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This topic has moved here: Subject: Balance thesis on the Halo series so far.
  • Subject: Balance thesis on the Halo series so far.
Subject: Balance thesis on the Halo series so far.
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Games aren't perfect. Sure, lots of games achieve near-perfection...and the Halo series has accomplished that so far. But what this thesis is about is not about me arguing with Halo 2 dislikers...it's not about me saying how balanced Halo 2 can be. For once, I'm going to represent both sides of the argument. And I feel that both games have their share of being unbalanced in a few areas.

Let's start with the Halo 1 weapons.
Sniper Rifle--This is extremely balanced in my book. It takes an incredible amount of skill to hit moving targets...something I need to work on.

Cons--night vision defeats the purpose of trying to use shadows to your advantage. I also don't like how the radar shows up in snipe mode.l

Pistol--Do not get me started. True, true, everyone starts with it...but since when does it make the pistol balanced? Because everyone can kill in less than three seconds? If you make everyone start with tanks, is that balanced?
Personally, having 132 rounds and only using about five to kill is stupid. There is no point in using any other weapon if you have the pistol. In campaign, it killed the oh-so-deadly hunters without breaking a sweat even on legendary. For all those reasons, it was a definite plus removing it from Halo 2.


Shotgun--This also has balancing issues. If you're within twenty feet, consider yourself wasted. With around 60 rounds, might I add.

Plasma Pistol--My favorite. With skill, it takes out any vehicle in the right hands. Its twitch fire is also a nice feature.

Needler--Awesome. This helps take out overshield-wearers. In one clip, you can kill anyone, whether or not they have an overshield. It's balanced because it has few rounds.

Plasma Rifle--A personal favorite, although it runs out pretty fast. But very balanced nonetheless.


AR--Not completely balanced, the fact being it holds 600 rounds. But the fact that the bullets lose accuracy helps balance it.



Now the Halo 2 weapons. And everyone thought I was only going to criticize Halo 1...

BR--Balanced. Period. Ten times more balanced than the pistol, though it is too easy to hit someone with the BR. Lowered auto-aim could help.

Carbine--Absolutely no flaws whatsoever.

Magnum--TOO WEAK. I have to DW to take out someone, using two full clips. A waste of energy to use the magnum. Either lose it or improve it.

Plasma Pistol--Both too strong AND too weak. The too strong part--I like dodging. This is something that is nigh on impossible to dodge when it is charged up. People that use the noob combo need some more skill. And the average shots are too weak.

Needler--It can be strong when single-wielded, on one out of ten rare occasions. The needler can't home in as well as Halo 1, and the needles go too slow.

Shotgun--Perfect.


SMG--Excellent weapon when used correctly.

Rocket Launcher--I like how it holds two less rounds, but Jesus, improve the tracking feature. No skill required whatsoever.


Plasma Rifle--awesome and all, but the auto-aim is a bit much.
Brute Plasma Rifle--at least make it a little more unique to the original plasma rifle...

Brute Shot--perfect.

Energy Sword--nice, but insert the battery meter and put in more skill to lunge at someone. I hate being followed around by a guy floating with a sword.

Sniper Rifle--perfect. So is the beam rifle. I just wish they could penetrate the scorpion tank's driver hatch.

Sentinel beam--It's fine the way it is in my opinion.

Dual-wielding--This is where VZ will open up his bottled emotions...
I am SICK of playing on Live and being taken down by three dual-wielders all the time.
"Why don't you dual-wield, then, if it's so powerful?"

Because in this case, it's about being a balanced player. I don't dual-wield because I know whagt everyone else would think: "Oh my God, he has no skill."

The noob combo is a sorry excuse for a combo. People think they are experts when they use that lame combo. It's not expertise. It's called dispatching a shield-removal device that follows the enemy. How is that skill? How is that being good at Halo 2? How is that "balance?"

You know, a while ago, representatives of halo2sucks.com used to come here and talk about how unbalanced dual-wielding was. I used to yell at them. Now I finally see their point. All I'm saying is, fans, it's time to be mature. Time to realize that dual-wielding is just double the firepower. Maybe recoil would help. Dual-wielding has unbalanced advantages over the traditional fan, whom uses a single gun. On Live, very rarely will you see me act like an idiot with the noob combo. In fact, the only times I have EVER used that freaking combo is when my friends and I are being stupid on split screen. Other than that, I single-wield. Why? Because it's more fun. Battles last much longer. Those who ONLY dual-wield and do nothing else are there to win not because of skill, but because of dumb things like "Look how much skill I have, I shoot two guns and spray you down with 'em!"

It is for those reasons that I hope, if there is a Halo 3, unbalanced weapons from Halo 1 and 2 will be changed or removed.

  • 01.07.2006 10:11 AM PDT

MBT
Posted by: S3NATOR
"In the pants of peace, there are always pockets of resistance."


Posted by: I run with mp7a1
once this random hot girl walked up to me and asked me to put my hands on her boobs. that was a cool day.


Posted By: angry0lbgrampaPosted by: angry0lbgrampa
O_O you looked at your friends balls when "he" sat on your head O_o

very good and all true [b]BUT[/url] one thing, if everyone started with scorpion tanks it would be balanced, same firepower.

  • 01.07.2006 10:18 AM PDT
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Posted by: Brickwall5
very good and all true [b]BUT[/url] one thing, if everyone started with scorpion tanks it would be balanced, same firepower.


Yeah, I had a feeling I wasn't making sense when I wrote that about the tanks and all. Thanks for the feedback.

  • 01.07.2006 10:25 AM PDT

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. And it is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, whose coffin is draped in the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag.Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

I agree with you for the most part.

But some things had me asking WTF?

But its your opinion and your welome to it.

  • 01.07.2006 11:43 AM PDT
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half and half in my opinion. a couple standed out amongst the rest:
1. the needler in haloCE is balanced? i dont think hardly anyone uses it. it needs to be more reliable. as is now, most call it a joke weapon.
2. the shotgun from halo2? dubbed the slotgun by many fans of the game, its inconsistent at best. sometimes it kills from 1 ft away, and sometimes it doesnt break shields from 1 ft away. hardly perfect in my book.

and one last thing regarding the weapon max ammo. there are basically 2 ways to have a weapon. one way is with a small amount of ammo and max ammo, as can be seen in the SSMlauncher. you find yourself running out in halo1 or 2. the other way is to have plenty of ammo. this is basically every other gun. it doesnt matter if it has 600 rounds or 500 rounds or 10,000 rounds. if weapons are truely balanced, there really isnt a too much ammo category.

  • 01.07.2006 6:13 PM PDT