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Skulls, Terminals, etc.(Long)
Posted By: Hyokin <dellaro.webs@gmail.com>Date: 10/18/12 10:58 a.m.

In Response To: Bulletin! (10.17.12) (INSANEdrive)


Terminals
I really enjoyed the terminals in ODST. The sound and visuals were really fun to collect and added a new depth to the story. The ringing phones and signs changing to read "TURN LEFT" to direct the player really made you feel like the Super was watching and helping you.

Halo CEA's terminals were also really enjoyable because of the gorgeous visuals in them. They also added a depth to the story that was accessible to anyone who has followed the story and it was a lot of fun playing through 10-year old levels and finding new content.

Halo 3's terminals did not interest me nearly as much. The "you only have about 7 seconds to read this" feature and the fact that it was entirely text and had no real substance other than filling in some backstory for the Forerunners really didn't keep my attention.

Hopefully they go the Halo CEA or ODST route.

Skulls
Since Halo 2, I've been a huge fan of finding skulls in the campaign. My favorite thing to do in Halo is to explore the edges of the maps, breaking the ceiling and exploring behind the scenes. Halo 2 was very flexible in this respect and let you manipulate encounters to your own tastes. I can do Outskirts in a hundred different ways by getting on the rooftops.

Halo 3 onward, invisible ceilings and walls became a huge annoyance and limited how much freedom the player's had to explore. However, there were still areas off the beaten path where you could find skulls or hidden weapon caches. On Tsavo Highway, you have an entire area designed to hide a skull.

When ODST came around, I was okay with the skulls being unlocked at the start because there was a huge city filled with little easter eggs, terminals, and weapons caches that could keep me searching. It also helped that the skulls were used in the new Firefight mode.

Halo Reach, however, was my least favorite. The terminals were uninteresting, bland, and hard to understand. I am sure a lot of people enjoyed them and understand them, such as Stephen Loftus, but for the average player, I feel as if they are completely unappealing.

Reach also had more invisible barriers than previous installments and without skulls or any real hidden weapon caches, it became an extremely linear game with no real way of mixing up the standard. You play the level, you finish the level. You can use a few different weapons to mix things up, but in the end, it's not enough.

Conclusion:
Skulls and Terminals being included in the campaign together has been proven to be a satisfying mix, but if both are not handled well, they can be a disappointment. The inclusion of skulls has never been a bad thing and has added a sense of "stop and smell the roses" to the campaign. Terminals have encouraged this in their own way, but because they add to the story, it can feel more linear than skull hunting.

If the terminals are similar to ODST or Halo CEA, I think they'll be a lot of fun and very interesting to find. I really wish that they had brought some of the Halo CEA skulls into the mix instead of just copying and pasting the same ones from the last three games.

Community Customs


Message Index



Replies:

