Halo: Combat Evolved Forum
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Subject: Was there a better game at the time?

RX R42HID XR, Xitol

I certainly thought not!

This game was an evolution, and i find myself going back to my original copy of the game, i'm hooked. I don't think there was a better game at the time, and still holds its head up high, it's quality.

What are your opinions on Halo CE?

  • 04.09.2012 3:56 AM PDT

Halo 2 > Halo 3 > Halo 3 ODST > Halo Reach > Halo CE

Based on campaigns.

Crash Bandicoot 1-1996
Crash Bandicoot 2-1997
Crash Bandicoot 3-1998

And Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy came out a month after CE

So yes, there were better games around when CE came out

  • 04.09.2012 4:34 AM PDT

Why get an X-box? It was an expensive gamble by a company not known for gaming. Combat Evolved was the flagship game that MicroSoft needed to attract people to their platform. It succeeded far beyond Bill Gates' dreams. If you were a gamer you HAD to buy an X-box.

  • 04.09.2012 7:55 AM PDT

Good players work together...and no matter how good you are, you're not physic. - blade6321

First Person shooters? I can't say there were. Any memorable past-gen shooters (Golden Eye excluded, of course) came after Halo and followed either its control scheme, health system or its heavy use of checkpoints. As far as storytelling? I can't really say for sure but I thought the introduction of the flood was (and still is) one of the greatest introductions of an enemy ever. I also loved that the Covenant was a known and dangerous threat to Humanity but the player had no clue who or what they were.

[Edited on 04.14.2012 11:06 PM PDT]

  • 04.14.2012 11:04 PM PDT
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Bungie got the idea that in an FPS, you were looking at the enemy 75% of the time...something most games have still to learn. Non-combat animations. Even Gears barely touched on it. Varying levels of alert... You can actually stealth a lot of CE...it's in there... The sleeping/strolling/searching Grunt... Man, that's gaming...

  • 04.15.2012 8:15 PM PDT

Well, the Playstation did exist, so yeah.

  • 04.15.2012 8:34 PM PDT
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  • 04.15.2012 10:42 PM PDT
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Sometimes, I dream about cheese.

a perfect game no doubt but i like Crash Bash and Kingdom Hearts more

  • 04.16.2012 2:10 AM PDT
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Posted by: nesteggfailure
Bungie got the idea that in an FPS, you were looking at the enemy 75% of the time...something most games have still to learn. Non-combat animations. Even Gears barely touched on it. Varying levels of alert... You can actually stealth a lot of CE...it's in there... The sleeping/strolling/searching Grunt... Man, that's gaming...
THIS.

  • 04.16.2012 7:44 AM PDT

Posted by: nesteggfailure
Bungie got the idea that in an FPS, you were looking at the enemy 75% of the time...something most games have still to learn. Non-combat animations. Even Gears barely touched on it. Varying levels of alert... You can actually stealth a lot of CE...it's in there... The sleeping/strolling/searching Grunt... Man, that's gaming...
The important thing about the stealth areas is that you're not forced to do it that way. You can go in guns blazing, sneak through, or spend the time to assassinate everything for several rooms, which is something I can't remember any other game doing. Halo 2 & 3 tried but didn't do it too well.

  • 04.21.2012 7:28 PM PDT

"We live in a special time; the only time where we can observationally verify that we live in a very special time" - Lawrence Krauss.

I was a finalist :P

Posted by: chickenlittle
Posted by: nesteggfailure
Bungie got the idea that in an FPS, you were looking at the enemy 75% of the time...something most games have still to learn. Non-combat animations. Even Gears barely touched on it. Varying levels of alert... You can actually stealth a lot of CE...it's in there... The sleeping/strolling/searching Grunt... Man, that's gaming...
The important thing about the stealth areas is that you're not forced to do it that way. You can go in guns blazing, sneak through, or spend the time to assassinate everything for several rooms, which is something I can't remember any other game doing. Halo 2 & 3 tried but didn't do it too well.

