- L3377MA573R
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- Exalted Mythic Member
Posted by: Dallas Green
I make a legitimate thread on the most logical choice for the next Bond actor, and you take that away from me by creating a parody thread indirectly connecting my thread to yours.
I hope your kids have bad influences and develop bad personalities. I wish this with all my heart.
*Sigh* I'm getting kinda sick of these threads, and of explaining this. Is there a rule against copying and pasting your own posts? Oh well, here goes:
Look, I'm not a Bungie fanboy; I enjoy Halo, but that's it.
When I heard about being able to play as an ODST, instead of a Spartan, I thought Bungie had lost their minds. There goes the series.
When Microsoft raised the price from $40 to $60 dollars, I was enraged, and actually tried to convince everyone around me what absolute crap this was going to be.
As time went on, and more and more was revealed, I finally realized that this was still the Halo I knew and loved. I saw clips of the new weapons. I saw firefight. I heard snippets of the OST. As time went on, I became almost as excited as I did for Halo 3.
So I pre-ordered it. Yeah, that's about it. I had school, so I couldn't think about it too much.
When I got the game, I was very excited. I played through the campaign and was awed. I did not feel let down in the least bit, and actually felt more satisfied than I did in Halo 3. Maybe because it didn't kill off the bad-asses. Maybe because it was epic, new, and interesting. Maybe it was the fact that you could actually relate to the character in a way, with them being more human. And while it was shorter, I think it has something to do with the annoying flood-based "filler levels" that are basically just long tromps through the most linear levels in the game, with the only variation being slightly on scenery, the geographical direction you travel in this strange labyrinth, and the amount of enemies you fight. Strategy also went out the window, as the only tactic you need to continue is to simply deplete your ammunition into anything that moves, reload, and continue. The closest thing to tactics was making sure not to run out of ammo. Don't get me wrong, they served their purpose; I really wanted to get rid of these douche-bags.
I played firefight, and quickly realized that this isn't just a copy and paste of horde with Halo's enemies. Or Mercenaries. Or Survival. Or any of the other gametypes with a similar concept. Plus, Bungie already made a survival mode in Marathon, with enemies teleporting in. (thanks, Punisher 13, Durandal is fun)
Look, the game started out as a simple expansion pack; something to hold us over until their final Halo-based product, Reach. (before new ip's are used) Not just a couple of tacked-on missions, but an entirely new viewpoint, to see the war from someone else's eyes. They chose the ODST.
As time went on, they had so many ideas for such a radical, different concept for a Halo game. They knew they had to keep the core Halo gameplay the same, as to not scare off Halo players, but interesting enough to, well, attract Halo Players. An ad campaign took care of those who weren't already playing some of the best games in existence.
Eventually, this 2-3 hour campaign transformed from this small, appetizer to a full-fledged meal. 6-8 hours if you're just sitting back and enjoying the game for what it is, and 2 more hours to hunt down the secrets of the city.
They also wanted to have a satisfying, survival-type game mode, but with the entire Halo Sandbox. This meant balanced weapons, great enemy AI tactics, skulls, and more. As they fine-tested it, they were satisfied. This, like the campaign, was no mere tacked-on side-feature.
Bungie then realized that Halo fans have a lotta issues to work out, and like to bash each other in the virtual face. With only a year of work time, a deathmatch feature was simply out of the question; weapon balance was off, due to the lack of dual-wielding and shields, and they didn't have time; it just didn't work out.
So they put on Halo 3's entire Multiplayer experience: Custom Games, Forge, Mathcmaking, and every single Halo 3 map to date, plus 3 new ones.
And to top it all off, you have early access to new info about Halo in general, and an invitation to the Halo: Reach Beta. Tons of people bought Crackdown just for the beta, yet nobody seems to actually notice 9or) that they get it with a Halo game.
While I appreciate a well-thought out and put together argument for once, (not just random gibberish about how Bungie r suk and gae) I have to disagree. I can understand you being tight with money in these economical times. But if you look closely, this game has more than enough to warrant a $60 purchase:
-What is widely regarded to be Halo's best campaign yet, even with it's apparent shortness.
-What is widely regarded to be Halo's best new game-mode yet, even though you can't bash your friends in the face.
-What is practically universally regarded to be Halo's best soundtrack yet.
-All of Halo 3's multiplayer, plus all the maps, plus new ones.
-A chance to get Recon and shut up already.
-An invitation to the Halo: Reach Beta.
If you don't already own Halo 3, this rivals The Orange Box as one of the best deals in gaming history. Nobody complained about buying Half Life 2's main campaign over again. Neither should anyone here. Sit down, pop in one of the disks, and freaking enjoy this collaboration for what it is.
Edit: Sorry for posting the same thing as I did in another, similar topic, but it had to be said.
~L337
[Edited on 10.01.2009 7:31 PM PDT]