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Halo 2
Rick
Sector 14 Studios
in Zocalo v2.0
Well, I finally did it.
I bought an Xbox....and it was for one game...[i]Halo 2[/i].
In perspective, I waited for [i]Halo[/i] for the PC. It was good, but I wasn't as drawn in as I had been with the story in other FPS games.
[i]Halo 2[/i] has proven to be quite the contrary. Until recently, I think the original [i]Half-Life[/i] or [i]Max Payne2[/i] were setting the bar for compelling gaming drama.
I've not finished it yet, but I have to say one thing having just come off of [i]Half-Life 2[/i]: I think [i]Halo 2's[/i] story is fantastic, and the way that they blend gameplay between the nemisi seems natural, and by far, is one of the most unique uses of that dramatic tool that I have seen in a long time...you actually want both to win.
The voice acting is great, cutscenes are well paced and not obtrusive, and the story makes me wish I was far better at aiming with a S-controller than I am now...
While [i]Half-Life 2's[/i] graphics were fantastic, I did feel like I was strapped on a train-ride....there was not as much freedom as there was in the original [i]Half-Life[/i]. While the same could be said for [i]Halo 2[/i], the pacing of the game made it such that you never had the time to focus on the fact, so it felt far less like you were on rails (even though you were even moreso).
Anyone else have thoughts on this one?
-R.
I bought an Xbox....and it was for one game...[i]Halo 2[/i].
In perspective, I waited for [i]Halo[/i] for the PC. It was good, but I wasn't as drawn in as I had been with the story in other FPS games.
[i]Halo 2[/i] has proven to be quite the contrary. Until recently, I think the original [i]Half-Life[/i] or [i]Max Payne2[/i] were setting the bar for compelling gaming drama.
I've not finished it yet, but I have to say one thing having just come off of [i]Half-Life 2[/i]: I think [i]Halo 2's[/i] story is fantastic, and the way that they blend gameplay between the nemisi seems natural, and by far, is one of the most unique uses of that dramatic tool that I have seen in a long time...you actually want both to win.
The voice acting is great, cutscenes are well paced and not obtrusive, and the story makes me wish I was far better at aiming with a S-controller than I am now...
While [i]Half-Life 2's[/i] graphics were fantastic, I did feel like I was strapped on a train-ride....there was not as much freedom as there was in the original [i]Half-Life[/i]. While the same could be said for [i]Halo 2[/i], the pacing of the game made it such that you never had the time to focus on the fact, so it felt far less like you were on rails (even though you were even moreso).
Anyone else have thoughts on this one?
-R.
Comments
Ever.
-R.
I haven't played Halo 2 (although I've heard only bad things about the story from various quarters) so I can't comment on that, but I agree about Half-life 2 feeling like being strapped in a train ride. There was significantly less feeling of freedom in it compared with HL1.
The only things that really bugged me were the flying of the... wraith? you know, the flying thingies... In Halo1, they had a reverse, now they don't... That added to the fact that they don't really feel good to fly, made those sequences really not much fun..
Spoiler: And the End... What did they think? I mean, a Cliffhanger, when the next game will probably take 3 years until it comes out(I think i heard that bungie won't make Halo 3 their next game... could be wrong of course)....
That and the godawful german dubbing made my gaming-experience worse than it could have been..
The story was good, though. It didn't get as repetitive as the first game did. And I liked the ending.
ever
I'll let you know what I think of Halo2 in three years when it's out for PC.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Rick [/i]
[B]While [i]Half-Life 2's[/i] graphics were fantastic, I did feel like I was strapped on a train-ride....there was not as much freedom as there was in the original [i]Half-Life[/i].[/B][/QUOTE]I think it was pretty much as limited in HL1, big part of game just was inside underground complex where you don't expect to have many different routes to other places so it just wasn't so apparent.
Have you tried FarCry?
Outside levels of it are outstanding. And same goes for vegetation.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by E.T [/i]
[B]Have you tried FarCry?
Outside levels of it are outstanding. And same goes for vegetation. [/B][/QUOTE]
Very true, the outside levels are awesome. Especially with full details at 1600x1200 :whip: (ass)
As for Halo 2... played it for several hours on a friend's Xbox, and was only slightly more impressed with it than I was with Halo. The vehicles are fun, but the story is terrible and the weapons don't feel right. The only positive thing I have to say about the game is that it wasn't as repetitive as Halo 1, which I consider to be one of the most over-hyped games ever made.
Halo 2 Rocks even more! and while I havent seen its campaign mode, in multiplayer head to head it kicks ass.
