Halo: Combat Evolved Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: The remake: can it actually feel "new"
  • Subject: The remake: can it actually feel "new"
Subject: The remake: can it actually feel "new"

(I posted this a few weeks ago in the Universe forum and didn't really get much of a response. I thought it might be worth posting here now that the remake's official)

A while ago I was looking around the 343 forums, reading one of many remake threads on there, when I came across this post:

The single reason players want Halo: CE back is because of nostalgia. They think that if they get their game remade, it will feel new, and provoke those same emotions it did a decade ago, but it won't. Gamers are always chasing dragons like this. When you've played for years, one of the things you want the most is to just be a noob again, when everything feels fresh and exciting, and every new game is an adventure.

Personally, I think that sounds about right. But then again I'm biased, since I'm really a "games are a product of their time" sort of guy and I've never been wild about the idea of this remake. To be clear, I'm not against game remakes in principle (I do own a few), but I play them more as a curiosity, a tribute to an older game, not because I think a remake can make me feel like I did playing the game the first time like people seem to want from the Halo remake.

I'd be really curious to hear what you guys think. Do you think a remake can make you feel like you're playing the game for the first time again? Or do you think that people just think a remake would be cool even if it can't actually feel the same as the first time?

[Edited on 06.18.2011 11:05 PM PDT]

  • 06.18.2011 10:46 PM PDT

It will definately look new, but I don't think it would feel much like a new game. It's all the same gameplay mechanics so it probably won't feel very different at all aside from the updated visuals. I will still relish every moment of it though.

But yeah, what that guy said is about right. Don't agree about not having the same emotions though. I have been playing a lot of CE lately even if I did play through the campaign too many times to count when I was younger, but I still get fun out of it and very similar emotions to how I felt back then.

[Edited on 06.18.2011 11:09 PM PDT]

  • 06.18.2011 11:08 PM PDT

Frog blast the ventcore!

Ya, I don't think you'll ever really feel as "in to" the game as you did the first time playing it. I mean, we've all already beaten the game and seen all those mind blowing things like, riding outside the tunnel on Halo and seeing a HUGE valley with trees, hills and rivers or jumping off the ship on "keyes". It may look new, but it will never feel new especially because we know all the weapons, we know where everything is and it's not much of an adventure once you have everything memorized. That's not to say I don't love the game, I don't think i can ever get tired of playing Halo CE but it's just not as "shiny" and incredible as it used to be.

  • 06.19.2011 10:27 AM PDT


Posted by: crosseyedmonkee
It may look new, but it will never feel new especially because we know all the weapons, we know where everything is and it's not much of an adventure once you have everything memorized.


I somewhat agree with this statement, but I don't view that to be a negative thing. Even on the second or third time through the game this idea would be true. But I played through the CE campaign dozens and dozens of times and it was still special and amazing. For the remake, yeah, it won't be brand new, so that "holy crap this world is amazing and huge" feeling won't be exactly the same, but for me, the emotional experience was much deeper than that. The story, the music, the gameplay, all fit together in this perfect package, and now that package will play the same and look even better. I am currently playing through half-life 2, and there are many portions of that game that continue to evoke strong emotions even though I know they are coming. I expect Halo Anniversary to do the same... just like every time I watch my favorite movie, it still does something for me. Anyways, there's two cents.

  • 06.19.2011 11:03 AM PDT
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You'd be surprised at how much just a new graphical layer can feel like a fresh new experience. I remember playing CMT's campaign mods on Custom Edition, everything felt so new.

  • 06.19.2011 12:04 PM PDT