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Halo: Reach |OT5| A Monument to All Our Sins

Ramirez said:
The Revenant was such a worthy successor the Chopper, why complain? :p
Kinda what Ghaleon said. The Revenant just didn't really have a place in the Campaign where it was fun to cruise around. And plus you don't look nearly as badass driving a Revenant as much as you do driving a Chopper. Revenant is like something Barbie would drive in the future, sans-weapons of course.
 
ncsuDuncan said:
I can't find the quote right now, but someone asked Weisman about the connection and he just coyly said "Well it doesn't have Skies in the title..."
From Weisman in the Kotaku article:

It's not set in that universe. There is no continuity with Crimson Skies. Hopefully if people are familiar with my work in the past, maybe they'll relate that it has a similar, lighthearted, fun approach to its universe. But it is a different universe with different types of vehicles and so-on.
 

Ramirez

Member
-Yeti said:
Kinda what Ghaleon said. The Revenant just didn't really have a place in the Campaign where it was fun to cruise around. And plus you don't look nearly as badass driving a Revenant as much as you do driving a Chopper. Revenant is like something Barbie would drive in the future, sans-weapons of course.

Oh, I was being completely sarcastic. The Revenant was such a redundant and worthless addition to the vehicle sandbox.
 
Hitmonchan107 said:
From Weisman in the Kotaku article:
Hm, well I'll put that theory to rest then. I just think it's odd to make such a heavy reference to his previous work.

It would be like if Hideo Kojima left Konami and made an iPad game called "Gear" with a fox in the logo.
 
Ramirez said:
Oh, I was being completely sarcastic. The Revenant was such a redundant and worthless addition to the vehicle sandbox.
Oh haha didn't notice the sarcasm. Well I'm glad you think that way. Chopper for life.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Domino Theory said:
Shame on anybody who doesn't put Halo 2 as #1 or #2 for campaign. Just sayin'.
It totally depends on what's important to that particular player. You see people often cite that "feeling of exploration" in Halo 1 that they loved. The mystery, the scale, the slow build up to the Flood. Halo excels in things the other games didn't.

I love the story in Halo 2, the world building that went into it, and the structure and scale of many of the missions. I like how they are often set in mammoth environments where over the course of the mission you slowly close in on distant objectives. Crossing over into New Mombassa, approaching the containment wall; advancing through Delta Halo. The feeling of moving through these enormous unified worlds was great.

Halo 3 has this intense discipline to the encounter design, and an internal pacing, building from the opening mission through The Covenant, that no other game has sutained. I've grown to appreciate it more and more over time. So many incredible set pieces.

I <3 ODST's hub world so damn much.

I want every Halo game to be amazing, but I like that each campaign has excelled in different ways. It makes them all replayable for different reasons.
 

Trasher

Member
Ramirez said:
I did secretly enjoy EazyB's grief, however.
pour-one-out.jpg
 
Just to throw a late 2 cents in regarding Cortana: there is no context in which that level even comes close to resembling fun. It is, unequivocally, the worst Halo level ever made. The "teamshot BR" is an apt description for the ranged attacks from the wall-turret-form (like an annoying friend of a friend, I won't bother to learn their name; they are that horrible). Flood combat in Halo 1 had a punch to it, shotgun, pistol, AR --- all had heft and felt like they were slowing the onslaught. In Halo 2 and 3, there wasn't that same "stopping power" feel unless one was using something like a sword, hammer, or flamethrower. As a result, "Fuck it just run" became our de facto 'strategy' on Cortana when I played 3 player co-op on release night. We knew we only had one level left after that but we all just sat there after finally finishing Cortana and decided to switch to Matchmaking and come back a little while later. Talk about building up to a crescendo (with The Ark and The Covenant) and then letting it dissipate into thin air.

When I went back a second time to solo Legendary it, you'd better believe all breakable objects were hidden and out of reach.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Domino Theory said:
Shame on anybody who doesn't put Halo 2 as #1 or #2 for campaign. Just sayin'.
I do put it as first. The story, cutscenes and locales at least. Gameplay-wise... ehh, well, it's better than Reach. But sniper alleys, slow glued to ground vehicles, second set of the Arbiter's missions being long (while otherwise good), not enough SMG ammo (Halo 3 has this same issue BTW) and generally too much relying on Covie weapons...
Loved how much you could explore the maps though, no barriers...

