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| A great but imperfect game | |
| Posted By: FoolsRun <s_weisgarber@yahoo.com> | Date: 12/1/04 2:53 p.m. |
In Response To: A few deep breaths *SP* (ragereset) Overall, I felt Halo 2 was a very good game and quite enjoyable, but I couldn't help but feel a little let down. Part of this was due to what I perceive as flaws in the campaign, but also because I felt Bungie's integrity took a hit in the process. I have never played any of Bungie's games other than Halo, so I wasn't around for the big upset when Microsoft purchased them. As I understand it, many loyal Macintosh users felt betrayed, that Bungie sold out. I have no idea whether any of these feelings were justified, but I think it's safe to say that there's at least some evidence of sell-out this time around. I won't fault Bungie for omitting things that were promised early in development, but it's inexcusable to promote ideas close to launch when you know they just aren't true anymore. You can't spend several months jamming the idea of you saving the earth down everyone's throats, and not expect people to be angry when it's nowhere to be found in the game. We saw it in trailers, we heard it from Bungie--hell, some of us spent 10 weeks listening to a very entertaining story unfold on ilovebees.com that led up to the Covenant invasion. To have the battle for earth turn out to be a 2-level sidebar at the beginning of the game doesn't cut it. And didn't Bungie promote First Strike as a good way to get prepared for Halo 2? Eric Nyland did a great job, but how many elements from the novel actually appeared in the game? Aside from the Brutes, not much. Second, consider the music. While I think Marty's music is very well done, I don't see how any of the commercial music fits into this game. I'm putting down the bands that contributed, but am questioning whether their style fits in with the rest of the music. When the first Banshee dogfight segment began on the Arbiter level and Incubus began blaring in the background, I thought I was playing Painkiller or Serious Sam. The soundtrack is the worst offender. If you add up the minutes on the CD, you'll find that there's more music by commercial artists than there is of Marty's instrumentals. Granted, the second CD might be better, but for now it appears that they took 1 full CD worth of music, and padded it with "stuff" to turn it into a 2-disk $30 purchase. Marty may claim that he gave everything in the game his seal of approval, but I can't believe there wasn't serious arm-twisting going on. I'm no Pollyanna. There's no shortage of misrepresentation and political maneuvering where I work, so it's not like I haven't seen it all before. Still, that doesn't make it less annoying. Integrity issues aside, I think the campaign game suffered in four areas. I won't discuss multiplayer, because the only complaint I have with that aspect of the game is that it's made me realize what a terrible player I am. There are days when I think my main contribution is to make other players look good. Aside from my apparent lack of skills and reflexes, I find multiplayer to be well done. As far as the campaign is concerned, it feels more linear than Halo CE. There don't seem to be many paths to take when going from one area to the next. The environments may be huge, but moving from one skirmish to the next often means being funneled through a single, narrow path, and battles often occur in small, isolated pockets. You had more choices in the first game, while many missions in Halo 2 seem to have been designed with one particular strategy in mind. Deviating from that strategy, while possible, often leads to a less than pleasurable (and sometimes impractical) experience. I still find combat to be a hell of a lot more varied than most other games on the market, but I feel a little more restricted than the first game. Maybe repeated runs through the campaign will change my mind. Second, Halo 2 often feels like "a game." One of the things that I loved about Halo was that most of it felt "right." Many of the contrivances that plague today's games were omitted. Instead of scattering health packs and ammo all over the place and forcing you to run around rejuvenating yourself after each battle, you had shields that, in the context of the game, made perfect sense. There were no jumping or crouching puzzles, doors