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[Sephzilla]

Cliffhanger aside, Halo 2's story is still great.

Eh... I dunno.

-The Flood's return isn't good at all.

-The last stand on Earth suddenly becomes "nope, here's another Ring World".

-Covenant politics felt a little forced.

-I still personally didn't like The Flood having a central leader.

-Game ends with an Arbiter level.

I don't hate it or anything, but it just doesn't compare to CE in my opinion. It may have been a tad over ambitious.

 

[Pez]

Friend of mine had MCC fry his Xbox this week. MS support didn't even put up an argument about this particular case (leading me to think it's not uncommon) and sent him an entirely new system. Multiple instances of MCC frying Xboxes within the last week have been reported according to the rep. Makes me wonder if the most recent patch is killing machines due to lack of QA.

Great.

 

[Sephzilla]

Friend of mine had MCC fry his Xbox this week. MS support didn't even put up an argument about this particular case (leading me to think it's not uncommon) and sent him an entirely new system. Multiple instances of MCC frying Xboxes within the last week have been reported according to the rep. Makes me wonder if the most recent patch is killing machines due to lack of QA.

Great.

This reminds me of "Halo 3 fried my 360"

RobinWilliamsWhatYearIsIt.jpg

 

[Toa TAK]

Eh... I dunno.

-The Flood's return isn't good at all.

-The last stand on Earth suddenly becomes "nope, here's another Ring World".

-Covenant politics felt a little forced.

-I still personally didn't like The Flood having a central leader.

-Game ends with an Arbiter level.

I don't hate it or anything, but it just doesn't compare to CE in my opinion. It may have been a tad over ambitious.

Nah. Earth levels were fine as is. Even in Halo 3 they're nothing to write home about.

The Gravemind was a great character to add into the mix, along with the return of the Flood and how they impacted High Charity was spectacular. I much prefer High Charity the level over Gravemind any day. The atmosphere is perfect.

I didn't feel like the politics were forced whatsoever. If anything, it was a good choice to see things on the other side through the Arbiter, who as I keep saying, is still the best character in this series (which only speaks to how terrible Halo's characters are).

The Great Journey is also my favorite level in the game. Even if the final boss makes no sense, it's nice to see the growth of the Arbiter come full circle (hehehe) and he's ultimately the guy who steps in and saves the galaxy. Sure, Miranda pulled the Index, but do you really think those Elites and Johnson were going to stop Tartarus?

If anything, because the story is a thrill to play, it's what made the cliffhanger sting even more.

 

[UnlovedJew]

I'm scared to even start this game when I get my refurbished Xbone in the mail. Guess I'll stick to Ryse and Titanfall until this works.

 

[Poker Face]

Friend of mine had MCC fry his Xbox this week. MS support didn't even put up an argument about this particular case (leading me to think it's not uncommon) and sent him an entirely new system. Multiple instances of MCC frying Xboxes within the last week have been reported according to the rep. Makes me wonder if the most recent patch is killing machines due to lack of QA.

Great.

MCC actually infected all my game consoles and computers and caused them to die. Customer service said most people asking for refunds also had this issue

SMH 343

 

[Sephzilla]

Nah. Earth levels were fine as is. Even in Halo 3 they're nothing to write home about.

The Gravemind was a great character to add into the mix, along with the return of the Flood and how they impacted High Charity was spectacular. I much prefer High Charity the level over Gravemind any day. The atmosphere is perfect.

I didn't feel like the politics were forced whatsoever. If anything, it was a good choice to see things on the other side through the Arbiter, who as I keep saying, is still the best character in this series (which only speaks to how terrible Halo's characters are).

The Great Journey is also my favorite level in the game. Even if the final boss makes no sense, it's nice to see the growth of the Arbiter come full circle (hehehe) and he's ultimately the guy who steps in and saves the galaxy. Sure, Miranda pulled the Index, but do you really think those Elites and Johnson were going to stop Tartarus?

If anything, because the story is a thrill to play, it's what made the cliffhanger sting even more.

To me the Flood return in Halo 2 just feels completely lacking in anything worth while compared to how they are introduced in CE. CE has the entire 343 Guilty Spark level dedicated to introducing The Flood. In Halo 2 their introduction level isn't even focused on them - they just suddenly show up halfway through the level and an elite basically goes "hey, The Flood are here".

Such a let down.

 

[Mdot]

I'm scared to even start this game when I get my refurbished Xbone in the mail. Guess I'll stick to Ryse and Titanfall until this works.

