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Subject: Bungie Says that Halo 2 is the Worst Halo Game ...

x7R0LLF4CE FTWx

Halo PC Name: x7R0LLF4CEx, Gamertag, x7R0LLF4CE FTWx


Posted by: Pahat Pojat
Haha, lolBungie.

Halo 2 is single handedly the greatest game this world has ever seen. I'm glad they didn't have more time than they did to add anything else or more. Their utterly idiotic decisions regarding Halo 3 and Reach they made explains quite fairly enough.


Bungie is the greatest game developer this world has ever seen.

'Nuff said.

  • 08.20.2012 10:13 AM PDT

*Silloin kun näyttää siltä että ei ole mitään hätää niin tulee hälytyskellojen soida
*Neuvostoliiton hajoaminen oli vain showta
*Saksa on löytänyt uuden tavan vallata Eurooppa ilman yhtäkään panssarivaunua

They made two first Halo games that were great. After that they became just game developers among others.

  • 08.20.2012 11:00 AM PDT

"To me, a nice triple kill with the sniper is infinitely more impressive than any Living Dead Killionaire"

Does flaming people on forums count as an esport?

I'm a commendation/achievement/statistics freak.

-David (Drake)

Halo 1 was the big console trial game, and it was a huge success. When Bungie made Halo 2, they still felt like they had something to prove, so they put all their effort into making it the greatest they possibly could, and it turned out great. By the time it was time to make Halo 3, Bungie already knew that they were a big name, and that people would buy it, so they half-assed the game. Same even more so with Reach.

  • 08.20.2012 11:19 AM PDT
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Your 'beliefs' mean less than dick to me.

Posted by: NOBLE SlX
Posted by: Striker029
This, I don't even. You know what, this requires correction!

Halo 1 - Balanced
Halo 2 - BR, Sword
Halo 3 - Sniper, BR, and AR
Reach - power weapons

Actually it's:

Halo 1 - power weapons (namely rockets, OS, and camo)
Halo 2 and Halo 3 - BR, and sniper to a lesser extent
Halo: Reach - armor abilities
Halo 4 - armor abilities and specializations

  • 08.20.2012 11:47 AM PDT
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Posted by: MrR46
Posted by: NOBLE SlX
Posted by: Striker029
This, I don't even. You know what, this requires correction!

Halo 1 - Balanced
Halo 2 - BR, Sword
Halo 3 - Sniper, BR, and AR
Reach - power weapons

Actually it's:

Halo 1 - power weapons (namely rockets, OS, and camo)
Halo 2 and Halo 3 - BR, and sniper to a lesser extent
Halo: Reach - armor abilities
Halo 4 - armor abilities and specializations
No, just no.

H1:
every weapon useful (but mostly God pistol), grenades, power weapons, powerups, strafe, button combos (double melee, backpack reload)

As NOBLE SlX said, balanced. The only vehicle that could dominate in MP was the Banshee, but that was only in Halo PC.

H2 (afaik):
BR, melee, power weapons (particularly sword due to infinite battery and insane lunge), powerups, strafe, vehicle domination, dual wielding, button combos

default H3:
BR, grenades, melee, power weapons, equipment based, strafe, vehicle domination, dual wielding

lolReach (afaik):
DMR & sniper domination, Banshee domination, grenades, melee, AA based (mostly Sprint), button combos, shot pacing (Bloom), crouch shooting

default H4 (afaik):
every weapon functions in a role, 3 precision weapons each dominating a range, AA based rock-paper-scissors, Sprint as default, specializations & packages, grenades (not as effective as in Reach), melee (not as effective as in Reach), ordnance, Bloom for DMR

[Edited on 08.20.2012 2:26 PM PDT]

  • 08.20.2012 2:20 PM PDT
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Your 'beliefs' mean less than dick to me.

Posted by: Sliding Ghost
No, just no.

H1:
every weapon useful (but mostly God pistol), grenades, power weapons, powerups, strafe, button combos (double melee, backpack reload)

As NOBLE SlX said, balanced. The only vehicle that could dominate in MP was the Banshee, but that was only in Halo PC.

I never said it wasn't balanced. I'm also wondering what game you played.

Halo 1's metagame, particularly on small maps, most definitely centers around the rockets, OS, and camo. The sniper, shotgun, and PR are nice, but they're more supplementary weapons than anything. In big games the tank is much more useful than the banshee. The pistol, despite its power, dominated the game less than any other utility weapon in the series.

