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[Booshka]

I'll never get bored of Halo CE's Campaign, especially on Legendary. The core mechanics are timeless, and better than any other Halo, so that alone makes it impossible to get old.

Reach is probably my second favorite Halo campaign, or maybe Halo 2, but it doesn't really matter because they aren't in the same league as CE. I have replayed the Reach Campaign a good amount, and enjoy most of the missions, it's well put together and paced pretty well also.

I got bored of Halo 2's Campaign pretty quick, Legendary is mostly cheap and not that fun, but it is the most fun Halo Campaign to glitch out of and screw around with the boundaries of levels.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Reach campaign beats Halo:CE's by far.

Really, CE was good for its time, but theirs nothing special about it. I mean, its fun yes, but I have way more fun on Reach then I do on CE.

CE is far better with the campaign. In terms of story and gameplay.

 

[ExigentContact]

Halo: CE definitely shows its age in areas. It also shows very strongly what a rush job it was (being almost entirely rebuilt for the Xbox in eight months) in its level design. However, it has the strongest feedback loop when it comes down to the meat of the game's combat. The flow is punchy -- fast enough to feel brisk, but slow enough to make it tactical. The following Halo games all altered that flow to suit their needs, and none of them really matched the simple, powerful, game loop that CE created. Other Halo games had better levels, better weapons, and better stories. But the core of gunplay was and still is defined by Combat Evolved, in my opinion.

 

[TheOddOne]

The FPS genre has digressed because whiny gamers complained about backtracking. Backtracking, when done good, can add replayability and add to the world building. Places become well known, there is more sense of exploration and the player has more control over the pacing.

Everything now needs to be a rollercoaster, because whiny jerks complain about repeating textures and 640p. Thanks gamers for ruining gaming even more.

/Salty Odd

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Hey guys, just checkin in
...

Lanning.... Halo 4 !


FUCK YOU GUYS ILL BE BACK IN A WEEK.

 

[Bregmann Roche]

There is another GAFer out there that has birthday today too if I remember right ?!

Yeah, it's Heckfu's birthday today too.

 

[Fuchsdh]

The FPS genre has digressed because whiny gamers complained about backtracking. Backtracking, when done good, can add replayability and add to the world building. Places become well known, there is more sense of exploration and the player has more control over the pacing.

Everything now needs to be a rollercoaster, because whiny jerks complain about repeating textures and 640p. Thanks gamers for ruining gaming even more.

/Salty Odd

Yeah for the most part the backtracking makes sense. I guess cutting Two Betrayals isn't a loss to the story because there's no reason for you to not immediately go after Keyes instead of this unnecessary diversion, but the return to Pillar of Autumn and Truth and Reconciliation makes sense and feels earned. Besides it's not like you're exactly replaying your path through the ships each time.

 

[ExigentContact]

The FPS genre has digressed because whiny gamers complained about backtracking. Backtracking, when done good, can add replayability and add to the world building. Places become well known, there is more sense of exploration and the player has more control over the pacing.

Everything now needs to be a rollercoaster, because whiny jerks complain about repeating textures and 640p. Thanks gamers for ruining gaming even more.

/Salty Odd

I don't think Halo CE's backtracking was particularly well-executed. Bungie did what they could with reused spaces, and some areas worked better than others, but on the whole I prefer their level design with less backtracking. Classic PC FPS did backtracking a lot better than any Halo game ever did.

That said, world building is a key phrase that fascinates me about Destiny. It'll be interesting to see how well Bungie can execute the feeling of world, free of the constraints of mere level design. Backtracking will be easer to digest in that universe too, I hope. Persistent and open-world games have a much higher priority in providing spaces that can be reused over and over without getting boring. In that sense, some multiplayer design philosophies may have to bleed over into it.

 

[Nowise10]

Admittedly it was getting a bit stale, but with the release of CEA I'm shocked that you'd find Reach more fun..

I've spent over 25 days just playing Halo:Reach campaign. I'd say like 10 hours of that was probably boosting on ONI: Swordbase.

