Halo: Reach

Because the problem with Halo 3 was that you typically didn't start with a BR, so everyone would run, grab a BR, and tried to be really good with it. the BR was the best, all around weapon in the game. Period. Halo 2 was very similar with it too; REACH so far hasn't been too heavy with either the DMR or the pistol (or Needle Rifle, for that matter) from what I've seen, but I've only played a few rounds of invasion, which was really refreshing, and what more of the MP should be based around, IMO.

Of course, the map we played on, Spire, seemed very hard to win. The defenders (Elites) at that point got to spawn with energy swords, so you had six dudes, all having to camp one general area with energy swords; real easy to do.

Myself, I quite enjoyed the SP campaign, so I don't get the hate. It wasn't too short, and it was generally fun, although it could've used a bit more chance to use shit like the "Target locator" or the Scorpion tank or something; I ended up using Wraiths a lot more just because they were relatively easy to steal; banshee's too, on the maps with jetpacks. The Sp campaign certainly isn't fan service though, since all the extra-story stuff from the books is basically completely and utterly ignored, which is a fucking shame, since the original "Battle of Reach" was a bigass space battle; a hundred + UNSC ships Vs. 3x Covie ships. Would've made for an excellent opening cutscene. Screw this "Welcome to Noble" bullshit, let me see some serious ship-to-ship combat.

Also, the "HOPE" trailer/TV spot you've probably seen a dozen times is more or less what happened in one of the books; except they had stolen some banshees, flown them in, and shot-putted the nuke up the gravity well of the super carrier. Then it went boom, and rained giblets and shrapnel over the landscape.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
Most of the fans enthusiasm comes from the multiplayer mode as I guess most of them have never played FPS games on a PC.
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Though one has to agree that when it comes to the ads Halo has easily some of the best one out there (you know We are ODST ? and such)
 
DirkGently said:
Because the problem with Halo 3 was that you typically didn't start with a BR, so everyone would run, grab a BR, and tried to be really good with it.
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lol ok... First of all, that makes no sense as the reason why BR = insta-kill. Second of all, Halo 3 was the only console multiplayer I played on a regular basis and one thing I can say with certainty is that you start with BR a LOT, actually. Third, most multiplayer games have a powerful weapon that nobody starts with and people rush to get and try to be good with.

the BR was the best, all around weapon in the game.
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Opinion. It's the best weapon if you're good with it. For me personally, the best weapon is the shotgun.
 
You know the really sad thing about all of this? Halo had potential to be really awesome. But if Bungie had tried to realize it's full potential, they'd first run into the wall of not really being A+ developers, but they'd alienate the frat boy crowd.

As for why the campaign is considered so bad Dirk, it fails at telling a coherent story and drama. It tries to sell anticlimactic deaths of dudes who it spent NO time trying to forge a connection with to the player. Another thing: I knew why Reach/Cortana were important, but that's because I know the background material. It's never stated in game that "Yeah Reach is basically the covies last stop before earth" or "Cortana knows where humans live and so the cov can't get her."

Also, the reveal of the covies actually being on reach is shit. It goes from "Oh noes I hope not" to "O noes covie on reach." The first mission should have had you actually fighting rebels, then as the last of them are beginning to stand down "Sir, I'm getting a new conta- OH SHIT COVENANT!" *Cue brown pants moment*
 
Also, the difficulty is fake as hell. Your allies are mostly useless and on Legendary, rather than just being smarter and you having less supplies or whatever, it's the former and enemies have stupid amounts of health. I'm talking "Elites taking 4 sniper bullets to the head to drop their shields."
 
Gameplay wise? This is a very good game. Story wise? Not so much. I honestly think Bungie just wrote a general outline of the plot and went with it so they could work on the multiplayer a bit more.
 
After playing some, I can at least say MP-wise, I prefer Reach to 3 by miles. Haven't gotten too far into the story, but eh, it's fun with some friends in coop.
 
Actually, the fact that Cortana knows the location of all the human colonies is stated flat out in the Halo:CE opening cinematic. And the importance of REACH is said before too long in REACH, if I remember correctly. Either way, the campaign is still fun, and still replayable, even for fun/challenge and not OMG ACHIEVEMENTS which are all pr. good aside from the MP ones.

I do agree that the covenant should have been handled better. A massive invasion would've been much more believable than the shit they did. Though I doubt bungie would've had you actually fighting the Innies; only once in the history of the Halo games have you actually had to kill a human; and that was in ODST, provided you did all the audiologs.

On MP:

The shotgun is a power weapon, and, as such, it's completely situational. if you're good with it, you can completely dominate CQB situations, but beyond ten feet and you're completely fucked because Bungie based their shotgun around common misconceptions, awesome aesthetic, and wonderfully confusing mechanism.

That said, the BR is the best all around weapon. In good hands it can do extremely well at close to short range (especially in conjuction with the plasma pistol), medium it's the best weapon, period, and at long range it can be damaging, especially if you decide to try and pick off people who are busy fighting someone else. Skillful use of the BR can keep a sniper from scoping in and doing anything, and can fuck up somebody aiming the Spartan Laser or rocket launcher.

Of course, that's limited to if you're "good" with the BR, but if you're not trying to be good with it, you're doing it wrong.

Of course, the best close range combo is the SMG/Plasma Rifle.

Of course, I didn't play the H3 multiplayer much, but when I did, BR Slayer or anything of the like wasn't really common yet. I'm sure bungie tweaked their playlists later on (Bungie has the most supported MP program, period), but when i played, you still had to scramble for a BR and hope some fuckstick didn't take all the ammo.
 
DirkGently, I think Bungie tweaked Halo 3 quite a bit since you've played it. I didn't feel like BR was unfairly overpowered at all. It's great in some situations and it sucks in others. I loved it on Valhalla and I found it useless on Guardian, which I often dominated so I know I'm not missing something.

Bungie really does have a pretty hands on approach to MP monitoring, which is awesome. If enough people voice their displeasure with some element, it usually isn't around for too long. As a result, Halo 3 MP struck me as one of the most balanced and tweaked out multiplayer games I've ever played.

I'll be honest, normally, I just prefer the PC setup, when it comes to MP. I've tried a lot of console MP games but Halo 3 was the only one that I've actually played about as much as Counter Strike. It's a great game with excellent support from Bungie. If Reach really does improve on it, like people say, then it's already a must play for me.

When it comes to campaign, I can totally see how Bungie could disappoint. I loved the setup that Halo 2 had for Halo 3 but it definitely didn't live up to expectations. It had some intense and epic moments but they just didn't go for the REAL space drama enough, if you know what I mean. Even compared to the events of Halo 2, Halo 3 campaign felt a bit weak. I could totally see how Reach could be in the same vein: emotional and dramatic moments but just not quite dramatic or emotional enough.
 
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