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Halo |OT16| Oh Bungie, Where Art Thou?

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E

ExigentContact

Member
Madness said:
Uh, because it switches up the gameplay? What you describe as retarded is what a lot of fans actually liked. It was a nice change of pace to go from headshotting grunts and jackals every 5 feet in a start/stop sequence.

Their behaviors weren't up to par because the technology can't handle it. What would you have the scarabs do? Jump up and down, move at a steady pace etc.? I don't see how any of the other enemy sandbox is any better. What difference is there between a hunter then? You avoid the shots, circle around etc.

What clever tactics did the enemies have? That they could move around and show random behaviors because they were smaller?
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My issue isn't with them trying to change pace. It's with the change of pace being executed poorly. We all know that Bungie didn't write particularly strong AI for the Scarab due ostensibly due to tech constraints, which is precisely why the Scarabs probably should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

I remember in one of the earlier previews for The Storm, the Scarab was described as having more complex AI and "had to be chased down" dynamically across the level. Journalistic hyperbole, perhaps, but it sounded amazing in comparison to the moving BSP that was the Halo 2 Scarab. What we got was a braindead supertank that potshotted you every once in a while.

My biggest gripe with the Scarabs is that they never felt threatening. Every battle involving one becomes amusing if you let it linger on too long because they are so incompetent at taking things out. It was also a really bad idea to put Pelicans (that also did nothing) in The Covenant battle because the Scarabs would try to take them out. No dice, Pelicans didn't dynamically crash.

The AI of Halo is serviceable. Yes, they all have patterns and weaknesses. But at least every ground unit is capable of killing me. I can honestly say that I haven't been killed by the Halo 3 Scarabs since 2007 on any difficulty below Mythic unless I was screwing around. A Hunter may not be as intimidating as it could be (Reach's badass Hunters come to mind), but one could still get me.

What would I have preferred? More vehicles capable of killing me. I would take five to ten Wraiths as opposed to one or two Scarabs. A shame that the 360's tech couldn't support the massive battle level that Tip of the Spear was meant to be.
 
S

Steelyuhas

Member
Deadly Cyclone said:
Eh, still above BF3 and Gears. People still play.
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lol SLRP SLRP

In all seriousness though, it's interesting to see charts based off UU's and compared to congruent users because the 360 users currently playing BF3 is always much higher than H4 (57,640 to 38,628 right now, and 360 isn't even the most popular platform for BF3) yet H4 is always higher on the UU listing.

Holy shit at GTA IV still in the top ten, that game is a fucking monster.
 
ElRenoRaven

ElRenoRaven

Member
ExigentContact said:
It's bit of loosely defined canon, but as far as I remember, the Halo 2 Scarab and Halo 3 and beyond Scarabs are different models meant for different applications. IIRC, the Halo 2 Scarab was more of a mining platform than a combat platform while the Halo 3 variant was meant more for applied force. Halo Wars vaguely corroborates this with a Halo 2-esque Scarab being constructed on-site for more intensive mining.

Of course, the nature of the designs isn't iron-clad at the moment and 343 has shown a predilection for tinkering with things for no good reason, so who knows. Honestly, I'd be pretty annoyed if they did switch the design. I'd prefer a solid explanation for design differences.
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Yea but I never really bought that. Always came off as more of a reason to just explain the redesign. So that would be one retcon I'd be ok with.
 
R

Ramirez

Member
O

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Ramirez said:
It's really not that shocking, I'm not even spouting hyperbole when I say Infinity is some of the worst shit I've ever played in my life. Today when I was playing all I could think of was what a horrible Frankenstein of a game Halo 4 is. It has no idea what it wants to be, and that's sad considering how unique this franchise used to be.
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literally the worst, right?
 
R

Ramirez

Member
op_ivy said:
literally the worst, right?
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In a AAA shooter, yes.

I fucking DESPISE Reach, and will never ever play it again in my life, but at least underneath the AA/bloom bullshit, the Halo meta game was still there.

When you play a game of Infinity BTB on Valhalla & the other team has a sniper, beam, & binary, you know someone dun goofed.
 
R

Ramirez

Member
Sai-kun said:
Make sure you record it and upload it somewhere.
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fSdzEhU.jpg
 
D

Dongs Macabre

aka Daedalos42
789shadow said:
Guys should I bother with Castle?
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Well, I haven't played a game on it yet, just messed around in Forge and customs, but Daybreak seems like a fun Objective map. Perdition also has a Terminal vibe, and seems like it's good for some Warthog-on-Warthog action. I think Outcast was built for Dominion, so if you like that, it might be fun, although I don't know how well a Scorpion at one of the bases will work out in Dominion.
 
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