Umm...so Halo 3 ain't all that bad.

[ilnadmy]

Went over to a friend's place yesterday and decided to play some Halo 3 multiplayer. We played 3 games then got bored. He then had the idea of playing some co-op, so he booted up Tsavo Highway on Heroic and we got started. Six hours later we were watching the final cinematic in the game.

Wow, Halo 3's singleplayer campaign is MUCH improved over Halo and Halo 2. The first two games I had to force myself to play through, whereas Halo 3 has a much more varied series of missions which are actually fun to play through. The story seemed pretty interesting too, but in the end there was a lot less to the story than I thought there would be (that guy who keeps interrupting your gameplay and yelling at you doesn't even show up anywhere). Oh, and the last two levels are teeeeeerrible. Not like I was surprised, as soon as the Flood showed up I was like, "Oh crap, this game is going down the drain now." The Flood are just terrible video game enemies, period.

Overall though, I'm happy with the game, and will take back all my unfounded criticisms of this game. I haven't played enough multiplayer, but the singleplayer campaign is definitely a good experience, and in fact I'm looking forward to playing through it on my own one day.

I will say this though: the pathfinding in many of the missions is just as bad as Halo's - you never know where you're supposed to go, you just run around looking for the one door you haven't opened yet, which is hard when all the alien installations look the damn same. Oh, and the level before the last? Sonuvab****. That level sucks. I mean really, really hard. It's like Bungie has to have a level as boring as "The Library" from Halo in all their games.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

If not for the enormous amount of hype Halo 3 received I know I would have enjoyed it much more. I still think halo 1 is the best of the series due to the campaign mode but Halo 3 campaign just seemed so insanely BIG compared to anything else, it almost went by in a blur compared to Halo 1. Halo2 was the same way.

[Cuddly Knife]

Yeah, H3 is a good game, and definitely above what most other shooters can offer, as far a a complete package. Glad you finally gave it a run and even gladder that you enjoyed it so much to recant old statements.

Off-topic but near the same vein, I just beat COD4 today, and damn, that game's presentation is the sickest ever. Combat reminded me a ton of COD2, only in a more modern setting with some intense set-pieces. From beginning to end, I was in awe of what was going on around me, and I gotta say that this is the first FPS that evoked emotional responses from me while playing. I have to say that based on my experience(which is SP only no MP, since I dumped the game today and got Twilight Princess GCN), the game is top notch in every way except for the standard gameplay, which isn't neccessarily a bad thing. IMO, length in this game wasn't an issue depite it being short, because the whole game was non-stop intensity. Also, the best graphics so far this generation, IMO.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

Oh, and the last two levels are teeeeeerrible. Not like I was surprised, as soon as the Flood showed up I was like, "Oh crap, this game is going down the drain now." The Flood are just terrible video game enemies, period.

The Flood levels were definitely terrible. They weren't as bad as the ones in Halo 1, but they really did mess up the flow of the game. The Flood as a whole have no AI whatsoever, and that's disappointing after being used to fighting the Covenant most of the game. If the Flood levels weren't in the game, Halo 3 would have been the first ever FPS that I would have considered my GOTY.

I did like the very last level, though. Much better than the last level in Halo 1.

I'm definitely going to replay Halo 3, along with COD4. Maybe I'll enjoy Jackson's part of the game more this time around.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Good to hear and good to hear you have the honesty to admit your feelings, a lot of guys around here won't do that.

Certainly no game is going to have all of its levels be perfect, hopefully in a great game you are only going to get one or two bad levels. But when you have a game with only a few bad levels I think you have a pretty good game. For example in HL2, in terms of structure it certainly could be a good game from the physics and ballistics point of view, but really only a few of the missions were great and lot were bad. I just finished RFOM1 and a few of the missions were bad, most were okay, and then about 3 or 4 were GREAT! In COD4 for me half were bad and half were great, it was that kind of game for me.

You should definitely play it coop over XBOX LIVE so you get the full screen, not split screen, and you should definitely start from the beginning and try legendary mode. To me this is one of the best achievements of the game, split-screen is cool, but co-op full screen rocks. Of course a few other games do it well also, GEARS for example and R6.

[NEO-360]

Went over to a friend's place yesterday and decided to play some Halo 3 multiplayer. We played 3 games then got bored. He then had the idea of playing some co-op, so he booted up Tsavo Highway on Heroic and we got started. Six hours later we were watching the final cinematic in the game.

Wow, Halo 3's singleplayer campaign is MUCH improved over Halo and Halo 2. The first two games I had to force myself to play through, whereas Halo 3 has a much more varied series of missions which are actually fun to play through. The story seemed pretty interesting too, but in the end there was a lot less to the story than I thought there would be (that guy who keeps interrupting your gameplay and yelling at you doesn't even show up anywhere). Oh, and the last two levels are teeeeeerrible. Not like I was surprised, as soon as the Flood showed up I was like, "Oh crap, this game is going down the drain now." The Flood are just terrible video game enemies, period.

