Halo: Reach

[FordSVT]

-Brett- wrote:

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The multiplayer beta was fun. Otherwise I wouldn't be giving it a second thought. Not after ODST.

I don't think that's fair, ODST wasn't a bad game at all, it just didn't feel the same without Master Chief, and it was short.

And by all accounts, Reach beats the shit out of it.

[PsychoPere]

FordSVT wrote:

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I don't think that's fair, ODST wasn't a bad game at all, it just didn't feel the same without Master Chief, and it was short

I for one quite enjoyed ODST, and thought it was just as worthy of inclusion in the franchise as the trilogy. I still haven't played Halo Wars, though.

[SPCTRE]

FordSVT wrote:

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I don't think that's fair, ODST wasn't a bad game at all, it just didn't feel the same without Master Chief, and it was short.

ODST was awesome. It was great because it wasn't about the MC and Cortana. It was great because the Halo universe is great. (I hope 343 Studios will deliver more games that feature new perspectives on the Halo lore by the way.)

I haven't had this much fun gameplay-wise since the original Halo. Don't get me wrong, I had fun in H2 and H3, but the mechanics just couldn't live up to the original (*cough* pistol *cough*). ODST was a step in the right direction. From what I've seen so far, Reach will take it one, maybe two steps further in that direction. Not to mention a couple of nice innovations and improvements.

Also, it basically had the entire cast of Firefly

[Dac]

SPCTRE wrote:

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ODST was awesome. It was great because it wasn't about the MC and Cortana. It was great because the Halo universe is great. (I hope 343 Studios will deliver more games that feature new perspectives on the Halo lore by the way.)

I haven't had this much fun gameplay-wise since the original Halo. Don't get me wrong, I had fun in H2 and H3, but the mechanics just couldn't live up to the original (*cough* pistol *cough*). ODST was a step in the right direction. From what I've seen so far, Reach will take it one, maybe two steps further in that direction. Not to mention a couple of nice innovations and improvements.

Also, it basically had the entire cast of Firefly

Agreed. Plus on a simple thematic level, I know the extermination of your race is a big deal, but ODST's story, especially with you wandering the streets in the rain at night really made it feel personal. Add to that the audio logs and you had one hellova poignant story which put a less grand spin on the franchise but managed to maintain a sense of urgency and drama previous Halo games failed to achieve.

Plus like you said, its the closest we'll ever get to a proper Firefly game, so that's also a big plus. I hear Buck is back in Reach in some form, so I look forward to that.

[SPCTRE]

^ It's good to be Nathan Fillion.

[Skywalker]

I actually liked ODST more than any of the first three Halo games. I was never a big Master Chief fan, and Cortana kind of annoys me (so you can just imagine how much I enjoyed Halo 3 ). But I loved the atmosphere of ODST and the sense of camaraderie between Buck and his squad. I think Bungie made the right call by making Reach about an entire squad--Noble Team, in this case--saving the day, rather than just one person.

My only issue with ODST was its price. It really shouldn't have been $60. But I never bought it myself (just played my brother's copy), so whatever.

[SPCTRE]

^ I felt like I got a great deal out of ODST.

It contained all of the H3 map packs (none of which I had bought at that point, due to them being, well, overpriced ), it contained guaranteed access to Reach's multiplayer Beta, it contained Firefight - and the Singleplayer campaign didn't feel short to me.

Actually, between slowly but steadily working my way through on Legendary and searching for all the Audio Logs, it felt long enough to be sold as a stand-alone. And that doesn't even take into account my above-mentioned enthusiasm for the gameplay and combat mechanics, which really took me back to Halo: Combat Evolved in places.

[firehawk12]

The best part of ODST was the non-interactive parts, the audio logs. I don't think I even put in the multiplayer disc.

[Reverend]

You know, seeing as I've never owned an xBox (or a PS3 for that matter) I can't help but feel I'm missing out on something here. Are any of these games ever going to come out on Windows, or does Microsoft not like that platform or something?

[SPCTRE]

Well, it's not so much that M$ doesn't like the Games for Windows platform (they tried to use Halo 2 to push Windows Vista by making it incompatible with earlier Windows releases), it's more about them strengthening their market position with the Xbox 360 by keeping Halo 3, ODST and Reach exclusive console titles.

[SPCTRE]

HipHopGamer - This Is Halo

[Dac]

Reverend wrote:

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You know, seeing as I've never owned an xBox (or a PS3 for that matter) I can't help but feel I'm missing out on something here. Are any of these games ever going to come out on Windows, or does Microsoft not like that platform or something?

I think it was initially part of their strategy. Release the first part on PC to get people hooked then make them buy an Xbox. Hell, it worked on me. I picked up Halo 1 for PC waaay back when it was in a bargain bin for like £10 (Just before Halo 2 came out). I installed it on Friday evening and completed it before Sunday evening. Hellova weekend. If you enjoy it the first one on PC, I'd say its likely you'll enjoy the sequels and such on Xbox, and if you have an Xbox, you might as well go and enjoy all the other great games like Mass Effect, Red Dead Redemption and Gears of War.

[Reverend]

Well seeing as I already own Mass Effect and indeed the first Halo on the PC, I can't see myself rushing off to buy a console.
IF I were to buy one however, it'd probably be a PS3 since it would also save me from buying a separate BluRay player.

I thought the first Halo was OK, not great, but OK. I had a quick go on the second one once and was thoroughly bored within an hour, but from what I gather the second one didn't go down so well with the fans either so it could have been an anomaly.

[Mutenroshi]

SPCTRE wrote:

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^ It's good to be Nathan Fillion.

That damn bastard has already his copy!!!!

[TheGodBen]

Halo doesn't have the same impact when you play it on the PC because part of the appeal of Halo CE was that it was an FPS that played extremely well on a console, something unusual at the time. I used to be a PC purist, whenever I played shooters on consoles I always got frustrated by not having a keyboard and mouse, but when I first played Halo CE, I didn't have the same frustration. Halo really helped console shooters and drove them in the right direction, and now I prefer playing action games on consoles and only use the PC for strategy games.

I enjoyed Halo 2 and 3, I prefer them both to the first game, but they didn't really innovate as much as the first game, they threw in some new weapons and abilities, but the core game remained the same. Also, they took away the pistol of doom. Sometimes I could take down a hunter with one shot on legendary difficulty using that pistol.

My brother is a Halo fanboy and he's really psyched for Reach, so we've been playing through the the games over the last few months and I have to admit that Halo CE has some of the most boring level designs in a video game. Take that mission in the ice canyon where you walk through was is essentially the same room about two dozen times, it's really repetitive. Then, later in the game, you have to walk backwards through that same level! And don't even get me started on the library level. The best thing about Halo 2 and 3 is that they shook things up and you rarely feel like you're walking through through the same room twice.