H2 (afaik):
BR, melee, power weapons (particularly sword due to infinite battery and insane lunge), powerups, strafe, vehicle domination, dual wielding, button combos

Pre-patch, sniper. Every other weapon blew ass.
Post-patch, BR and sniper. Rockets were neutered, shotgun was neutered, sword wasn't that useful.

default H3:
BR, grenades, melee, power weapons, equipment based, strafe, vehicle domination, dual wielding

Halo 3's sandbox was pathetic as a whole, literally everything was nerfed except the shotgun, but once again the BR and sniper were the keys to the game.

lolReach (afaik):
DMR & sniper domination, Banshee domination, grenades, melee, AA based (mostly Sprint), button combos, shot pacing (Bloom), crouch shooting

AAs dominate every game they appear in. Every time. Reach was designed around them, without a doubt.

[Edited on 08.20.2012 6:23 PM PDT]

  • 08.20.2012 6:22 PM PDT
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Posted by: MrR46Ok, you got me there.

The only map I played in CE with other players was Blood Gulch. Easily bested with the pistol. With the sniper, I could take on up to 2 players at once. And the Scorpion felt like crap.

I haven't played H2 mp.

In H3 matchmaking, I only got to play Guardian. Got out sniped and lost my interest. After that I just played Valhalla casually.

I haven't played Reach mp.

[Edited on 08.20.2012 6:41 PM PDT]

  • 08.20.2012 6:36 PM 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

You guys forgot that Halo 3 has the most use of tactial jumps and shortcuts on maps.

  • 08.21.2012 12:12 PM PDT

Posted by: Kneecap
I keep on getting in conversations with a person who calls me John.

Definitely agree about in terms of glitches and polishing, it is the worst. But it had an infinitely good story, involvement, etc. Halo 3 had less glitches and better graphics, but the campaign felt like a Firefight map. Do think that Halo 3's multiplayer is better though, nostalgia be damned.

  • 08.22.2012 1:48 PM PDT

Why Bungie, why would you do this?! - Halo Community

CE: Weapons are fine and balanced. Banshee almost made me throw my copy of CE in a fire, though. Played the campaign on legendary and made me feel better, lol.

H2: I dunno, I've played 7 games on it in matchmaking. Heard the sniper and BR were pretty much the key to winning and that the sandbox was OK.

H3: BR was a little OP, and only a few other weapons were actually useful. OK power weapon sandbox.

Reach:...I'm far to tired to even start this...

  • 08.22.2012 2:43 PM PDT
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Posted by: toystory2wasok
Halo 3... the campaign felt like a Firefight map.
lolwut?

Reach has the most Firefight encounters:

-defense objectives
-wave battles (LNoS hangar, The Package glacier, PoA Brutes)
-infinitely spawning enemies (LNoS mission start)
-Lone Wolf

The Firefight emphasis is one of the main reasons why Reach's campaign is so tedious (not to mention that almost every single mission in Reach has a vehicle driving section part, which means extreme flipping hog time!).

  • 08.23.2012 2:04 AM PDT

Pioneer and Enthusiast for Halo 3.

If it's as good as it was/is today/back then, imagine how much better it would have been. Then again, look at Reach. They took sweet time, and did everything they wanted. Now look at it. Look at it. Just look at it... Look at it, Bungie.

  • 08.23.2012 9:44 PM PDT

"Life is too short for front wheel drive." - Sabine Schmitz

This post will probably echo most of what has been posted. Additionally, it's going to be a long, slightly ramblisistic post. I'm quite in the mood to write about my opinion of Halo 2, so please forgive me - I hope you guys will at least find it interesting.

It is quite ironic how Bungie's view of Halo 2 differs from that of its player base, and those who have played it.

However, I can totally understand their view...

It's a bleak picture dotted by the obscene amount of unfixable glitches in multiplayer (super jumping, killed by the guardian glitches, ability to exit maps, etc.), further obscured by the matchmaking cheating epidemics (for lack of a better word), and to top it all off, the impossibility of completing Halo 2 as they had originally envisioned it. Unfortunately, in a FUBARed catch 22, Bungie's inability to create Halo 2 as they wished was what ultimately led to the previously mentioned problems haunting the game from its release to the Original Xbox Live closure in April 2010.

