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Re: So about that story...
Posted By: Leisandir <joecooperstein@hotmail.com>Date: 11/21/12 7:39 p.m.

In Response To: So about that story... (davidfuchs)


: ...it's been the complaint since Halo 2. "I don't get what's
: happening?"

: My question is, how disassociated or mouthbreathing a dudebro do you have to
: be to not get what's going on? Halo 4 has a lot more hooks I can getting
: people confused than any previous game in the series, but the basic
: essentials are pretty much big, giant, flashing, and repeated a couple of
: times for emphasis.

: It's like getting confused by the Lord of the Rings movies (I hadn't read the
: books at all before the films). Guys, if you paid any attention at all it
: makes enough sense even with the clearly axed subplots, et al. Don't bitch
: about how you have the attention span of a melted popsicle.

: (Random metaphor: Achievement Unlocked).

*shrug* The first Halo conveyed a lot of its story through lines delivered during gameplay. Guilty Spark, for example, tells us a lot of what we know about the Flood, the Forerunner, and the Halo rings on the way through the Library, during which time we're busy fighting off the Flood. I played that level six or seven times and read The Fall of Reach and the Flood, and I only knew what was happening because I was a member of this forum and participated in discussions here. Level transcripts are great.

I'm spending some time watching a friend of mine play through Halo 4 (he hasn't got an XBOX, so while he's home on break he's been coming over to play). He's a fan of Halo, he's completed all of the games in the series minus Halo Wars, he's read most of the books pre-343i. Never got to the terminals in Halo 3, though. He was totally sold on what was going on in Halo 4 right up until we started throwing around names like Didact and Librarian, and after that point he was fairly confused until I caught him up to date. As much fun as those conversations are, the game should be strong enough to inform the player on its own, and not have to rely on other materials and speculation.

With Mass Effect 3, Bioware made a conscious effort to craft the game so that a newcomer to the series would not feel confused or out of place. They were careful with what they referenced, they provided explanations, and they have that wonderful Codex tool, and I think they were fairly successful. Different style of game, sure, but useful things to be learned: Halo 4's intro with Halsey does a good job of telling the player "this is who Master Chief is, this is why he is, and this is why people treat him the way they do," but that's it. There's no explanation of the Forerunner, the Covenant, the Flood, the UNSC, the Innies. Just as veteran players were a little confused about the hostile and well-armed Covenant force, newcomers will be confused come Halo 5 when we will likely meet the Arbiter and his allied forces.

Message Index



Replies:

Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4Vincent 11/21/12 1:38 p.m.
     More like FAIL-O SNORERevenant1988 11/21/12 1:47 p.m.
           Re: More like FAIL-O SNOREINSANEdrive 11/21/12 2:06 p.m.
     Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4Avateur 11/21/12 2:50 p.m.
           Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4Vincent 11/21/12 3:01 p.m.
                 Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4uberfoop 11/21/12 3:04 p.m.
                       Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4Nikko B201 11/21/12 3:43 p.m.
                             Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4Revenant1988 11/21/12 3:46 p.m.
                             Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4uberfoop 11/21/12 3:51 p.m.
                       Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4BanditORR 11/21/12 4:07 p.m.
                             Re: Zero Punctuation reviews Halo 4uberfoop 11/21/12 4:15 p.m.
     So about that story...davidfuchs 11/21/12 6:50 p.m.
           Re: So about that story...Leisandir 11/21/12 7:39 p.m.
           Simple, really *SP*Avateur 11/21/12 8:28 p.m.
                 Re: Simple, really *SP*serpx 11/21/12 8:44 p.m.
                 Re: Simple, really *SP*Dervish 11/22/12 2:55 p.m.
           Re: So about that story...Leviathan 11/21/12 10:08 p.m.
                 Re: So about that story...davidfuchs 11/22/12 7:45 a.m.
                       Re: So about that story...Leviathan 11/22/12 11:27 a.m.
                       Re: So about that story...*SP*Kermit 11/22/12 11:35 a.m.
                             ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itIbeechu 11/22/12 11:56 a.m.
                                   Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itKermit 11/22/12 12:16 p.m.
                                   Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itMiguel Chavez 11/23/12 10:02 a.m.
                                         Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itCody Miller 11/23/12 10:41 a.m.
                                               Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itMiguel Chavez 11/23/12 10:44 a.m.
                                                     Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itCody Miller 11/23/12 12:27 p.m.
                                                           Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itMiguel Chavez 11/23/12 1:34 p.m.
                                                                 Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itCody Miller 11/23/12 2:51 p.m.
                                                                       Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itKermit 11/24/12 2:05 p.m.
                                                                             Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itCody Miller 11/24/12 9:48 p.m.
                                         Re: ^^^ Kerm and Levi get itIbeechu 11/24/12 1:51 a.m.
                             Re: So about that story...*SP*Avateur 11/22/12 12:44 p.m.
                 Re: So about that story...Cody Miller 11/23/12 9:00 a.m.
                       Re: So about that story...Miguel Chavez 11/23/12 10:00 a.m.



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