Reach campaign suffers from shitty story, retcons, boring characters and [insert something story/setting related here], bad and boring missions... and the fucking AI. That fucking Grunt just hit me with a fuel rod from 50 meters away while i'm in air? Reach AI cheats. It's inhumanly accurate. Err, in-alienly. Camo is broken, the AI sees it from long way (unless you co-op, then camo reduces enemy's interest in camo player (if active)). Marine AI is the worst in all Halos. Is that guy talking with that Elite? Why doesn't he do a thing or why doesn't the Elite shoot him?
And the friendly AI's driving skills... It's not just Kat.

Halo 3's encounter desing suffered from only one thing. The AI was very passive. Rather than search the player and attack, they tended to stand around and wait the player to attack. Boring.
 

teamaxe

Member
GhaleonEB said:
I want every Halo game to be amazing, but I like that each campaign has excelled in different ways. It makes them all replayable for different reasons.

So much truth, not much to reconcile

Goodie Bag
  • Halo CE - You'll only get the three way Flood/Covie/Human battles here.
  • Halo 2 - Arbiter missions and the only time you get Grunt buddies.
  • Halo 3 - Scarabs, Scarabs everywhere. (also the only time you get Flood buddies)
  • ODST - Totally unique (to Halo) hubworld and detective stuff.
  • Reach - Firefight, MM Campaign, etc.

Not-so-nice
  • Halo CE - simpler sandbox, no jacking, etc.
  • Halo 2 - That ending...
  • Halo 3 - No Elites. Honestly, for me, if Halo 3 had Reach's Firefight and Elite enemies in addition to the Brutes, it would far and away be my favorite. There wouldn't be any contest at all.
  • ODST - Repetitive Hub.
  • Reach - AA imbalances (IMO)
 

Kujo

Member
Domino Theory said:
Shame on anybody who doesn't put Halo 2 as #1 or #2 for campaign. Just sayin'.
*High 5*

Great game; one of the longest; best weapons; most varied; best music; nearly always moving on the offense; best story; you play alongside frickin Hunters

The ending sucked, but I don't let that damper my opinion. Does a good ending making a bad game good, nope
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
GhaleonEB said:
It totally depends on what's important to that particular player. You see people often cite that "feeling of exploration" in Halo 1 that they loved. The mystery, the scale, the slow build up to the Flood. Halo excels in things the other games didn't.

I love the story in Halo 2, the world building that went into it, and the structure and scale of many of the missions. I like how they are often set in mammoth environments where over the course of the mission you slowly close in on distant objectives. Crossing over into New Mombassa, approaching the containment wall; advancing through Delta Halo. The feeling of moving through these enormous unified worlds was great.

Halo 3 has this intense discipline to the encounter design, and an internal pacing, building from the opening mission through The Covenant, that no other game has sutained. I've grown to appreciate it more and more over time. So many incredible set pieces.

I <3 ODST's hub world so damn much.

I want every Halo game to be amazing, but I like that each campaign has excelled in different ways. It makes them all replayable for different reasons.

Oh yea. ODST doesn't get near the love it should. That game was just awesome. It wasn't deep but it had that gumshoe detective like story combined with Halo. I loved the night setting, the music, the ambiance in general. I loved having to get to a location and then find the item to trigger the flashback mission. Most of the time I wouldn't use my visor just so I could try and piece it together myself and find the item. So fun.
 
PsychoRaven said:
Oh yea. ODST doesn't get near the love it should. That game was just awesome. It wasn't deep but it had that gumshoe detective like story combined with Halo. I loved the night setting, the music, the ambiance in general. I loved having to get to a location and then find the item to trigger the flashback mission. Half the time I wouldn't use my visor just so I could try and piece it together myself and find the item.
Yeah, I thought ODST was great on solo Legendary (holy shit, Hunters)... until that last level (Coastal Highway or whatever). Just a turd out there.
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
Syracuse022 said:
Yeah, I thought ODST was great on solo Legendary (holy shit, Hunters)... until that last level (Coastal Highway or whatever). Just a turd out there.

