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This thread has been linked to the game 'Halo 2'.
Check out IGN, there's a 5 page playtest on there, plus new screenshots and some direct stream videos (which you have to subscribe to get, I believe). The screenshots look incredible, and from what I read, the online multi-play looks and sounds awesome. The level described is exactly the kind of level I thought was lacking from the first game, a kind of 'onslaught' level with fixed gun turrets, loads of vehicles and cool sniping points.
Just a shame I won't have broadband when it comes out on November 9th.
Just a shame I won't have broadband when it comes out on November 9th.
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I was really disappointed by Halo. I was hoping it would be awesome, and at first it was, but beyond the initial wow it was a huge disappointment. Good yes, but probably the msot overrated title in the past 4 years, alongside F-Zero GX (Best racer ever? Ooooookaaaay...) and a few others.
I wasn't expecting anything superb from Metroid, but it was. How anyone can call it a mess is beyond me, it's easily the best game I've played in ages.
I wasn't expecting anything superb from Metroid, but it was. How anyone can call it a mess is beyond me, it's easily the best game I've played in ages.
Nope.
I've been thrashing KOTOR and then I'll be thrashing Harvest Moon, no need to get bogged down in extra games at the moment.
I've been thrashing KOTOR and then I'll be thrashing Harvest Moon, no need to get bogged down in extra games at the moment.
Picked up Ninja Gaiden yet?
Draw distance fair enough, I thought you were refering to the actual amount of space you had to roam in.
From what I remember though, the majority of the game took place inside(including caverns), which is a shame cause they sucked.
From what I remember though, the majority of the game took place inside(including caverns), which is a shame cause they sucked.
Deus Ex had outdoor environments on a slightly smaller scale the Halo but graphically it wasn't very impressive and it had it's far share of frame rate issues.
As soon as you land from the Pod after the Pillar of Autumn you can't help but admire the draw distance and size of the landscape. This was all handled with multiple enemies on screen at once as well as friendly AI players.
I can't think of a game prior to Halo that offered this. This has been bettered since by Far Cry but at the time it was a first for console games.
As soon as you land from the Pod after the Pillar of Autumn you can't help but admire the draw distance and size of the landscape. This was all handled with multiple enemies on screen at once as well as friendly AI players.
I can't think of a game prior to Halo that offered this. This has been bettered since by Far Cry but at the time it was a first for console games.
ÂLŠ†ÂÎR wrote:
>the massive outdoor sections which were a first for a
> console game which managed to maintain decent visuals and a decent
> frame rate.
I don't agree with that, I'm sure there's been plenty of games with outdoor environments as big or bigger than Halo's. They weren't exactly massive anyway; they may have been quite long but the path was always rather narrow - you couldn't move more than about 10m sideways in most places.
>the massive outdoor sections which were a first for a
> console game which managed to maintain decent visuals and a decent
> frame rate.
I don't agree with that, I'm sure there's been plenty of games with outdoor environments as big or bigger than Halo's. They weren't exactly massive anyway; they may have been quite long but the path was always rather narrow - you couldn't move more than about 10m sideways in most places.
A 9/10 game for me is a game which pushes the genre to its limits whilst offering a few new things to keep things fresh. Halo pushed the standard FPS to its limits and with the excellent vehicle physics, the massive outdoor sections which were a first for a console game which managed to maintain decent visuals and a decent frame rate. It was also the first game to use full Dolby Digital which actually helped pick out where the enemies were coming from. These factors alone freshened up a genre which previously kept combat close quaters.
Granted the FPS genre can be divided up into many parts these days, wyhat with Riddick as an example of a game which takes on many different genres and blends them perfectly. However as the standard FPS, ala Doom; Halo managed to excel beyond expectations, it was and still is an awesome game.
Granted the FPS genre can be divided up into many parts these days, wyhat with Riddick as an example of a game which takes on many different genres and blends them perfectly. However as the standard FPS, ala Doom; Halo managed to excel beyond expectations, it was and still is an awesome game.
I don't.
It was a straight forward FPS that offered nothing new, and which had it's levels designed in 2 days by a gibbon playing with some lego and texture development which involved taking a shot of a grey surface and pasting it everywhere.
It's only real achievement as far as I'm concerned was the implementing of the vehicles, which was probably the best at the time. The flying ones weren't perfect but then no one ever seems to manage that (except actual flying games).
It's a 7/10 game, which BTW is the same score I gave to Mario Sunshine and Wind Waker.
Edit: Plus the standard grunts looked and sounded like Boobah, I just couldn't take it seriously after I realised I was shooting children's entertainers. No wonder they waved their arms around like gimps.
It was a straight forward FPS that offered nothing new, and which had it's levels designed in 2 days by a gibbon playing with some lego and texture development which involved taking a shot of a grey surface and pasting it everywhere.
It's only real achievement as far as I'm concerned was the implementing of the vehicles, which was probably the best at the time. The flying ones weren't perfect but then no one ever seems to manage that (except actual flying games).
It's a 7/10 game, which BTW is the same score I gave to Mario Sunshine and Wind Waker.
Edit: Plus the standard grunts looked and sounded like Boobah, I just couldn't take it seriously after I realised I was shooting children's entertainers. No wonder they waved their arms around like gimps.
You do realise this is the console equivalent of Kirk vs Picard, don't you? Sheesh. Geeks.
Whitestripes DX wrote:
> I didn't mean it was actually crap, I meant that the ratio for
> development time : goodness was very poor. Considering there was at
> least 5 years on actual game development I think there should have
> been a whole lot more.
If you've seen the videos of the playtesting and model demos, then you can see how much was actually taken out to improve the game. All the things like rocket warthogs, buggies, helicopters, etc., were in the original vision (and it was 3rd person - imagine that!), but were removed. I think the final result is a fantastic showcase of everything the Xbox is capable of. Considering it was a launch game and is still easiy the most popular game on the xbox, I think 4 years of development is well worth that.
> I didn't mean it was actually crap, I meant that the ratio for
> development time : goodness was very poor. Considering there was at
> least 5 years on actual game development I think there should have
> been a whole lot more.
If you've seen the videos of the playtesting and model demos, then you can see how much was actually taken out to improve the game. All the things like rocket warthogs, buggies, helicopters, etc., were in the original vision (and it was 3rd person - imagine that!), but were removed. I think the final result is a fantastic showcase of everything the Xbox is capable of. Considering it was a launch game and is still easiy the most popular game on the xbox, I think 4 years of development is well worth that.
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