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This topic has moved here: Poll [31 votes]: "Dark/Depressing" Halo Game=Impossible
  • Poll [31 votes]: "Dark/Depressing" Halo Game=Impossible
Subject: "Dark/Depressing" Halo Game=Impossible

Poll: "Dark/Depressing" Halo Game=Impossible  [closed]
Agree:  29%
(9 Votes)
Disagree:  71%
(22 Votes)
Total Votes: 31

Reach is an amazing game. Nevertheless, it was not as sad and depressing to me.Why? You played as a Spartan with other Spartans. Wouldn't that make you feel safer than being the only Spartan like in the other games? More blood, in my opinion, would be more shocking and produce a gritty effect. However, two huge factors kill everything that could make the game gritty - Multiplayer and Media.

Multiplayer is obviously a focal point for Halo's success. However, due to its crazy, fun gametypes, it ruins the effect the game delivers. A large part of this is because you have that really annoying person in a game, like in Co-op, making distracting comments during gameplay and cutscenes like "What if Master Chief punched that guy in the face? For me, at least, that makes me play through the Campaign alone the 1st time.

Media also plays a role in ruining a setting planned to be depressing. What I mean by media is Machinimas, especially the comedy ones. I love them but it's just the fact that they make everything seem less threatening.

Halo has never truly been praised for a great storyline like the Resistance Series or Bioshock, but for its gameplay. Now many people may disagree, but look at it this way: From Halo CE to Halo 3, Elites went from a dominant alien species to "dinosaurs and Arby." The more dramatic and emotional the story is, the more immersed players will become in the game, thus producing a better game.

In conclusion, maybe you will agree and see things on an even level with me. I want to know your opinions, so please vote with the poll and state why you agree/disagree.

[Edited on 02.16.2011 6:07 PM PST]

  • 02.16.2011 6:06 PM PDT
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I can't speak for everyone, but, ODST depressed me a good bit.

  • 02.16.2011 6:15 PM PDT

It didn't depress you because the characters started dying five levels into a ten level game. There was no moments of true character devolopment.

See, Bungie's good at what I call subtle character devolopment. The characters in the Halo trilogy devoloped, but it was quiet and not in your face. Johnson got less cocky in H3 as age and the war catch up to him. Master Chief started to show brief snippets of emotional struggle towards the end, looking ready to snap when Johnson died and sounding exhausted when he said "we'll all go home."

The problem is, this leaked into Reach. Subtle character devolopment takes time, over a few games and stories, not all in one game. Reach should've been more emotional with less badassery and more rain, more somber piano, and (at the risk of sounding psychotic) more blood, noticable civilian death and the intense emotional impacts of, say, a child losing his or her parents.

I know it sounds harsh, but in a game where you KNOW the planet's screwed, where several hundred million people die and you need to compact this into one game, you need to throw caution to the wind and really bring out the horror of a genocidal war that humanity is desperately losing, take advantage of tha "M" rating and give us an unbelievably powerful Halo game. Especially drop the more adventourous style to Halo and make it dark, depressing and real, like the BELIEVE trailer, or the Halo: Reach live action trailers.

Its kind of sad when that ONE trailer where Thom sacrifices his life for his friends (a trailer that was supposed to be a mood setter for the game) had more emotion then the entire game. I want to see Saving Private Ryan, or Platoon, not Live Free Die Hard.

This is what I hope 343 does, and considering the grit and emotions they've played with so far, I'm really looking forward to it.

So, is a dark and depressing Halo game possible? Yes.

Will it be controversial? Yes.

Will it be effective? Hell yes.

[Edited on 02.16.2011 7:35 PM PST]

  • 02.16.2011 7:32 PM PDT

Resistance? Really? The original Resistance had decent storytelling as far as first-person shooters go, but the storytelling in Resistance 2 was downright awful. The ending nearly forced me to hurl my controller across the room like Halo 2 did.

  • 02.16.2011 7:44 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

0x0 x0x 0x0 000 000 x0x 000
x0x 0x0 0x0 0xx 000 0x0 000
x0x x0x x00 0xx 0x0 x0x 0x0

I have seen you future

I think that a darker, depressing Halo game would be possible if Bungie, or whoever was making the game, really went 100% toward making the game dark.

First off, several things need to go. The first one is the colorful Spartans. Colorful soldiers seems unrealistic and detracts from immersion.

