â Narayan
Member
Fuck that shit.Scullibundo said:Fuck you, HALO 2 had excellent cinematics.
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Halo Reach Reveal Thread - Matchmaking/Multiplayer Details Revealed
- Thread starter Slightly Live
- Start date
Shake Appeal
Member
Halo 2's cutscenes really popped. Y'know. In. They popped in.
â Narayan
Member
:lolShake Appeal said:
They were also shitty cutscenes.
Shake Appeal
Member
The way my desktop is set, that wallpaper would drop the Lone Wolf in the Recycle Bin.
Shake Appeal
Member
Five most likeable characters in the series (descending order): Vergil, Rtas 'Vadum, the Arbiter, Mickey, Buck.
Honourable mention: Carol Rawley.
Honourable mention: Carol Rawley.
Shake Appeal
Member
All this time (well, for the past couple days) I thought he was the one in the middle. I'm guessing now that's Carter? :lolLouis Wu said:
Zeouterlimits
Member
I disagree strongly.U K Narayan said:
And yeah, that's Carter, Shake.
So Saturday night I was out at a Christmas party...I knew there was something I was supposed to do, but could not think of it.
Sunday morning I was going to fire up some Halo 3 Multi and I saw a friend in Waypoint...then it hit me...HOLY SHIT REACH TRAILER!
Anyhow...late to the party, but trailer was incredible.
Sunday morning I was going to fire up some Halo 3 Multi and I saw a friend in Waypoint...then it hit me...HOLY SHIT REACH TRAILER!
Anyhow...late to the party, but trailer was incredible.
Zeouterlimits
Member
Because he's a noobie to the squad and probably the silent protagonist.See said:
The game is probably about learning about the other characters through his eyes.
â Narayan
Member
Pray tell, what was good about those cutscenes? I will say that they got the job done, but they weren't great - or anything like that.Zeouterlimits said:
Zeouterlimits
Member
Great in context of the rest of the series at least, would you agree with that?U K Narayan said:
They
- Tell the Covenant Story and tell it well
- have good, suitable dialogue
- have good voice acting, believable characters
- have greatly expanded the fiction in interesting ways (Gravemind, Covenant)
- show some grin inducing action/moments
- are not equal, they aren't all fantastic, but plenty are great
â Narayan
Member
Halo 1 and ODST seem to be the exception. Those games are awesome in every way.Tokubetsu said:
Great in the context of Halo 2 and 3? I guess, but I'm not a fan of either of those games. Great in comparison to Halo 1? Absolutely not.Zeouterlimits said:
squidhands
Member
Well, I've watched the cinematic about 10 times now, and I think it's fucking great. This is the first cinematic in Halo that actually feels cinematic; like this is how an actual movie would start (I actually got a big beginning-of-Predator vibe from the first watch). The music is incredibly well done, even for Marty standards. I can't wait to see what comes next.
BTW, does anyone here recognize the voice of the Commander? It sounds incredibly familiar. I have an idea of who it sounds like to me, but after my blunder of guessing who Romeo was, I'm just going to keep it to myself for now. Sounds like a dude with some serious star power, though; another reason why I think I'm wrong.
BTW, does anyone here recognize the voice of the Commander? It sounds incredibly familiar. I have an idea of who it sounds like to me, but after my blunder of guessing who Romeo was, I'm just going to keep it to myself for now. Sounds like a dude with some serious star power, though; another reason why I think I'm wrong.
Zeouterlimits
Member
You think Halo 1's cutscenes are better than 2's?U K Narayan said:
Pray tell, what is better about those cutscenes/narrative?
The Librarian
Banned
For me it's (in no particular order): Captain Keyes, MC, the Arbiter, Guilty Spark (death sucked), Rtas, Gravemind.Shake Appeal said:
Nothing. Halo 2 is infinitely better in this regard.Zeouterlimits said:You think Halo 1's cutscenes are better than 2's?
Pray tell, what is better about those cutscenes/narrative?
Littleberu
Banned
Hey, could the silent protagonist be Master Chief?
Zeouterlimits
Member
No, they've already confirmed it's a Spartan-3.Littleberu said:
Master Chief is in space outside Reach at his point.
â Narayan
Member
Everything.Zeouterlimits said:You think Halo 1's cutscenes are better than 2's?
Pray tell, what is better about those cutscenes/narrative?
Yes.Littleberu said:
Zeouterlimits said:
Zeouterlimits
Member
U K Narayan said:
I'd like to think we all learned something from this.
