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[watership]

...because it's not meant too.

I'm really scratching my head here.

I'm not shocked in the least. Some of these read like forum posts saying "See, Halo isn't all that." So the original Halo is a classic and changed the way we play games, BUT, etc. It's pretty hilarious when you see every other Mario, and recent Capcom remake getting a pass and then reading this shit.

Edit: I should point out that I'm not talking about Eurogamer's review. It's criticisms are well reasoned and don't come across as 'Halo? pftt"

 

[Feindflug]

AI, or lack of it

One thing that many shooters' campaigns live or die on, is artificial intelligence. Not many of us want to play a game where you know exactly what every on screen enemy is going to do at any given time, but that's the way things were with console shooters ten years ago. We have always thought it curious that the likes of Quake 2 and 3 seemed to make real steps on the AI front, only for us to hit a bizarrely inexplicable trough in enemy intelligence and routines in the early part of the 2000s. Unfortunately, Halo was one such title. We might not have noticed it as much in 2001, but it's painfully obvious now.​

Wut?

lol.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Vehicular Combat
One thing that the Halo serious has always caused divides over has been its use of vehicles. While the later games really managed to get that side of things right, the use of the Warthog in the original was never anything other than frustrating. Handling like a wet bar of soap on a sheet of ice, you'll spend almost all your time smashing into walls, bouncing off trees and driving past your enemies - and that's when you're used to it.

Ok fuck them. Seriously. The original games Warthog was the best Warthog of the entire series. On that I will not compromise and the only time it handled like it was on ice was when it was on ice. And how bad a driver are you if you're always smashing into walls and trees with it? I still log into my PC version of Halo to this day to just screw around and drive that damn Warthog.

 

[Reagan's BR]

In Reach's defense it's campaign is pretty damn good. While you may hate the armor abilities in multiplayer which I do with a passion mind you, you can't deny that they were fun to use in singleplayer. Also note they said all the sequels. Not just reach. Halo 2 did add vehicle jacking and weapon swaping with NPCs which really did add a ton to the series.

Debatable, but yeah I see what you mean. I was only thinking of bloom and AA's though. I figure this reviewer thinks Halo 2,3, and ODST are horrible as well because they are "old".


Anyways does anyone have a list of stores doing a midnight release? Specifically is Best Buy going to be open?

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Oh gosh this is GOLD!


Even at the time of release the repetitive corridors were a real point of contention, and a splash of HD paint doesn't change the fact that there are parts of the single player campaign that simply feel dull and uninspired.

Hahaha.

What's so funny about that? Even in 2001 the constant corridors and copy-paste looking level design that plagued the second half of the game sucked, and I'm sure it still sucks in 2011.

Halo: CE was not a flawless game by any means, despite the almost religious admiration some fans have of it

 

[nofi]

Ok fuck them. Seriously. The original games Warthog was the best Warthog of the entire series. On that I will not compromise and the only time it handled like it was on ice was when it was on ice. And how bad a driver are you if you're always smashing into walls and trees with it? I still log into my PC version of Halo to this day to just screw around and drive that damn Warthog.

Agreed. I jumped into Halo: CEA and just blasted through the second level like I'd been playing with the Warthog for weeks prior. It controls perfectly.

 

[feel]

Some nice humour in these reviews. Keep the quotes coming.

 

[daedalius]

Debatable, but yeah I see what you mean. I was only thinking of bloom and AA's though. I figure this reviewer thinks Halo 2,3, and ODST are horrible as well because they are "old".


Anyways does anyone have a list of stores doing a midnight release? Specifically is Best Buy going to be open?

Well, my local BB is open at midnight tonight. You should probably just call your local BB and ask.

 

[bubnbob]

Does CEA come with a code for the new maps when released, or is the disc the only way to play them otherwise?

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Quick Look up at Giantbomb - http://t.co/q4pOphIR

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Does CEA come with a code for the new maps when released, or is the disc the only way to play them otherwise?

It comes with a code to enter to download them for Reach.

 

[Reagan's BR]

What's so funny about that? Even in 2001 the constant corridors and copy-paste looking level design that plagued the second half of the game sucked, and I'm sure it still sucks in 2011.