Then again there were three X-boxes on three big screen TV's so yeah of course it rocked :D my friends working on a fourth TV box combo so we can do 8 vs 8 :D
[B]Meh, [i]Far Cry[/i]'s gameplay was fun (until the end... I quit without beating it because it got too tedious fighting those rocket monkeys), but its story was terrible. Half-Life 2 didn't feel restrictive at all... it's all so cinematic, like a highly personalized movie. And the combat is certainly open-ended, thanks to the inclusion of the Gravity Gun. ;)
As for Halo 2... played it for several hours on a friend's Xbox, and was only slightly more impressed with it than I was with Halo. The vehicles are fun, but the story is terrible and the weapons don't feel right. The only positive thing I have to say about the game is that it wasn't as repetitive as Halo 1, which I consider to be one of the most over-hyped games ever made. [/B][/QUOTE]
You have to actually play through more than an hour or two of halo2 to be impressed..the story makes no sense at all unless you actually experience it.
As fort HL1 vs HL2 restriction, I totally disagree. What I mean by "rails" is that there is very little room but to go forward or back on the maps...I remember the underground minecar maps and how you could get lost there in HL1. There were many non-linear branches that let you have many paths through it rather than just one, a craft that the original Deus Ex mastered.
Now, the graphics were pretty, and the characters were definitely more deep, and the story itself was, well, crafted like an X-files episode (frustrating, but well done), however, HL2's levels are definitely more linear than HL1's are. That bothered me. Allot.
Re: FarCry: Yes, I finished FarCry. I liked it allot. I just wish it hadn't gone all DooM3 at the end. It was a beautiful engine, and those maps were DEFINITELY not linear. All I would have done to improve it was wrap a little more narrative into it to keep the story compelling...as it was, the story was the weakest part of the game.
To be honest, I really feel, especially given games like FarCry, Deus Ex, and the original Half-Life, that linear maps are an almost unforgivable shortcoming in modern PC game design...Developers do need to step up and acknowledge that for their game to be great, they have to give at least a little more freedom than the single-path-story.
IMO :)
-R.
[B]I refuse to buy any new consoles.
ever
I'll let you know what I think of Halo2 in three years when it's out for PC. [/B][/QUOTE]
I said the same thing for the last 10 years.
Then I saw Halo2, and had to give it a try. Seeing as the xbox cost only a little more than a Dolby-capable DVD player, it wasn't really that hard to justify trying it out.
Consoles are definitely cheaper to upgrade than PCs...that's for sure.
(stares at GeForce 6800ultra, knowing it will be obsolete by March :eek: )
-R.
[B](stares at GeForce 6800ultra, knowing it will be obsolete by March :eek: )[/B][/QUOTE]
Now this, I can definitely agree with. When I bought my PS2, the system had already been out something like 1.5 or 2 years (I don't know exactly when it was first released). I've had it for 2 years. It still isn't anywhere near obselete. The graphics they pull off in the games I play continue to amaze me (just look at [url=http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/jlbiggs/images/xenosaga2.jpg]Xenosaga[/url] [url=http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/jlbiggs/images/xenosaga3.jpg]Ep[/url] [url=http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/jlbiggs/images/xenosaga4.jpg]2[/url] to see why). Sure, they may not be 1600x1200, but they look just fine to me, even on my 21" monitor. I've seen effects done on my PS2 that a top of the line video card could only dream of replicating, thanks to the innovative architecture of the PS2's chipset (I've read published conference papers about it, I know what I'm talking about). Meanwhile, the game design continues to take advantage of the unique nature of consoles to produce excellent games with innovative gameplay (Katamari Damacy, anyone?) and strong stories.
Frankly, I think refusing to buy a console just because it's a console is silly. Buy what you need to play the good games. Don't not play a game just because it's on a console and not the PC. Don't judge a game by its platform.
I'm thinking about taking advantage of the weak dollar, a X-Box for £50!
the first is by FAR the best. The music clips, the audio clips....all just perfect!
No need for one. Besides, I don't own a TV. As of yet, console graphics are WAY far behind PC games, and limited even further by the TV Itself.
I'm mainly a flightsim/racing/FPS gamer.
Racing on consoles is fine. but I have a good control pad for the PC, so no differance.
Flightsims require a joystick. Good joystick = PC
FPS = keyboard and mouse. Sure, the PS2 lets you hook up a keyboard and mouse. but ultimately, PC rocks it big time.
next up: Sound. PC Games = stereo, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 shoot...whatever your soundcard can handle and your game supports.
console? Stereo. Unless I'm mistaken and they have surround sound? Meh...matters not.
I have a good PC rig, to get a good console rig I'd have to:
Buy a good TV
Buy a nice new sound system
buy the console
buy the games
and end result? I'd never play them. I've had many oppertunities to play console games...and they are never quite as much fun other then the racing games. (I LOVE RIDGE RACER!!!!)
[B]for those curious: [url]http://www.warthog-jump.com/[/url]
the first is by FAR the best. The music clips, the audio clips....all just perfect! [/B][/QUOTE]
Hillarious :D