The Librarian
Banned
No.Littleberu said:
â Narayan
Member
Zeouterlimits said:
I'd like to think we all learned something from this.
Ubersnug said:
I think that's part of my problem with Halo lore. so much of it involves "did you read the book?" or "have you watched the anime?"
bottom line was that, in the actual game, Cortana was freaking out and acting all nuts and then, when you finally see her, she's completely normal. bait and switch.
if they're going to toss her crazy ass in your face while playing and then do nothing with that buildup in the end, it's poor storytelling.
Ubersnug said:
That's great, but how does that amount to a good gameplay and storytelling experience, where you have to read a short story outside of the game to even understand any detail into Cortana's rampant behaviour? It really should have been developed a lot further in-game.
xxjuicesxx
Member
Exactly this is almost 2010. I don't want to read a book. Books are boring as shit and don't even have moving pictures and are in fucking SD. No HD in books, wtf?!
tahrikmili
Member
The story thing is an awful cop out. It's like selling you a DVD in the middle of which the protagonist disappears and the only way to figure out whether he died or not is to play the videogame.
EDIT: And knowing how stupid developers and producers are someone will probably steal this idea and run with it.
EDIT: And knowing how stupid developers and producers are someone will probably steal this idea and run with it.
Shake Appeal
Member
I hear Shake Appeal's available.kylej said:
kylej said:
Thats not really fair - Bungie clearly have good writers. But they need to introduce story elements like that into their games, as the gamer is their main audience. The Mass Effect novels, although not great, are a complement to the actual games - they don't fill in key plot points, but instead they add extra substance to the universe the game is set in.
Bungie need to change their approach slightly with the storytelling to better incorporate it into the gameplay environment, because I felt Halo 3 fell behind in that regard compared to the improving competition.
Agreed that it is a bit of a cop out that to understand fully whats going on you have to read the books. Could probably be described as laziness. Personally, didn't bother me that much.
Here is a quick summary of the story: - very spoilerific for those who want to read it for the first time...
Talon- said:
Here is a quick summary of the story: - very spoilerific for those who want to read it for the first time...
Basically cortana wasn't going into or suffering from Rampancy. Cortana really underestimated the Gravemind's abilities who quickly managed to infiltrate Cortana's code and memory. He didn't have full access to her memory core but he was able to trick her into revealing alot of what she held secret, including her fear of Rampancy. So he used this against her and bombarded her with strong emotions such as doubt, fear, confusion and the idea that she had been betrayed by those who she held dear.
He also forced the memories of beings he had previously absorbed on her. Making her relive the points where they where consumed. Eventually, she became so overwhelmed with all the violations from the Gravemind that she was starting to lose control. His other approach was to tease her with the one thing an AI wants - information. The Gravemind had this in abundance due to all the memories of the millions, if not billions, of life forms the Gravemind had absorbed. He new that by literally flooding her with the one thing she desired, it would be too much for her and she would become Rampant - then making her easy pickings for the Gravemind to absorb.
At the point the Chief starts hearing her rambling in Halo 3. She was close to being fully absorbed by the Gravemind and she knew this. However, a small portion of her was able to tap into High Charity's internal sensors and picked up a 'Human' life form. She convinced herself that it had to be the chief and in a last desperate act, tried to stall the Graveminds advanced into her systems, by bombarding him with non essential information. Some of the words she screamed was also some of the memories of other absorbed beings flowing through her.
So, when the chief frees her, the Gravemind no longer has his grips on her and thus all the hallucinations and tricks he was playing on her fell apart. Hence why she sort of returns to semi-normal....
He also forced the memories of beings he had previously absorbed on her. Making her relive the points where they where consumed. Eventually, she became so overwhelmed with all the violations from the Gravemind that she was starting to lose control. His other approach was to tease her with the one thing an AI wants - information. The Gravemind had this in abundance due to all the memories of the millions, if not billions, of life forms the Gravemind had absorbed. He new that by literally flooding her with the one thing she desired, it would be too much for her and she would become Rampant - then making her easy pickings for the Gravemind to absorb.
At the point the Chief starts hearing her rambling in Halo 3. She was close to being fully absorbed by the Gravemind and she knew this. However, a small portion of her was able to tap into High Charity's internal sensors and picked up a 'Human' life form. She convinced herself that it had to be the chief and in a last desperate act, tried to stall the Graveminds advanced into her systems, by bombarding him with non essential information. Some of the words she screamed was also some of the memories of other absorbed beings flowing through her.