Halo: CE was not a flawless game by any means, despite the almost religious admiration some fans have of it

But for its time the a good chuck of the game was outside and it was not completely linear. If anything shooter design has digressed. So many games have set areas that you have to walk through with set encounters. Halo has always been different in that regard. Especially Halo 1. The vehicle levels in that game give the player a lot of freedom. I mean the silent cartographer is just one big area where as a level from the typical shooter today has you constantly progressing through a series of areas with little freedom. I'd be ecstatic if more shooters gave you the freedom Halo does.

Well, my local BB is open at midnight tonight. You should probably just call your local BB and ask.

Thanks!

 

[bubnbob]

It comes with a code to enter to download them for Reach.

Great, thanks.

 

[shinnn]

Cons: Too much of the game looks indistinguishable from later sequels. New graphics are not top flight and the loading waits for them to cache are annoying.

Those guys can't be serious. Wtf.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

But for its time the a good chuck of the game was outside and it was not completely linear. If anything shooter design has digressed. So many games have set areas that you have to walk through with set encounters. Halo has always been different in that regard. Especially Halo 1. The vehicle levels in that game give the player a lot of freedom. I mean the silent cartographer is just one big area where as a level from the typical shooter today has you constantly progressing through a series of areas with little freedom. I'd be ecstatic if more shooters gave you the freedom Halo does.

Yeah I know the first half of the game is filled with great levels that everyone loves and remembers, like the Silent Cartographer or Assault on the Control Room. Then you get levels in the second half that ditches the great AI for the Flood and trade the open environments and vehicles for repetitive, confusing corridors. Sure, the last level makes up for it with its climatic energy and full-circle symbolism, but the game really becomes a bit of a slog throughout that second half of the game.

 

[TheOddOne]

Those guys can't be serious. Wtf.

WTF Bahahhahhahaha.

 

[GhaleonEB]

If you really must read reviews or even like to read them, than please read this one.

Edge, one of the few publications that really 'get' Halo both critically and positively.

Just read this and was coming back to comment. All of Edge's Halo coverage is pretty spot-on, as you said they actually understand the series. I still go back and read their Halo 3 cover story preview now and then.

Good, fair review.

 

[plagiarize]

so... any word on how the 3D turned out? that's a big part of the appeal for me

not sure when Amazon will be getting me my copy, hopefully thursday!

 

[ElRenoRaven]

so... any word on how the 3D turned out? that's a big part of the appeal for me

not sure when Amazon will be getting me my copy, hopefully thursday!

From those that have played it they say that like Frankie said it's really well done.

Then you've got the addition of the multiplayer, which wasn't present in the original Xbox release. However the multiplayer is that of Reach, rather than Anniversary.

Still reading that shitty one we're talking about and this just gets me. Notice they compliment it for having multiplayer since the original didn't have multiplayer.

 

[Stinkles]

Decade Old Controls
Okay, so it's a first person shooter... not much has changed since 2001 right? For the most part, yeah, you wouldn't be wide of the mark with that kind of assumption. However since then, we have become a lot more adept at controlling things using the now typical button mapping, something which 343 have curiously failed to set as the default here. Obviously Halo being Halo, it has its own control system. That's fine. But why not finesse things a little bit here, you know, make things a little more interesting or, dare we say it, modern. For example, the crouch mechanic is as it has always been, tap the left stick and you'll duck down, but it works horribly if you're actually moving at the time you want to crouch. It worked better in later Halo games, so why are we stuck with the controls that irritated rather than improved?


.

Bwuh?

 

[TheOddOne]

Bwuh?

Press "X" to win.

Profit.

 

[Hey You]

Alright so I checked it out and the credits (JUST THE TEXT, not the cutscene) arrrrrrrrre... Seventeen Minutes and Twenty Five Seconds Long

Did they include everyone at Bungie,343i,Microsoft,Saber and CA? Damn.

 

[Ken Masters]

I'm hyped for this game but fanboys shitting on reviews because they give a score they don't agree with is always an embarrassing moment

 

[kittens]

Bwuh?

Holy crap, that is some terrible, nonsensical, poorly researched writing.

I'm hyped for this game but fanboys shitting on reviews because they give a score they don't agree with is always an embarrassing moment

It's not the scores that bug me, it's the factual inaccuracies and the writers who clearly don't "get" the franchise. Though, I guess you can't always expect the latter from reviewers.

 

[Detox]

so... any word on how the 3D turned out? that's a big part of the appeal for me

not sure when Amazon will be getting me my copy, hopefully thursday!

I heard they use a different kind of cross-hair for the 3D which makes it much better but I don't know what it is.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Bwuh?