that weren't meant to be open were clearly marked, boss battles didn't exist, and the missions didn't feel contrived. When vehicles were available, they felt more like an option than a requirement. Nearly everything seemed to fit in. Halo 2 has 3 boss battles (all of which scream "THIS IS JUST A GAME"), and some of the missions, particularly those involving vehicles, felt forced. Whenever you encountered a vehicle you were supposed to drive, you knew you were going to be assaulted by wave after wave of enemy vehicles. The tank sequences were fun, but I almost felt like I was playing an old-fashioned rail gun game. The few banshee dogfights elicited a similar response. Another strong offender is the story. While it's considerably deeper than Halo CE, it falls flat. First of all, it seems apparent that we're supposed to feel sympathy towards the Covenant. Considering that they've pretty much dedicated themselves to eliminating all other species, I couldn't dredge up much empathy towards them. Furthermore, the way the story shifts between the two characters is very problematic. Multiple viewpoints work well in books and movies, but when it can be several hours (or days, depending on your playing schedule) before you switch back to the other character, you lose all sense of continuity and context. You spend several hours with the Covenant, learning their culture and (trying) to feel empathy towards them, and the next, you're back as Master Chief indiscriminately blowing them away. The gradual shake-up in the Covenant hierarchy didn't help matters. Near the end of the game, I sometimes found myself having to aim at "subjects" and checking the reticule color to determine if they were friend or foe. Instead of gaining an affinity for the character I was playing, I felt as though I had no identity at all. I was just someone killing whatever happened to turn my reticule red. If they had decided to make the Arbiter part of a faction that disagreed with the Covenant's "scorched earth" policy and had them side with the humans at the beginning of the game, thereby keeping the allies/enemies groups consistent throughout, the story may have "felt" much more palatable and less split-brain. Finally, the ending, or lack thereof, was the ultimate let-down. Can you remember how you felt when you played through The Maw for the first time? You'd just spent countless hours clawing your way through the campaign. You've been all shot to hell, killed numerous times, seen your captain turned into a giant Flood spore, and most of your fellow marines are assumed to be either dead or converted to the Flood. After the loading screen, you see the ground rushing beneath you, the chorals of monks welling in the background. In a few second, the viewpoint shifts to the crashed Pillar of Autumn. It's been a hell of a ride, but is almost over--the finale is near. It was nothing flashy, but it gets my vote for the most effective and dramatic cut scene I've ever experienced in a game. It nails the mood perfectly. And how does the game end? With the engine room shaking itself apart around you, followed by a spectacular run through the maw amidst utter chaos. What do we get in Halo 2? A boss battle with a monkey. And that wasn't a cliffhanger. That's a "Balls, we ran out time. Let's just chop off the last few levels and hope our fans don't get too pissed at us." Don't get me wrong. I still think Halo 2 is great, and many aspects of the game are much improved over the original. With the exception of the delayed texture pop-in and inconsistent lighting (notice how the lighting and shadows in the early Arbiter levels seems to be much more dynamic than the rest of the missions?) the game looks terrific. The sound is great (sans the commercial pieces), and I find the marines new "chattiness" endearing. The AI, while not all that Bungie promised and is occasionally prone to getting stuck on objects, is much better than the original. The Elites and Jackals seem more athletic this time around, and the new Hunters are great. Their agression, the way they knock things out of their way instead of going around them, their new back swing ability—they are truly a fearsome bunch this time around. The new vehicles and driving mechanics are a welcome change, and I'm very pleased with the weapons. As a software developer, I know how difficult it can be to meet expectations and release code on time, and I am impressed by what they managed to achieve. Still, the final product could have used some improvement, and with luck, what Bungie learned from this experience will help their next game. | |