The second thing that needs to go is the terrible voice acting. The trooper in "Winter Contingency" who says that the covenant is on reach sounds bored, not scared, not shocked, not about to lose his freaking mind terrified, bored. The civilians on "Exodus" should have screams closer to the Flood from Halo 2. They should have sounded like people who are seeing aliens come from the sky and start ripping their family apart.

Carter needs to stop babying you. I know it seems like a small thing, but every time I play it always detracts from the experience when Carter tells you to do something simple like it is the tutorial. It was nice in the trilogy that you had a tutorial at the start of the first mission then they let you play.

Things that needed to be added:
Gore and a sense of helplessness. The game has more civilians getting killed, but they are usually far away and the death is separated from you. At the end of the game, instead of fighting in the deserted desert, you should fight in the city, trying to defend a group of civilians trying to reach the last transport. The final scene would be you getting sliced by an energy sword, and you watch as sword wielding elites cut through the last of the civilians as you watch helplessly. (I know I'm borrowing from more than a few movies here as well as the fall of Saigon)

There could also be a mission where you play as an elite similar to "No Russian" where you are the one terrorizing the UNSC and civilians. This has been done before, but it would be a powerful way to show the darkest side of the war.

  • 02.16.2011 8:10 PM PDT

Posted by: Dr Syx
I can't speak for everyone, but, ODST depressed me a good bit.

  • 02.16.2011 8:13 PM PDT

Posted by: CTN 0452 9
I think that a darker, depressing Halo game would be possible if Bungie, or whoever was making the game, really went 100% toward making the game dark.

First off, several things need to go. The first one is the colorful Spartans. Colorful soldiers seems unrealistic and detracts from immersion.

The second thing that needs to go is the terrible voice acting. The trooper in "Winter Contingency" who says that the covenant is on reach sounds bored, not scared, not shocked, not about to lose his freaking mind terrified, bored. The civilians on "Exodus" should have screams closer to the Flood from Halo 2. They should have sounded like people who are seeing aliens come from the sky and start ripping their family apart.

Carter needs to stop babying you. I know it seems like a small thing, but every time I play it always detracts from the experience when Carter tells you to do something simple like it is the tutorial. It was nice in the trilogy that you had a tutorial at the start of the first mission then they let you play.

Things that needed to be added:
Gore and a sense of helplessness. The game has more civilians getting killed, but they are usually far away and the death is separated from you. At the end of the game, instead of fighting in the deserted desert, you should fight in the city, trying to defend a group of civilians trying to reach the last transport. The final scene would be you getting sliced by an energy sword, and you watch as sword wielding elites cut through the last of the civilians as you watch helplessly. (I know I'm borrowing from more than a few movies here as well as the fall of Saigon)

There could also be a mission where you play as an elite similar to "No Russian" where you are the one terrorizing the UNSC and civilians. This has been done before, but it would be a powerful way to show the darkest side of the war.

... You thought "No Russian" made sense?

  • 02.16.2011 8:18 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

0x0 x0x 0x0 000 000 x0x 000
x0x 0x0 0x0 0xx 000 0x0 000
x0x x0x x00 0xx 0x0 x0x 0x0

I have seen you future

Posted by: TehTerminator
... You thought "No Russian" made sense?

Nothing in that game's story make any sense, "No Russian" included. What I meant by that comment is that a mission where you are the bad guy causing all of the chaos could have helped convey the dark side of the story in a more in your face manner.

  • 02.16.2011 8:22 PM PDT

Posted by: CTN 0452 9
Nothing in that game's story make any sense, "No Russian" included. What I meant by that comment is that a mission where you are the bad guy causing all of the chaos could have helped convey the dark side of the story in a more in your face manner.

I see what you mean. I can see why Bungie would avoid stunts like that in their games, seeing how the Halo games are generally light-hearted and an immensely popular game franchise (it could practically be called America's Dragon Quest). But it would be a great idea if it's tastefully handled and wasn't pulled-off for the sake of cheap controversy.

  • 02.16.2011 8:27 PM PDT
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I definitely think ODST was a step in the right direction. It wasn't really dark at all but it did have a sense of vulnerability and some hopelessness to it. This is what Reach needed but didn't deliver on. I never once felt like I was vulnerable or that the odds were stacked against me.