Same. Thought this mess would have been fixed by now

 

[Toa TAK]

To me the Flood return in Halo 2 just feels completely lacking in anything worth while compared to how they are introduced in CE. CE has the entire 343 Guilty Spark level dedicated to introducing The Flood. In Halo 2 their introduction level isn't even focused on them - they just suddenly show up halfway through the level and an elite basically goes "hey, The Flood are here".

Such a let down.

They don't really need much of an introduction at that point, though. We all know the Flood. Annoying, creepy, and just the WORST. If anything, their presence and outbreak on the station just tell how much the situation is escalating because of the storm and the presence of the Prophet's assassination squad showing up and making a mess of things.

 

[Sephzilla]

They don't really need much of an introduction at that point, though. We all know the Flood. Annoying, creepy, and just the WORST. If anything, their presence and outbreak on the station just tell how much the situation is escalating because of the storm and the presence of the Prophet's assassination squad showing up and making a mess of things.

Doesn't the end of CE kind of imply that The Flood were destroyed though? The return of the real bad guys from CE should warrant a bigger return than that.

 

[Toa TAK]

Doesn't the end of CE kind of imply that The Flood were destroyed though? The return of the real bad guys from CE should warrant a bigger return than that.

Nah. They were stopped on that specific ring. Didn't state that they didn't have any more throughout the galaxy in other research facilitates.

 

[Onikaan]

It looks like I put as much effort into sourcing the quotes as the reviewers did into their write-ups

That particular one is from InsideGamer.nl; All others are just the summary blurbs from Metacritic for different publications, looking at the top reviews.

It must have been 4.55pm on Friday afternoon.


Job done, print it.

 

[Jack Scofield]

The Flood were such boring enemy that I'm surprised they made an appearance in all three games. It's as of Bungie felt compelled to include them in every game even though they were completely unnecessary, much like Halos themselves. There's no real reason why there needed to be a Halo in the other games aside from the game being named "Halo."

Plus, the Forerunners' solution to the Flood threat was completely stupid. It would be as if the United States killed every single citizen in the country then proudly declared that the Ebola threat in the US was over.

 

[Exile20]

Friend of mine had MCC fry his Xbox this week. MS support didn't even put up an argument about this particular case (leading me to think it's not uncommon) and sent him an entirely new system. Multiple instances of MCC frying Xboxes within the last week have been reported according to the rep. Makes me wonder if the most recent patch is killing machines due to lack of QA.

Great.

Are you being serious?

 

[SnakeSlashRO]

Friend of mine had MCC fry his Xbox this week. MS support didn't even put up an argument about this particular case (leading me to think it's not uncommon) and sent him an entirely new system. Multiple instances of MCC frying Xboxes within the last week have been reported according to the rep. Makes me wonder if the most recent patch is killing machines due to lack of QA.

Great.

Anymore information on this? Anything more than "A friend of mine...". I find it hard to believe this game "fried" his Xbox... Did he leave it on for days or something trying to get into matchmaking?

 

[Princess Carl]

I think you may be forgetting the fiasco of Halo 2..... or the fact that he worked on Destiny up until nearly going gold...... or the fact that he's a writer, not a studio manager.

Yeah he worked on the story that if people breaking the early nda were anything to go by, was light years ahead of the shitshow that we got. It sounds more like corporate direction fucked the story that he created, so he left.

So yeah I'll take my chances with him.

 

[Toa TAK]

Yeah he worked on the story that if people breaking the early nda were anything to go by, was light years ahead of the shitshow that we got. It sounds more like corporate direction fucked the story that he created, so he left.

So yeah I'll take my chances with him.

Seriously. After Contact Harvest, I want him back in mah Halo.

 

[Impala26]

Yeah he worked on the story that if people breaking the early nda were anything to go by, was light years ahead of the shitshow that we got. It sounds more like corporate direction fucked the story that he created, so he left.

So yeah I'll take my chances with him.

All you need to do is watch the Bungie Destiny Panel GDC 2013 to realize that Joe's story direction and design were pushed aside by the art director and the studio head. Joe also left Bungie in September 2013, WELL before the game went Gold. I firmly believe Destiny failed to deliver BECAUSE it steered away from Joe's story direction in favor of a more "bland" but "accessible" sci-fi/RPG hybrid.

Long story short, Joe da man... there can't be enough of him in Halo.

 

[User 73706]

I miss Nylund. The jump in Evolutions from the other anthologies to his in terms of quality is unreal.

 

[Sephzilla]

I miss Nylund. The jump in Evolutions from the other anthologies to his in terms of quality is unreal.

