- Uncle Kulikov
- |
- Fabled Legendary Member
Here’s what Luke had to say about the differences in treatment between the Spartans and Elites in Reach:
“Instead of piece-by-piece customization like the Spartans, Elite customization is a full model swap with models selected from the various Elite classes appearing throughout the Campaign. There are all kinds of reasons for this, not the least of which is our continued emphasis on the Spartan as your identity in Reach.”
There should be multiple campaigns:
1. Increases the depth of the story arc.
2. Better perspective of the epic battle that was Reach's fall.
3. More background and universe information, additional fluff and flavor
4. More opportunity for character development and interaction
5. Replay Value
6. Gameplay variance for the sake of storytelling
Alien Vs Predator 2 is my favorite game.
It is my favorite game for the single player, which is composed of 3 campaigns.
These campaigns intertwine, and contact each others arc.
1. Increases depth of Story Arc
Having multiple campaigns adds a tremendous amount of depth to a small amount of event-time. It also gives you more appreciation for each character that you interact with.
Imagine playing Halo 1 from Johnson's perspective. He would see the chief several times, where they run into each other in the Chief's campaign. But outside of those moments, Sarge has a tremendous amount of space for him to be assigned to interesting missions. Just think, in addition to the Chief's perspective, add in Johnson, a flood infection form, AND the Elite who becomes the Arbiter in Halo 2. How much more of a deep immersive experience would that be?
2. Better perspective of the epic battle that was Reach's fall.
Not only does it allow more expansion of the storyline (and lets face it, a LOT happened during the Battle of Reach) it adds more scope, perspective and breadth to the arc. In the same vein as Lucas starting both animated Clone Wars series, Reach took place during a very chaotic and active time in the Halo Universe.
One campaign couldn't possibly cover the entire story, or even a tiny chunk. Multiple campaigns from different perspectives could give that breadth and scope by adding more scenarios, missions, and varied objectives to the mix.
3. More background and universe information, additional fluff and flavor
It allows the player to see under the veil of the covenant war machine, just like in Halo 2. The best cutscenes from H2 were from the Covenant perspective, showing their culture, politics, and undercurrents happening away from the battlefield.
4. More opportunity for character development and interaction
This multiple perspective added layers to each character that you played, especially when they operated together in Halo 2 and Halo 3:
As the Gravemind spoke to them both, you got to see how different they really were! The chief played it cool, to maximize his chance of survival so he could continue fighting, while the Arbiter was wholly absorbed in his assigned task from the Hierarchs, willing to complete it at any cost.
5. Replay Value
Not only does it add boons to the story, multiple campaigns increase the replay value. In Halo 1, you had 1 campaign. You probably played it more than once, like I did, but there was only 1 campaign, only so many times you could take The Library, etc.
With 2, or even 3 or 4 campaigns, the replay value is immediately increased by at least how many campaigns there are. Lets say you would play Reach's 1 campaign 4 times.
If there were 2 campaigns, you would play each one at least once, and probably more if Achievements and unlockables were buried in there, independent of story and helmet cameras/terminals. And then you would find one campaign to be your favorite, like the marine campaign in AVP2 for me.
6. Gameplay variance for the sake of storytelling
With these additional campaigns you can also include more gameplay depth than normal. Lets say Bungie goes with multiple campaigns, and they are unlockable. First you play as a Spartan, doing his mission arc. You beat that one, and the Elite campaign is unlocked, and you play as a Commando Elite sent to sabotage and locate Earth
Then, you unlock a Marine campaign, which tweaks the gameplay quite a bit (similar to how ODST adjusts the H3 formula) by removing shields and adjusting gameplay around certain heavy weapons and abilities. And this marine campaign could be the Mythic difficulty, pushing the envelope of challenge.
[Edited on 08.21.2009 10:16 PM PDT]