Starkly contrasting the dim retrospective taken by Bungie is my view of the whole situation - one that I feel is shared by many other Halo 2 players to some extent.

While there was a terrible cliffhanger, hundreds of (sometimes game breaking) glitches, and, at times, a group of players up to no good, causing trouble in the Halo 2 neighborhood - I could look past these deterrents because of the ridiculous amount of fun the game was. Sure the single player was shoved into a blender, grinded to a pulp and welded into a barely editable mass at times, but it was damned fun. In between getting to mess around with the physics-bending skulls and viewing the story from two different perspectives, I could easily over look the fact that it ended rather abruptly.

Regardless of its contrivances, the single player was fun, clever, and plenty entertaining due to its story design, hidden secrets, incredible soundtrack, and lack of restriction. For example: no time limited death barriers, massive open levels, and pounds of hidden easter eggs.

Oh, and the multiplayer! Who could forget that? In my opinion, we have Halo 2 to thank for things like party chat, voice messages, and detailed game invites. Dare I say Halo 2's multiplayer was revolutionary? Perhaps I am on a nostalgia high, but no other game available on the Xbox at that time and for years after had such a well designed and thought out multiplayer experience.

Was the matchmaking perfect? Of course not. Most of the time the teams were stacked further than Mount Olympus. There were cheaters of many different types, etc, etc. But who gave a damn when you could team up with 8 of your friends and play big team battle!? A good game of BTB on Coagulation or Waterworks always overshadowed such complaints.

Speaking of cheating, let's talk about Modding. I know Bungie absolutely despised cheaters, and that's putting it lightly. "Modders" especially. Oh how they ruined matchmaking at times. An interesting perspective to consider is the modding community. There is no doubt in my mind there were people who just wanted to cheat and cause hell for other players. This was a proven fact as well established as the presence of gravity. However, this was just one group which unfortunately soured the greater part.

There were people who spent hours - days - months - who knows how long - reverse engineering this game as well as Halo CE. There were strong and thriving communities completely inspired by Halo 2 (let alone its predecesor) to push the games' engines to their surprisingly unfounded limits. I'm not entirely sure what Bungie thought (or thinks) of these communities. Unlike the general perception painted upon them by the Halo 2 player base, these were great people who were completely opposite in character to those who caused trouble in matchmaking. Maybe Bungie acknowledged this by only banning Modders from matchmaking, thus allowing access to custom games. Perhaps it was a technical limitation of the player control system? Who knows?

One thing I do know, however, is that there were people from these communities who found their professions by dabbling around in Bungie's work, which was spawned by the "deal with the devil". It's quite odd to comprehend this angle, especially considering how a game viewed by its creators as a failure resulted in talented people finding a way to practice their growing skills. From what I have heard, a few of these people have even gone on to work at Bungie.

Custom Games were another multiplayer feature Bungie nailed. Maybe they weren't the most customizable, but if you were imaginative it was an absolute blast to play with friends. Back then it wasn't hard to get 16 people together to play either. Usually everyone was looking to have fun, and that meant Tower of Power, Warthog Wars, Hide and Seek, Zombies, and whatever else you could whip up. It's a shame that this is not how things work these days.

For whatever reason, Halo 3 and Reach never felt as easy to get people together in. Also modding in Custom Games was always fun... It was always great to hear other players laugh when they accidentally unveiled your latest creation in the form of a hundred wraith shots falling from the sky at the pull of a plasma pistol trigger.

Then there were the multiplayer maps. I don't think there was a single one I didn't enjoy. You could tell the developers spent a lot of time making sure the maps were not only balanced, but also interesting and atmospheric. They had their quirks in other words. The downloadable content maps continued on this path. Backwash, for example, someone spent a ton of time getting the fog just right.

I could go on forever about how fun this game was (if I haven't already, lol).

Bungie, Halo 2 might represent to you the worst game development disaster in your company's history - but let it be known that the cramming, the stressing, the hair tearing, and the sleepless nights were not in vain. Halo 2 was and, in my opinion, still is Bungie's best work to date. It's obvious that you guys gave it your all, even with the odds stacked against you ten times over.

You guys took Halo to another level, and in doing so provided many players, tinkerers, and fans alike with thousands of hours of fun, challenges, and laughs - emotions which no "failure" could ever inspire.