 

[TheOddOne]

Level design always has an amount of hand holding, but it use to be that they respected the player by not insulting them by giving them one obvious clear path. Getting stuck didn’t mean it was bad design, it was more that not enough hints were given to the player to progress. Now it’s just insulting to have a big ass arrow pointing you the way. Like it throws everything you build out on the freeway, it’s more about getting to the end instead of letting the player experience all this great content you created for them.

It’s insulting that game designer think that gamers can only walk a straight line. Hey game designer, instead of making it easier for them, why not try to challenge them. Wasn’t that the whole philosophy about old school game design? Give people a problem and let them figure it out, it’s not your job to do it for them. Stalp thinking for me.

But but teh graphix. Gamers and designers in 2013.

/Rant mode off

 

[Booshka]

Level design always has an amount of hand holding, but it use to be that they respected the player by not insulting them by giving them one obvious clear path. Getting stuck didn’t mean it was bad design, it was more that not enough hints were given to the player to progress. Now it’s just insulting to have a big ass arrow pointing you the way. Like it throws everything you build out on the freeway, it’s more about getting to the end instead of letting the player experience all this great content you created for them.

It’s insulting that game designer think that gamers can only walk a straight line. Hey game designer, instead of making it easier for them, why not try to challenge them. Wasn’t that the whole philosophy about old school game design? Give people a problem and let them figure it out, it’s not your job to do it for them. Stalp thinking for me.

But but teh graphix. Gamers and designers in 2013.

/Rant mode off

This rant reads like From Software's Souls Series Design Philosophy. It would be nice if the FPS genre went this way every so often as well.

 

[Poker Face]

Level design always has an amount of hand holding, but it use to be that they respected the player by not insulting them by giving them one obvious clear path. Getting stuck didn’t mean it was bad design, it was more that not enough hints were given to the player to progress. Now it’s just insulting to have a big ass arrow pointing you the way. Like it throws everything you build out on the freeway, it’s more about getting to the end instead of letting the player experience all this great content you created for them.

It’s insulting that game designer think that gamers can only walk a straight line. Hey game designer, instead of making it easier for them, why not try to challenge them. Wasn’t that the whole philosophy about old school game design? Give people a problem and let them figure it out, it’s not your job to do it for them. Stalp thinking for me.

But but teh graphix. Gamers and designers in 2013.

/Rant mode off

I agree 100%.

However the average person who plays video games on console does not want this. Straight linear path with QTE's, scripted events, and large set-pieces is what the average person wants. Maybe things will change next gen.

 

[Garrett 2U]

Level design always has an amount of hand holding, but it use to be that they respected the player by not insulting them by giving them one obvious clear path. Getting stuck didn’t mean it was bad design, it was more that not enough hints were given to the player to progress. Now it’s just insulting to have a big ass arrow pointing you the way. Like it throws everything you build out on the freeway, it’s more about getting to the end instead of letting the player experience all this great content you created for them.

It’s insulting that game designer think that gamers can only walk a straight line. Hey game designer, instead of making it easier for them, why not try to challenge them. Wasn’t that the whole philosophy about old school game design? Give people a problem and let them figure it out, it’s not your job to do it for them. Stalp thinking for me.

But but teh graphix. Gamers and designers in 2013.

/Rant mode off

I like BioShock Infinite's approach which has a button that brings up an arrow of where you should go. So if you get lost you can click the handy dandy button and you're pointed in the right direction. But in the most difficult mode, that arrow is disabled.
Mirror's Edge has a similar button but it literally changes your direction so you're facing the correct direction.

Subtle hints like that work well.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Reach campaign beats Halo:CE's by far.

Really, CE was good for its time, but theirs nothing special about it. I mean, its fun yes, but I have way more fun on Reach then I do on CE.

The CE weapon sandbox is so monumentally better than anything else in the series that it makes engagements and the combat loop in CE a clear leap more fan than any of the other Halo games.

I really like the Reach campaign though.

I like BioShock Infinite's approach which has a button that brings up an arrow of where you should go. So if you get lost you can click the handy dandy button and you're pointed in the right direction. But in the most difficult mode, that arrow is disabled.
Mirror's Edge has a similar button but it literally changes your direction so you're facing the correct direction.

