realistically speaking, what exactly was shown here? Pelican crashes, Chief moves out and clears a few generic combat arenas (that had environments looking about as impressive as your standard Halo 5 Forge map) with completely braindead AI, then he goes up this elevator and we're "treated" to an extremely awkward cutscene where this Brute monologues into the camera for like two minutes? Whose fucking idea was it to end on this?

I'm really starting to think all those development hell rumors were true because this was VERY rough, and it's currently being roasted all across the internet. Didn't exactly instill confidence to say the least.

 

[Hal.]

Tbh, it looks like absolute shit, but Halo is still Halo, and Halo even at its absolute worst is still great.

 

[Caffeine]

ye that looked like easy the enemies were hesitating before attacking

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

One thing sticking with me, studio appears creatively bankrupt. This demo had nothing creative to tease.

Forget mechanics and assume their development mantra, back to classic roots. So where is any creativity such as -

Fast travel forerunner teleporting grids, creative, lore based and shows off XSX tech. Unlock them so you have to explore first time.

Dynamic and moving Halo ring segments, lore and spectacle based while creating lighting and gameplay elements. AI enemies could even try jettison or squashing etc if you stay in one place too long. Warthog run anyone?

You get the idea, honestly in a matter of days I could innovate a dozen of such gameplay ideas without even having to change guns or mechanics.

This gameplay reveal is creatively bankrupt and it sucks. What the fuck has 343 doing for 5 years?

 

[Cutty Flam]

I am really shocked honestly. They had 5 years! The cross gen thing doesn’t make sense either, games have come out that have graphic and texture upgrades for the one x. The fact that they are saying this is the best version is scary bad.

I have seen this happen with a The Legend of Zelda game of all things. They had six years even. And or course, it flopped on so many levels

343i needs to be torn apart after this. No fucking talent or vision at all

 

[Cutty Flam]

But I’ll try to hold my tongue until release day. I don’t have any faith in them anymore though. If this game turns out incredible, it’ll be a miracle

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

From the info that's coming out, it's sounding more and more like 343 were originally working on a direct sequel to Halo 5, but after the massive backlash that game got (particularly its campaign) they scrapped it and started with this "spiritual reboot" idea. This lines up with how 5's lead writer, Brian Reed, suddenly left the company a few years after 5 was released - not long after actually being promoted to narrative director.

Couple that with project reboots, delays, and more than a few departures, and yeah, I can see why it looks like such a mess. It's all giving me huge Andromeda vibes, and much like that game I'm expecting to see an expose on it all after the game releases.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

The number of new threads popping up on gaming side to bash 343 is off the charts. I'm not excusing 343 for the demo, but there is a point where we really just need to wait it out.

 

[-Arcadia-]

How's it going guys?

I figure you can use a break, so I started playing 4 for the first time (I've watched it, almost in its entirety before, so not exactly new) and... it's better than people give it credit for, at least the campaign.

I feel like there's a polish missing here that Bungie had. Their gameplay was more exciting, the levels better designed (the lack of cover here is obnoxious and damaging to making players constantly push the fight forward), and their enemies didn't seem to frequently appear out of nowhere (again, always making you hang back and play it safe).

All the same though, it's so much better than the reputation that precedes it. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, like almost modern standards, in 4K and HDR, and this game should fundamentally not have existed on 360. The story is a different direction but actually cool. The new enemies are interesting and freshen things up (a little uncertain about them, though). The shooting feels as good as ever. And the Mammoth mission is a must-play for any Halo fan.

This certainly won't end up my favorite Halo, or remotely in the category, but I don't think I'm going to regret playing it either. It's a fun B-Halo experience, with some cool highlights and things to show you, especially on GamePass.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

The number of new threads popping up on gaming side to bash 343 is off the charts. I'm not excusing 343 for the demo, but there is a point where we really just need to wait it out.

Na the more pressure they get to delay the game the better.

How's it going guys?

I figure you can use a break, so I started playing 4 for the first time (I've watched it, almost in its entirety before, so not exactly new) and... it's better than people give it credit for, at least the campaign.

I feel like there's a polish missing here that Bungie had. Their gameplay was more exciting, the levels better designed (the lack of cover here is obnoxious and damaging to making players constantly push the fight forward), and their enemies didn't seem to frequently appear out of nowhere (again, always making you hang back and play it safe).