For that, Bungie will always have my respect.

  • 08.25.2012 11:33 PM PDT

*Silloin kun näyttää siltä että ei ole mitään hätää niin tulee hälytyskellojen soida
*Neuvostoliiton hajoaminen oli vain showta
*Saksa on löytänyt uuden tavan vallata Eurooppa ilman yhtäkään panssarivaunua

^Good post. When I play Halo 3 I see the game is half assed and no way in hell they put nearly their all work and soul on the game. No doubt about that they thought during the process ''well, we've proven ourselves, people will buy this s-hit anyway no matter what''.

  • 08.26.2012 3:37 AM PDT

-blam!- Was that actually blammed out? Or did I just type it? You'll never know.

And yet, it was the best.

  • 08.26.2012 1:17 PM PDT


Posted by: swvjdirector
Personally, I thought Halo 2 was the best competetive Halo. That's the main thing I enjoy about Halo, so from my point of view, it's the best. I undertsand Bungie's views though.

  • 08.26.2012 1:45 PM PDT

x7R0LLF4CE FTWx

Halo PC Name: x7R0LLF4CEx, Gamertag, x7R0LLF4CE FTWx

Halo 2 was, and is an incredible, albeit outdated game. Everything about it was great. I didn't miss the AR much, the music was amazing, and it was just epic WIN.

  • 08.26.2012 1:48 PM PDT


Posted by: Komet
This post will probably echo most of what has been posted. Additionally, it's going to be a long, slightly ramblisistic post. I'm quite in the mood to write about my opinion of Halo 2, so please forgive me - I hope you guys will at least find it interesting.

It is quite ironic how Bungie's view of Halo 2 differs from that of its player base, and those who have played it.

However, I can totally understand their view...

It's a bleak picture dotted by the obscene amount of unfixable glitches in multiplayer (super jumping, killed by the guardian glitches, ability to exit maps, etc.), further obscured by the matchmaking cheating epidemics (for lack of a better word), and to top it all off, the impossibility of completing Halo 2 as they had originally envisioned it. Unfortunately, in a FUBARed catch 22, Bungie's inability to create Halo 2 as they wished was what ultimately led to the previously mentioned problems haunting the game from its release to the Original Xbox Live closure in April 2010.

Starkly contrasting the dim retrospective taken by Bungie is my view of the whole situation - one that I feel is shared by many other Halo 2 players to some extent.

While there was a terrible cliffhanger, hundreds of (sometimes game breaking) glitches, and, at times, a group of players up to no good, causing trouble in the Halo 2 neighborhood - I could look past these deterrents because of the ridiculous amount of fun the game was. Sure the single player was shoved into a blender, grinded to a pulp and welded into a barely editable mass at times, but it was damned fun. In between getting to mess around with the physics-bending skulls and viewing the story from two different perspectives, I could easily over look the fact that it ended rather abruptly.

Regardless of its contrivances, the single player was fun, clever, and plenty entertaining due to its story design, hidden secrets, incredible soundtrack, and lack of restriction. For example: no time limited death barriers, massive open levels, and pounds of hidden easter eggs.

Oh, and the multiplayer! Who could forget that? In my opinion, we have Halo 2 to thank for things like party chat, voice messages, and detailed game invites. Dare I say Halo 2's multiplayer was revolutionary? Perhaps I am on a nostalgia high, but no other game available on the Xbox at that time and for years after had such a well designed and thought out multiplayer experience.

Was the matchmaking perfect? Of course not. Most of the time the teams were stacked further than Mount Olympus. There were cheaters of many different types, etc, etc. But who gave a damn when you could team up with 8 of your friends and play big team battle!? A good game of BTB on Coagulation or Waterworks always overshadowed such complaints.

Speaking of cheating, let's talk about Modding. I know Bungie absolutely despised cheaters, and that's putting it lightly. "Modders" especially. Oh how they ruined matchmaking at times. An interesting perspective to consider is the modding community. There is no doubt in my mind there were people who just wanted to cheat and cause hell for other players. This was a proven fact as well established as the presence of gravity. However, this was just one group which unfortunately soured the greater part.

