Halo 3 Single Player Impressions Thread (AKA: NO GRAPHICS TALK)

[AlNom]

The checkpoint system is really about not having enemies on radar or no shooting... It seemed pretty good to me when I played through.

Did anyone wait for the scene after the credits?

And another thing...

Spoiler

I'd say one of the coolest moments was the dual scarab battle scene with the VTOLs and tanks etc in the snow level. The first time through, the normal way I killed it was just by jumping off the nearby cliff or actually shooting the legs. But then the second time around I began to experiment a bit. I had the mongoose then so it wasn't hard to see that I could use the cliff as a ramp to speed off of. That was a "cool vehicle jump onto the enemy vehicle" moment for me. But then I realized that the VTOLs were actually there for me to use.

Well, big deal, just another vehicle yah? Except for the fact that I went passenger side and the VTOL pilot brought me to a scarab and hovered there waiting for me to get off and do my business. The real kicker is that when I had gone back up to the top of the scarab, the VTOL pilot flew back to pick me up. He then brought me to the other scarab.

That was f*ckin cool.

It wasn't perfect though. It didn't work all the time and sometimes the VTOL would move quickly for some reason and I'd fall onto the ground instead of the scarab. Other times the VTOL got stuck and we blew up along with the scarab. Doing it twice perfectly wasn't simple, but just felt so awesome with the music in the background.

 

[Rangers]

I have mixed feelings on the game...some awesome, some not so much.

I dont feel like there was any kind of final boss, which is disappointing. The final sequence was not too great.

I dont know, in the end I probably stick with an 8. Gears of War is a better franchise at this point..

The graphics are the same mixed bag, sometimes truly amazing in scale or theme, excellent lighting, but dragged down by things like jaggies and poor last gen animation.

I'm not big on Halo multiplayer from what I played of the Beta either. I prefer Gears multi-player as well.

The game started and ended slow to me, the middle was the best section.

You could always say in the past Halo had some of the best graphics of the time. You cannot really say that with this iteration. I think Halo's style now leaves it hurting next to stuff like Gears and KZ2 that can put a maximum 8 character models on a screen and focus on those.

A lot of the features with the web integration, so far seem buggy and not that well implemented either. Taking screens is cool...for five minutes. The fact you cant super fast forward through saved films..when you have a hour saved campaign film, it would take you forever to FF to a particular moment..little oversights like that.

The game is too drawn out with backtracking. The game is very long, so many games today dont want to be knocked for being short, I feel like they put too much padding in sometimes. Gears suffered from a bit of that as well.

The music is good, but even that I can find flaw with as often boring, and when it's good it's usually sad. The whole game is very somber, I'm not sure I care for that mood. Hey, we won, why is the whole game sad?

The flood level in the intestines..very annoying and boring. The whole game would be much better by axing that..in fact the flood in general kind of suck. The whole game would probably be better off without that type of enemy. Which is funny because I enjoyed the flood in Halo 1..which is a better game. I missed Halo 2 so that's where I'm coming from Halo wise.

And finally

Spoiler

The ending definitely hints at a sequel..I am glad they left the possibility open, and not only that but I'm actively rooting for a sequel rather than the inevitable prequel..because I hate prequels usually in movies and games..feels like I'm playing something more dated..plus the fact technology moves forward leads to the stupidity of the olden times looking better than the new (for example, the Star Wars flicks), or if they were to make a Halo prequels on Xbox720, it would of course look a lot better than the original games said to take place in a later time. Which is just weird

.

 

[Fred]

Im not a fan of the SP mode that much. It has its wow moments (mostly physics related), but generally is less good and visually impressive than say GoW sp is (even though its far more wide open).

Also, I absolutely hate console controls, it really ruins the game for me.

MP is a different story, and they deserve all the credit that they get in that regard. Its amongst the best games ever on this facet alone (despite the controls).

So big thumbs up if you have xbox live, and a big thumbs down if you don't.

 

[ninzel]

Ditto, maybe it gets better, but it feels exactly like Halo 1 and 2, which isn't good this many years later. I was never a fan of the Halo universe, mostly because the Covenant are lame enemies. If it wasn't for co-op, I'd never play past the first part.

I got bored of Halo2 as well so I shouldn't be surprised. I'm not complaining really,every shooter is different but this just isn't exactly my cup of tea.
But I have to play it just to see.
Edit: I just got to the Flood parts and it seems to be picking up a bit.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Right. I played H3 last night, and I can categorically announce that it was a big flop all round! Why? Because it's been advertised as 4 player coop, but you can't actually play 4 players on a single console. We were left with 4 players bouncing around a big map shooting each other. We had some funny moments, but overall it was a big, sparse, empty experience with most of the time not knowing where where each other is, and normally you get shot up long before you've managed to turn around and find the person shooting you. I don't see the appeal in that myself.

Why do these consoles bother providing support for four players on one box when hardly any games ever use them? Why is cooperative gaming so ignored?