Overall though, I'm happy with the game, and will take back all my unfounded criticisms of this game. I haven't played enough multiplayer, but the singleplayer campaign is definitely a good experience, and in fact I'm looking forward to playing through it on my own one day.

I will say this though: the pathfinding in many of the missions is just as bad as Halo's - you never know where you're supposed to go, you just run around looking for the one door you haven't opened yet, which is hard when all the alien installations look the damn same. Oh, and the level before the last? Sonuvab****. That level sucks. I mean really, really hard. It's like Bungie has to have a level as boring as "The Library" from Halo in all their games. Either way you cut it you liked it. End of story.:cool:

[ilnadmy]

Either way you cut it you liked it. End of story.:cool:

Duh.

And TMG, I would try it co-op on Xbox Live, but my friend doesn't have a Gold account, so I can't take his 360 online. I might try it co-op split screen on Legendary though.

[ilnadmy]

Good to hear and good to hear you have the honesty to admit your feelings, a lot of guys around here won't do that.

Like I tell you guys over and over, I don't hate Halo because it's Halo - the Xbox's posterchild, one of the best selling games, a console FPS that's more popular than many PC FPS, blah blah blah. I hated Halo and Halo 2 because I thought they were bad games. Halo 3, on the other hand, I really enjoyed, and I have no problem admitting that. Hell, if I were to buy a 360 somewhere down the line, I'd probably buy Halo 3, even though I already finished the game, since it lends itself to replayability well.

I figure, as a gamer, you owe it to yourself to play all the popular games, just to experience them and be able to debate knowingly about them. True, if I had a 360 when Halo 3 came out I wouldn't have bought it because the first two left a bad taste in my mouth, but if I get the chance to play it for free, then obviously I'm going to give it a shot, and if I like it, well then I'll admit that. I did the same with Gears of War - really good that almost sold me a 360. So what if it's a 360 exclusive? A good game is a good game. Ditto for Mass Effect.

[Glockstar]

Went over to a friend's place yesterday and decided to play some Halo 3 multiplayer. We played 3 games then got bored. He then had the idea of playing some co-op, so he booted up Tsavo Highway on Heroic and we got started. Six hours later we were watching the final cinematic in the game.

Wow, Halo 3's singleplayer campaign is MUCH improved over Halo and Halo 2. The first two games I had to force myself to play through, whereas Halo 3 has a much more varied series of missions which are actually fun to play through. The story seemed pretty interesting too, but in the end there was a lot less to the story than I thought there would be (that guy who keeps interrupting your gameplay and yelling at you doesn't even show up anywhere). Oh, and the last two levels are teeeeeerrible. Not like I was surprised, as soon as the Flood showed up I was like, "Oh crap, this game is going down the drain now." The Flood are just terrible video game enemies, period.

Overall though, I'm happy with the game, and will take back all my unfounded criticisms of this game. I haven't played enough multiplayer, but the singleplayer campaign is definitely a good experience, and in fact I'm looking forward to playing through it on my own one day.

Halo 3 was... good.

My opinions of it have been actually slipping over time. At first I thought it was "GREAT"; then it was "very good"; now it's just "good". It would seem as though it's on the road to just "okay". But I haven't played any multi-player modes yet, and I'm sure once I do it will get back on the road to wellness.

I played thru the single player campaign 3 times. First on Normal, then Heroic, then Legendary. I thought the difficulty levels were set a lot better than they were in Halo 2. And I loved the new vehicles. But those are the only things I thought were better than Halo 2. The Halo games have progressively gotten worse, imo.

There were 3 levels in Halo 3 that I did not like. I agree with you that the last two levels sucked. But I also hated "Crow's Nest"; the second level. That was the level where they had you going here and then coming back, and then going there and then coming back again, and then going back again and then coming back here there again again... I thought that was baaaad.

-

I will say this though: the pathfinding in many of the missions is just as bad as Halo's - you never know where you're supposed to go, you just run around looking for the one door you haven't opened yet, which is hard when all the alien installations look the damn same.

Say what?!

Now if you're talking about that second level (Crows Nest) then I might agree with you. But other than that... ?!? I don't know how you can say this, and yet not have a problem with COD4. Wow. :mad2:

-

I was in awe of what was going on around me, and I gotta say that [COD4] is the first FPS that evoked emotional responses from me while playing.

You have got to be kidding me? Right?

You guys kill me. What was there to get emotional about?! I didn't see/feel anything! Halo 3 was a more emotional experience than COD4; heck, so was Rainbow Six Vegas. ...And they weren't much. I just don't get it. Damn, you guys should stay away from BioShock, and The Darkness, and Portal, and even Episode Two... those games will wreck you. Now COD2... that one was emotional.