There were people who spent hours - days - months - who knows how long - reverse engineering this game as well as Halo CE. There were strong and thriving communities completely inspired by Halo 2 (let alone its predecesor) to push the games' engines to their surprisingly unfounded limits. I'm not entirely sure what Bungie thought (or thinks) of these communities. Unlike the general perception painted upon them by the Halo 2 player base, these were great people who were completely opposite in character to those who caused trouble in matchmaking. Maybe Bungie acknowledged this by only banning Modders from matchmaking, thus allowing access to custom games. Perhaps it was a technical limitation of the player control system? Who knows?

One thing I do know, however, is that there were people from these communities who found their professions by dabbling around in Bungie's work, which was spawned by the "deal with the devil". It's quite odd to comprehend this angle, especially considering how a game viewed by its creators as a failure resulted in talented people finding a way to practice their growing skills. From what I have heard, a few of these people have even gone on to work at Bungie.

Custom Games were another multiplayer feature Bungie nailed. Maybe they weren't the most customizable, but if you were imaginative it was an absolute blast to play with friends. Back then it wasn't hard to get 16 people together to play either. Usually everyone was looking to have fun, and that meant Tower of Power, Warthog Wars, Hide and Seek, Zombies, and whatever else you could whip up. It's a shame that this is not how things work these days.

For whatever reason, Halo 3 and Reach never felt as easy to get people together in. Also modding in Custom Games was always fun... It was always great to hear other players laugh when they accidentally unveiled your latest creation in the form of a hundred wraith shots falling from the sky at the pull of a plasma pistol trigger.

Then there were the multiplayer maps. I don't think there was a single one I didn't enjoy. You could tell the developers spent a lot of time making sure the maps were not only balanced, but also interesting and atmospheric. They had their quirks in other words. The downloadable content maps continued on this path. Backwash, for example, someone spent a ton of time getting the fog just right.

I could go on forever about how fun this game was (if I haven't already, lol).

Bungie, Halo 2 might represent to you the worst game development disaster in your company's history - but let it be known that the cramming, the stressing, the hair tearing, and the sleepless nights were not in vain. Halo 2 was and, in my opinion, still is Bungie's best work to date. It's obvious that you guys gave it your all, even with the odds stacked against you ten times over.

You guys took Halo to another level, and in doing so provided many players, tinkerers, and fans alike with thousands of hours of fun, challenges, and laughs - emotions which no "failure" could ever inspire.

For that, Bungie will always have my respect.
Epic post, almost had me in tears. Still and all...H2 was the best.

  • 08.26.2012 2:07 PM PDT

"Life is too short for front wheel drive." - Sabine Schmitz

Thank you Pahat and Grumpy :) I'm glad you guys liked it.

Pahat, I'm not sure if they failed to put their soul into Halo 3.

Then again, I believe you are on to something.

One thing that always bothered me about Halo 3's single player was how easy it was to find the skulls. Some of them were fairly difficult to find, but it was a far cry from Halo 2's skull hunting experience. As other members have already said, Halo 3 marked the beginning of the end for exploration. Grenade jumping took more effort, physics were toned down and so on.

I don't want to get too far into it, as there are several immovable reasons why Halo 3, ODST, and Reach could never live up to Halo 2's experience. But I completely agree with you and other forum goers that something was missing from these games.

Do I think it was soul? It's hard to say. Bungie's views will always differ from that of its fans to some degree (as Dr. Syx pointed out). Currently it appears Bungie's idea of a good game includes polishing and perfecting its experience until there are absolutely no bumps or rough edges. This is especially true after Halo 2.

In turn, this meant killing every bug, glitch, and exploit found in addition to making its games look more "professional" (funny how this contrasts with their own well established, informal culture). Killing off bugs probably meant removing things like rocket jumping, Banshee jumping, making map BSP behave correctly.

Another good example of this polishing is how Bungie encrypted game assets used in Reach's game engine. Did that stop the modding community? No, instead it nearly leveled the modding community. Is that something Bungie wanted to do? I doubt it, or at least I want to doubt it. As it was, the modding community was on its last legs for a variety of reasons, most unrelated to Bungie's actions. In continuance, do I think Bungie killed off tricking because they wanted to? Absolutely not. Tricking was just as much a part of Halo 2 as its sublimely designed multiplayer. I guess this effect can be likened to a child growing up or some BS.

It's something I really don't want to over analyze because the only way to get a straight answer is to ask Bungie themselves. Unfortunately, I doubt Bungie would like to make known its reasons for such debated decisions.