 

[Rangers]

Right. I played H3 last night, and I can categorically announce that it was a big flop all round! Why? Because it's been advertised as 4 player coop, but you can't actually play 4 players on a single console. We were left with 4 players bouncing around a big map shooting each other. We had some funny moments, but overall it was a big, sparse, empty experience with most of the time not knowing where where each other is, and normally you get shot up long before you've managed to turn around and find the person shooting you. I don't see the appeal in that myself.

Why do these consoles bother providing support for four players on one box when hardly any games ever use them? Why is cooperative gaming so ignored?

Wait..4 player co--op is online, right?

4 player co-op via 4 way split screen would be..yeah not too likely, unless you have a huge TV. And I would think it would tax the system to no end graphically..I dont even like playing 2 player split screen co-op on Gears, on my 27" LCD.

So I guess you played four player multiplayer on the same box? It does that in 4 way split screen I guess?

I always heard it advertised as 4 player ONLINE co-op..

BTW, since this is Halo3 impressions. I am so disappointed in this game I am seriously considering trading it back while the value is high and getting Orange Box next week.

 

[RobertR1]

If you're not happy with it, absolutely, trade it in! No need for a $60 shelf piece. I did that with Lost Planet and am glad I did. Bioshock will get traded in for CoD4 as I can't see myself going through it again.

Even though I'm new to Halo land, I find the MP quite enjoyable and will atleast do a few more rounds of co-op campaign before I'm done with the SP portion of it. The MP, especially with the large number of people online, should last for a bit.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I finished the campaing little while ago and now I'm playing it on legendary with a friend of mine over live. We played the first two levels yesterday and it was really fun. I personally think Halo 3 delivered it was even little better than what I was expecting. On a side note I also value Gears of War about as much as Halo nowadays. They are very different games however and together they form pretty nice arsenal of shooting games...

I'll probably play some multiplayer games on live eventually also and I assume I play the campaign through multiple times with different friends, so I personally won't be trading this in. I think I'm going to keep the best games on my collection from now on. Bioshock get's to stay too.

 

[pipo]

Right. I played H3 last night, and I can categorically announce that it was a big flop all round! Why? Because it's been advertised as 4 player coop, but you can't actually play 4 players on a single console.

Well doh.

Even the great Mario Kart is almost unplayable (IMHO) with those tiny screens.

Co-op is all about Live init?

 

[BoardBonobo]

I have enjoyed the experience so far, I always had a soft spot for Halo. It is a game that I still play through now and then. Halo 2 lost some of the magic for me, I've played it once more since I completed it. It just didn't have the shine.

Halo 3 is good but it still seems to have failed to capture the essence of Halo. There's just something missing, almost like the devs hearts weren't really in it and they put together some shine within the Halo universe. A bit like Dan Browns style of writing books, use exactly the same formula, but just change the names and locations.

The Forge and Theatre modes are fantastic additions and will extend the lifespan of halo. But it is just one of those games that when I finish I probably won't ever pick up again. I also expect to see alot of second hand copies available soon.

 

[Kzin]

I don´t realy know about the weapon balance in this game. It may be very good for multiplayer, but i dont think it works as good for singelplayer. I rarely see any reason to not use the battle rifle. The shotgun for example doesnt do enough damage to be worth the penelty you get for getting so close. The plasma pistol is only useful for its charged shot. It can be hard hitting grunts with the normal shots wich dont seem to do much damage anyway. The pistol is meh, even when dual wielding the battle rifle seem to be more powerful.

But maybe the problem is with the ai and enemy behaviors.

 

[Acert93]

Right. I played H3 last night, and I can categorically announce that it was a big flop all round! Why? Because it's been advertised as 4 player coop, but you can't actually play 4 players on a single console.

Halo 3 is advertised as 4 player coop *over Live or *with system link. Halo 3 on a single Xbox 360 only supports 2 player coop.

We were left with 4 players bouncing around a big map shooting each other.

This would be multiplayer.

2v2 is typically done on smaller maps and is popular in some competitions.

Why do these consoles bother providing support for four players on one box when hardly any games ever use them?

Shifty, people do use it. e.g. A Halo party with 4 Xboxes and 16 people. Another is when you have a couple friends over and you are playing over Live -- you can have 4 players on one system playing against/with up to 12 other players online. And then there are those 2v2 matches... or the impromptu 3v1 if one player is much better than the others.

There are a number of modes, like Juggernaut, that are quite fun with a handful of people. Likewise, MP modes with objectives focus gameplay. So if you do some sort of push, VIP, etc game the experience would have fit the number of players much better. And then there is just goofing off in Forge if you and your friends are the more creative types--create your own scenarios.

Were all 4 players fairly new to Halo? Anyone experience with setting up a MP game in the options? I could see the confusion if this is virgin territory, not knowing what to do and such. Halo's MP options are very broad and deep, catering to longevity.

A game like Gears of War, which is max 4v4 and works fine 2v2, would probably fit FPS MP better as the scenarios are pretty straight forward and the scope is intentionally narrow. Halo's MP, by far its strength IMO, is like tossing a young child into the deep end.

Why is cooperative gaming so ignored?