I do agree there. The last level was just pain on Legendary. It was almost up to Halo 2 Legendary levels of bullshit. Just almost. The rest on Legendary was a bit easy except the hunters. OH MY GOD the Hunters. I still remember one chasing me through a building. I had never been scared by a Halo game before but I was then. Really scared the piss out of me when I opened a door and there he was. I actually jumped.
 
I loved ODST. It was tons of fun and the Hub was a terrific addition. The squad story was very well done.

But I really believe it has the worst last level and cinematic ending in the entire series. I was so very disappointed, it felt so anticlimactic.

For me:
Last playable level (Best to worst): CE >> 3 > 2 > Reach >> ODST

1. Halo CE - The Maw was wonderful at the time. Explosions and Flood everywhere, lots of tension, and the Warthog run was tons of fun.
2. Halo 3 - I actually liked it. Sue me. A very nostalgic level, and I felt that the Warthog run was a very cool throwback to CE and was well executed. You were driving around an unfinished Halo as its firing sequence ripped it apart! So cool. Maybe I just have fond memories of the (difficult) Annual run I did splitscreen.
3. Halo 2 - Wraith escorting a Scarab, some infantry combat against Brutes, Banshee escorting a Scarab, cheesy boss fight against Tartarus. Why am I finishing a Halo game as the Arbiter?
4. Halo Reach - The mongoose run is a joke, it's just a scenic drive by some non-threatening scarabs. The MAC cannon segment would have been neat anywhere else in the game, but NOT as the final moments of the last level (if you count Lone Wolf as a post-credits cinematic). Aside from the boring Drone sections there are some interesting encounters and even the Firefight part isn't unbearable, but overall a disappointing lack of tension.
5. ODST - An escort mission on a straight highway and a Firefight round. I was excitied when the Scarab showed up, thinking it would chase me or offer some sort of challenge. I was excited when the Covenant Cruiser fired its excavation beam, thinking it would add some danger to race from. I was disappointed by both, and continued to escort a slow, energy-shielded Elephant.

Ending Cinematic (Best to worst): Reach > 3 > CE >> 2 > ODST

1. Halo Reach - If you count the end of the PoA level and the Lone Wolf section as part of the cinematic, it's definitely my favorite. The emotion and beauty is stunning, especially with the impact of having your own helmet in the cinematic.
2. Halo 3 - When the credits started, I was a very angry person and hated the ending. The post-credits scene was so awesome my opinion completely flipped.
3. Halo CE - Very cool seeing the Halo break apart and "No, I think we're just getting started" was a great final line that left me wondering at what could come next, especially with the Guilty Spark stinger. This one just gets a lower rank because it's shorter than 3 and Reach.
4. Halo 2 - Miranda jumps around for a bit, and aborts the firing sequence. "Sir, finishing this fight" is one of the most epic lines ever, but the cliffhanger ending just stung too much. The post-credits scene was cool and launched a dozen story theories.
5. ODST - While I love Nathan Fillion, "It was a hell of a night" was just a terrible line to end on. The cinematic with Johnson and Virgil was even more disappointing and ridiculous.

Legendary Endings: 3 > CE >> ODST

- Halo 2 and Reach didn't have one...
1. Halo 3's was an amazing tease that we're still getting excited over.
2. CE's was hilarious, even if it was later written out of canon.
3. ODST's was only there to give the game meaning for people unfamiliar with the story of Halo 2 and 3 (or had forgotten it). "Oh, the Prophets were looking for that Forerunner stuff underground!" No shit.

Just to repeat myself, I LOVED ODST. I was just underwhelmed by the ending.
 
Hypertrooper said:
Hell yeah 1000/1000 in Halo 3: ODST. Thank you, MrBig, Tha Robbster and Overdoziz for helping me!