So where does that leave us? Well it certainly could be worse! Bungie's hosting of this particular forum despite Halo 2's age is evidence of their commitment to its core fans. Speaking of commitment, it was only last night that I realized they still host the records from Halo 2's multiplayer. While I realize this won't be permanent, it serves as a sign of their commitment to fans who have stuck around since that time. Perhaps I'm giving Bungie too much credit, but you can't deny they haven't forgotten about the enthusiasts from their older games (if you can call Halo 2 old).

I guess we'll just have to wait for Bungie to release their next project. Especially now that they are out of Microsoft's hands. It should be very interesting to see how they handle the more minute features of their future games (such as easter eggs and tricking).

Could their next project be as innovative as Halo 2? I certainly believe so.

[Edited on 08.26.2012 8:45 PM PDT]

  • 08.26.2012 8:40 PM PDT

somewhere in the heavens...they are waiting. I love the Marathon Trilogy.
Halo CE will always be the best game in the Halo franchise. What a perfect game.
(Proud LONGTIME owner of the PC and Xbox versions of Halo CE)

Honestly, I completely don't see reason in how Halo 2 could be the worst Halo game. Overhyped? Maybe, but the times I have replayed Halo 2 compared to Reach is quite large. I only played Reach for about a month and I continue to play Halo 2 on a yearly basis. Bungie is entitled to their opinion, but I personally see Reach as the worst Halo game.

  • 08.27.2012 7:19 PM PDT
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From: KaTaNaSaMuRaI09
To: KaTaNaSaMuRaI09

1 month forum ban notice


Posted by: Sliding Ghost

Posted by: MrR46
Posted by: NOBLE SlX
Posted by: Striker029
This, I don't even. You know what, this requires correction!

Halo 1 - Balanced
Halo 2 - BR, Sword
Halo 3 - Sniper, BR, and AR
Reach - power weapons

Actually it's:

Halo 1 - power weapons (namely rockets, OS, and camo)
Halo 2 and Halo 3 - BR, and sniper to a lesser extent
Halo: Reach - armor abilities
Halo 4 - armor abilities and specializations
No, just no.

H1:
every weapon useful (but mostly God pistol), grenades, power weapons, powerups, strafe, button combos (double melee, backpack reload)

As NOBLE SlX said, balanced. The only vehicle that could dominate in MP was the Banshee, but that was only in Halo PC.

H2 (afaik):
BR, melee, power weapons (particularly sword due to infinite battery and insane lunge), powerups, strafe, vehicle domination, dual wielding, button combos

default H3:
BR, grenades, melee, power weapons, equipment based, strafe, vehicle domination, dual wielding

lolReach (afaik):
DMR & sniper domination, Banshee domination, grenades, melee, AA based (mostly Sprint), button combos, shot pacing (Bloom), crouch shooting

default H4 (afaik):
every weapon functions in a role, 3 precision weapons each dominating a range, AA based rock-paper-scissors, Sprint as default, specializations & packages, grenades (not as effective as in Reach), melee (not as effective as in Reach), ordnance, Bloom for DMR


You do realize Halo 4's melee is stronger than Reach's melee right?

  • 08.27.2012 8:31 PM PDT
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Posted by: KaTaNaSaMuRaI09

Posted by: Sliding Ghost

You do realize Halo 4's melee is stronger than Reach's melee right?

The lunge, particularly the sword's lunge. It's nerfed.

[Edited on 08.28.2012 12:31 AM PDT]

  • 08.28.2012 12:31 AM PDT
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Posted by: Komet
As other members have already said, Halo 3 marked the beginning of the end for exploration.
Pretty much the only way to exit a mission in Halo 3 is to get on a Phantom turret.

Exploration was less limited in Reach since you could get on a dropship and armor lock but even after exiting the map, you weren't in the clear. Furthermore, you couldn't continue the level this way.

At least in Halo 3, you could get back into the game. On Sierra 117, there's a lot of things you can do at the dam before triggering the cutscene to play as normally. You could kill off some of the toughest enemies in advance and block off other enemies using the scenery objects, as well as manipulate the Phantom so it appears elsewhere in the cutscene and the troops it drops off land elsewhere (i.e. in the water).