All the same though, it's so much better than the reputation that precedes it. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, like almost modern standards, in 4K and HDR, and this game should fundamentally not have existed on 360. The story is a different direction but actually cool. The new enemies are interesting and freshen things up (a little uncertain about them, though). The shooting feels as good as ever. And the Mammoth mission is a must-play for any Halo fan.

This certainly won't end up my favorite Halo, or remotely in the category, but I don't think I'm going to regret playing it either. It's a fun B-Halo experience, with some cool highlights and things to show you, especially on GamePass.

I remember playing Halo 4 and being let down by the dumbed down AI and hallway levels but I was like shit if 343 can make this 2 years after the company was made then just imagine what they're gonna be able to do with more time. Little did I know they were gonna put out Halo 5 with more dev time...

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I really enjoyed Halo 4's campaign myself. The MC was back on his own exploring a new world. The pistol wasn't a piece of garbage. Even the multiplayer was good. The graphics in Halo 4 were top notch like you mention. However, 343 continued the crazy armor abilities from Reach, which would be my one complaint. I submit that without abilities like promethean vision and jetpacks, 4 would have been up there with the best of the Halo games.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

How's it going guys?

I figure you can use a break, so I started playing 4 for the first time (I've watched it, almost in its entirety before, so not exactly new) and... it's better than people give it credit for, at least the campaign.

I feel like there's a polish missing here that Bungie had. Their gameplay was more exciting, the levels better designed (the lack of cover here is obnoxious and damaging to making players constantly push the fight forward), and their enemies didn't seem to frequently appear out of nowhere (again, always making you hang back and play it safe).

All the same though, it's so much better than the reputation that precedes it. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, like almost modern standards, in 4K and HDR, and this game should fundamentally not have existed on 360. The story is a different direction but actually cool. The new enemies are interesting and freshen things up (a little uncertain about them, though). The shooting feels as good as ever. And the Mammoth mission is a must-play for any Halo fan.

This certainly won't end up my favorite Halo, or remotely in the category, but I don't think I'm going to regret playing it either. It's a fun B-Halo experience, with some cool highlights and things to show you, especially on GamePass.

I loved all the story bits that came together with H4 when including the terminals. I liked the innovative promethean design but despised the bullet sponge and lack of ammo. The 3 types of prometheans were exactly the type of innovative gameplay I had hoped for in the Infinite reveal e.g. watchers shield knights, throw back grenades and spawn prowlers.

Again if Halo would let you tear through these enemies but ramp up AI and on screen numbers we don't need limiting ammo or bullet sponge damage cheapness. We would actually have great wonderful engagements, run and gun or bunker down for horde waves etc. The enemies wouldn't be hated from cheapness as they were on higher difficulty levels.

Literally it's all there in Nylund's books waiting to be brought to life in game.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

How's it going guys?

I figure you can use a break, so I started playing 4 for the first time (I've watched it, almost in its entirety before, so not exactly new) and... it's better than people give it credit for, at least the campaign.

I feel like there's a polish missing here that Bungie had. Their gameplay was more exciting, the levels better designed (the lack of cover here is obnoxious and damaging to making players constantly push the fight forward), and their enemies didn't seem to frequently appear out of nowhere (again, always making you hang back and play it safe).

All the same though, it's so much better than the reputation that precedes it. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, like almost modern standards, in 4K and HDR, and this game should fundamentally not have existed on 360. The story is a different direction but actually cool. The new enemies are interesting and freshen things up (a little uncertain about them, though). The shooting feels as good as ever. And the Mammoth mission is a must-play for any Halo fan.

This certainly won't end up my favorite Halo, or remotely in the category, but I don't think I'm going to regret playing it either. It's a fun B-Halo experience, with some cool highlights and things to show you, especially on GamePass.

I have a weird relationship with 4's campaign. When I first finished it, my thought was "I guess that was good?" but as I marinated on it, I began to dislike it more and more. However, over time, I've started to appreciate it again despite its numerous issues, especially with the advent of 5's atrocity of a campaign (made 4 look like fucking Shakespeare).

Now 4's multiplayer? That was and continues to be a total dumpster fire. Spartan Ops was a great concept executed horrifically, which is why I'm not sure I have much faith in 343's whole spiel about adding story content to Infinite over time.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

It just hit me we are not gonna get an exclusive Halo game made from the ground up for the Xbox Series X. Halo Infinite is supposed to last 10 years according to 343's retarded plan so the Series X is gonna be the only Xbox console that doesn't get an exclusive Halo game...