Subtle hints like that work well.

I used to the Infinite direction button to make sure I go in the opposite direction so I could explore everything.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Can't remember if this was posted in/by HaloGAF...

DONT FORGET! IF YOU HAVE XBOX LIVE GOLD!
Last day Assassins Creed 2 is free!

Two free games per month with XBL Gold, released on 1st & 16th of each month.


I just grabbed AssCreedII and have never played AC series, although the ACIV next gen gameplay really looks great and I'll be buying that one.

 

[TheOddOne]

I like BioShock Infinite's approach which has a button that brings up an arrow of where you should go. So if you get lost you can click the handy dandy button and you're pointed in the right direction. But in the most difficult mode, that arrow is disabled.
Mirror's Edge has a similar button but it literally changes your direction so you're facing the correct direction.

Subtle hints like that work well.

Yeah, Infinite is one of the few games that does level design and player interaction right. There are some underlying problems though, like the sandbox not being developed enough. There is tons of potential there though, but feels unfinished in some places.

 

[CreateNowSleepLater]

It isn't. Despite many of the grievances pertaining to the plot's considerable retconning of the Fall of Reach novel (which I'm all for -- that novel was dreadful) it as a campaign is varied and isn't really bogged down by expanded universe material in its plot, so it can be enjoyed wholly on its own. Of course, greater insight can be gleaned if a solid understanding of the plot of the universe is there, but that's there for nearly every Halo game. Reach perhaps stands the most independent of the mainline and expanded material of any of the games aside from Halo Wars and Halo: Combat Evolved.

My primary complaint with Reach's campaign is that it doesn't do enough with some really cool ideas (Tip of the Spear wasn't nearly as epic as it could have been, Long Night of Solace needed an escort segment, they needed to have the Scarab mission in the game, and more enemies would have been nice for the bigger missions, especially the final one with the battle at Boneyard), and that it lacks "the mission" that really defines the game. Halo: CE had the first half of its campaign, Halo 2 had the Delta Halo missions, and Halo 3 had the one-two punch of The Ark and The Covenant. Reach's campaign never dips to the lows of any of the previous campaigns (it certainly doesn't have a mission as bad as Cortana), but it never quite reaches the highs, either. Very solidly built, if lacking the punch needed to propel it to absolute greatness.

No.

 

[ExigentContact]

No.

Yeah it was. Nylund's pretty mediocre at best, and The Fall of Reach was full of errors completely telling of its short writing period. First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx were much better examples of his writing. Halsey's Journal was probably my favorite of his work, even if it was written mostly to explain the discrepancies between Reach and The Fall of Reach, as well as a ton of other minor issues in the canon.

 

[belushy]

edit: Sorry wrong thread... wtf well I mean if you guys know the answer anyway, lol

So this steam selling cards thing is pretty cool. Anyone know all the games that give cards?

 

[FYC]

There's a Halo 4 podcast?

Huh. I might look into this.

 

[Madness]

Ozzy well you're in for a treat with Assassins Creed 2. It's infinitely better than the first. The gameplay isn't as smooth or 'fresh' now that it's been so many years, and there are some framerate issues, but it's easily one of the best games I've played this gen. Just don't resort to faqs or walkthroughs for the hidden assassin tombs.

 

[Booshka]

There's a Halo 4 podcast?

Huh. I might look into this.

If you care a lot about Pro Halo 4, watch Pros on Twitch, and play Team Throwdown or Competitive Customs, you will be interested, otherwise, you'll probably be bored.

 

[IHaveIce]

Reach's campaign played it too safe, I played all of this already.

Sniper mission, Tank mission, vehicle mission, Flight mission at night etc..

No surprises.

ODST's campaign was much better in my opinion.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Ozzy well you're in for a treat with Assassins Creed 2. It's infinitely better than the first. The gameplay isn't as smooth or 'fresh' now that it's been so many years, and there are some framerate issues, but it's easily one of the best games I've played this gen. Just don't resort to faqs or walkthroughs for the hidden assassin tombs.

