- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: SurgeK
I know it's popular to bash Bungie at the moment, but I think they're as strong as they've ever been. I was totally enamored throughout the game, and I will play MP for a long, long time.
Most people have the wrong impression of what Bungie is. They have been around alot longer than many developers (hell, they almost single-handedly kept the Mac afloat). Most people first heard of them due to Halo. Each successive release garnered greater and greater popularity from the mainstream. Until Halo, Bungie's fanbase was extremely niche, a small group of hardcores who understood and appreciated Bungie's creativity.
Halo 2 is very much in line with Bungie's design philosophy. Compare Halo 1/Marathon 1 with Halo 2/Marathon 2. The differences between the respective games is nearly parallel. However, people generally loved M2 even more than the first. What happened?
When I look at the public's complaints with Halo 2, they all boil down into two main points. Points that are totally contradictory. One group claims H2 feels like an expansion pack, that it's the exact same thing in a prettier package. The others complain that it's too different and it "doesn't feel like Halo."
Huh?
I'm not even including those who complain about the ending. I refuse to acknowledge them. For the millions of people who just joined the Bungie fandom, Halo 1 was the only thing they had to base their criticism on. Now how is a sequel that is larger, prettier, more involved (story-wise), more balanced, boasting more features and is an overall superior game...somehow weaker than the original in so many people's eyes?
I am sorry to say, but the problem is you. I'm not going to sound like a broken record by restating the obvious accusations of overinflated expectations or people's attachment to the gameplay and concepts of the original leading to this general disappointment, because everyone knows it already...they just refuse to admit it. Because of Halo, so many claimed to be fans of Bungie.
You were not fans of Bungie, apparently. You were fans of Halo. Halo 2 did not disappoint. You disappointed yourselves by refusing to accept change and what Bungie is truly about.
Wow. And what was your point?
Yeah I was a fan of Halo. I expected Bungie to deliver a sequel along the same lines as the original (forget parallels to other games, how can you do that?)
It all boils down that Bungie did not live up to what they said they were making.
BUNGIE said the game would be atleast 20 hours long. Name anyone who took 20 hours to beat it?
BUNGIE said this game would be more 'beautiful', yet there are so many rendering problem in the cinematics, it looks thrown together, and not of good quality.
Halo 2 is a gameplayer's nightmare.
And it is hands down a poorly constructed game. It seems the makers were up too long trying to squeeze out as much profit out of this as possible.
Bungie has made a step down in my book.