 

[link1201]

It just hit me we are not gonna get an exclusive Halo game made from the ground up for the Xbox Series X. Halo Infinite is supposed to last 10 years according to 343's retarded plan so the Series X is gonna be the only Xbox console that doesn't get an exclusive Halo game...

I'm hopeful that them saying this will actually allow them to make the game better over time. I hope it's not a drip feed with what should be core features over time though. They will have no "Next game" as an excuse for a long while. It may also actually be good not to keep segmenting the population. I guess I'm treating Infinite as a Free to play game at this point...lol I've become numb to the pain.

Fingers Crossed the Campaign is good and the encounters are done really well. I've been wanting an open world Halo Game for awhile. I just hope the quality is not Spartan Ops levels.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Something interesting I noticed about Infinite while watching the trailers, and please dunk on me if I'm late to the party.

I think the game takes place on the broken part of the Halo. I can't say for sure without having the ability to zoom out, but the location looks right, and interestingly, the devs have talked about parceling the open world into different sections, and gating player progress for a curated experience.

Well... that'd sure be a clever way of doing it, having MC hop from broken piece to broken piece.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

I hope it's not a drip feed with what should be core features over time though.

Going by a few things they've said in interviews, and a few things some insiders have said... I wouldn't get your hopes up, unfortunately. :/

Would love to be wrong though.

Something interesting I noticed about Infinite while watching the trailers, and please dunk on me if I'm late to the party.

I think the game takes place on the broken part of the Halo. I can't say for sure without having the ability to zoom out, but the location looks right, and interestingly, the devs have talked about parceling the open world into different sections, and gating player progress for a curated experience.

Well... that'd sure be a clever way of doing it, having MC hop from broken piece to broken piece.

There's a few rumors floating around that originally they wanted the entire Halo ring to be playable. Personally that sounds like a pretty damn tall order to me, especially for a game that's gonna be running on the OG Xbone, so I'm not surprised if they scaled it down.

Seen a few people suggesting all those pillars are supposed to be the ring's damage, or where it's getting repaired, or something. Can't say I'm a fan of it at all, it just looks ugly to me.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

I really think MS needs to do something. They're taking a serious publicity beating over this, and it's not good for their next gen console at all. I'd say delay it, but then they'd have no launch title for the XSX. What a clusterfuck.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

I really think MS needs to do something. They're taking a serious publicity beating over this, and it's not good for their next gen console at all. I'd say delay it, but then they'd have no launch title for the XSX. What a clusterfuck.

This is just getting sad. A developer coming out and saying it looks like a current gen game. They need to delay the game.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

This is just getting sad. A developer coming out and saying it looks like a current gen game. They need to delay the game.

Yeah, they're really in a predicament here. Unless they crunch like fucking crazy these last few months and pull a miracle off I really don't know what else they could do.

Maybe delay the game but have the multiplayer beta release with XSX?

 

[VincentMatts]

Ill post this here just cause i believe this is the actual ptoblem. Art Style:

The problem is the art style. A games graphics will always be as good as its art style. Always. If the games art style is average, the game will look average.

Just take a look at the last of us2 or god of war or red dead2. All these games look incredible on base ps4 or xbox one systems. Why arent those games limited by its hardware then? Its clearly weaker HW, so shouldnt the games also look worse? They dont, because a games graphics will always be as good as its art style. Which in those cases, are all beautiful.

If you go and watch trailers for all those games right now on youtube in 720p resolution, youll still think those games look amazing. How come? Because its not about power or resolution. Its all art style.

Fact of the matter is, 343 arent good at art style. It either doesnt look like Halo at all (in the cases of halo4-5) or looks copy pasted right out of halo 3 (in regards to infinite) and that was a 360 game.

Your next gen game should not look like a high rez 360 game. It needed to take inspiration from those games, not copy them.

Again, the real problem here is art style, not power, not resolution. If that isnt good, then this is the result you will get. And they cant fix that in 3 months time.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Another good Halo vid from CRG. Disagree with some stuff but eh.

 

[h00ters]

Another good Halo vid from CRG. Disagree with some stuff but eh.

I tend to agree with him. I think back to how I felt watching the H5 demo at E3 years ago and thinking, "This doesn't look or feel like Halo at all".

Fast forward to this....yes, the graphics didn't blow me away, but it reminded me of the Halo I fell in love with as a 12 year old back in 2002 and continued to love until 2012 before the passion started to dip.

