Support NeoGAF

[Dilbert]

OK, just finished Halo PC's single player campaign. Impressive game, good challenge, etc. I decided to fire up multiplayer (CTF and whatever they call their TDM mode) to see if the fun might continue...and to my extreme disappointment, it ABSOLUTELY BLEW.

I'll skip the crappy netcode for the time being and get to the major issue: lack of balance, primarily due to speed factors. Foot speed is SO much slower than weapon fire that you're basically helpless versus a hitscan weapon. And, oh yeah, there is no dodging capability. The maps being wide open with little cover don't help the problem, either. Vehicles are also completely unbalanced because of speed -- a player on foot doesn't have a lot of options to get out of the way. Finally, there is no spawn immunity, so you can take a headshot before you even know where the hell you are!

Does anyone out there actually LIKE Halo PC multiplayer? If so, can you please explain to me what I'm missing? I seriously don't get it.

 

[demi]

That's because the only good multiplayer is Co-Op!

 

[Teddman]

This is a common feeling when playing a game online for the first time against seasoned killers who have been practicing for over a year.

You're going to get owned hard until you get good and learn how to exploit the game. But yeah, at this point why bother.

 

[luxsol]

Eh... don't bother. I've had it since it came out on Mac and it feels like really old multiplayer stuff but slower. Just move onto something newer.... or old (Enemy Territory for online play! BEST EVER!!!!).

 

[captainbiotch]

Do you need others to dictate your tastes for you? Or do you just not trust your own judgement? You hit it on the money without any help, the game is slow, poorly coded, unbalanced, and not very fun.

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Halo is a beyond average FPS that gets a lot of hype because it belongs to a starving console genre. I wouldn't even call the single player good. The horrible repitition in level design killed it for me. I admit I've had fun grabbing 8+ friends, and networking a bunch of xboxes... But that has more to do with talking trash, and getting drunk beyond belief in the process, than it does with Halo actually being any good. If Halo was released directly to PC in the same form the game wouldn't have got a quarter of the attention it did. The limitations imposed by the consoles especially don't transfer to the pc well at all. I'm stuck with a bunch of friends who are Halo whores though, so what can I do.

 

[DCharlie]

"If Halo was released directly to PC in the same form the game wouldn't have got a quarter of the attention it did."

you know, it probably WOULD have got good attention because we wouldn't have had people saying 'it's only good because it's a starved genre on consoles.'

I've been a big FPS fan (PC) for a while, and i'd happily admit that i prefer certain other FPS games to Halo, but to call it just "above average" ??? Each to their own, i understand the speed difference and all that, but it's just a facet of the game. Not every FPS has to feel like UT.

 

[Screenboy]

Somebody please explain why somebody should please explain?


Topic:

Somebody please explain why [insert XB, PS2, GC game] is good

Reply:

[XB, PS2, GC Fanboy]: [insert relevent fanboy game] is good cus [insert sony, nintendo, microsoft] sux!!!11



If you want to be sold a game, find a thread about it, play a demo or read a review/preview.



-SB

 

[AniHawk]

Somebody please explain why somebody should please explain?


Topic:

Somebody please explain why [insert XB, PS2, GC game] is good

Reply:

[XB, PS2, GC Fanboy]: [insert relevent fanboy game] is good cus [insert sony, nintendo, microsoft] sux!!!11



If you want to be sold a game, find a thread about it, play a demo or read a review/preview.



-SB

But this is PC.

 

[Dilbert]

I started the thread because I wanted to get others' opinions about whether I was just missing the greatness of Halo multiplayer. I'm more than willing to give it another shot if I just didn't "get it," and someone can clue me in on the finer points. Otherwise, I'm moving on to other stuff.

 

[thorns]

I wouldn't even call the single player good.

Wow.

 

[Ghost]

I started the thread because I wanted to get others' opinions about whether I was just missing the greatness of Halo multiplayer. I'm more than willing to give it another shot if I just didn't "get it," and someone can clue me in on the finer points. Otherwise, I'm moving on to other stuff.