  • 02.16.2011 8:35 PM PDT

Online ID: GriffGraff15


Posted by: Dr Syx
I can't speak for everyone, but, ODST depressed me a good bit.

OFT.

Walking around rainy New Mombasa at night with the saxophone playing was pretty sad.

That being said, Reach had more emotional plot-wise than any of the earlier Halo games (ODST was close though). Especially the last 3-4 levels.

  • 02.16.2011 8:40 PM PDT

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Posted by: Dr Syx
I can't speak for everyone, but, ODST depressed me a good bit.
Me too. Especially Sadie's Story.

  • 02.16.2011 8:41 PM PDT


Posted by: Dr Syx
I can't speak for everyone, but, ODST depressed me a good bit.

  • 02.17.2011 3:06 AM PDT

Halo 3 was kinda depressing, that was a fairly big body count.

  • 02.17.2011 3:28 AM PDT

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I concur, the music and dreary atmosphere particularly when venturing through the dark destroyed city of New Mombassa...ugh, makes me shiver...strangely right now I yearn the feeling. I'm gonna play ODST tomorrow.

  • 02.17.2011 3:33 AM PDT
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I think Halo 2 had it the best. It felt like Halo while Earth was under siege. But even then all of hope was not deemed lost. Neither happy nor sad, which is what I like most about Halo's story.

[Edited on 02.17.2011 3:55 AM PST]

  • 02.17.2011 3:52 AM PDT
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  • Exalted Heroic Member

Posted by: CTN 0452 9
I think that a darker, depressing Halo game would be possible if Bungie, or whoever was making the game, really went 100% toward making the game dark.

First off, several things need to go. The first one is the colorful Spartans. Colorful soldiers seems unrealistic and detracts from immersion.

The second thing that needs to go is the terrible voice acting. The trooper in "Winter Contingency" who says that the covenant is on reach sounds bored, not scared, not shocked, not about to lose his freaking mind terrified, bored. The civilians on "Exodus" should have screams closer to the Flood from Halo 2. They should have sounded like people who are seeing aliens come from the sky and start ripping their family apart.

Carter needs to stop babying you. I know it seems like a small thing, but every time I play it always detracts from the experience when Carter tells you to do something simple like it is the tutorial. It was nice in the trilogy that you had a tutorial at the start of the first mission then they let you play.

Things that needed to be added:
Gore and a sense of helplessness. The game has more civilians getting killed, but they are usually far away and the death is separated from you. At the end of the game, instead of fighting in the deserted desert, you should fight in the city, trying to defend a group of civilians trying to reach the last transport. The final scene would be you getting sliced by an energy sword, and you watch as sword wielding elites cut through the last of the civilians as you watch helplessly. (I know I'm borrowing from more than a few movies here as well as the fall of Saigon)

There could also be a mission where you play as an elite similar to "No Russian" where you are the one terrorizing the UNSC and civilians. This has been done before, but it would be a powerful way to show the darkest side of the war.

I agree with pretty much everything you said here, but I'd take your first point a bit further. It isn't just the colorful soldiers that are the problem, it's the entire game. I've always had a problem with the color scheme the series has used, but in Reach, it's particularly inappropriate. I would have liked to have seen GoW-style graphics. That would have made it appropriately depressing.

  • 02.17.2011 4:29 AM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.

The poll is kind of deceiving. I agree with what you said about Reach. Feeling safer with other Spartans. But, I don't agree that it's impossible to make a Halo game dark. One thing that always make my palm sweat a bit when I'm playing a game is when I'm alone. When I play Alan Wake I'm pretty scared when I'm alone. Then, when the Sheriff and Alan's agent is around it makes me feel safe. Also, when I play Dead Space 2 I'm always alone. And that adds to the fear factor. ODST did a pretty good job with this, but they could've done a lot better.

[Edited on 02.17.2011 6:59 AM PST]

  • 02.17.2011 6:57 AM PDT
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Posted by: Dr Syx
I can't speak for everyone, but, ODST depressed me a good bit.


i agree, ODST was just dark and rainy and you were pretty much alone for most of the game, just depressing over all

  • 02.17.2011 8:30 AM PDT

My idea of the hardest and most brutal halo game would be one were you are deployed as a marine against covy in different situwations... but unlike other halos... if you get hit by plasma, your -blam!- so the game would be more rainbow six vagas against inpossible odds...


talk about hard XD

  • 02.17.2011 11:10 AM PDT