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| Replies: |
| A few deep breaths *SP* | ragereset | 11/30/04 1:19 a.m. |
| True, true *NM* *NM* | 7h3_h0ck3y_w1z | 11/30/04 2:10 a.m. |
| Re: more post-game carnage report | R.G. | 11/30/04 5:44 a.m. |
| Re: more post-game carnage ^^^ *SP* above! ^^^ *NM* | R.G. | 11/30/04 5:50 a.m. |
| Re: more post-game carnage report | ragereset | 12/1/04 6:13 a.m. |
| Re: more post-game carnage report | Mr Sniggles | 12/1/04 5:39 p.m. |
| Re: more post-game carnage report | Blitzwolf | 12/1/04 8:19 p.m. |
| *chink* *NM* | rolando | 12/1/04 12:04 p.m. |
| Re: more post-game carnage report | Viscily II | 12/1/04 3:41 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Kermit | 11/30/04 6:48 a.m. |
| I Only Have a Couple Sentences to Say About This.. | Mintz08 | 11/30/04 7:31 a.m. |
| Ditto, both. :) *NM* | Blitzwolf | 12/1/04 8:03 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Ross Mills [subnova] | 11/30/04 8:43 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Louis Wu | 11/30/04 10:57 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | ragereset | 11/30/04 12:59 p.m. |
| Agreed. | MikeMan445 | 11/30/04 6:19 p.m. |
| Re: Agreed. | box | 12/1/04 11:58 a.m. |
| BULLSEYE! | Siva Wr'k | 12/1/04 1:41 p.m. |
| Re: BULLSEYE! | Siva Wr'k | 12/1/04 1:44 p.m. |
| Re: BULLSEYE! | Qonas | 12/1/04 10:41 p.m. |
| Couldn't have said it better myself *NM* *NM* | box | 12/2/04 10:21 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Wado SG | 11/30/04 4:38 p.m. |
| Yes, agreed. Too much story in one game to digest *NM* | Siva Wr'k | 12/1/04 1:47 p.m. |
| Re: Yes, agreed. Too much story in one game to dig | Qonas | 12/2/04 4:41 p.m. |
| Hmm... *SP* | Saint [lpn] | 11/30/04 8:05 p.m. |
| EVERYTHING and BETTER | SuddenDark.com | 12/1/04 11:45 a.m. |
| Re: EVERYTHING and BETTER | El Bastard | 12/1/04 11:50 a.m. |
| Re: EVERYTHING and BETTER | SuddenDark.com | 12/1/04 1:08 p.m. |
| Re: EVERYTHING and BETTER | mercury | 12/1/04 4:34 p.m. |
| YES, YES, YES! | Blitzwolf | 12/1/04 10:08 p.m. |
| Re: Why I think that happened *pseudo-review* *SP* | ThorsHammer | 11/30/04 10:41 p.m. |
| Re: Why I think that happened *pseudo-review* *SP* | Sep7imus [subnova] | 12/1/04 9:47 a.m. |
| Only on Xbox | ragereset | 12/1/04 1:03 p.m. |
| What I felt was missing: | ChiperSoft | 12/1/04 12:46 p.m. |
| Extension on that... | axman | 12/1/04 1:07 p.m. |
| Bingo. *NM* | Siva Wr'k | 12/1/04 1:52 p.m. |
| Re: Extension on that... | box | 12/1/04 8:04 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | FriendlyFire | 12/1/04 8:35 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Capain Spark | 12/1/04 10:50 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Capo Rip | 12/1/04 6:44 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | TD MasterChief | 12/1/04 11:09 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | El Bastard | 12/1/04 11:18 a.m. |
| the 'seek not to conquer.." factor...? | Zaknafein | 12/1/04 2:05 p.m. |
| Re: the 'seek not to conquer.." factor...? | Sep7imus [subnova] | 12/1/04 2:59 p.m. |
| My sentiments exactly. Well said. =D *NM* | Zaknafein | 12/1/04 3:42 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Stuart | 12/1/04 2:25 p.m. |
| Remember where in the game you enjoyed it the most | MthdDirector | 12/1/04 2:26 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Viscily II | 12/1/04 4:15 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | 'Nosolee | 12/1/04 5:33 p.m. |
| I think, I've figured out what's missing. *SP* | Blitzwolf | 12/1/04 8:43 p.m. |
| Re: I think, I've figured out what's missing. *SP* | igniter | 12/1/04 11:17 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Ducain | 12/1/04 10:13 p.m. |
| Re: Analog plasma pistol | ragereset | 12/1/04 11:09 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | ThorsHammer | 12/1/04 11:15 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* True! | Ducain | 12/2/04 3:51 p.m. |
| I just can't help but point out.... | Konrad | 12/2/04 8:27 p.m. |
| Burn. *NM* | Zero Flaw (E Nomini Patri) | 12/2/04 8:35 p.m. |
| bad second quote | gspawn | 12/2/04 8:39 p.m. |
| Re: Of Repetition *SP* | Sep7imus [subnova] | 11/30/04 5:06 p.m. |
