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And it's the best thing I've done in a LONG while.
My Gamecube's games were great, but even the best get boring after 3 months of play. I needed something new and fresh.
STILL no GC releases worth getting, so I talked to a friend at school, swapped plastic bags at the end of my road, brought the behemoth home and plugged it in.
Halo is great.
The single player's alright. The outside levels are well designed with impressive areas and fantastic battles between your forces and the enemies.
Being part of the battle is great, especially when you get to ride vehicles around.
I don't like how the game keeps killing off my men though - it's not that I don't protect them, it's that they get killed off in cutscenes and set pieces.
"Go on ahead sir, rescue the captain. We'll guard here!"
I rescue the captain, with his command crew, come back to find the squad dead! I know why Bungie did it, as powerful as the Xbox is, it can only manage so many AI allies at a time, but why couldn't they let them escape instead of killing them! :-(
Anyway, although the outside levels are great, the "inside" levels are disappointing. The enemies weren't really designed with indoor combat in mind, and the level design is often uninspiring and repetitive, but never mind. I wasn't expecting the game to be flawless...
The multiplayer is certainly one of Halo's stronger points.
Four player battles are great fun, where you can play as you feel like.
With loads of tactics to take, from Sniping, to driving tanks, there's plenty of scope for messing around, and plenty of ways to try and take the initiative over your opponents.
Still, by the way the levels have been designed, it's clear that 4 players aren't nearly enough for full potential.
Although I don't know enough Xbox players for a decent link up, when Xbox live comes to the UK, I'm sure h=that it'll be fantastic.
(Xbox live is one of the few real advantages that MS have over Nintendo).
The other game I got in this swap was Max Payne.
A bit dodgy at first, but as I got the hang of it, it's grown on me.
It's fun, humourous, clever and has an intruiging storyline.
The only thing that bugs me is the loading times.
Yes, they only take 5-20 seconds, but they are VERY noticable and break up the game a lot more than I've like. There was also loading times in Halo.
Although I've only played Nintendo games on the Gamecube, none of them had noticable loading times. I'm not sure whether the Xbox's DVD is slower, or programmers haven't got the hang of skipping loading times yet.
Still, 10 seconds of loading is a small complaint.
What's that?
I should have waited a few more weeks for Mario Sunshine?
Ah! That's the beauty of this deal!
That too weeks will pass really quickly now (while some of you will experience the LONGEST 2 weeks OF YOUR LIFE! :-P), and the best bit is that we swap them back by then!
Come on, you didn't think I'd gone and swapped my Gamecube for keeps now, did you? ;-)
My Gamecube's games were great, but even the best get boring after 3 months of play. I needed something new and fresh.
STILL no GC releases worth getting, so I talked to a friend at school, swapped plastic bags at the end of my road, brought the behemoth home and plugged it in.
Halo is great.
The single player's alright. The outside levels are well designed with impressive areas and fantastic battles between your forces and the enemies.
Being part of the battle is great, especially when you get to ride vehicles around.
I don't like how the game keeps killing off my men though - it's not that I don't protect them, it's that they get killed off in cutscenes and set pieces.
"Go on ahead sir, rescue the captain. We'll guard here!"
I rescue the captain, with his command crew, come back to find the squad dead! I know why Bungie did it, as powerful as the Xbox is, it can only manage so many AI allies at a time, but why couldn't they let them escape instead of killing them! :-(
Anyway, although the outside levels are great, the "inside" levels are disappointing. The enemies weren't really designed with indoor combat in mind, and the level design is often uninspiring and repetitive, but never mind. I wasn't expecting the game to be flawless...
The multiplayer is certainly one of Halo's stronger points.
Four player battles are great fun, where you can play as you feel like.
With loads of tactics to take, from Sniping, to driving tanks, there's plenty of scope for messing around, and plenty of ways to try and take the initiative over your opponents.
Still, by the way the levels have been designed, it's clear that 4 players aren't nearly enough for full potential.
Although I don't know enough Xbox players for a decent link up, when Xbox live comes to the UK, I'm sure h=that it'll be fantastic.
(Xbox live is one of the few real advantages that MS have over Nintendo).
The other game I got in this swap was Max Payne.
A bit dodgy at first, but as I got the hang of it, it's grown on me.
It's fun, humourous, clever and has an intruiging storyline.
The only thing that bugs me is the loading times.
Yes, they only take 5-20 seconds, but they are VERY noticable and break up the game a lot more than I've like. There was also loading times in Halo.
Although I've only played Nintendo games on the Gamecube, none of them had noticable loading times. I'm not sure whether the Xbox's DVD is slower, or programmers haven't got the hang of skipping loading times yet.
