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My first stab at it...
Posted By: Nijhazer <nijhazer@directvinternet.com>	Date: 4/27/02 3:06 p.m.
In Response To: Japanese speakers? (Louis Wu) My Japanese skills aren't very sharp, Louis. I only started learning the language a couple of months ago. But I'll take the best stab at it that I can. First off, this is a review of the game, not a preview. I'm sorta going to be playing Mad Libs with the translation here and I apologize for that; there's a lot of stuff in here that I don't know and I'm just trying to fill in the gaps. -------- This is a foreign first-person shooter* featuring Earth characters fighting a war on an alien world. The North American version of this game was released at the same time as the Xbox and has already sold over one million copies there. In our review of Halo, we discuss the game's controls and how they compare to PC controls; we also discuss the game's innovative use of vehicular combat. (*Nij's note: Many Japanese console gamers are either unfamiliar with or avoid first-person shooters, and the reviewer here does spend some time trying to explain the concept of what a first-person shooter is. I'm going to leave that out and just put "first-person shooter" in the appropriate area.) In North America, expectations were very high for this game in the weeks leading up to its release. After four months it has sold over one million copies, making it the fastest one-million seller on a next-generation system in North America, and is definitely the "killer app" for the Xbox there. Xbox sales in Japan have been dismal thus far, but whether or not they improve depends on whether or not the system has truly killer games. In the United States and some other foreign countries, first-person shooters have become popular, but the Japanese are not so accustomed to first-person action games of this nature. All of this has been taken into account when writing this review. Though first-person action games may be more popular in other countries than in Japan, action games in general are popular in Japan. And even first-person shooters enjoy some popularity here, though many Japanese gamers do not play them for one reason or another-- "such games make me feel dizzy", "it's hard to operate the controls", "until I get used to it I become nervous and can't move freely" and so on; the reasons are varied but the end result is the same. And so, many gamers will assume that this Halo will give them the same problems, and so it would not be fun to play. However, as it turns out, all of these expectations turn to nothing, as this is an extremely fun game! The writer likes first-person shooters, though generally not on consoles. Is this the first truly great console first-person shooter? Is it going to be accepted by the average console gamer? Will special mouse-and-keyboard peripherals be needed to play it? If you begin to play it, soon you will sink into it and after sixteen hours you will still be playing, and thought of food and productivity will have left you. CONTROL Obviously it is very important to have good control for a game like this. If a game has good control, once you get used to the control, you can walk freely and turn freely and look about freely, just as if you were seeing with your own eyes, and it is pleasant. On the other hand, if a game like this has poor control, it is not fun to play at all. Generally, popular games of this sort are played on a PC, where a mouse and keyboard is used to control it.* (*The reviewer goes into more detail on how to control a FPS with a mouse and keyboard; I will snip this.) On a home console, this same control setup is attempted to be recreated on a game pad, and usually it does not work well. So, expectations for this game's control were low. But in the case of Halo, the control did not turn out nearly as badly as expected. What problems are to be found with it are small, almost negligible. It must be noted that the game was designed for use with the North American Xbox controller and in this case we are playing with the Japanese Xbox controller which is different in its design. (*Reviewer goes into more detail on how the controller is laid out. I'll snip this.) Using the two analog sticks together gives similar accuracy and ease of control as a mouse and keyboard setup. In fact, in some ways it is better than a mouse and keyboard setup, because here we have the option of force feedback on the controller. Pull the trigger of your gun and in your controller you will feel the reaction of the gun. Use your automatic weapons and the feeling is very realistic and involving. This cannot be reproduced with a mouse and keyboard and for this we must give a nod to the development team that "especially adhered to the operation method of the pad". The average gamer may need some time to truly master the controls (it took our writer about 2 - 3 hours). But once you become accustomed to the controls, you can move freely and it is then when the game truly becomes amazingly enjoyable. STORYLINE AND PRESENTATION As we would expect of the powerful Xbox, the graphics are incredible. (I cannot understand this next sentence, because it seems like he's saying that it looks better than the PC version used to look but I'm not really sure.) The world of Halo is bright and full of vivid colors; and from the darkness of caves to the light of the open world, this is an immersive world. Even if the graphics don't impress you, the Dolby 5.1 sound will certainly captivate you and draw you into Halo's world. The storyline of the game concerns the battle between Earth's human side and a race of aliens called the Covenant. Another culture, which is like lizards, has built the Halo (the enormous ring construct on which the game takes place). The story involves the Earth units being cut