| my two cents. *sp* | B-Sharp | 11/30/04 6:34 p.m. |
| Two more cents | ragereset | 11/30/04 11:14 p.m. |
| Re: Two more cents to your two more cents | paladin2007 | 12/1/04 11:24 a.m. |
| Re: Two more cents | chaosknight514 | 12/1/04 4:36 p.m. |
| Something else to think about... | B-Sharp | 12/1/04 4:59 p.m. |
| My Opinion | jac170sd | 12/1/04 4:48 p.m. |
| Re: My Opinion | B-Sharp | 12/1/04 5:46 p.m. |
| I have a few legitimate critiques | Noir | 12/1/04 10:25 a.m. |
| Another $0.02 | Smitty | 12/1/04 2:41 p.m. |
| keep taking those deep breaths | MasterGrunt_Yayap-117 | 12/1/04 10:50 a.m. |
| Re: keep taking those deep breaths | bungiefan | 12/1/04 11:35 a.m. |
| Deep breaths - vitriol free. | Dazza | 12/1/04 11:30 a.m. |
| Re: Deep breaths - vitriol free. | Sep7imus [subnova] | 12/1/04 11:41 a.m. |
| Re: Deep breaths - vitriol free. | Dazza | 12/1/04 11:46 a.m. |
| Re: Deep breaths - vitriol free. | Sep7imus [subnova] | 12/1/04 11:49 a.m. |
| Re: Deep breaths - vitriol free. | Dazza | 12/1/04 11:51 a.m. |
| Re: Deep breaths - vitriol free. | Capain Spark | 12/1/04 11:55 a.m. |
| What do/did we want from Halo 2.. and forH3 *long* | 3Suns | 12/2/04 9:15 p.m. |
| Noteable "community" figures | WRATHofGOD | 12/1/04 1:10 p.m. |
| Hrm... | El Bastard | 12/1/04 1:54 p.m. |
| Re: Hrm... | GhaleonEB | 12/1/04 2:44 p.m. |
| Re: Hrm... | WRATHofGOD | 12/1/04 3:49 p.m. |
| Re: Noteable "community" figs & rampant fanboism | R.G. | 12/1/04 4:30 p.m. |
| Sounds like someone has a bone to pick. :) | Louis Wu | 12/1/04 7:27 p.m. |
| Re: Sounds like someone has a bone to pick. :) | WRATHofGOD | 12/2/04 7:57 a.m. |
| Re: Noteable "community" figures | Capo Rip | 12/2/04 1:39 a.m. |
| A great but imperfect game | FoolsRun | 12/1/04 2:53 p.m. |
| Said perfectly! Minor gripes from me below! *NM* | Jamirus99 | 12/1/04 3:28 p.m. |
| Re: A great but imperfect game | bungiefan | 12/1/04 3:30 p.m. |
| The sum of its parts are greater than the whole | FoolsRun | 12/1/04 5:34 p.m. |
| Great post! True, this will make Halo 3 better. *NM* | Siva Wr'k | 12/1/04 4:08 p.m. |
| Re: A great but imperfect game | Inky | 12/1/04 9:57 p.m. |
| Excellent Review. thanks for posting it. *NM* | R.G. | 12/2/04 12:51 a.m. |
| A Final Note to Bungie | Vadcol | 12/2/04 12:53 a.m. |
| My thoughts on Halo 2 (To boot) *SP* | Jamirus99 | 12/1/04 3:23 p.m. |
| Better the second time around | KilgoreTrout XL | 12/1/04 3:25 p.m. |
| Absolutely Brilliant. I Totally Agree... *NM* | Bluestone | 12/1/04 3:42 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Capo Rip | 12/1/04 4:07 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Arc | 12/1/04 5:10 p.m. |
| So true... | Capo Rip | 12/1/04 6:18 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Seraph | 12/1/04 5:09 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | MthdDirector | 12/1/04 7:10 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Hieros | 12/1/04 5:58 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | comicbookguy | 12/1/04 6:19 p.m. |
| in regard to MP *img* | retsamolah | 12/1/04 6:49 p.m. |
| Not All the Way, Spray and Pray: | Jamirus99 | 12/1/04 7:43 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Knight Premier | 12/1/04 6:53 p.m. |
| it's smarter than me | spaartan117 | 12/1/04 7:43 p.m. |
| Randy Glass and Halo 2 haters | Bey Bey Bey | 12/1/04 7:48 p.m. |
| Re: Randy Glass and Halo 2 haters | Sep7imus [subnova] | 12/1/04 8:16 p.m. |
| Re: Randy Glass and Halo 2 haters | R.G. | 12/1/04 11:13 p.m. |
| OK, I'm done, gotta call it a nite | Miguel Chavez | 12/2/04 1:16 a.m. |
| Ditto,... | Ross Mills [subnova] | 12/2/04 8:12 a.m. |
| Auteur! Auteur! Magnifique! *NM* | Anton P. Nym (aka Steve) | 12/2/04 7:53 a.m. |
| Re: Bravo! *NM* | Sep7imus [subnova] | 12/2/04 9:01 a.m. |
| Re: Randy Glass and Halo 2 haters | Qonas | 12/2/04 4:43 p.m. |
| Re: Randy Glass and Halo 2 haters | Mothergoat | 12/3/04 8:47 a.m. |
| what everyone should do is... | fludblud | 12/2/04 7:08 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Dundre | 12/1/04 8:44 p.m. |
| All I want for christmas | Trevor Austin | 12/1/04 9:47 p.m. |
| I think that we're out of focus here. | *THASF* A.K.A. The Halo and Sonic Fan | 12/1/04 10:17 p.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Traize | 12/2/04 7:49 a.m. |
| Re: A few deep breaths *SP* | Chaka | 12/2/04 7:03 p.m. |
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