: Anyone else read Penny Arcade today? See www.penny-arcade.com . They gave,
: without a doubt, the first negative review of Halo that has been voiced to
: date. Done with a great amount of respect [to Marathon especially], their
: argument is that little exists behind the gorgeous front that the Halo
: engine provides. The sad thing is, I am *almost* inclined to agree with
: them...
: For Thanksgiving, I rented an xbox and played Halo all the way through. By
: only interrupting gameplay for Thanksgiving dinner and few potty breaks I
: was able to beat Halo in somewhere around 15 hours (playing on the
: "normal" level of difficulty). That alone disappointed me.
: I remember many occasions when playing [insert any Marathon game here] for
: such extended periods of time only got me partway through the story - not
: to mention the number of times I went back through each level to re-read
: the terminals and find hidden or less accessible areas.
: Halo's replay value rests mainly in killing your enemies a different way or
: approaching the level differently. Because of the absence of terminals and
: other such mediums which perpetuate the story, Halo also lacks the
: incredible depth that all three Marathon games provided us.
: When you view Halo as its own entity these aren't bad things, but when you
: realize the context that we Marathon fans have been led into - to believe
: that Halo would continue the Marathon legacy - I just can't help but feel
: that Halo does the Marathon universe an injustice. I know that I am going
: to be burned at the stake for this and I know that if I want a story I
: should just go buy the Halo book, but something tells me that we aren't
: going to still be drinking from the Halo story 7 years from now as we are
: still from Marathon.
If it weren't for Lain, I'd have nothing to live for anymore!
