Halo

[Slargos]

Currently playing: ODST. Gotta say, the HALO franchise does not disappoint.

I picked up ODST and Halo Wars in the bargain bin today, and so far I'm having a blast with ODST. Haven't tried Wars yet and I'm a bit sceptical about it, but every franchise is allowed a Turkey now and then.

[Ideologue]

ODST never much interested me.  It seemed to deviate too much from the gun-and-run silliness that made Halo a lot more fun than modern FPS games, with their misguided emphasis on stealth, cover mechanics, butt-ugly brown-and-brown color palette, etc., as if that made them "realistic" (I've waited a while to see a realistic WW2 FPS, for example, where artillery fire could kill you at any time, and often would).

I still own Reach, but I didn't play it all that much before my XBox finally finished stewing itself in its own juices.  The MP component of Reach is actually pretty inferior to 3; the mechanics aren't too different, and I enjoy the added feature of the special armor abilities, but the made-for-modding maps tend to be extremely sterile, poorly designed, or both.  This is a major departure from 3, which had uniformly amazing maps, some of which were not only well-designed but even had a beauty and natural aspect to them--a combination which is no mean feat in a balanced team map.  There's also something better about the "feel" of the BR in 3 and the BR-equivalent in Reach.

Finally, maybe it was just me, but it seemed like 90% of the people playing Reach were completely fucking inept.

[Slargos]

Huff.

Finished ODST and enjoyed it thoroughly. An interesting new twist on the typical gameplay, I thought. I especially liked the fact that you had to be a LOT more careful when facing Leaders than before, and a lot of the time it was actually necessary to THINK before entering combat. Fallon as squad leader: 

If you think the previous iterations had no emphasis on cover, you weren't playing on high enough difficulty though I guess ODST and Reach were more difficult in that sense than 1-3.

I've mostly played campaign mode so I can't really comment on MP.

When it comes to the SMG from ODST, I loved it. Accurate, high powered automatic fire? What's not to like? I also liked the rifle from Reach, although I was constantly holding down the trigger and expecting another couple of shots from the burst. 

In Wars, it's certainly fun to watch the little spartans beat their way onto enemy vehicles, but I don't think I will be giving this one much time. Cut scenes are very well done though.

If there's one thing that dismayed me about ODST and Reach, it was that my favourite activity in Halo was severely diminished: Coaxing Marines into disabled Covenant vehicles and commanding an armada of war machines. 

While playing Halo, I'm never really happy unless I can unload a rocket launcher on a marine and put him in the passenger seat. Halo 3 offered plenty opportunities for this, and the marines would spontaneously capture enemy vehicles. Not so in Reach. Very disappointing.

[Ideologue]

If you think the previous iterations had no emphasis on cover, you weren't playing on high enough difficulty though I guess ODST and Reach were more difficult in that sense than 1-3.

I've mostly played campaign mode so I can't really comment on MP.

I almost exclusively played MP.  Eventually I would reach the Flood, and the Flood always annoyed me.  It became a logistics simulator with an emphasis on ammunition management.

When it comes to the SMG from ODST, I loved it. Accurate, high powered automatic fire? What's not to like? I also liked the rifle from Reach, although I was constantly holding down the trigger and expecting another couple of shots from the burst. 

Regarding ODST, I probably should've mentioned I only played it for about five minutes.  I could be totally off on what it's actually like, but what I was led to believe about it wasn't really my speed.

The whatever-rifle from Reach is just off.  Also, I hated how the default weapons loadout in MP went from an aimed medium-range weapon (BR)/spray-and-pray close-range weapon (AR) combo in Halo 3 to aimed medium-range (BR-analogue)/aimed close-range (pistol) combo in Reach.  ARs are terrible as a primary weapon, but they were invaluable as a backup piece in a way that pistols are not.  Yeah, I can shoot a guy in the head with a pistol, but it's nicer in a confused situation to just have a weapon where you can aim for center mass.

Speaking of vehicles, I miss the Banshees from 3.  They seemed to fly better, and either I just never found the button for the Banshee Bomb or it just wasn't there.

[Slargos]

I almost exclusively played MP.  Eventually I would reach the Flood, and the Flood always annoyed me.  It became a logistics simulator with an emphasis on ammunition management.

Ammo management is where I'm a Viking. I am the supreme champion of ammo conservation and the proper utilization of weapon drops. I'll happily double back a couple of minutes if it's the cost of using up all the ammo from a particular weapon that I want to replace with one that dropped. 

Regarding ODST, I probably should've mentioned I only played it for about five minutes.  I could be totally off on what it's actually like, but what I was led to believe about it wasn't really my speed.

If you're not into Campaign mode, then I understand. I really liked the flashback sequences of ODST.

Speaking of vehicles, I miss the Banshees from 3.  They seemed to fly better, and either I just never found the button for the Banshee Bomb or it just wasn't there.

It's there.

It appears flight controls may have changed a bit, though. I never piloted the Banshee enough to really be sure. I'm strictly a 'hog driver when it comes to MP. 

[derspiess]

I've tried to get into the Halo thing, but it just doesn't do a whole lot for me.  I did get a free copy of Reach for participating in the Xbox Live spring update beta-- might throw that in this weekend & play it for the hell of it.

[Slargos]

I got hooked early, read the books and now I'm playing it as much for the story as for the gameplay itself.

You're missing out on a lot of the fun by beginning at the wrong end. 

Of course, chronologically [story wise] you're actually beginning, as it were, at the beginning.  [/s]

[Shade]

Hehe I am still playing the original Halo online during school when I am bored and by a computer!

[Barrister]

even a decade later, I still find it amusing that the iconic XBox FPS game came from a company that started out making Macintosh games...

[Slargos]

even a decade later, I still find it amusing that the iconic XBox FPS game came from a company that started out making Macintosh games...

And before they betrayed Jobs and delivered their secrets to Microsoft no one had ever heard of them.

Reportedly, the version of Halo they were working on was utter shyte.

[Barrister]

even a decade later, I still find it amusing that the iconic XBox FPS game came from a company that started out making Macintosh games...

And before they betrayed Jobs and delivered their secrets to Microsoft no one had ever heard of them.

Reportedly, the version of Halo they were working on was utter shyte.

Marathon was an amazing game.  I had heard of Bungie way back when.