- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Personally, I have to disagree with the argument that people complain about Halo 2 Live because they are no longer the best, rather I would argue that people complain because they feel they are losing for the wrong reasons. What is a better way to lose, losing to a team with better shooting skills, level control, and teamwork, or losing to a team that got power weapons based off their initial spawn which allowed them to get a lead and then sit in one area, forcing the other team to attack with insufficient weapons. You can say, oh well if you are good you would have got weapons to ovetake them but if that was the case then they weren't good in the first place so it wouldn't matter about the spawn. To me, getting killed and learning what you could have done better or differently rather than having it attributed to simply weaponry makes a game more exciting and makes it stay fresh.
I remember when I first started lanning H1 the summer before H2 came out, I was playing with people I had just met at my dorm who were way better than me. It was frustrating to get owned by them so continually, but I learned quickly and increased my skill to where I eventually surpassed them. I think that is the one overwhelming appeal to people that say Halo 1 is better. The fact that there is not a real limit to how good you can get at the game makes it a very fun game to play, because you can always do something crazy that you haven't done before because you have gotten better. In Halo 2, to me this feeling isn't there. I don't feel like I can really get much better as far as shooting skills, maybe a little, but rather it is all about working with your team. To me the teamwork aspect is good, but individual skill should be allowed to show. I you are good enough to kill the entire team in a CTF game, then it is their fault that they all got owned by one person. Halo 2 does too much to help out people that otherwise would be terrible, it doesn't always show who the best player really was, one reason the ranking system is flawed at times.
Back to the topic. I also think that people misunderstand where pros and competitive players come from when they talk about the game and how it should be. They don't feel the game should have one do it all weapon, but rather one weapon that can make do in most situations if you are good enough, and other weapons you can pick up to use in situations that the main weapon isn't as effective. For example, if someone pulls a shotgun from a good distance away and shoots at someone with a BR, they should die if the BR user is skilled enough. However, if someone has a sniper and I spawn in an open area quick enough to turn and shoot them and they aren't clear across the map, how is it fair that this doesn't matter and I die anyway. I think Halo 3 can certainly be fun for all crowds if it is balanced properly, and to me everyone besides the very worst players should have some kind of say, because bad players simply don't notice little things. The bottom line is good players will see things that could hinder an enjoyable, balanced, fun playing experiance, and just because the casual gamer doesn't care either way doesn't mean it should be there.