Thanks, total AC newbie here so should be fun! I rarely use YT cheats or FAQs etc, what I play through is it for me. My gaming time is limited these days.

 

[willow ve]

Reach's campaign played it too safe, I played all of this already.

Sniper mission, Tank mission, vehicle mission, Flight mission at night etc..

No surprises.

ODST's campaign was much better in my opinion.

Agree - ODST is a fantastic campaign.

 

[gAg CruSh3r]

Yeah, it's Heckfu's birthday today too.

It's always Heckfu's birthday.

 

[no bullets hans]

What I liked the most about ODST was that the narrative and the gameplay changes seemed to gel together the best. It felt like Halo and at the same time felt nothing like Halo. I've gone back and revisited that game with friends and every time we jump in, there's a conscious thought that occurs where I have to remind myself that I play that game differently because I'm not Master Chief.

Reach is not like that. Reach, to me, is basically Super Halo 1. Minus all the fun narrative mystery that made Halo CE worth spending time in.

 

[User 73706]

It's always Heckfu's birthday.

happy anniversary greenskull

 

[IHaveIce]

What I liked the most about ODST was that the narrative and the gameplay changes seemed to gel together the best. It felt like Halo and at the same time felt nothing like Halo. I've gone back and revisited that game with friends and every time we jump in, there's a conscious thought that occurs where I have to remind myself that I play that game differently because I'm not Master Chief.

Reach is not like that. Reach, to me, is basically Super Halo 1. Minus all the fun narrative mystery that made Halo CE worth spending time in.

Yeah this is quite a good explanation and comparision.

If they need time to get a real campaign right they could release a ODST 2 in meanwhile.

ODST of the newer Halo games still my favorite campaign as a whole.

 

[DeadNames]

happy anniversary greenskull

They grow up so fast

 

[Orochinagis]

Reach campaign beats Halo:CE's by far.

Really, CE was good for its time, but theirs nothing special about it. I mean, its fun yes, but I have way more fun on Reach then I do on CE.

I only played CEA campaign twice and got bored very fast, didnt like the idea to go back to the same scenarios unlike Reach, I loved the campaign design even I played the last mission of Reach yesterday.

 

[Gui_PT]

Yeah Halo Let's-Ping-Every-Enemy-From-The-Other-Side-Of-The-Level: Reach had the superior campaign no doubt.

 

[Diablohead]

Playing CEA with my good friend the other day in split screen, it's still good fun to try different approaches in every stage mostly because it works, like the control room level you can go any direction you want and cortana will say new lines because you never went to the control room first and other things, even getting to the control room bottom floor and up again has about several different methods to it especially when you play with a friend and flank legendary elites.

No other halo touches single player as well as combat evolved does, it might have repeating rooms but the shooting is still pure and on some stages you can even skip 10 minutes of fighting if you know where to go or grenade jump to a location usually out of reach, or steal a banshee and fly straight to the end area.

Halo 5 needs to really learn about single player from combat evolved.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Playing CEA with my good friend the other day in split screen, it's still good fun to try different approaches in every stage mostly because it works, like the control room level you can go any direction you want and cortana will say new lines because you never went to the control room first and other things, even getting to the control room bottom floor and up again has about several different methods to it especially when you play with a friend and flank legendary elites.

No other halo touches single player as well as combat evolved does, it might have repeating rooms but the shooting is still pure and on some stages you can even skip 10 minutes of fighting if you know where to go or grenade jump to a location usually out of reach, or steal a banshee and fly straight to the end area.

Halo 5 needs to really learn about single player from combat evolved.

The ability to straight skip combat is something I really like about the series, and part of my complaint with how Spartan Ops missions felt samey.

 

[Domino Theory]

It's always Heckfu's birthday.

I know, man! I'm running out of gifts to not give.

 

[no bullets hans]

The ability to straight skip combat is something I really like about the series, and part of my complaint with how Spartan Ops missions felt samey.