-

The Flood levels were definitely terrible. They weren't as bad as the ones in Halo 1, but they really did mess up the flow of the game. The Flood as a whole have no AI whatsoever, and that's disappointing after being used to fighting the Covenant most of the game. If the Flood levels weren't in the game, Halo 3 would have been the first ever FPS that I would have considered my GOTY.

As I said before, I did not care for The Flood "levels" in H3. Mostly because I couldn't stand those morphing-gatling gun forms. Not only were they a pain in the azz, but they seemed illogical too.

That said, I did not like The Flood levels in Halo 2 either. Especially that one second-to-last level: I couldn't see $h!t.

But I liked The Flood and Flood levels in Halo. The level where you first encounter The Flood? I thought that was genuinely creepy and scary. And The Library level was just so different from all other levels. It was spooky; nerve-wracking; and tough... but at the same time you get to SHOTGUN BLAST FOES IN THE FACE A LOT... which is always going to be fun. And then in the subsequent levels where you had The Flood and Covenant mixed... I thought it was a great variety of badguys and I liked the strategies that it made you employ.

[Cuddly Knife]

You have got to be kidding me? Right?

You guys kill me. What was there to get emotional about?! I didn't see/feel anything! Halo 3 was a more emotional experience than COD4; heck, so was Rainbow Six Vegas. ...And they weren't much. I just don't get it. Damn, you guys should stay away from BioShock, and The Darkness, and Portal, and even Episode Two... those games will wreck you. Now COD2... that one was emotional.



((((((((((((((((()COD4 spoilers())))))))))))))))))))))))))


It was very painful playing Johnson(or whatever his name was) after the nuke. Playing that part through his eyes, seeing the explosion, hearing the sounds, everything around you burning. Damn, that was intense. The whole game was intense. Bioshock was bleh, story-wise(although I did feel for the Little Sisters). Portal was just different, HL2 is crap. I don't know if I will ever get to Episode Two.

[Glockstar]

Oh gawd. :rolleyes: That "level" was ghey. The worst level EVAR!

[Mochan]

I will try this game out when it comes out on the PC in 2-3 years.



Like Il, I don't have anything against Halo *because it's Halo* I have a bone with Halo 1 and 2 because I found them to be mediocre games (at best). If Halo 3 is a good game (and you guys will note I've refrained from passing judgement on Halo 3 all this time) I'm more than willing to shell out some praise for it.

[Cuddly Knife]

Oh gawd. :rolleyes: That "level" was ghey. The worst level EVAR!
Damnit, Glock. It wasn't about the level, it was about what happened. Hardly ghey. LOL

[joquito]

I have a hard time hating games with Co-op. The first Co-op game I ever played was Touchdown Fever for the NES. I played receiver, and my bro played QB. We quarterback sneeked every single play, and beat the game, first try. Awful game, but it was a blast. Halo 3 has some very emense battles and is perfect for Co-op. On single player, I enjoyed it but found that it lacked the replayability of the prior 2 games, except when playing Co-op.

I pray the new splinter cell adds Co-op.

[Glockstar]

Damnit, Glock. It wasn't about the level, it was about what happened. Hardly ghey. LOL

Bah. Sorry dude, it didn't impress me. I was like 'Ohhhh-kay, what-ever'. Like all of the other "shock and awe" moments in the game, I just felt like it was too heavy-handed, too contrived, too showy, and too ridiculous. I will be honest with you tho', when I first experienced the moment I thought, 'I'll bet this gets the girls all wet, and they flood the websites with their oohs and aahs.' But too me it was like a steaker running across a tennis match. Where he's like, 'Hey everybody, look at me!' And everyone who saw it knows that it was just some guy being an azz, and not a single person was left wondering what were his political motivations, or what was this cause that he was "fighting" for, or what he's trying to bring awareness too. Everybody knows it was just a selfish act and it was just for show. You can go "ooh" and "aah", or laugh, if you want to, but I just scoff and look away until we get back to doing what we're supposed to be doing. Call of Duty 4 is the Britney Spears of video games.

-

Bioshock was bleh, story-wise(although I did feel for the Little Sisters). Portal was just different, HL2 is crap. I don't know if I will ever get to Episode Two.

BioShock rules your house, your neighborhood, your city and your county! I'm glad you felt something for the Little Sisters - it proves you're not a total neanderthal. But that's all you got out of the story?! Guess you are a neanderthal afterall. Something's gotta blow up in order for you to get it... :rolleyes:

:wink5:


-


I pray the new splinter cell adds Co-op.

Well the last two had co-op. So...

They were AWESOME modes too. Did you play them?

[ThaMaskedGamer]

I just hope that COD4 success doesn't affect Rainbow6 and G.R.. I hope Ubisoft, which already watered down to some degree Rainbow, doesn't look and say we have to do dumb-down our games.