+1

 

[FunkyPajamas]

I miss Nylund. The jump in Evolutions from the other anthologies to his in terms of quality is unreal.

+1

+100000

You hear that Frankie? Bring Nylund back!

 

[Toa TAK]

I miss Nylund. The jump in Evolutions from the other anthologies to his in terms of quality is unreal.

We all miss Nylund. =(

Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, even Haley's journal are all great.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

We all miss Nylund. =(

Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, even Haley's journal are all great.

Yup. Still my favorite Halo books, by far (though you didn't include First Strike).

 

[wwm0nkey]

We all miss Nylund. =(

Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, even Haley's journal are all great.

He built the back story of Halo is a fantastic way. Just get him to write the damn games.

 

[Sephzilla]

Nylund is the primary reason I give a shit about Halo's universe. Fall of Reach and Ghosts of Onyx were fun reads.

He built the back story of Halo is a fantastic way. Just get him to write the damn games.

Or at least have him write the live action stuff they do.

Seriously, if we ever get a live action Halo film and it's not an adaptation of Fall of Reach I'll be upset.

 

[KnockOneOff]

Friend of mine had MCC fry his Xbox this week. MS support didn't even put up an argument about this particular case (leading me to think it's not uncommon) and sent him an entirely new system. Multiple instances of MCC frying Xboxes within the last week have been reported according to the rep. Makes me wonder if the most recent patch is killing machines due to lack of QA.

Great.

Why would they argue? Every xbox one is under warenty, game issue or no game issue, any hardware fault is covered

 

[Ominym]

It really bums me out when people say that they want an extension of the Halo 5 beta or new Aniversary maps as repayment for the game being broken.

I hate the direction 343i has taken with Halo. So suggesting either of those to me is like rubbing salt on the wound.

 

[TrounceX]

I've had issues with the classic BR not registering shots and just flaring shields like in Halo 1 and have had to lead my reticule a bit. Must be something from the Halo 2 Vista netcode, because I've never seen that happen on XBC/Kai/Live. What a mess.

This is an interesting theory. I thought for certain it was just my awful connection dropping the shots, but I had a similar connection during H2 and don't remember it being nearly as bad. Then again, that could be just nostalgia speaking. But the H2 Vista netcode....yeah, that may just be what's going on. I'd be curious to know what the differences are between the xbox version and the vista version.

I wish they could get the dedicated servers working. I haven't had a match on dedis in a long time. Every time I did before the games were super clean, almost LAN like.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Nylund is the primary reason I give a shit about Halo's universe. Fall of Reach and Ghosts of Onyx were fun reads.

why do you guys keep leaving First Strike out?

It really bums me out when people say that they want an extension of the Halo 5 beta or new Aniversary maps as repayment for the game being broken.

I hate the direction 343i has taken with Halo. So suggesting either of those to me is like rubbing salt on the wound.

Compensation should be:
1. E3 2003 Halo 2 demo remake.
2. Republic Commando-type Halo game written by Nylund where you play as Master Chief while also giving orders in real time to other Spartan II squadmates (Blue Team).

 

[Toa TAK]

Yup. Still my favorite Halo books, by far (though you didn't include First Strike).

Those are just my favorites from him.

First Strike was actually the first Halo novel I read.

He built the back story of Halo is a fantastic way. Just get him to write the damn games.

PLEASE.

 

[UnlovedJew]

It really bums me out when people say that they want an extension of the Halo 5 beta or new Aniversary maps as repayment for the game being broken.

I hate the direction 343i has taken with Halo. So suggesting either of those to me is like rubbing salt on the wound.

Well, it seems like they've taken some of the concerns into consideration (seeing other weapon on hud when not equipped, map callouts, etc.) I do agree though, I'm not a super huge fan of the art direction they've taken halo into with the way the colors and gun models look. Maybe it's something about their engine.

 

[Sephzilla]

why do you guys keep leaving First Strike out?

!!!!!

How the shit did I forget First Strike!?

 

[Havoc2049]

I think you may be forgetting the fiasco of Halo 2..... or the fact that he worked on Destiny up until nearly going gold...... or the fact that he's a writer, not a studio manager.

If Halo 2 is a "fiasco", then what would you call Halo: MCC? Halo 2 is an amazing game and since it was the second game in a trilogy, a cliffhanger ending is to be expected. And since Halo 3 was the best selling Halo game ever, maybe Halo 2 did some things right and was faaaar from a fiasco.

Staten left Bungie in September of 2013, nearly a year before the game was released, which isn't quite "until nearly going gold".