Coop isn't ignored in Halo 3. Only a handful of FPS offer 2 player coop, and Halo 3 is one of them. Only one FPS on the market offers 4 player coop in campaign mode, and that is Halo 3.

Halo 3 is the poster child of cooperative gaming.

* 2 player coop in campaign mode on a single Xbox 360, over Xbox Live, and over System Link.

* 4 player coop in campaign mode over Xbox Live and over System Link (2-4? Xbox 360s).

* Up to 16 players in Multiplayer (with dozens of modes and hundreds of user definable variations) over Xbox Live and over System Link (4 Xbox 360s).

* Up to 8 players in Forge over Xbox Live (8 players), System Link, or splitscreen (2 players).

It doesn't sound like you have Xbox Live, but it is hard to fault the game for this. It is like having 1 controller and faulting a 4 player game for requiring 4 controllers.

FPS are constricting in nature because they are first person, meaning each player needs a segment of the screen. Games with alternative camera situations offer more flexibility here--a single "camera" with all 4 players on screen at the same time. That said, I cannot think of many retail games with 4 player campaigns this generation.

 

[Rangers]

I don´t realy know about the weapon balance in this game. It may be very good for multiplayer, but i dont think it works as good for singelplayer. I rarely see any reason to not use the battle rifle. The shotgun for example doesnt do enough damage to be worth the penelty you get for getting so close. The plasma pistol is only useful for its charged shot. It can be hard hitting grunts with the normal shots wich dont seem to do much damage anyway. The pistol is meh, even when dual wielding the battle rifle seem to be more powerful.

But maybe the problem is with the ai and enemy behaviors.

Yep yep yep/ Same experience..I never messed with the shotgun, it's heavily underpowered.

Although, I did grow to love dual wielding Brute spikers. Those are probaby my favorite weapon, and also effective.

The game almost suffers from weapon inflation..there are so many, in all counting detachable various turrets I'd have to guess what, 20? 30? That many kind of become useless, or you never bother with them.

I dont want to just criticize though, the picking up and playing so many different weapons is something that can be pretty fun about Halo. Something very unique about it among shooters, even if they dont handle it great in 3.

I'm becoming pretty certain I'll trade it. I dont think I ever want to see the single player again. I would think of keeping it for multi, but I just prefer Gears multi. I hope Gears online doesn't become a ghost town now, though.

 

[Kzin]

Rangers

I think the problem is that since halo 2 they seem to have balanced the weapons for multiplayer. I can understand that too powerful grenades or whatever could totaly ruin the multiplayer. But the feeling you get from a well placed grenade in halo1 sp...oh man. Theres not much toping that. I never understood why they couldn´t balance the weapons differently for mp and sp.

I got the urge to play h1 again. Being pinned down by a black elite on legendary. If you stick your nose out for a second you´re dead. But you manage to get close with the shotgun and kabooom! They payoff is great.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Halo 3 is advertised as 4 player coop *over Live or *with system link. Halo 3 on a single Xbox 360 only supports 2 player coop.

Wherever the adverts are, us who got to gether to play it just knew it was 4 player coop and were all expecting it to be on one machine. Small screen is no problem. We've played Kart races split-screen at half the resolution, and Hired Guns at a quarter of the resolution!

Were all 4 players fairly new to Halo?

None of us have played Halo. Tell a lie, the XB360 owner bought H1 and 2 recently. We played 2v2 but it's not what we were hoping for. 'All against the world' is much more fun, especially when one player isn't too hot and just ends up the whipping boy. When we're all on the same team, personal ability doesn't matter too much.

Coop isn't ignored in Halo 3. Only a handful of FPS offer 2 player coop, and Halo 3 is one of them.

I was speaking generally, why is 4 player coop in games such a rarity? That's a primary thing we're looking for as an activity to do together, round someone's house eating junk food and having a laugh. 2 player coop is reasonably common, but not so social. Few genres support 4 player coop, and those that do tend to be pretty limited. Online coop isn't the same social experience either, and is only good if all four friends buy the same expensive console. Maybe that's the console companies' nefarious scheme - yes we support coop with your mates but you'll all have to buy our console to join in!

If I was in charge, I'd have every game released on my console as requiring 4 player cooperative play as an option without exception!

 

[kyleb]

2 player splitscreen co-op chugs enough as it is, I'm guessing 4 player would turn the game into a slideshow at many points thoughout the campaign.

 

[AlNom]

They could render to an even smaller framebuffer.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Many (all?) 4 player split-screen games have reduced multiplayer graphics. If it's the gameplay you're after, and you're rendering to a 1/4 the size screen so can reduce quality without it being terribly noticeable, there's no technical limit. You'd just have to choose to develop a 4 player engine alongside your single player. Perhaps even a scalable engine that reduces complexity on the fly based on number of players. I can see why the extra effort isn't deemed worthwhile, but it is disappointing for those who want single-console coop.

 

[kyleb]

It would be really disappointing to have the campaign's gameplay scaled down to accommodate 4 player split screen, reducing the graphics can only get you so far.

 

[Kyyla]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art.../zeropunctuation/2304-Zero-Punctuation-Halo-3