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I played halo at E3, my thoughts....
Posted By: Timothy Wilson <tim@somewhocallme-tim.net>Date: 5/20/01 3:17 p.m.

Looks fantastic, metal cooridors gleam, waves wash up on the beach , lots of detail. This and Project Gotham are the most visually impressive xobx games.

During actual play though, I can 'feel' a good game under here, but the controls suck. The controller itself is ok, and great for everything BUT a first person shooter. After a bit I got used to walking around and aiming on foot, just as if I was playing red-faction on the PS2, same control scheme. Anyway, then I got in the jeep. Oh man, this has got to be the WORST way to control a vehicle I've ever ever seen. Right analog controller rotates the camera. Left is the throttle/brake. So, if you want to go left, you rotate the camera left, then the driver eventually decides to head in the way you want to go, and starts to turn, when the jeep lines up with your view he stops turning.
It doesn't feel like driving a jeep. More like a large sailboat.

This is totally counter intuitive, Take P:G, or Crazi taxi, and it's right trigger for gas, left trigger for brakes, and left or right analog stick for steering. This makes much more sense, and you have more direct control of the car. I asked the bungie rep about it, and he sorta ignored my criticism.

Ok, so it's their game, but they shouldn't try to 'go against the grain' of just about every driving game on every console for the past 2 years. IMHO, for a console you want to be able to pick up the controller and PLAY, not learn a new control scheme. I was immediately confused, and actually left the jeep behind since it was so hard to control.

Also, the third person switch when in the car is somewhat jarring, I prefer to play 'in the drivers seat' in any vehicle situation, but there is no option for this in halo.

In the end, I'm gonna have to wait for the PC version, at least I'll be able to use my mouse, and maybe they'll have fixed the driving controls.

Other tidbits:
The covenant hand gun has unlimited ammo, but can overheat. If it overheats, it smokes this kinda blueish 'plasma' for a while until it cools down. It's not operational until it cools down.
The player has shields that can take quite a bit of punishment, but when they are gone, they are gone for quite a while, then rapidly replenish.
While on foot, left trigger throws grenades, right trigger is your gun.
You can only hold two guns. It's possible to pick up weapons from dead teammates and enemies.
I never got it, but I saw someone playing with the delay-explosive needler gun.
The covenant have portable energy shields, and can deploy them on the ground as a stationary barrier.
Marine AI is impressive, they seek cover, move up in groups, lay down covering fire, the works. Alien AI seemed chaotic, but they did know when to retreat, hide and wait in ambush.
Pull the warthog up to a group of idle troops, and they'll hop in to man the chain gun and the passenger seat.
There were two types of grenades, standard human explosive type, and a alien 'plasma grenade'.
The handgun is more of a desert eagle .50cal now, all chrome and shiny (something you don't really want for a military though). Very powerful, very accurate. A few blasts from this seemed more powerful than a burst from the AR.
8 player networked was being shown, but the frame rate was erratic. Blue team on one xbox vs red team on another xbox, playing a game of capture the flag. Granted, they are months from shipping, so this and the stalls in the single player game are forgivable.

To sum up, there is a excellent game here, but the poor control scheme ruins the experience for me. Your mileage may vary. I'd recommend renting this before buying it.

Message Index



Replies:

I played halo at E3, my thoughts....Timothy Wilson 5/20/01 3:17 p.m.
     Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....DeAdLy_cOoKiE 5/20/01 4:34 p.m.
           Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....Timothy Wilson 5/21/01 1:11 p.m.
     Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....vector40 5/20/01 6:33 p.m.
           Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....epollyon 5/20/01 7:52 p.m.
                 Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....Funky J 5/20/01 10:12 p.m.
                       Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....The_Spoon 5/20/01 11:20 p.m.
                             Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....ApolokiA 5/23/01 4:28 a.m.
                 Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....The_Spoon 5/20/01 11:17 p.m.
     Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....Picky 5/20/01 8:30 p.m.
     controls...Freewill 5/21/01 12:58 a.m.
           Re: controls...nexZ 5/21/01 2:12 a.m.
           Re: controls...Visor 5/21/01 1:00 p.m.
           A little Secret Trick all should know: INVERT AxisThe_Spoon 5/21/01 1:58 p.m.
                 yah, that's what I meant...Freewill 5/21/01 2:19 p.m.
                       Re: yah, that's what I meant...The_Spoon 5/21/01 3:09 p.m.
                             its cool, no problem (nt) *NM*Miguel Chavez 5/21/01 3:49 p.m.
     Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....Louis Wu 5/21/01 2:08 p.m.
           I'm now confused...Freewill 5/21/01 2:37 p.m.
                 Confused? I'll show you confusing..DeAdLy_cOoKiE 5/21/01 4:46 p.m.
           Re: I played halo at E3, my thoughts....Timothy Wilson 5/24/01 4:21 p.m.
     Jeep controls..spacemonkey 5/21/01 5:29 p.m.



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