off from their main ship, finding and rescuing your friends and leader, destroying enemy facilities, and onward until a dramatic development later in the game which is very surprising. Here we cannot write in detail, but the story never gets tiresome and the entirety of the game is action-packed. At first, this was a PC game from overseas that helped making first-person shooters popular, but it did not look exciting or appealing to a general crowd; but now that we have played it we feel that it was very pleasantly surprising and that this is being well considered for a consumer audience. Many scenes in the game made us feel like we were playing in a good science-fiction movie, such as when the dropship comes in and the troops come from the ship and attack the enemy. Many scenes feel like from the movies Aliens and Starship Troopers. VARIETY-RICH COMBAT WITH WEAPONS AND VEHICLES The humans mainly use conventional firearms, also rifles and rocket launchers. Alien weapons offer some similar functionality to the human weapons but using energy instead of bullets and other projectiles. Because you can use so many different weapons, it adds considerable variety to the game. One of the major features of this game is the ability to use vehicles. Not only can you use human vehicles, such as the Warthog Jeep and the Scorpion Tank, but you can also steal and use alien vehicles, such as the Ghost hovercraft and the Banshee (small combat aircraft, which you can use to fly and shoot). Using the tank to advance upon the enemy forces never gets tiresome. The artificial intelligence of this game is extremely well-crafted. The Grunt, when it is attacked, runs away screaming and calls its companions for help, and hides, attacking from a distance. Enemies are attracted by the sounds of movement or gunfire that you or others may make, so the player cannot go running blindly into a fight and must play smart. It is especially fun to take on large fights with help. For example, there are many scenes where the Marines will fight with you to take on large groups of alien fighters, using detailed operations to achieve success; it is much like a great war movie. (* The next paragraph talks about how much fun it is to throw grenades into large groups of enemies and watch them go flying. There's so much in here I don't know that I won't translate it; sorry.) IS THIS GAME STILL TOO AMERICAN? The degree of localization of the Japanese version is very good, as there are many voice-overs in this game and all of them have been redone in Japanese, with no English voices remaining. Also, the extreme level of difficulty of the North American version has been reduced for a Japanese audience (* Nij's note: WTF?!?!), for which we are grateful. But even considering that, this game could be considered to be very difficult for a beginning player and they may become frustrated as the game progresses. Fortunately, you have the option of changing the difficulty level of each individual level you play. The writer considers himself to be very good at these sorts of games on the PC, but even with the reduced difficulty I found this game to be very challenging. If you are a beginner, you may want to choose the simplest difficulty level at first. If you are very good, it is possible to finish this game in about 15 - 20 hours. OUR ONLY REGRET -- NO INTERNET SUPPORT Halo for the Xbox allows multiplayer gameplay for up to sixteen people, which you can achieve by networking four Xboxes together using a hub. There is also a cooperative play mode, where you can play through the story mode with a friend. Unfortunately, this game does not feature multiplayer gameplay over the Internet. Playing in split-screen can become frustrating, when your friends can see from your perspective by looking at your screen, and the amount of viewing space you have is limited. With Internet support, this would not be a problem. It is understandable that Microsoft does not yet have its online gaming network in place, but with so much varied gameplay and wonderful teamplay, we desire more large-scale games over the Internet. To play Halo with over thirty people would be wonderful. If you have even the slightest interest in 3D shooting games, you must get Halo for the Xbox, or at the very least you must try it for yourself. This game is a masterpiece of 3D shooters on a console. It is regrettable that there is no Internet support, but the sci-fi setting works very well, the weapons and vehicles add much variety to the cinematic gameplay, (* Nij's note: I have no idea what the rest of this sentence says, it sounds like something about a heart-wrenching storyline). After playing this game for all of three days, my arms are tired and so are my eyes but the experience of Halo was well worth it. To play this game is a rapturous experience.

Message Index

Japanese speakers?	Louis Wu	4/27/02 9:50 a.m.
Re: Japanese speakers?	MapMakerGuy	4/27/02 11:00 a.m.
Re: Japanese speakers?	bonk	4/27/02 2:17 p.m.
My first stab at it...	Nijhazer	4/27/02 3:06 p.m.
2 months of studying? really?	protexts	4/27/02 3:43 p.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	Nijhazer	4/28/02 12:34 a.m.
=-)	protexts	4/28/02 1:23 a.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	vector40	4/28/02 1:47 a.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	DarkAngel	4/30/02 4:16 p.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	Nijhazer	4/30/02 11:55 p.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	Esharp	4/28/02 2:38 p.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	protexts	4/28/02 4:43 p.m.
Re: 2 months of studying? really?	strykerwolf	4/28/02 5:00 p.m.
Re: Japanese speakers? Translated Highlights	protexts	4/27/02 3:33 p.m.
Re: Japanese speakers? Translated Highlights	HaPpYhIpPo32	4/28/02 9:07 p.m.
You may enjoy this	protexts	4/29/02 3:34 a.m.