According to their review they are even "Big Halo fans" lol

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Did they include everyone at Bungie,343i,Microsoft,Saber and CA? Damn.

It was basically the credits of Halo xbox, Halo PC, Halo Reach and Anniversary all rolled into one.

 

[TheOddOne]

I'm hyped for this game but fanboys shitting on reviews because they give a score they don't agree with is always an embarrassing moment

Great generalization of something that is not true.

Poor written reviews are being discussed, not the grade that has been given.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

So then is the multiplayer only the classic mode, or is it the entirety of Reach's MP as well?

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Holy crap, that is some terrible, nonsensical, poorly researched writing.


It's not the scores that bug me, it's the factual inaccuracies and the writers who clearly don't "get" the franchise. Though, I guess you can't always expect the latter from reviewers.

Exactly. I don't give a shit about the scores. It's them getting shit factually wrong that pisses me off.

 

[Devin Olsen]

Did they include everyone at Bungie,343i,Microsoft,Saber and CA? Damn.

Yep.

The full credits are up on my twitch.tv account, since the whole game play though was live streamed.

Speaking of which, only a few hours until this ends! And so far I have only seen one person enter...

----------------

Trying to decide how to give away my extra codes...

How abooooout!

Win Halo: Anniversary Map Pack Codes

I am looking to have my twitch.tv page designed better. Currently it has a banner that someone made and very generic colours for the sides. If you can come up with a better design than you will be the proud new owner of the codes listed above. ** The design/theme includes background image, banner, offline screen,etc ***

Here is my twitch.tv page - http://www.twitch.tv/devinolsen

For instructions on how to design a page... I don't honestly know, which is why I haven't been able to do it for myself. But I imagine those of you out there who are design savy will be able to figure it out.

Games I like/stream (to give you an idea of possible themes for my page, but it doesn't have to be related to a game):
- Halo
- League of Legends
- MAYBE Skyrim
- MAYBE StarCraft


Deadline is... Tomorrow (Today, Monday) at 12:00 (noon) Pacific Time. If designing a page doesn't take that long I can up the deadline so the winner can have the maps earlier.

 

[A27_StarWolf]

Yep.

The full credits are up on my twitch.tv account, since the whole game play though was live streamed.

Speaking of which, only a few hours until this ends! And so far I have only seen one person enter...

----------------

Trying to decide how to give away my extra codes...

How abooooout!

Win Halo: Anniversary Map Pack Codes

I am looking to have my twitch.tv page designed better. Currently it has a banner that someone made and very generic colours for the sides. If you can come up with a better design than you will be the proud new owner of the codes listed above. ** The design/theme includes background image, banner, offline screen,etc ***

Here is my twitch.tv page - http://www.twitch.tv/devinolsen

For instructions on how to design a page... I don't honestly know, which is why I haven't been able to do it for myself. But I imagine those of you out there who are design savy will be able to figure it out.

Games I like/stream (to give you an idea of possible themes for my page, but it doesn't have to be related to a game):
- Halo
- League of Legends
- MAYBE Skyrim
- MAYBE StarCraft


Deadline is... Tomorrow (Today, Monday) at 12:00 (noon) Pacific Time. If designing a page doesn't take that long I can up the deadline so the winner can have the maps earlier.

The only way I'd be able to do this is if you pushed it towards Friday, I might even make you one anywho.

 

[Devin Olsen]

The only way I'd be able to do this is if you pushed it towards Friday, I might even make you one anywho.

Hmmm... I made the deadline so short so that people could play the maps early.

If you made me something I could offer you... The MC Anniversary Avatar Armour (The winner of the original contest will still get it as well).

Sorry, wish it was more

Edit: OR if you could rough something up that I really like, perhaps I could just call you the winner of this? Not trying to make the one person who submitted already lose, just trying to come up with options that work for everyone.

 

[plagiarize]

I heard they use a different kind of cross-hair for the 3D which makes it much better but I don't know what it is.

a lot of 3d fps titles do something a bit more like a laser sight to make up for the fact that a crosshair doesn't really work with two eyes.

i believe Halo Anni is proper stereoscopic 3d, rather than reprojection. i'm interested to know resolution and framerate. i believe they kill the classic graphics to free up a good deal of overhead for drawing the second eye, so IQ and performance might be much closer to the 2D version than most 3D games.

i'm just looking to get that confirmed! will find out for myself soon enough eitherway though. really looking forwards to replaying this game.