Still, 10 seconds of loading is a small complaint.
What's that?
I should have waited a few more weeks for Mario Sunshine?
Ah! That's the beauty of this deal!
That too weeks will pass really quickly now (while some of you will experience the LONGEST 2 weeks OF YOUR LIFE! :-P), and the best bit is that we swap them back by then!
Come on, you didn't think I'd gone and swapped my Gamecube for keeps now, did you? ;-)
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If theres a gun I find that hinders me, its the Covenant plasma rifle - cause of it over heating.
What you'll find is, energy weapons are best for taking down things like shields, while bullets are good at cutting through a body. Something like the assault rifle mows through Grunts or Elites once their shields are down. But energy weapons are better for depleting an Elites shield or a Jackels arm shield.
What you'll find is, energy weapons are best for taking down things like shields, while bullets are good at cutting through a body. Something like the assault rifle mows through Grunts or Elites once their shields are down. But energy weapons are better for depleting an Elites shield or a Jackels arm shield.
Even in bursts, it's not quite accurate enough for the headshot.
It's raw nature means that it's good for rushing the covenant, but doesn't quite cut it in the multiplayer. The pistol is surprisingly useful at long range.
It's not as powerful as the Sniper rifle, but because it fires faster, it can also be used at close range in small firefights.
A nice all rounder if you ask me.
It's raw nature means that it's good for rushing the covenant, but doesn't quite cut it in the multiplayer. The pistol is surprisingly useful at long range.
It's not as powerful as the Sniper rifle, but because it fires faster, it can also be used at close range in small firefights.
A nice all rounder if you ask me.
I use the assault rifle most. ;-)) Fire in short bursts rather than just holding in the trigger - that way its a lot more accurate.
Its excellent to keep Jakels pinned down behind their shields as you run in and then smash them round the skull with a melee attack. ;-)
Its excellent to keep Jakels pinned down behind their shields as you run in and then smash them round the skull with a melee attack. ;-)
Co-op mode:
After managing to lose our only Warthog, meaning we had to walk through the tunnels (level 2) on foot, he started shooting me.
I won the gunfight and he died, respawned infront of me so I hit him.
I turned out that a hit from behind can take someone out in a single hit...
He respawned behind me. He hit me. I respawned behind him, hit him.
And so it went on. We turned around to see a trail of dead "Master Chiefs" running up the hill! :-D
Anyway, I think the Halo game engine is designed to allow only 8 allies at a time. That's why when you pick up the command crew, it kills off your others. It's a good idea to leave your friend behind to protect the men, only, you know when you enter a "new zone" and your buddy gets teleported to you...
So those men can't be protected.
You come back to find them dead (where they were standing), and two of those big blue guys with swords and cloaking devices patrolling the room.
Still, they're avenged.
Halo's strongest point is by far it's multiplayer (as I've already mentioned in the topic). The only downside is that there's no AI "bots" to play against. Bungie COULD have done it (they used similar AI in the single player mode), but probably left it out down to time constraints.
I'd say that the worst weapon is the Assault Rifle you start off with.
It's so inaccurate that not many of your shots actually hit.
The standard pistol is actually very good for mid-range sniping and getting headshots - wears an enemy down MUCH faster than the assault rifle does.
After managing to lose our only Warthog, meaning we had to walk through the tunnels (level 2) on foot, he started shooting me.
I won the gunfight and he died, respawned infront of me so I hit him.
I turned out that a hit from behind can take someone out in a single hit...
He respawned behind me. He hit me. I respawned behind him, hit him.
And so it went on. We turned around to see a trail of dead "Master Chiefs" running up the hill! :-D
Anyway, I think the Halo game engine is designed to allow only 8 allies at a time. That's why when you pick up the command crew, it kills off your others. It's a good idea to leave your friend behind to protect the men, only, you know when you enter a "new zone" and your buddy gets teleported to you...
So those men can't be protected.
You come back to find them dead (where they were standing), and two of those big blue guys with swords and cloaking devices patrolling the room.
Still, they're avenged.
Halo's strongest point is by far it's multiplayer (as I've already mentioned in the topic). The only downside is that there's no AI "bots" to play against. Bungie COULD have done it (they used similar AI in the single player mode), but probably left it out down to time constraints.
I'd say that the worst weapon is the Assault Rifle you start off with.
It's so inaccurate that not many of your shots actually hit.
The standard pistol is actually very good for mid-range sniping and getting headshots - wears an enemy down MUCH faster than the assault rifle does.
Strafex wrote:
> I like the pistol.