Posted by: Komet
Currently it appears Bungie's idea of a good game includes polishing and perfecting its experience until there are absolutely no bumps or rough edges. This is especially true after Halo 2.
Especially true? It is the sad truth. Though I think you mean perfecting it's appearance. The experience of newer Halo games is far from perfect.

Posted by: Komet
In turn, this meant killing every bug, glitch, and exploit found in addition to making its games look more "professional" (funny how this contrasts with their own well established, informal culture). Killing off bugs probably meant removing things like rocket jumping, Banshee jumping, making map BSP behave correctly.
Why it had to extend to the campaign I do not know. It's interesting how Bungie kept this glitch in but got rid of other campaign exclusive glitches. I suspect the glitches and exploits weren't killed off merely for the sake of making the game look good but because of multiplayer.

Indeed, Halo 2 brought with it a curse. A strong emphasis on the multiplayer. I surmise Bungie saw that the multiplayer was a better marketing pitch, which is why the campaigns of newer Halo games have been ridiculously short and are vastly sub par to the first two campaigns. Interestingly enough, ODST's main pitch was Sergeant Johnson advertising Firefight. I remember back in CE and Halo 2, it was about the campaign.

Obviously, Bungie was trying to keep up with competitors, most of which were focused on multiplayer. Coincidence? I think not.

Posted by: Komet
Another good example of this polishing is how Bungie encrypted game assets used in Reach's game engine. Did that stop the modding community? No, instead it nearly leveled the modding community.
I know there are cheaters out there but most modders I know like to focus on the campaign. Bungie's methods of suppression inevitably include campaign, essentially killing off replayability for those who can't stand the normal gameplay or are left wanting more. I often mod CE and Halo 2 campaigns and find the gameplay much more enjoyable than I do with Halo 3 and Reach, which I can barely adjust (courtesy of Liberty).

Posted by: Komet
So where does that leave us? Well it certainly could be worse! Bungie's hosting of this particular forum despite Halo 2's age is evidence of their commitment to its core fans.
I don't know about you but I was very alarmed when I saw that all the Halo games but Reach were removed from the 'Community' drop down menu.

Even though this forum still exists, it's been shoved aside like the others.

On Waypoint, the forum topics are not nearly as interesting as they are in the Halo 4 forum. Pretty much the only thing you see in Halo 2 forums is Anniversary discussion and mp. Whereas CE forum only lives on because of Anniversary.

Posted by: Komet
Perhaps I'm giving Bungie too much credit, but you can't deny they haven't forgotten about the enthusiasts from their older games (if you can call Halo 2 old).
With Halo 3 and Reach, they've completely ignored the accomplishments of old school gamers:

-cutscene glitching (this is a distant memory)
-BAW, clipping, actually doing something about the fall timer
-using easter eggs for glitching and for a large portion of the level
-saving marines
-using Pelicans and Phantoms (the best you could do with them in Reach is the Pelican to Pelican launch on TotS)
-carrying over weapons to the next mission (completely absent in Reach while it is dumbed down in Halo 3, in which you can't bring a fuel rod gun from The Storm to Floodgate except on Co-op)
-being unarmed for an entire level
-massive AI battles
-collecting AI (vehicle collections on the other hand can be impressive. Banshees on Nightfall, Seraphs on LNoS)
-bringing AI to impossible places (still possible as seen in Meta Stability 2.0 though it's probably much harder)

Death barriers are quite prominent nowadays (i.e. on The Ark, at the light bridge). AI get killed off mercilessly by the game (i.e. on The Storm, at the AA gun, right after the cutscene and on The Covenant, at Journey's End, if you skip all the enemies). Encounters are minimal and barely entertaining. They're overrated too (much more than in Halo 2 and Halo 3 tbh).

The only thing from the older games that is fully intact is launching (which was pretty much expected).

Trick jumping is much harder (the lack of Black Eye overshields and Invincibility has taken out one method for good). Grenade jumps are mostly useless. I would have dropped Reach sooner if it weren't for my impulses to prove a point.

Recently, Bungie recognized this. But that's about it afaik.

With Bungie, it's all about luck and polish. CE and Halo 2 don't necessarily fit in those categories, which is why I've tolerated them so much more than newer Halo games and which is why they're rarely brought up these days.

[Edited on 08.28.2012 1:39 AM PDT]

  • 08.28.2012 1:32 AM PDT

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