I finally got my last achievement in Reach (the Defiant stockpile one) I was trying to get it legit but got fed up with it and just did it in customs.

I'm now 100% on Halo 3, ODST, and Reach.

I've beaten Halo Wars and it was fun, but there's no way in hell I'll ever get 100% on that. Some of those achievments are just terrible grinds.
 
ncsuDuncan said:
Where did you hear about it from? I'd like to know more.

Just from a cursory glance:
- Sounds like seven people have received or will receive cards with a scratch-off portion over a unique code. Were these in 7 of the 777 first-round Swag Bags, or did those slips merely contain the URL for the contest?
- The code cannot be redeemed before 7/7/2012... I hope everyone that gets one realizes how special it is and remembers it next year.
- The "One of Seven" page has the "Per Audacia Ad Astra" motto at the top, which for some reason makes me think this is related to Bungie Aerospace and not Destiny (although that's not a safe assumption).

Sounds like a very cool contest. Only seven winners means people will complain, but that's going to happen anyways. Unfortunately, Amazon's swag bag shenanigans will add to the complaints, but that wasn't Bungie's fault.

What prize would be so great as to require an entire rules page? I doubt it would be anything as simple as early beta access, you'd think there would be more than seven winners in that case.

2nleceo.jpg

Thats crazy, good to hear that someone on the rvb forum got a code so that they can share what the goodies are.

All im going to say is the hype for whoever got a ticket must be crazy, I would keep that ticket on me at all times lol.
 

Homeboyd

Member
Got the 15k jackpot! And a 3k one 2 games before.

Haven't played swat in a while either. Trying to get back into my groove thang.
 
ncsuDuncan said:
I finally got my last achievement in Reach (the Defiant stockpile one) I was trying to get it legit but got fed up with it and just did it in customs.

I'm now 100% on Halo 3, ODST, and Reach.

I've beaten Halo Wars and it was fun, but there's no way in hell I'll ever get 100% on that. Some of those achievments are just terrible grinds.
I'll try to get every Halo: Wars achievement, but it is going to be hell. I haven't even played one MP-match. I hope 343i will do 2x EXP or 3x EXP weekends sometimes. 8,640,000EXP is too much.
 
Hypertrooper said:
I'll try to get every Halo: Wars achievement, but it is going to be hell. I even haven't played one MP-match. I hope 343i will do 2x EXP or 3x EXP weekends sometimes. 8,640,000EXP is too much.
They lowered the amount of exp you need for general now, but even still its crazy high. Its an achievment I doubt I will ever get!
 
bobs99 ... said:
They lowered the amount of exp you need for general now, but even still its crazy high. Its an achievment I doubt I will ever get!
How much EXP you get for every match? 1000-2000?
If you get 3000(as well when you loose the match), you still need 320matches
 
Hypertrooper said:
How much EXP you get for every match? 1000-2000?
If you get 3000(as well when you loose the match), you still need 320matches

Somewhere around that, if you don't get warthog rushed at the start. You can get some fun matches but I just hate it when I get rushed.
 

Striker

Member
Dax01 said:
I don't really understand how the last levels of a game can negate the rest. From the Crow's Nest to The Covenant, there's nothing but awesomeness. Besides, Captain Keyes is just as bad as Cortana, I think. Definitely not better than "Halo (3)."
Ah, this post reminds me of that time months ago where you were posting levels of Crows Nest>Tsavo Highway>The Storm>Floodgate>The Ark>Covenant were superior to Halo>Truth & Reconciliation>Silent Cartographer>Assault on the Control Room>343 Guilty Spark. That's not including Two Betrayals which is one of the top levels in any campaign from the series. Baffling to see you write such a thing, but then again you've always been one to write outlandish things to get attention. I would go through the Wayback Machine and find more hilarious things from the Halo 3 thread you've written, but I got stuff to do.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I wonder if this Golden Ticket thing is going to be like Forgetacular, and only 3 of the winners actually get anything at the end.

heyoooooooooooo

I'd put that shit inside a folder in a safe in a gun cabinet in a vault.
 

Tawpgun

Member
I need some help.

