- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Understandable and very reasonable. I personally don't think it's being ruled by Microsoft, they just wanted to take the game in a different direction. I was really ticked off at first by all the changes before I started really liking the game.
It's not the quirky things that got me at first. It was the fact the whole setting was changed. The human weapons looked more black and modern than the shiny bulky chrome weapons of Halo: Combat Evolved. The whole setting felt more.. post apocolyptic than before. More modern times, rather than 100 years in the future. More desperate. More darker with the Covenant politics. In comparison, I think the whole thing seems more alive, more realistic, more believable than Halo: Combat Evolved was. That doesn't mean I wasn't angry it felt so different. Hell no. But after I gave the new setting a chance, I grew to like it more.
Well, that's the hurdle I had to get over at first. Well, that and going from a meaty assault rifle and explosive round pistol with a scope to an SMG and a Magnum.. But I took that with the realistic setting and grew to enjoy that as well. Anyway, I'm not assuming that's what you mean. Far from it. I'm just sharing what I never liked at first.
Don't as me why. It seemed relevant when I started typing it out. o_O
Post-Edit-Edit: Hm. Trust me, I'm not a stupid fanboy who likes the game because it's the sequel. I didn't just accept that it's the only online Halo and play it because of that, either. I've spent quite a few hours on Halo 2, because.. well.. I like it. I like the changes. I like the game itself. I like how they completely reworked the game instead of just upgrading the graphics and adding a few weapons (hm, that sounds like Halo PC to me.. and guess what? Halo PC aint no sequel, it's a port!). I've looked into all of the thinks I don't like, and they're all little quirky things. Halo: CE has it's share of quirks too. The Needler, The Plasma Gun.. Wow. They're really useless. The Pistol, The Shotgun, The Sniper. Those are really the three good weapons. The Assault Rifle was meh. Hell, most of the Covenant weapons were meh. The purpose of a rocket launcher, taking out vehicles, was really hard to use vs moving vehicles due to its slow moving rockets.. So it ended up a troop killer. That can kill weapon balance just a bit. None of the games are perfect. I like them both, and I like the way I can still play Halo: CE as if it's a different game to Halo 2. It gives me two fun games to play, rather than a replacement for my existing game. Aren't I lucky?
I like the new feel of Halo. It doesn't mean I didn't like the old one, but I like the new setting better. It's more modernly realistic, and less 1990's Sci-Fi movie where everything is chrome. I wasn't happy about having it scrapped at first.. But I am happy about the games being different enough to enjoy in different ways. Bah! I'll stop repeating myself now.
[Edited on 8/10/2005]