Dianna Agron is the epitome of perfection.
Quinntology.
Alright. So at around this time of last year, Bungie showed campaign footage at E3. Everyone was wowed, but I was a bit curious as to how they were going to fit this piece into the puzzle that is the Halo Universe. But I'll get to that later.
I'll really start with the Reach beta, which was probably one of the worst pathetic displays of preparation I have ever seen. Sure, I understand that the amount of people that downloaded the game and played it on the first day were ridiculous, but how did you not expect it? Yeah, it's cool that the window to play the Beta was extended, but everyone was treating it like the game itself was coming out on May 3rd or whatever date it was. I for one, was extremely disappointed. I couldn't play more than a game at a time and I definitely could not play with any of my friends. It may not have been completely Bungie's fault, but there is no doubt that they were indeed a little responsible for what happened. It was just a complete and utter disaster.
We'll fast forward a bit to the actual game that is Halo: Reach. I could sum up my thoughts on the game, and it's maker, in a few words: Bungie went from innovative to imitative with their final installment in the Halo series. Why? Bloom, armor abilities, "classes", accommodations, a credit system, and lack of a true ranked playlist were all ideas taken from other games. If I wanted those things, I would go to games like Call of Duty and Battlefield because they do them well. Halo is different, it isn't a traditional shooter. I shouldn't have to slow down my shots to get better accuracy from my gun. I shouldn't have to be killed by someone because they sprinted away when I lowered them to no shields. And I shouldn't have to not get rewarded for winning a game. Do I sound like a competitive player? Of course. That's the point of a Team vs. Team multiplayer game. I'm not an MLG player or a Gamebattles player. I just like to win. And in previous Halo games, I won often because I can react quickly and take someone down. Reach seemed, (once again) at least to me, that it took much of the skill out of the game in favor of the more "casual" gamer. But I think if you broke the gamers down, 40% of the Halo gaming population would be marked as "competitive". Even if that's completely off of what it actually is, it's saddening to see that so many people were essentially ignored. Oh yeah, and what's up with everything being completely balanced? For example, not only was the Warthog's turret nerfed, it can also overheat, AND the the Hog itself can be blown up by a very manageable amount of DMR bullets. And the Laser? That too was (incredibly) nerfed AND only given four shots. I could go on and on.
As for the campaign, it almost made me want to throw up. Not that it was a terrible in the sense of gameplay and story, it just didn't mesh with what everyone already knew about Halo. And before you think to yourself that the games override the books, I know. But what was the point in immersing everyone in these books, only to throw out 35% of what happened in the Fall of Reach and Ghosts of Onyx? It doesn't make any sense. I don't really want to argue specifics, but it would have been nice to see everything flow nicely together and I would have given Bungie and it's writers a hell of a lot more credit. Instead what I got was a single Covenant ship somehow slipping into the atmosphere of the a human fleet the size of half our solar system, an insane amount of Super MAC guns, and hundreds of probes. And after it did, the human fleet proceeded to run away while the MAC guns magically disappeared and Cortana was somehow not on the Pillar of Autumn that was somehow docked on Reach at some point. Despite the fact that it was in orbit sending off Blue and Red teams and then fleeing. Okay, so maybe I did get into specifics. Sorry.
Then we get to the Bungie Foundation, which I think is a fantastic and selfless (duh, it's charity) idea. Sitting in my house right now, I have a "Be a Hero" shirt and a Japan wristband. I wear my wristband whenever I go somewhere, and I've worn my "Be a Hero" shirt so often, it's beginning to become faded. However, as much as I love the concept of the Bungie Foundation, I don't appreciate the entire Bag of Swag. At a glance, the idea is genius. But you cannot honestly tell me that people at Bungie didn't foresee any problems? Sure, the crashing of Amazon wasn't cool but the way the informed everyone, or lack there of, wasn't cool either. It was embarrassing. And before you start belittling me for bashing the Bag of Swag, I got one. So ha. In all seriousness though, I do love the Bungie Foundation and I do love all of the artwork, posters, and auctions going on. It shows they aren't a company who is solely focused on making money (cough cough ACTIVISION)
On to Aerospace. While I read over the front page story about it, and the accompanying press release, I can't help but feel a little betrayed. You're telling me that after all this hide and seek, all of this "Ohhhhh, Aerospace sounds like a fantastic title", that it's simply a way to get independent mobile developers on the map? I'm sorry if I sound bit shallow and a dick here, but why do I care? Mobile gaming is fun, I'm not going to deny that. But you can't play them consistently, nor can a phone do what a console or PC can. Therefore, they will never have a real place in the gaming world. I work in Best Buy mobile so I do know a thing or two about mobile gaming. Sure, Angry Birds is played by more people than the amount of people with growing discontent about Obama, but once you beat it, that's it. There's no replay value, there's no multiplayer. And part of the reason it's so popular is because it's free on Android devices. Now, if these games like "Crimson" are free and are good mobile games, than I may turn my scrutiny down a bit. But seriously. After all the hype, this is what you give us?
Ever since I played Halo CE back in 2003 at the ripe old age of 11, I have been in awe of Bungie and it's products. Until recently. I'm not saying I won't buy their next game, which I will without a doubt, I'm just saying I'm giving them a short leash. Their last two games, at least in my eyes, have been huge disappointments. Not as bad as games like Homefront and Brink, but not that far off. Believe it or not, I'm very excited to get details about the new IP. And I'll most likely go to a midnight launch of whatever it is to get my hands on it ASAP. But I'm just frustrated at this point. After 8 years of being a Bungie fan, and 7 years of being a member of this site, I'm finding myself posting less and visiting less. Sure, some of it is because I have college and a job, but part of it is because it isn't what it used to me.
I'm hoping that will change.