I said it in a post a few pages back, but I feel like 343 got too bogged down in the design and graphical elements that they put gameplay as the second priority. Multiplayer maps became so focused on how good they looked that their over-complicated geometry would get in the way of basic gameplay. Who knows where on earth my grenades would bounce on half of those maps. Map layout also took a back seat to the point that one of Halo's core multiplayer elements, set-ups, became irrelevant.

From a campaign point of view, this looks like the most appealing one to play since Halo 3. Gunplay looked solid, they've removed thrusters and ground pound (hopefully). Clamber I can deal with, spring I remain to be convinced on. If multiplayer follows a similar design philosophy, I think we should be OK. Keep the map design simple, focus on the layout.

Ultimately I think the outrage about the presentation last week should be coming from the Xbox fans who were disappointed that their console wasn't pushing out crazy visuals. Put your halo hat on and it's not all that bad.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I tend to agree with him. I think back to how I felt watching the H5 demo at E3 years ago and thinking, "This doesn't look or feel like Halo at all".

Fast forward to this....yes, the graphics didn't blow me away, but it reminded me of the Halo I fell in love with as a 12 year old back in 2002 and continued to love until 2012 before the passion started to dip.

I said it in a post a few pages back, but I feel like 343 got too bogged down in the design and graphical elements that they put gameplay as the second priority. Multiplayer maps became so focused on how good they looked that their over-complicated geometry would get in the way of basic gameplay. Who knows where on earth my grenades would bounce on half of those maps. Map layout also took a back seat to the point that one of Halo's core multiplayer elements, set-ups, became irrelevant.

From a campaign point of view, this looks like the most appealing one to play since Halo 3. Gunplay looked solid, they've removed thrusters and ground pound (hopefully). Clamber I can deal with, spring I remain to be convinced on. If multiplayer follows a similar design philosophy, I think we should be OK. Keep the map design simple, focus on the layout.

Ultimately I think the outrage about the presentation last week should be coming from the Xbox fans who were disappointed that their console wasn't pushing out crazy visuals. Put your halo hat on and it's not all that bad.

I have no doubt I'll find joy in any Halo game put out. That said I'm hesitant to be hyped about the gameplay that was revealed. Open world, yep good stuff. Some of the new guns, yep good stuff. Classic Halo and art, yep good stuff. Have I seen that and played that a billion time before? Yep. What separated this gameplay reveal? Little. There's so much they could get creative with and never even have to touch on movement mechanics or weapons or sprint etc. Dynamic level geometry, AI enemies, forerunner teleporting fast travel, armour/ability mods, large scale engagements, bring in things from Halo custom games and make them features in game e.g. puzzle style maps to proceed into certain areas, pilot a pelican to find new targets or abilities, rely on intel you share with PvE style players/content to create a dynamic or procedural world. What of pickups like Doom e.g. super speed, invulnerability, camo on command etc. How about some stealth sections like from Halo CE and the grunts sleeping, expand on that.

I'll say it again, the reveal was lacklustre for more than just the graphics. Where is the creativity or expansion on the existing lore? Feels creatively bankrupt. I hope I'm dead wrong and there is a shit ton more to be revealed in the remaining 3-4 months before launch. Literally in one post I have a dozen more interesting ideas on possible gameplay changes and by comparison this reveal was stale AF. 450 staff and 5 years I expect more. A lot more.

Spoiler: Some creative aspects I noticed

1. The brute getting shot in the leg and changing his animation, attack speed and giving the player a moment to get the headshot in. This is a good sign gameplay wise.

2. The single camera shot from the real time pelican cutscene straight into gameplay. Serious good immersion there and feels like a massive throw back to Silent Cartographer.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Yeah, it's not just the visuals, the gameplay segment they chose to show was just boring. Think back to Reach's E3 demo. Shows the big fight on the beach, going into the launch facility, and then BAM, your ass is fighting in space, which was mindblowing for Halo fans at the time because it had never been done before. It was a hell of a thing to end on.

Or for a more recent example - Doom Eternal. That demo was just nuts. Doomguy fucking flying around everywhere, grapple hooking, swinging around on monkey bars, walking through a human facility on Phobos like a badass, and then at the end, Archvile comes out and you whip out the Crucible. You want these demos to make an impact, and the Eternal demo was one of the best cases of that I've seen in a long time.