I definitely do NOT want to lose the ability to control all the elements of war like in G.R. where you could control choppers and little birds and APC and tanks as well as your squad, and also see through their cams, that was cool as sh*t and just outclasses anything in COD4 imo. I also don't want these heavily scripted endings that we saw in COD4 and Uncharted where u just push a button during a sequence, I hate that crap. And I definitely don't want to see how in COD4 they just took short-cuts, all of the guns felt the same, sounded the same, you couldn't select fire rates, heck could'nt even select your weapons. I know it will be tough for other companies to sit back and see all of this acclaim COD4 received and not have it affect their projects. Hopefully the next Brothers In Arms will be a real military shooter, I can't wait for that game.

[joquito]

Well the last two had co-op. So...

They were AWESOME modes too. Did you play them?

I never finished the single player campaign for either. When Chaos theory was $20, I purchased it as gifts for friends, solely to play the 3 or so levels available for online Co-op.

I think ilnadmy became more open to Halo 3 due to playing it in Co-op. I just don't understand how someone can like Halo 3 and hate Halo 2.

[Dancer O_o]

I think ilnadmy became more open to Halo 3 due to playing it in Co-op. I just don't understand how someone can like Halo 3 and hate Halo 2.

Yep, I read his mess and was thinking exactly the same thing, Halo 1 2 and 3 are all VERY similar (and they should be), if you liked 3...you should probably like 2 and 1 about the same. Halo 3 was remarkably similar to the previous ones to the degree that I need to take a second look at what people are playing to know which version they are attacking, and I have mistaken 2 for 3 more than once at a glance. Online co-op is a super great idea, I just like co-op games a ton.

One odd thing about Halo3, the AI is better, but the game is easier than 1 and 2...this I am still trying to figure out...

[ilnadmy]

Not true. I played Halo on co-op and I didn't like it. The gameplay mechanics are very similar, true, but the LEVELS themselves are vastly differently set up. The levels in the first Halo were terribly repetitive and didn't have much in terms of plot pacing. Same with the second, although it was slightly improved. The third however nails down the presentation aspect as far as variety of levels and tying the storytelling into the game itself.

I might have enjoyed it more because I played it co-op, but I could still tell that I was enjoying the levels themselves and wasn't just having fun because it was co-op.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Not true. I played Halo on co-op and I didn't like it. The gameplay mechanics are very similar, true, but the LEVELS themselves are vastly differently set up. The levels in the first Halo were terribly repetitive and didn't have much in terms of plot pacing. Same with the second, although it was slightly improved. The third however nails down the presentation aspect as far as variety of levels and tying the storytelling into the game itself.

I might have enjoyed it more because I played it co-op, but I could still tell that I was enjoying the levels themselves and wasn't just having fun because it was co-op.

This is absolutely wrong, each Halo game was paced very well. Had great mix of vehicle and foot based levels, even variety within the vehicle levels between air and ground. Story integration was stellar and really kinda improved as the series went on, simply because the FMV scenes improved in visual fidelity as well as voice acting. For some reason the series had to grow on you, but across the board the games were consistently high quality. The last game, on a technical basis, is the best, but of course that should be the case given the technology. The 2nd game was just extremely short and you had to play as the Arbiter, to the extent a lot of people hated the Arbiter, I can see why many didn't like part 2. The brevity of part 2 all other things being equal, probably makes it objectively the worst of the three. But I loved part 2. Anyway, you'll never get people to agree on the series. But on thing is for sure, you can get 7 or 8 million people to buy it over and over.

[Glockstar]

The levels in the first Halo were terribly repetitive and didn't have much in terms of plot pacing. Same with the second, although it was slightly improved. The third however nails down the presentation aspect as far as variety of levels and tying the storytelling into the game itself.

I feel the exact opposite.

I loved the story in the first game. The pacing, the presentation, everything. As far as tying the story and plot into the gameplay, the gameplay was the story in Halo. That's probably why I like it so much. I like playing the game, not watching it. FMV's don't do a whole lot for me.

That was one of the issues I had with Halo 2. Too much video. You put the game in and you have to wait like twenty minutes before you can even play it. I thought I was playing a JRPG there for awhile! ("Playing a JRPG"... there's an oxymoron for you.) Level design in this game was amazing. Except for the fog in The Flood levels. (And it's too bad they fracked up the difficulty settings. Damn!!! :( ) The story was massive tho'; A LOT happened in that game. But then again that was also a detriment: I thought it was very confusing. Still, a lot of the story was tied into the gameplay; much better than it was Halo 3 - so I think you're wrong about this one too.

They cut down the FMV and downtime in Halo 3, and overrall I'd say the presentation of the story was excellent. I just didn't like the story. Also, there were a couple of levels in the game that felt like fluff to me - story-wise.