- Half Demon ANBU
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- Exalted Member
First post. Be kind. ^^
So, halo in general has a lot of different environments. And i mean a LOT. Halo Reach should really take advantage of that because it just makes for a richer experience in gameplay. The environment you play in the campaign, multiplayer, now firefight, w.e. really adds to the mood and the gameplay, more so than you realize. And the Environment that i define in this case is broad . It can include the scenery, weather effects, special effects, destructibles, background battles, location, etc.
Talking about weather effects first, it is really effective in capturing a certain feeling or highlighting a new environment that the player steps in. I mean Bungie really did a good job of creating that "feeling" for ex: in Halo: CE's level AotCR, (you were immediately isolated since the beginning of the level when foehammer comes and drops you off in enemy hostile territory. You also feel confined in those forerunner corridors and you seek to go outside expecting anything But snow. The weather choice they made was a really interesting choice because it started to build this feeling that you were completely and utterly alone in a vast and cold canyon full of enemies. In truth, ever since the level the silent cartographer, the developers brilliantly started building this feeling of isolation to the chief... like when you were under the surface looking for the maps to the control room all by yourself, and then on AotCR you were aided by marines outside, however when you entered the forerunner corridors, not once did those marines follow you. That was all done on purpose, u know y? to build that feeling you had when you first played the level 343 guilty spark. Being Alone.
There was another great weather effect or special effect if you can call it, in that level: the creepy fog. It was a perfect choice, because the level was dark, there was a crashed pelican in the scene, there were background battles like when the covenant were being attacked by something that weren't human, you didn't know what was going on or what was going to happen next. That's key. Yes, the fog was used to highlight that new swampy environment but its secondary function was to build that feeling: you didn't know what was going on or what was going to happen next. Then they release the flood and it was completely unexpected. It was... Perfect. Halo: CE was a game that was completely different from halo 2 or halo 3, you know why? Because you were isolated and alone for most of the game. I'm not saying that is preferred but the developers could bring back some of that feeling in halo reach. Just a thought.
Yes, in halo 2 you were constantly accompanied by your marines and all, but the levels that you were not, those are the levels that felt like halo:CE. (levels such as Regret, Gravemind, High Charity, etc) But halo 2 also had a nice balance of not so alone battles in metropolis and the chasing of teh illusive scarab. That's what halo reach needs, it needs its fair share of alone time as well as having back up and kickin ass in large scale battles. Halo 3, sadly, IMO screwed this up by adding the arbiter who was basically following your ass for 90% of the game. The only time you got to yourself was in the level Cortana, The main problem there was that the mood was not built up to what it could have been. you were just thrown on your own after being with the arby the whole time and in the end, most people hated that level.
Halo Reach could build up to the feeling of isolation by having you initially start out certain levels with a squad of spartans, or marines, or ODST and slowly, killing them off or seperating them from you via storyline. As much as I'd like to kick ass alongside other spartans, I def. don't want them tailing you throughout the entire game. There NEEDs to be a few levels where you are alone and that same ol feeling of isolation and desperation is there. This creates a sense to regroup with your soldiers. Like remember when you don't see anyone at all in the level 343 guilty spark and you feel so completely alone that when you finally see the last batch of marines that survived at the end of the level, you are naturally inclined to protect them because now you care for them since they provide you with company and comic relief. If they always give you your endless supply of marines like in halo 2 and 3, you never need to protect them. They'll be more to come, and you won't be as immersed in the storyline.
Hm. how did weather effects ... transform into this... lolz. But they are ALL connected. trust me.
Since i'm hearing that reach is being made in a completely brand new engine, they can do so much with the graphics. And graphics don't always have to do with how real something looks. It's the little tiny details and style that also promote it. The style that Halo already has. If they could do all the stuff they did with weather in Halo: CE, imagine what they can do in Halo: Reach. I have some imaginations that I'd like to put down. Like maybe the first time you see a fellow dead spartan or a fellow dying spartan after an epic battle, there should be rain, there has to be rain. I can just imagine the spartan saying his last words, with battered armor, a cracked visor, puddles of blood all over the ground, the rain washing it to your own boots and the feeling that it builds in you to seek revenge. Or when a certain city gets glassed and you go to check it out for survivors, you see the nuclear like devestation that it has left, except worse because there are no remnants of anything, anywhere. just a giant molten crater and pumes of smoke and plasma. In the horizon you can see a distant sun covered with different colored smoke clouds, and then there is a shower of nuclear/plasma dust showering where you are. all accompanied by marty's epic music. exept this one should be as epic, it should be more tragic.
Locations. Locations. Locations. I'm expecting reach to include the vast jungles in between different military outposts. And by vast i also mean open. I'm up for a little more open gameplay than the the linear ones in the previous two halo's. Of course, a mix is good cause we can have both and everyone is happy. The spartan training grounds should be in the game no matter who we are playing as. The fans need their canon. There should be a variety of different millitary outposts from, marine training grounds, to vehicle heavy fortresses, and some interesting new futuristic structures. something like that space tether in new mombasa. (who knows, there could be some in reach, but it does not necessarily have to have that, it just should be something new and unexpected, maybe even reachable in the story instead of just background scenery) ONI headquarters, small cities too. Of course reach is a planet so a planet can't be only engulfed in jungles. The climate wouldn't allow it. There has to be places near water, and outposts in the deserts.(o water reminds me of the gondola rides)There can be high altitude communications stations in high mountains and there could be many frosty, wintery levels in the polar regions of reach before the glassing. What halo reach should do is also, delve into another color pallette. We've seen too many greens and there should be more red and orange hues. Maybe outside of the tropical regions, there could be a fall-season like environments to fight the covenant in. New is definitely recommended because it is a new game afterall. I kinda missed the space missions in halo 3. They should really consider putting this in halo reach. But in no means does it have to be the same old same old. The developers could finally implement zero-G or close to zero- G combat that the books have talked about all the time. With a new engine, anything is possible. And remember the epic drop from Cairo station with the bomb in halo 2? That was a signature piece in the halo 2 trailer, something like that would be greatly appreciated. Even the ODST drops in the new Halo 3: ODST game looks promising. Halo reach should have bits from all these games. We also need a level inside 1 or more convenant cruisers. I mean who could forget the first time going inside a covenant ship in halo:CE. That reminds me, Night levels have to be in the game as well. The thing about the level Truth and Reconciliation was that it had a different feeling because of its location. I mean, halo 2 and halo 3 tried to replicate night levels but what made truth and reconciliation good was that it was located in some canyon high up with such a beautiful scenic view: The gas Giant Threshold. Reach can do stuff like that. After all it has two moons am i right? also the sky needs to have background battles going on between the UNSC fleet and covenant. I still remember the slipspace entry in halo 2 level Delta halo/regret, when more than a 1000 ships plus high charity materializes in the sky. The epic feel is there. The feeling of being outnumbered is there.
Spartans definitely need to be outnumbered to make the gameplay better. Since we probably will be alongside other spartans, the enemy count should be greatly increased. More hunters plz. Elites as enemies FTW. and include as many vehicles that are possible from other games too. If you say it doesnt fit the story, it could. Since reach is destroyed, many new vehicles were never used in the coming halos. So there is a lot of room for new prototype vehicles as well as weapons. Lets get to use em before they get destroyed. The covenant needs to have their scarabs too. And i also read somewhere about fighting a scarab in the night. That'd be amazing. Especially since the scarab or something similar can fit as there were covenant technolginal structures digging to find the forerunner artifact.
Ha, i guess i ran out of words. Krazy for a first post huh? I'll add some more stuff later, just comment on some of my ideas and discuss some of your own.