"At Bungie, Staten served as director of cinematics for the studio's games, including the Halo series; he would write mission scripts and movie dialogue for the titles. He has also been involved in managing the expansion of the Halo franchise to other game studios and producers."

"Staten was last working for Bungie as the writer and design director for Destiny."

Those sound like leadership roles to me.

I'll take Joe Staten's "fiasco" of Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Destiny over Halo 4 and Halo: MCC any day.

 

[Ominym]

Well, it seems like they've taken some of the concerns into consideration (seeing other weapon on hud when not equipped, map callouts, etc.) I do agree though, I'm not a super huge fan of the art direction they've taken halo into with the way the colors and gun models look. Maybe it's something about their engine.

I won't turn this thread into a debate about how I don't see much improvement. Nonetheless the beta will come out and I and others will see if my suspicions are correct.

I mean, hey, if the beta if good that's a nice appeasement I suppose. Though, there's already a huge amount of time allocated for the beta anyway. But I'm highly skeptical that Halo 5 will prove to be a proper Halo game in my eyes, and if I am correct? Giving me extended playtime with the beta won't exactly leave me feeling appeased.

 

[tapedeck]

Does this game work yet?

 

[Havoc2049]

Does this game work yet?

The Q&A Team (aka the fans) are still in the Alpha phase. The Beta should be releasing soon.

 

[User 73706]

I think my favorite bit of Nylund's Halo writing is the Halsey journal. It did a surprisingly good job at tying up loose ends and making sure everything made "relative" sense. Reading it before I even booted up Reach was a good idea.

 

[watership]

I think my favorite bit of Nylund's Halo writing is the Halsey journal. It did a surprisingly good job at tying up loose ends and making sure everything made "relative" sense. Reading it before I even booted up Reach was a good idea.

That journal is the best special edition item in a game, ever.

 

[kittens]

It really bums me out when people say that they want an extension of the Halo 5 beta or new Aniversary maps as repayment for the game being broken.

I hate the direction 343i has taken with Halo. So suggesting either of those to me is like rubbing salt on the wound.

What don't you like about H2A? Feels amazing to me.

 

[PanicFreak]

I played some more Halo CE single player this weekend and found out that plasma guns are very useful against the flood. The Plasma Pistol is especially fun to use against them because it takes them down quickly and has TONS of ammo. It's a good primary weapon with a Shotgun back-up.

I will be using it to conquer The Library tonight!

 

[User 73706]

What don't you like about H2A? Feels amazing to me.

I think his stance is more that he sees H2AMP as "temporary" compared to the lasting, fully-fledged feature sets provided by the other games. I have to admit the movement doesn't really feel as tight as I was expecting, though. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with H2AMP.

 

[Sephzilla]

I'm in the camp that would take more Halo 2 Anniversary maps over an extended Halo 5 beta. I think H2A is fun as hell and honestly if it had more maps it would probably be my go to Halo multiplayer experience for this entire generation considering nothing in Halo 5 thus far interests me at all.

 

[Bsigg12]

I played some more Halo CE single player this weekend and found out that plasma guns are very useful against the flood. The Plasma Pistol is especially fun to use against them because it takes them down quickly and has TONS of ammo. It's a good primary weapon with a Shotgun back-up.

I will be using it to conquer The Library tonight!

Plasma pistols are key to beating the game on legendary

 

[Toa TAK]

Melee isn't as good either I feel, but I had hoped that H2A would be the foundation for Halo 5.

Looks like I was just being naive.

 

[Sephzilla]

Plasma pistols are key to beating the game on legendary

Definitely.

Brings Elites and their crazy amounts of shielding down to Earth. Helps against Jackals. Is respectable against Flood. Is good for taking down Sentinels.

 

[Princess Carl]

All you need to do is watch the Bungie Destiny Panel GDC 2013 to realize that Joe's story direction and design were pushed aside by the art director and the studio head. Joe also left Bungie in September 2013, WELL before the game went Gold. I firmly believe Destiny failed to deliver BECAUSE it steered away from Joe's story direction in favor of a more "bland" but "accessible" sci-fi/RPG hybrid.

Long story short, Joe da man... there can't be enough of him in Halo.

Yeah, it's tough not being really upset at what happened to Destiny. More and more it sounds like too many cooks(corporate think-tanks that "know" games") in the kitchen attempting to stick their own mark on someone else's vision and before long was mutated/focus tested/big company'd. Who wouldn't want to leave after that?