I think the primary reason for this was because in the final two parts of the trilogy, you had a lot more help in terms of AI; which completely butted out the stealth perspective of the game which would have been great in many of the levels. That, and stealth areas were few and far between (there were some nice ones on Halo 2, however; like Delta Halo). Most of the Halo's, however, implemented a number of different ways and paths to handle an encounter, which gave a variety of permutations to get the objective completed.

  • 04.22.2012 5:21 PM PDT

Didn't notice too much of that in Halo 3 or Reach.

  • 04.22.2012 6:37 PM PDT
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Posted by: Zealot Tony
Posted by: chickenlittle
Posted by: nesteggfailure
Bungie got the idea that in an FPS, you were looking at the enemy 75% of the time...something most games have still to learn. Non-combat animations. Even Gears barely touched on it. Varying levels of alert... You can actually stealth a lot of CE...it's in there... The sleeping/strolling/searching Grunt... Man, that's gaming...
The important thing about the stealth areas is that you're not forced to do it that way. You can go in guns blazing, sneak through, or spend the time to assassinate everything for several rooms, which is something I can't remember any other game doing. Halo 2 & 3 tried but didn't do it too well.

I think the primary reason for this was because in the final two parts of the trilogy, you had a lot more help in terms of AI; which completely butted out the stealth perspective of the game which would have been great in many of the levels. That, and stealth areas were few and far between (there were some nice ones on Halo 2, however; like Delta Halo). Most of the Halo's, however, implemented a number of different ways and paths to handle an encounter, which gave a variety of permutations to get the objective completed.
I hate when they sacrifice gameplay for story.

Although allies can be important, they need to be the right kind of help. Pelicans that senselessly (they don't regard you at all yet they sometimes regard allied AI) use their weapons (and miraculously shoot from odd angles) only add absurdity to gameplay.

Damn H3's Sierra 117. That Pelican is such a kill stealer! I wish there was a way to delete it. I wouldn't mind being unable to finish the level in exchange for fighting off the army of Covies that can be gathered. Even on Legendary, this would be pretty entertaining. 2 Regenerators, Invincibility, 2 Beam rifles, multiple Carbines, plasma pistols, and needlers, and a sniper. How could one not take advantage of those?

LNoS's Pelicans are also annoying. They come in and kill the Elite that I wasted my ammo on or I was targeting for an assassination (off topic: I played Sniper Elite 2's demo a while ago and I liked how I could choose targets and set a waypoint over their head). I have to stop either the Covies or marines using nearly all of the scenery items on the level to ensure the Pelican does not arrive (the Pelican arrives once most of the marines have died).

Reach's Wraith pilots were also absurd. I have yet to see the enemy Wraiths fire at enemies (me) behind them but I have seen Noble Team fire the Wraith's mortar from an impossible angle.

[Edited on 04.23.2012 6:30 AM PDT]

  • 04.23.2012 6:05 AM PDT
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Posted by: chickenlittle
Didn't notice too much of that in Halo 3 or Reach.
This is the only time one can actually be stealthy in H3.

Simply step on the elevator or the glass panel besides it to trigger the Brutes. In order for this to work, you need the following:

-all 5 Elites need to be alive

Then just wait at the door and move in when you see red on your motion tracker. To assassinate without being detected, you have to melee the body so it doesn't land in the next one's sight or goes through him.

I'm not sure if the Elites will fire their guns if they're not armed with swords (I think they have some understanding of stealth if they have guns), but to get rid of the Elites, simply activate the elevator.

The sleeping Grunts at The Ark mission start and at rally point bravo don't count:

-one of the mission start Grunts will wake up when you get to a certain point
-the peeing Brute can be unpredictable and there's really no way to catch him off guard due to architecture design (Silent Cartographer allows you to do this). Marines and Arbiter may fire at the sleeping Grunts
-the Brute in the next room doesn't patrol. He just walks a little and stops. Stealth here is so basic it's not very entertaining
-the Grunts never go back to sleep. One of the greatest pleasures of CE was rearranging the sleeping Grunts or leaving some awake for added challenge


But yeah, CE had the best stealth. AI were affected by gun fire and sightings of the enemy but they weren't always alert. Even the ones that normally stand still can be incited to patrol (<3 Elite).