So, when the chief frees her, the Gravemind no longer has his grips on her and thus all the hallucinations and tricks he was playing on her fell apart. Hence why she sort of returns to semi-normal....
Shake Appeal said:
I'm sorry Shake Appeal. Bungie is currently looking for a set of writers who share the same unique talents as the current staff. Quick integration and similar skill level will help liven the writing process.
http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=39263399
These are some of the current contenders for the job. The genius of some of these posts may daunt the current Bungie employees. Remember, intimidation spurs creativity.
Lucius86 said:
Explain.
I think people are forgetting a key point here:
99.9% of all Halo players care squat about the story. Ok, so maybe a few more, but you get the point. Many just want action, action and more action.
Bungie knows this, but they still want to tell a story, a good story and one with a large universe/canon surrounding it.
One thing I've always admired in the Halo games, being a reader of the books as well, is its ability to seem almost plot-less without any knowledge of the backstory, but filled with exciting details, when you've read the book. Plot-less might be an overstatement, but if you don't care about the Halo backstory, then you won't be bothered with prolonged cutscenes and a lot of jibberish - save the Cortana sequences in Halo 3, which I as a fan loved though.
But you have to make a choice. If you want a story-heavy game, a lot of casual and even hardcore players will be displeased and no matter how you put it they are by far the biggest market. What Bungie did was to put in a lot of subtle details concerning the story, both built into the environment, architecture, audio snippets, small clues in the dialogue etc. All that to please story-hungry fans such as I. And then there's a LOT of story in Halo all of the sudden.
I agree though that Bungie are not always the best to drive a plot through a game, especially in regards to the drama curve, climax creation and follow-up and such. But I think they're doing a damn fine job of integrating such a huge lore into the games without scaring away all of the action-only players out there.
99.9% of all Halo players care squat about the story. Ok, so maybe a few more, but you get the point. Many just want action, action and more action.
Bungie knows this, but they still want to tell a story, a good story and one with a large universe/canon surrounding it.
One thing I've always admired in the Halo games, being a reader of the books as well, is its ability to seem almost plot-less without any knowledge of the backstory, but filled with exciting details, when you've read the book. Plot-less might be an overstatement, but if you don't care about the Halo backstory, then you won't be bothered with prolonged cutscenes and a lot of jibberish - save the Cortana sequences in Halo 3, which I as a fan loved though.
But you have to make a choice. If you want a story-heavy game, a lot of casual and even hardcore players will be displeased and no matter how you put it they are by far the biggest market. What Bungie did was to put in a lot of subtle details concerning the story, both built into the environment, architecture, audio snippets, small clues in the dialogue etc. All that to please story-hungry fans such as I. And then there's a LOT of story in Halo all of the sudden.
I agree though that Bungie are not always the best to drive a plot through a game, especially in regards to the drama curve, climax creation and follow-up and such. But I think they're doing a damn fine job of integrating such a huge lore into the games without scaring away all of the action-only players out there.
Proelite
Member
Kimosabae said:
I still think that the announcement trailer is still the best announcement trailer ever made. The composition, dialogue, editing etc is above most movie trailers, let alone game trailers.
I don't think Bungie has it anymore to make these kind of trailers, as they might be the result of one man's vision behind them, and that genius apparently left Bungie.
kylej said:
Their story, setting and the world the writers have made with the Halo IP is impressive - it has an engaging story that had gamers the world over awaiting its conclusion prior to Halo 3's release. Having such a million+ fanbase awaiting how the trilogy concludes does not come from crap writing. Compared to other mediums, sure Halo is not great (far from it) - but for our immature industry, it was an engaging piece.
The point I am making is that the way the story was integrated into the game is wholly different to the actual content of the story. That there is where I felt Halo 3 was a letdown.
Ubersnug said:
I was writing a long reply to this summary (I have not read the story) but I just erased it all for I could not be bothered to complete my thoughts. It is inane and tacked on, unnecessary and insulting to the intellect.
NeXuSDK said:
It's almost 2010. We have skippable cutscenes. Also, MGS 4 seems to have sold fairly well. A well told story does not have to have long cut scenes. In fact I think it would do Bungie more good in the eyes of the casual gamer if they became better at delivering the story. It's not like the Halo plot requires too much thought and introspection. It's science fiction balls to the wall action. A schism here, some quirky characters there. It should not be dumbed down assuming that the casual gamer is a vegetable. A captivating story captivates.