Sorry, back on topic. The halo ip has resulted in the only two wasteful gaming purchases for me this year. Thank you corporate structure/partnership with activision, and thank you Mircosoft for consciously fucking over it's oldest console fanbase.

 

[Ominym]

What don't you like about H2A? Feels amazing to me.

It's close, I'll give it that. My gripes about it are only minor, but enough that I wouldn't elect to play it over Halo 2.

Not a huge fan of the sound or art direction. I just don't like loadouts regardless of balancing. I'm iffy on having rocks drop on me and kill me (yes I know this existed in Halo 2.) Kill-cam is obnoxious, I know you can skip it but I don't like its inclusion.

A bunch of other nit-picky stuff I could also include (not that this isn't mostly anyway) but simply put, this isn't what I personally want or care about when it comes to payback.

 

[BeamImpact]

I'm at the point now, that when it takes a long time to find a match, I wonder if it's because the game is broken or if it's because of low population numbers. Sad.

Heads should roll at 343. Microsoft should put Joe Staten in charge of 343, to help instill some confidence in the community. I'm sick of all the negativity. I want Halo to be fun again. New leadership is needed.

and while we are at it please also exchange the map designers, im sick of all those closed quater corridor fights which on more open maps then are stuffed with vehicles left and right

were are the open terrain fights that required aim and skill to win rather than just throwing nades and then sprint for an easy melee
i know closed quater caters towards casuals that can pickup a kill easier there, but with maps like guarian and excile we reached a point were you just want to quit playing

get back to maps like Sidewinder, Bloodgulch, Derelict, Ratrace, Timberland, Prisoner, those feature the open terrain aspect very well in their designed player counts
CE is not only regarded as the highest skillgap game just because of the weapons, gadgets and movement, the maps and how they are designed also play a huge role in that

to end my rant, i want to quote a sentence from Max Hoberman who said the following during the IGN Map Countdown for Sidewinder CE
he said this map is something he howadays wouldnt create anymore as the player once spawned in the base is required to do a full 180° direction change during the way to the other base, which basically could confuse people and make them unoriented
instead people should just have to walk forward with slight angle changes to then eventually find the opponents base
i mean what?!
Sidewinder is one of the most unique and loved maps, it even made it into the top10 at IGNs (flawed) countdown
its stuff like that which makes me believe the wrong people are in charge for key points, and yes i know Max isnt part of 343i but still its a good example of how wrong some Devs are in regard to what the community wants!

 

[JackHerer]

It's close, I'll give it that. My gripes about it are only minor, but enough that I wouldn't elect to play it over Halo 2.

Not a huge fan of the sound or art direction. I just don't like loadouts regardless of balancing. I'm iffy on having rocks drop on me and kill me (yes I know this existed in Halo 2.) Kill-cam is obnoxious, I know you can skip it but I don't like its inclusion.

A bunch of other nit-picky stuff I could also include (not that this isn't mostly anyway) but simply put, this isn't what I personally want or care about when it comes to payback.

Killcam is not in matchmaking and I haven't had a matchmaking game with load outs either. Sure the selection menu comes up but there is only one choice in most matches.

My only issue with H2A is that there are only 6 maps and one of them is Bloodline (I've always hated this map) and the fact that pretty much every map has performance issues.

 

[DJ Lushious]

I've heard that this happens, but I haven't noticed it happen on my game. If it does you could just check online on the site and see which ones it says you have done solo and which co-op.

Yeah, that is how I was able to determine the status of my playthroughs. An excellent piece of advice that needs to be repeated. However, it is still a ridiculous bug and and giant PITA.

So I decide to continue my CE LASO playthrough. Start out on Halo, finish it without much trouble. T&R is hell on earth, after an hour an a half I make it up the gravity lift. Game crashes trying to load the fuck you room in the ship. Reboot, game loses save progress. Restart level, finally finish it 2 hours later. Blast through SC and AOTCR in an hour an a half for the pair. Save and quit out on 343 GS to go to bed...the playlist didn't give me credit for completing AOTCR. Can't replay levels in the playlists, don't want to go on since I'm pretty sure the achievement is fucked now. I'm forced to restart the entire LASO playlist now.

I can't even imagine the feelings I would have in your situation. The LASO playlist is no joke and to be robbed of it three levels into the first game is a shitty hand to be dealt.

Heads should roll at 343. Microsoft should put Joe Staten in charge of 343, to help instill some confidence in the community. I'm sick of all the negativity. I want Halo to be fun again. New leadership is needed.

I know PR photos have been like this, but I still can't get over seeing Joseph without glasses.