[Edited on 04.23.2012 6:26 AM PDT]

  • 04.23.2012 6:19 AM PDT
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As for Reach, there's some stealth on Nightfall but it's mostly assassination based like in H3. Apparently, firing your gun will invite Jun to fire his gun, easily breaking the stealth element within the first 5 minutes of gameplay. Assassinating an Elite can also cause this if they make the wrong sound (a random element that ruins the fun of doing an assassination). In fact, I think assassinating the first Elite alerts the sleeping Grunts yet you're instructed to assassinate him...

In other levels, there's a small window for assassinations but it's mostly because you have allies distracting the Elites. I know that on Exodus, you can kill the Chieftain by doing some jetpacking to reach him.

I've done quite a lot of research and video watching so I'm not hating on Reach here. Just stating the facts.

[Edited on 04.23.2012 6:37 AM PDT]

  • 04.23.2012 6:34 AM PDT

"We live in a special time; the only time where we can observationally verify that we live in a very special time" - Lawrence Krauss.

I was a finalist :P


Posted by: chickenlittle
Didn't notice too much of that in Halo 3 or Reach.

I personally didn't think Reach fitted into this "most" category; Halo 3 had a few pathway choices (some in The Covenant and Cortana), but not so much when compared to its predecessors.

  • 04.23.2012 3:07 PM PDT

Posted by: Sliding Ghost
As for Reach, there's some stealth on Nightfall but it's mostly assassination based like in H3. Apparently, firing your gun will invite Jun to fire his gun, easily breaking the stealth element within the first 5 minutes of gameplay. Assassinating an Elite can also cause this if they make the wrong sound (a random element that ruins the fun of doing an assassination). In fact, I think assassinating the first Elite alerts the sleeping Grunts yet you're instructed to assassinate him...
Actually, Jun will just shoot them regardless what you do. He's -blam!- retarded. As for breaking the silence, it really is completely random. Sometimes the Grunts will wake up and sometimes they will not.

In other levels, there's a small window for assassinations but it's mostly because you have allies distracting the Elites. I know that on Exodus, you can kill the Chieftain by doing some jetpacking to reach him.

I've done quite a lot of research and video watching so I'm not hating on Reach here. Just stating the facts.
Yup.

  • 04.25.2012 10:39 AM PDT

Black Ops 2 I run two accounts warmup only at 1.97kdr...real is at 3.77. i'm in master division 4 league play. pm 4 clan inv...must have 2.5 kdr or better

Ratchet & Clank is superior
Posted by: Mark V guy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

  • 04.26.2012 10:07 AM PDT

PS2 master race.

  • 04.26.2012 10:09 AM PDT

Halo 2 > Halo 3 > Halo 3 ODST > Halo Reach > Halo CE

Based on campaigns.


Posted by: shortD42 is aBK
Ratchet & Clank is superior
Posted by: Mark V guy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy


Jak and Daxter master race

  • 04.26.2012 1:45 PM PDT
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Unreal series/Tournament
Quake series
Starsiege Tribes
Counter-Strike
Half-Life

Those were the games I played alongside Halo: Combat Evolved at the time. Half-Life was better at story telling/campaign, Unreal/Quake were better with skillful arena type combat, Tribes was better with team oriented combat/large scale combat, and Counter-Strike was better at stealth/tactical combat. Keep in mind I'm only counting first person shooters because it's a little absurd to start listing games like Crash Bandicoot (Sorry, Mark V) as being "better" when they're in an entirely different genre. That of course doesn't say I hate those games. In fact, I -blam!- love Crash Bandiccot/Spyro.