 

[Reagan's BR]

I'm hyped for this game but fanboys shitting on reviews because they give a score they don't agree with is always an embarrassing moment

The reason we are getting angry is because it doesn't make any sense to see this HD remake get rated any lower than other HD remakes when it does what all the others do (upscales) but also offers a lot of new things including a whole new graphics engine.

For example this review site rated the God of War Collection 5 stars (it is a nice bundle) but only rated Halo 2 stars. It just doesn't make any sense to hold Halo to a different standard. Basically it is being criticized for being a remake instead of being a whole new game.

 

[wwm0nkey]

I'm hyped for this game but fanboys shitting on reviews because they give a score they don't agree with is always an embarrassing moment

Thats not even the reason, the complaints about the review are very valid.

 

[TheOddOne]

@wwm0nkey: is your avie related to the terminals in Halo: CE?

Say yes or no only, cause I wanna find out myself

 

[wwm0nkey]

@wwm0nkey: is your avie related to the terminals in Halo: CE?

Say yes or no only, cause I wanna find out myself

yes

 

[TheOddOne]

yes

Hype

 

[Tashi]

Are negative reviews really going to stop anyone? "Halo 1 is old and plays like it did in 2001!!" OK great, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Lol

 

[Tha Robbertster]

Are negative reviews really going to stop anyone? "Halo 1 is old and plays like it did in 2001!!" OK great, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Lol

You didn't play CE's campaign before, did you?

Or was that someone else from haloGaf?

 

[brobban]

The reason we are getting angry is because it doesn't make any sense to see this HD remake get rated any lower than other HD remakes when it does what all the others do (upscales) but also offers a lot of new things including a whole new graphics engine.

For example this review site rated the God of War Collection 5 stars (it is a nice bundle) but only rated Halo 2 stars. It just doesn't make any sense to hold Halo to a different standard. Basically it is being criticized for being a remake instead of being a whole new game.

Doesn't that just mean that they consider one game to be better than the other?
Or do you think they should only review the actual "update to hd tech", and not the actual game? Even so, it's still a subjective opinion.

 

[Tashi]

You didn't play CE's campaign before, did you?

Or was that someone else from haloGaf?

What?

Also, got email from NewEgg, game shipped out today. Shipping from NJ so I might actually get it on time tomorrow.

 

[Kibbles]

Bad controls, bad AI, WTF? lmao what a load of shit. Controls are largely the same as the are on any console fps today, hell they even added the new ones like Bumper Jumper. And Bad AI? Maybe if your a wussy journalist who plays on Easy. I don't care about reviews I know what the game is and I want it, but when they throw around weird complaints like this it's hard to ignore.

 

[oddworld18]

What?

Also, got email from NewEgg, game shipped out today. Shipping from NJ so I might actually get it on time tomorrow.

i'm in the same boat. for a split second i thought about hopping on a train out to seacaucus to try and intercept it. cooler minds prevailed.

 

[Tashi]

i'm in the same boat. for a split second i thought about hopping on a train out to seacaucus to try and intercept it. cooler minds prevailed.

I've always dreamed of doing something awesome like that lol. That would actually make for an awesome short film.

 

[Hypertrooper]

I'm hyped for this game but fanboys shitting on reviews because they give a score they don't agree with is always an embarrassing moment

The review is questionable, because it criticize things that were the goal of the development. Halo: CEA was planned to play like the original Halo. The developer 343i never said something different. That's the problem I have with the review. If I say that I write a Science Fiction novel and people criticize it, because it is a Science Fiction novel, they miss the whole point. They criticize something, they know ahead.

Otherwise reviewing Halo: CEA must be tough, because it is a ten year old game with new graphic. I think Joystiq did the best thing to judge this game: Give no score, just a verdict.

 

[Tha Robbertster]

What?

Also, got email from NewEgg, game shipped out today. Shipping from NJ so I might actually get it on time tomorrow.

Hmm, I can remember somebody saying this would be their first time playing CE.

 

[Tashi]

Hmm, I can remember somebody saying this would be their first time playing CE.

I think it was Juices

 

[Zeal]

Also gonna be streaming the game tonight for a terminal hunt. I'd love to have some of HaloGaf coming over and hanging out with me and the wifey. She will be playin' first and on mic.

www.twitch.tv/zealgaf