- xVxV3ndettA
- |
- Exalted Member
I'm not here to discuss whether they should be considered cheats or not. Instead I will show why button combinations help reflect a players skill in battle.
Button combo's is what made Halo 2 a competitive game. It's not necessarily the soul reason, but it did heavily impact the competitive community of Halo. Even though button combinations are glitches, it did give Halo 2 players more control over their situations.
Whether its a good or bad thing is Dependant on your opinion. But in the case of Halo 2, I would say that it helps reflect a players skill more than if you were to play the game without them.
Why button Combos?
---------------------------------------------------------------
The reason is simply this, the guns in Halo 2 do not suit their role well enough to make Halo 2 a competitive game on it's own.
First, the auto-aim is massive. Your cross hair drags onto your opponent, which lowers the effort as well as the skill required to make your aim. This is definitely one of the reasons why Halo 2, without button combinations, does not reflect a person's skill in terms of accuracy and precision.
Think about it, your chances of hitting the target increase heavily due to the massive auto-aim/aim assist. If your opponent moves to dodge your shot while your attacking, your chances of hitting shot 2 and three, are still very high because of it. Because the cross hair drags onto your opponent, it is hard to scale your OWN skill in terms of aim and precision.
Second, the shot registration is pretty bad. Think about those times the shotgun failed to kill your opponent in point blank range. Or even when your Melee completely MISSES the opponent even if you, by animation, lunged and made contact with the enemy. In short, the guns and melee's don't do their job when they should of done it. This turns your situation around to your opponents advantage. Without your opponent giving much effort to turn it to his favor.
Third, the bullet magnetism is pretty high for the mid and long range guns. It's understandable for the sake of the battle rifles accuracy with it's 3 shot burst fire. But a lot of times, your target does not have to be in the center to hit your opponent up close. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about leading ,but how the bullets home into your opponent, even if your target is a off center.
Last, the weapons don't function their purpose well enough to "balance" the game play. Duel Wielding is only useful at specific ranges, but it's not enough for it to be a viable weapon to use to gain the advantage in the game. The battle Rifle is great, up until long ranges. On it's own without button combo's it does fine but does not do well enough on target's on far-mid range, which makes the guy with the sniper far more dominant than he should be. The Shotgun is great, but it's shot registration is horrible, that and the spread is too wide up close. The snipe rifle has a very fast cool down, and your cross hair still drags in addition to the heavy bullet magnetism in mid-long range guns which allows players to sweep snipe.
Because of those reasons, every player becomes more at the mercy of their situation. It's obvious of course, that every player will be at the mercy of the situation of which they are in, but the ability to control the situation becomes slim for the victim and leave the predator with the greater advantage. Of course, you can talk about the whole idea about first shot first kill. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't be able to dodge an attack just because your back is turned.
For example, games like counterstrike, shadow run, and a majority of PC shooters (some console shooters), do not have these things that Halo 2 has. Halo 2 is great, and it's my favorite shooter. But it's things like these that worsen the experience for me, at least in my competitive experience.
Button combinations help give players more control over their battles. Thing's like BxB "double melee" help get the job done when the game fails to do so. In addition to that, you have to use effort to get your job done. In moments like your lunging into your open but not actually landing the hit, you get to finish what should of been finished already.
Take a look at this.
Double shooting, takes effort and skill. You can't aim while double shooting, "at least without the claw setup" so you have to rely on timing, where your aim, the speed and precision of your execution, and the situation. Sure, it gives the player the advantage if the shot hits. But it's just like saying you were no scoped when your trying to kill the sniper with an SMG. There was effort and skill put onto it. It's hard to pull off, and it's easy enough when you master it. The application of this button combo does not make the user uber, or guarantee a victory in every fight. in fact, i've out gunned many double shotters. But it does take a skillful wielder to use.
BxR, is like a the Energy sword. It's pretty cheap, but beats the lack of power in the melee of almost every weapon. Thing's like the energy sword and dual wielding take little to no effort when use at their optimal range. Your pretty much left to either using a shot gun, sword, BxB, BxR, or using a counter dual wield.
Conclusion
---------------------------------------------------------------
That's pretty much what button combinations did to Halo 2. It added another level of game play and improves the areas where the game fails. It balances the game where Halo fails to balance on it's own. Halo 2, without button combinations, makes every player far more dependant on their weapon rather than their own ability to Handel the situation than they should be.
Comments
---------------------------------------------------------------
I'm glad the button combos were taken off for Halo 3. After what I said, why would I say that? Simple, the weapons in Halo 3 get their job done well enough. With a little more tweaks, Halo 3 can be both a casual and competitive game without button combos. Still, I believe the auto-aim needs to be reduced farther. The battle rifle, sniper rifle, and Carbine are still very easy to use.
[Edited on 07.02.2007 8:24 PM PDT]