Halo: Combat Evolved had some strengths to it. It was its own game and was great, just like the rest of the games I listed, for its own reasons. There were a lot of games out there that were definitely just as good as Halo: Combat Evolved and anyone who says there wasn't was probably limited when it came to their FPS game library at the time. It's really funny to see people say Bungie was innovative with their stealthy aspect to the campaign... It had been done many times before Halo: Combat Evolved, trust me.

[Edited on 04.26.2012 5:12 PM PDT]

  • 04.26.2012 2:30 PM PDT
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  • 04.26.2012 2:47 PM PDT
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"Some strengths ?" Yikes, Dr.... I guess we've all got our own experiences (mine never included what you've listed - it was all based on my broke blam college 64 days prior to Xbox)...but for a guy coming from "Shadows of the Empire" as the pinnacle, CE absolutely wiped the floor with everything that ever came before. I've never played a pc game; but in terms of immersion, plot, physics, music, graphics and overall quality... I've never played anything that even remotely compared to Halo on a console. Originality may not be its strong suite, but, the melding of what works in a shooter plus its own additions should never be overlooked when it comes to CE.

  • 04.26.2012 7:24 PM PDT
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Posted by: nesteggfailure
"Some strengths ?" Yikes, Dr.... I guess we've all got our own experiences (mine never included what you've listed - it was all based on my broke blam college 64 days prior to Xbox)...but for a guy coming from "Shadows of the Empire" as the pinnacle, CE absolutely wiped the floor with everything that ever came before. I've never played a pc game; but in terms of immersion, plot, physics, music, graphics and overall quality... I've never played anything that even remotely compared to Halo on a console. Originality may not be its strong suite, but, the melding of what works in a shooter on a console* plus its own additions should never be overlooked when it comes to CE.
Bingo. That's what I meant by it's own strengths. \o/ (I added in "on a console")

In the console world specifically, it was the first to do many things though the reason it was the first was because there weren't that many FPS games on console. It also had the advantage of being a launch title for the 360 which was hardware that could enable such things to exist on consoles.

Most of the "revolutionary" things, if not all, Halo: Combat Evolved brought to the table were things that were created to compensate for it being on a console. Two weapons only scheme because you didn't have the vast array of number keys to choose weapons, melee system for the same reason and aim assist to help with the not so perfect thumb stick aiming. That's just the first things that come to mind. There was nothing really ground breaking about the Halo that was created for the Xbox that can be applied to FPS as a genre other than being able to function well (According to most) on a console.

Things like physics had been nailed down much better in Half-Life and the way FPS games were melded had already been pretty much perfected for the PC platform by this time. Things that work perfectly for the PC don't work well on console and the same is true when flipping it. Halo was revolutionary but only to the console market. In a way, that does say it was a revolutionary to the FPS market as a whole by making it accepted on the console platforms as well but it never made positive impact on the PC shooter market. In fact many people (including myself) believe Halo damaged the PC shooter market by causing developers to focus on console oriented style of FPS instead of keeping with what really was perfect for the PC. Instead of getting games that were perfect for our platform we got ports that were perfect for the consoles but left us with games that didn't show our platform's true potential. For us it was no revolution but it was a devolution.

This all being said, I love Halo with all my heart and it's always been my favorite shooter to play over the years. What it does it does well and I applaud Bungie for doing what they did. It's amazing how they got it to work on a console and still kick as much ass as it does. It's just an absolutely beautiful game and that's its strong suit. That's why I keep coming back to Combat Evolved and I think that will never stop for me.

[Edited on 04.26.2012 8:23 PM PDT]

  • 04.26.2012 8:20 PM PDT

This is a Reach account that I created the day they announced his name in a bnet weekly update. Any stats regarding ODST or Halo 3 are irrelevant. Also, Halo CE master race. Halo 1 > other halo games > other games.

Account Status: Silver :(

No, there was and will never be a game as good as Halo CE. I can only hope that 343i will correct all the problems with Halo 2,3 and Reach. I doubt this will happen because they haven't really expressed any interest in bringing back the magnum to its roots.

  • 04.28.2012 3:36 AM PDT

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