And yes, like CRG said, it was absolutely exacerbated by the fact that we had to wait SO LONG to see it - anything other than a mindblowing display was inevitably going to disappoint.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Finished Halo 4 tonight.

I really felt like it had a great narrative. Had this been Bungie's level of gameplay, I could see that plus the plot pushing this to become plenty of people's favorite Halo.

It's so much of a more personal Halo, with Chief and Cortana as the soul of it, and it just works so unexpectedly well. It's not a long game either, so I was impressed how well they managed to make that land, as well as weaving in a whole new threat, world, allies to help escape, and restart to the storyline. It's exceptionally well paced and done.

I just couldn't get past the gameplay, and that intensified towards the end. There's nothing grievous here, just a lack of polish, and a lack of understanding about how to make a good Halo campaign fight, new enemies or Covenant.

I had a good time, though, altogether. With major sequels like The Last Jedi being absolutely miserable, Halo 4 is a series black sheep that... actually has some fun, redeemable, and memorable things about it, and is a good ride. It's certainly not something you want to throw in the de-canon pile.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Finished Halo 4 tonight.

I really felt like it had a great narrative. Had this been Bungie's level of gameplay, I could see that plus the plot pushing this to become plenty of people's favorite Halo.

It's so much of a more personal Halo, with Chief and Cortana as the soul of it, and it just works so unexpectedly well. It's not a long game either, so I was impressed how well they managed to make that land, as well as weaving in a whole new threat, world, allies to help escape, and restart to the storyline. It's exceptionally well paced and done.

I just couldn't get past the gameplay, and that intensified towards the end. There's nothing grievous here, just a lack of polish, and a lack of understanding about how to make a good Halo campaign fight, new enemies or Covenant.

I had a good time, though, altogether. With major sequels like The Last Jedi being absolutely miserable, Halo 4 is a series black sheep that... actually has some fun, redeemable, and memorable things about it, and is a good ride. It's certainly not something you want to throw in the de-canon pile.

The Prometheans really needed more enemy types, the final level of 4 is a huge slog because you're basically fighting the same 3 enemies over and over again. Which to be fair was one of the things they did improve slightly in 5, in addition to just generally making them less annoying to fight.

Also the way the Didact gets defeated at the end was a joke. Basically boils down to a QTE grenade placement. Halo has always been pretty terrible at boss battles but that one stuck out because of how ridiculously strong Didact was supposed to be.

 

[Bernkastel]

 

[-Arcadia-]

The Prometheans really needed more enemy types, the final level of 4 is a huge slog because you're basically fighting the same 3 enemies over and over again. Which to be fair was one of the things they did improve slightly in 5, in addition to just generally making them less annoying to fight.

Also the way the Didact gets defeated at the end was a joke. Basically boils down to a QTE grenade placement. Halo has always been pretty terrible at boss battles but that one stuck out because of how ridiculously strong Didact was supposed to be.

Yeah, that was... lol. I can forgive it, because that was a really strong finale, with so many cool ideas and moments, but I'm surprised nobody picked up on how... cheesy it was to take out the main villain by pressing LT.

I'm happy to hear the enemies are improved a bit for 5. I have problems with the entire combat space of 4, but stuff like dumping an entire clip into a Promethean only to pop shields, and have him duck under cover while you're reloading was infuriating, and ground the fun and pacing of the game down.

I'm looking forward to 5. I understand that the story is... not great, and will be taking those expectations in with me, but if they can refine what's here, it doesn't seem out of the realm of plausibility to expect a fun campaign.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Yeah, that was... lol. I can forgive it, because that was a really strong finale, with so many cool ideas and moments, but I'm surprised nobody picked up on how... cheesy it was to take out the main villain by pressing LT.

I'm happy to hear the enemies are improved a bit for 5. I have problems with the entire combat space of 4, but stuff like dumping an entire clip into a Promethean only to pop shields, and have him duck under cover while you're reloading was infuriating, and ground the fun and pacing of the game down.

I'm looking forward to 5. I understand that the story is... not great, and will be taking those expectations in with me, but if they can refine what's here, it doesn't seem out of the realm of plausibility to expect a fun campaign.

Halo 5 copped a lot of shit for the story but I found for the most part the campaign, engagements and environments were good fun. There's a bit of repetition that's annoying and the squad command aspect is a little tiresome by the end. Generally solid gun play, mission design and movement throughout with some interesting mixing it up in vehicles as well. Also a couple of creative level designs executed quite well I know you'll enjoy.