Maybe if you'd stuck PC in the title the thread might have gone a little better probably not though.

Anyway to answer your question the reason it sucks on PC is that its a port of an xbox game, where most of the limitations you talk about (if i remember correctly spawn camping is a problem) are not issues, for example you cant run fast, but on xbox you cant track the gun that fast either so it balances out to become a game where strategy is as important that your control of the cursor.

In short, there are much better multiplayer FPS games than Halo PC, UT2k4 especially, CS:S if you're into that kind of thing. Maybe if bungie had done the port it would have been better, they would have played around with the game speed (written better netcode) made sniping harder, etc etc. But they didnt, so its not that great.

 

[Vormund]

Does anyone out there actually LIKE Halo PC multiplayer? If so, can you please explain to me what I'm missing? I seriously don't get it.

If you don't like it, the terrorists win!

 

[sohka88]

Halo is an above average FPS. The Co-op is slow and not very good. I still have no idea why it got so much hype.

 

[Dice]

Yeah I think you got it down pretty good. The movement is slow, the lookspeed is slow unless you customize it to max, the reload on weapons is slow, the respawn is slow, etc. Then other things are just a bit too easy to do because of all that. This doesn't mean the game is without strategy, but those strategies are based on unbalanced gameplay and it's just not as fun as others. I've tried to explain this with several fighting games and people don't get it, so don't expect Halo fans to get it. I'd say learning proper use of grenades does a world of good for it, but it's still pretty broken.

The only time Halo has ever been fun for me is when you get a couple X-Boxes linked up, one team on one side of the room and another team on the others. All the talk back and forth and group reactions to things makes it cool.

 

[BombScare]

imo halo's multiplayer just didn't work on pc. Its great on xbox but when i tired to play it on pc it just didn't feel that good to me. Im guessing because the game was developed with console controls in mind. The single player is still decent but if someone asked me for a list of good PC fps to play online i wouldn't even mention halo.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Halo is a beyond average FPS that gets a lot of hype because it belongs to a starving console genre. I wouldn't even call the single player good. The horrible repitition in level design killed it for me.

Bullseye. Couldn't agree more.

 

[boredJonathan]

Also, unfortunately Halo PC multiplayer is even more unbalanced than Halo XBox. (Halo MP on the XBox is alot of fun, and you can rat someone out for using cheap skills) With the inclusion of the Fuel Rod Gun and the Banshees into multiplayer alot of the maps and rounds just descend into 'Who can get to the spam weapon first?'

Also, if you are playing against anyone who has had time to practice and get used to the god awful netcode you'll get sniped halfway across the map from some uber-pistol freak. If you are wanting to get back into the game, make it a default that as you spawn you do a melee attack, (it moves the hitbox of your head and can screw with alot of campers).

Unfortunately the best way to play Halo PC is by nabbing the free Custom Edition.. but no one plays that version despite the much better netcode and just in general better support for a multiplayer environment. It also helps if you can get a few friends on Ventrillo or something and try and plan some tactics. (You can own almost any team with 3 or 4 people working together. )

:: Shurgs :: I can't really explain it to you. I played the hell out of Halo PC MP, and Halo PC:Custom Edition MP... but it was often an very frustrating experience. BUt when it works.. it's really hard to compare to other MP games.

Maybe it's because of the effort required in getting to that part.. =-P

 

[Wellington]

I'll agree with the consensus here, the multi just did not work well on the PC. But on the other hand, I'm not a huge fan of it on Xbox either. It's cool in short bursts, but it doesn't hold my attention like Perfect Dark or Goldeneye did (to compare other PC fps's). Aside from co-op and oddball, I don't really enjoy it much with the standard four players. With 6+ it gets a bit more interesting since the maps are so enormous.

Odd though, I don't exactly love singleplayer either... wtf do I see in this game.