Bulletin! (10.17.12)INSANEdrive 10/18/12 12:57 a.m.
     More Super Secret CodeINSANEdrive 10/18/12 1:02 a.m.
           Re: More Super Secret CodeDHalo 10/18/12 1:14 a.m.
                 Re: More Super Secret CodeRice 10/18/12 1:15 a.m.
                       Re: More Super Secret CodeNotTheVacuum 10/18/12 6:32 a.m.
                             Re: More Super Secret CodeMr Daax 10/18/12 12:33 p.m.
                 Re: More Super Secret CodeNotTheVacuum 10/18/12 6:31 a.m.
                       That's exactly what I was thinking.Gravemind 10/18/12 2:32 p.m.
           Re: More Super Secret Codethebruce0 10/18/12 9:40 a.m.
                 Re: More Super Secret CodeBeorn 10/18/12 12:23 p.m.
                       Re: More Super Secret Codethebruce0 10/18/12 1:10 p.m.
                             Re: More Super Secret CodeGeneral Vagueness 10/19/12 2:08 p.m.
     No new Skulls?Rice 10/18/12 1:14 a.m.
           Re: No new Skulls?TDSpiral 10/18/12 1:18 a.m.
                 Re: No new Skulls?davidfuchs 10/18/12 6:38 a.m.
           That's MESSED Up! *NM*Morpheus 10/18/12 1:33 a.m.
           Blind still the same.bluerunner 10/18/12 8:18 a.m.
                 Re: Blind still the same.Postmortem 10/18/12 11:16 a.m.
     No searching for skulls? Aw, man. :(Gravemind 10/18/12 1:21 a.m.
           Nothing like clubbing covies to death with a skull *NM*Rice 10/18/12 1:35 a.m.
     Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Phoenix_9286 10/18/12 1:45 a.m.
           Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)uberfoop 10/18/12 2:24 a.m.
           Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Archilen 10/18/12 4:59 a.m.
                 Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Bryan Newman 10/18/12 5:06 a.m.
                       Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Mid7night 10/18/12 11:07 a.m.
     Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/18/12 3:37 a.m.
           Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Chewbaccawakka 10/18/12 4:05 a.m.
                 Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Rice 10/18/12 5:40 a.m.
                       Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Bryan Newman 10/18/12 5:48 a.m.
                             Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/18/12 10:36 a.m.
                                   Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Louis Wu 10/18/12 11:13 a.m.
                                         Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/18/12 12:01 p.m.
                                   Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Cody Miller 10/18/12 11:44 a.m.
                                         Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/18/12 12:01 p.m.
                                               Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Revenant1988 10/18/12 12:30 p.m.
                                                     Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/19/12 9:25 a.m.
                                                           Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)General Vagueness 10/19/12 3:15 p.m.
                                   Negative Opinions are Such a DownerMacGyver10 10/18/12 12:48 p.m.
                                   My high horse's name is Butt-StallionBryan Newman 10/18/12 6:13 p.m.
                                         Re: My high horse's name is Butt-StallionChewbaccawakka 10/18/12 7:34 p.m.
                                         Re: My high horse's name is Butt-StallionGravemind 10/19/12 12:08 a.m.
                                               Excellent post. *NM*NsU Soldier 10/21/12 9:31 a.m.
                                               Well said. *NM*GrimBrother One 10/21/12 10:15 a.m.
                                   Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)padraig08 10/18/12 6:44 p.m.
                                         Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/19/12 9:46 a.m.
                             Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Rice 10/18/12 11:41 p.m.
                                   Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)TDSpiral 10/19/12 4:35 a.m.
                                         Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)General Vagueness 10/19/12 3:03 p.m.
           Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)General Vagueness 10/19/12 12:56 a.m.
           Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Train Dodger 10/19/12 2:02 a.m.
                 Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)Quirel 10/19/12 9:44 a.m.
                 Re: Bulletin! (10.17.12)General Vagueness 10/19/12 2:54 p.m.
     Skulls, Terminals, etc.(Long)Hyokin 10/18/12 10:58 a.m.
           Re: Skulls, Terminals, etc.(Long)MacGyver10 10/18/12 12:56 p.m.
           Super long replyKermit 10/18/12 8:32 p.m.
                 Re: Super long replyPhoenix_9286 10/18/12 8:54 p.m.
                 Holy moley.Louis Wu 10/19/12 6:12 a.m.
                       Re: Holy moley.NotTheVacuum 10/19/12 8:32 a.m.
                 Yep. That's it.thebruce0 10/19/12 8:53 a.m.
                 Re: Super long replyBeckx 10/19/12 9:20 a.m.
                       Ugh. *NM*Kermit 10/19/12 11:36 a.m.
                       Re: Super long replyGeneral Vagueness 10/19/12 3:14 p.m.
                             Re: Super long replyBeckx 10/19/12 4:08 p.m.
                                   Maybe it's for the bestscarab 10/19/12 5:33 p.m.
                                   Re: Super long replyGeneral Vagueness 10/20/12 11:24 a.m.
                                         Re: Super long replyLouis Wu 10/20/12 12:01 p.m.
                                               Re: Super long replyHyokin 10/20/12 2:51 p.m.
                                                     Re: Super long replyLouis Wu 10/20/12 5:48 p.m.
                                                           Re: Super long replyGeneral Vagueness 10/20/12 7:50 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Super long replyuberfoop 10/20/12 8:08 p.m.
                                                                       Re: Super long replyHedgemony 10/20/12 8:26 p.m.
                                                           Re: Super long replyCody Miller 10/21/12 12:25 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Super long replyQuirel 10/21/12 1:23 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Super long replyGeneral Vagueness 10/22/12 12:15 p.m.
                                                                 Re: Super long replyGeneral Vagueness 10/22/12 12:12 p.m.
                                                     Re: Super long replymunky-058 10/20/12 5:50 p.m.
                                                           Re: Super long replyLouis Wu 10/20/12 10:01 p.m.
                                                     Re: Super long replyDHalo 10/20/12 6:00 p.m.
                 Kinda long reply (with Covenant speech sidetrack)Hyokin 10/19/12 10:24 a.m.
                 Good articulation.uberfoop 10/19/12 12:29 p.m.
                       Re: Good articulation.Kermit 10/19/12 1:38 p.m.
                             Re: Good articulation.uberfoop 10/19/12 2:25 p.m.
     I'm going to be honest.Jaydee 10/18/12 1:47 p.m.
           Re: I'm going to be honest.thebruce0 10/18/12 3:12 p.m.
                 Re: I'm going to be honest.TDSpiral 10/18/12 3:19 p.m.
                       Re: I'm going to be honest.Jaydee 10/18/12 3:39 p.m.
                             Re: I'm going to be honest.General Vagueness 10/19/12 2:25 p.m.



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