I'll second this, but add that when its done in Halo 4 (the Pelican trick on the level where the Didact leaves Requiem) it feels like oversight on 343's part. I think so much of Halo 4 feels boxed in or limited...and when you skip engagements in any way, to me it fells like you've exposed a shortcoming instead of tricking the game.

For example, in Halo CE, when you go from rounding up the marines on level 2 and driving that first Warthog to the underground tunnel entrance, there's a whole bunch of world for no good reason. Halo CE, 2, and 3 had enormous play spaces that were for the most part unnecessary but they made the game feel open and bigger.

Halo 4 was almost claustrophobic. I'm sure that has everything to do with technology choices and budget and technical things and less to do with someone going, "man, we should just give them 10 acres of nothing between cliff walls to wander around in" but it has an effect on your perception when you play a game.

Especially after Assassin's Creed and Fallout 3 and Borderlands...people want to wander around these areas and enjoy the digital artwork. Don't stick me in a ravine and expect me to be excited by the kick ass 40 foot walls closing me in.

 

[IHaveIce]

So while you Americans get Crackdown and Dead Rising 2, me in germany will get Shadowrun and Lost Planet 2.


Quite interesting I I never owned Shadowrun myself so this is cool

 

[wwm0nkey]

So while you Americans get Crackdown and Dead Rising 2, me in germany will get Shadowrun and Lost Planet 2.


Quite interesting I I never owned Shadowrun myself so this is cool

The fuck? That is way better than what we get!

 

[Nowise10]

So while you Americans get Crackdown and Dead Rising 2, me in germany will get Shadowrun and Lost Planet 2.


Quite interesting I I never owned Shadowrun myself so this is cool

Are crackdown and dead rising banned in Germany or something?

 

[Gui_PT]

I just want free stuff

 

[Diablohead]

LP2 is meh, but still worth giving it a go with buddies in co-op if you can download it.

I paid £5 new for it and felt alright with the game but it's lacking nearly everything good about the first game, the only thing they remembered was the big boss battles.

The ability to straight skip combat is something I really like about the series, and part of my complaint with how Spartan Ops missions felt samey.

Maybe grenade jumping is also an oversight there are a lot of pathways where you can flat out ignore a squad of jackels and grunts, or that the second half of a level is so far below you the drop will kill you but you can still make it down there with a vehicle or trick or two, it makes replaying the game still interesting today.

Assault on the control room the other day with my friend was good fun as we went left from the beach instead of right, found the control room door switch first and well, played the stage differently.

 

[belushy]

The fuck? That is way better than what we get!

Yeah, holy shit. Replace Lost Planet 2 with Dead Rising 2 & keep Shadowrun and I'd be pretty happy.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Guess Im getting on Shadowrun with some Germans soon then.

 

[Tawpgun]

Get shadowrun. Everyone.

 

[GuiltySpark]

Playing Reach again made me realise how overrated Halo 4's graphics are. They've shamed so many aspects of the Halo sandbox in that game

 

[wwm0nkey]

Get shadowrun. Everyone.

Listen to this man! Its only $2!
(use store checker)

 

[Nowise10]

Playing Reach again made me realise how overrated Halo 4's graphics are. They've shamed so many aspects of the Halo sandbox in that game

Halo 4 has like this blur, odd looking effect that is in the entire game, and its ugly. I know it has some name to it, but I cant remember it.

 

[Fracas]

Playing Reach again made me realise how overrated Halo 4's graphics are. They've shamed so many aspects of the Halo sandbox in that game

The IQ is great for a console game (native 720p with FXAA if I remember right), but the texture work ranges from average to mediocre. There's also that whole pastel thing going on that looks unattractive to me.

 

[Gui_PT]

Listen to this man! Its only $2!
(use store checker)

I wish my country sold stuff Iike this that I actually enjoy

 

[IHaveIce]

The fuck? That is way better than what we get!

Yep I agree, I was kind of scared what we would get instead, but this is pretty cool

Are crackdown and dead rising banned in Germany or something?

Yep both are banned, strangely only Crackdown 1 is banned, 2 was released here I think.

Never understood why, but Gears 1 &2 are also banned here.