Anyone that can recite an "awe" (best word I can describe it as) inspiring monologue, record their voice, and send it to me... PM me. It's for the 343 Machinima Contest.

If you're interested and can do it I'll PM you the lines and then I'll need it done at LATEST by Sunday.
 

Karl2177

Member
A27 Tawpgun said:
I need some help.

Anyone that can recite an "awe" (best word I can describe it as) inspiring monologue, record their voice, and send it to me... PM me. It's for the 343 Machinima Contest.

If you're interested and can do it I'll PM you the lines and then I'll need it done at LATEST by Sunday.
09cdd3cfdadc673d1f5a873bf2e15095.jpg
 

FyreWulff

Member
A27 Tawpgun said:
I need some help.

Anyone that can recite an "awe" (best word I can describe it as) inspiring monologue, record their voice, and send it to me... PM me. It's for the 343 Machinima Contest.

If you're interested and can do it I'll PM you the lines and then I'll need it done at LATEST by Sunday.

Why the hell not. I'll try.

You should probably include some direction with the lines though. Like if you want steady, slow and dramatic at certain beats, etc. Direct.
 

Louis Wu

Member
Domino Theory said:
Shame on anybody who doesn't put Halo 2 as #1 or #2 for campaign. Just sayin'.
Seriously?
I put it last. (Honestly.)

Huge chunks of repetitive gameplay (repetitive in ways that the recycled architecture of Halo never was), large, large areas of on-rails combat (sometimes literally), coupled with the cocktease of SERIOUSLY massive open space you couldn't actually visit...

And an ending that made me want to cry.

Eh. Don't get me wrong - it was still pretty fun. (There have been NO Halo games I've played that I didn't enjoy.) But it was the least fun of the 5 campaigns, in my opinion.

(It DID have the best story, though.)
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
Louis Wu said:
Seriously?
I put it last. (Honestly.)

Huge chunks of repetitive gameplay (repetitive in ways that the recycled architecture of Halo never was), large, large areas of on-rails combat (sometimes literally), coupled with the cocktease of SERIOUSLY massive open space you couldn't actually visit...

And an ending that made me want to cry.

Eh. Don't get me wrong - it was still pretty fun. (There have been NO Halo games I've played that I didn't enjoy.) But it was the least fun of the 5 campaigns, in my opinion.

(It DID have the best story, though.)

Perfectly put. Perfectly. It teased of being so open yet you were always confined to such a small space. And the rails. Small tunnel area, Small open area, gondola, underwater box ride, small open area, small tunnel, gondola, small open area, small box ride, small open area gondola...... I could go on and on. Even the vehicle sections were so confined that it wasn't funny. Might as hell have been driving them down hallways.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
my turn.

reach > halo 3 > halo 2 > halo ce
(i have a hard time ranking ODST with the others because it clearly was a side project and not a full fledged sequel. still love it though)

probably an unpopular opinion, but the series HAS gotten better over time overall even if each game in the series had their own unique strong points.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
The campaigns in terms of fun:

CE >>> ODST > Reach >>>>>>>>> H3 >>>>>>>>>>>> H2

The only thing that's sorely lacking from CE is the ability to hijack vehicles. Makes encounters so much more fun.

Homeboyd said:
Got the 15k jackpot! And a 3k one 2 games before.

Haven't played swat in a while either. Trying to get back into my groove thang.
Yeah, I hit the jackpot pretty quick, too! And I got my third or fourth Perfection on Reach (only the first on my own profile, unfortunately). Feels good, man.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
If we are rating the Campaigns in terms of Story

Halo CE > Halo 2 (best writing) > Halo 3 > Halo: Reach

The Halo SP seems to have a downward spiral, hopefully Halo 4 can change that.
 

Homeboyd

Member
omg.kittens said:
Yeah, I hit the jackpot pretty quick, too! And I got my third or fourth Perfection on Reach (only the first on my own profile, unfortunately). Feels good, man.
Did it show up in your post-game credits screen? Seems like it's random for me... sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

This time it only popped up in the bottom corner of my screen in-game.
 
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