>
> Anyway, I'm not talking about opening the door.
> I always clear that bit out.
>
> I'm talking about near the end, just before you go to the actual
> prison cells to rescue the Commander. You leave your men in a control
> room, come back with the commander with his men and find that they've
> all been killed while you were gone. :-(
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, yeah I think I know the bit you mean - unfortunatly marines tend to be outgunned by the tougher Elites. So if your not around when they are fighting, the marines tend to get overpowered.
Comes down to those bloody Elites having shields.
Have you tried Co-Op yet ? If you can, you should give it a try - loads of fun. ;-)
> I like the pistol.
>
> Anyway, I'm not talking about opening the door.
> I always clear that bit out.
>
> I'm talking about near the end, just before you go to the actual
> prison cells to rescue the Commander. You leave your men in a control
> room, come back with the commander with his men and find that they've
> all been killed while you were gone. :-(
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, yeah I think I know the bit you mean - unfortunatly marines tend to be outgunned by the tougher Elites. So if your not around when they are fighting, the marines tend to get overpowered.
Comes down to those bloody Elites having shields.
Have you tried Co-Op yet ? If you can, you should give it a try - loads of fun. ;-)
er-yes wrote:
> You will complete Halo quickly and then not have much more to do.
Well the idea is you play on a decent difficulty level. Plus I've had a lot more longevity out of Halo than I did with the likes of Luigi's Mansion, Devil May Cry, Wave Race, Turok, Mario 64, etc.
I actually still play the game a lot now as do a lot of X-Box owners.
> Overall the GameCube is better, the XBox is a brilliant console... yet
> after Halo (and having played Payne on the PC). It lacks another
> Halo...
Should hope so too - if Halo 2 were already out, it would be a severe rush job. ;-)
I know what your saying overall - but on the run up to Christmas, there are a lot of excellent titles coming.
> You will complete Halo quickly and then not have much more to do.
Well the idea is you play on a decent difficulty level. Plus I've had a lot more longevity out of Halo than I did with the likes of Luigi's Mansion, Devil May Cry, Wave Race, Turok, Mario 64, etc.
I actually still play the game a lot now as do a lot of X-Box owners.
> Overall the GameCube is better, the XBox is a brilliant console... yet
> after Halo (and having played Payne on the PC). It lacks another
> Halo...
Should hope so too - if Halo 2 were already out, it would be a severe rush job. ;-)
I know what your saying overall - but on the run up to Christmas, there are a lot of excellent titles coming.
I like the pistol.
Anyway, I'm not talking about opening the door.
I always clear that bit out.
I'm talking about near the end, just before you go to the actual prison cells to rescue the Commander. You leave your men in a control room, come back with the commander with his men and find that they've all been killed while you were gone. :-(
Anyway, I'm not talking about opening the door.
I always clear that bit out.
I'm talking about near the end, just before you go to the actual prison cells to rescue the Commander. You leave your men in a control room, come back with the commander with his men and find that they've all been killed while you were gone. :-(
You will complete Halo quickly and then not have much more to do.
Overall the GameCube is better, the XBox is a brilliant console... yet after Halo (and having played Payne on the PC). It lacks another Halo...
It started with such a killer MAC game, how can it get better?
:-D Nice deal.
Overall the GameCube is better, the XBox is a brilliant console... yet after Halo (and having played Payne on the PC). It lacks another Halo...
It started with such a killer MAC game, how can it get better?
:-D Nice deal.
I know what part of Halo you mean - where you leave the marines behind for a moment, then eventually work your way around to open the door. ;-)
Before you go your own way for a moment, make sure you take out all the Covenant in the room. You'll notice some invisible Elites at the start of being on the ship. Take these out as quickly as possible as their swords are a 1 hit kill. Try chucking a few grenades at the doorways to take a good number of them out before they even get into the room.
Take out the Hunters as quickly as possible and hopefully you should have a number of guys left. Now, once your in the room where you open the door. Try to take out some of the Covenant first - then open the door to let the marines through. This way they'll have more of a chance to get through the door and get into positions. Remember to give them covering fire and concentrate on the Elites.
The biggest dangers for your Marines in these closed in areas are Elites, Hunters and grenades. Remember, if you have a Needler - be sure to unload a whole clip into an Elite, then hide round a corner or something.
The Needler is one of the best weapons if you know how to use it.
Some hate it but overall, you just need to change tactics with it. Rather than run in like Rambo, you keep your distance, preferably with some cover to get behind and just unload a few clips at the enemy and let the needles home in on them.
One of the good things about Halo is that there really isn't a crap weapon in the game. All weapons are very useful - even a pistol which is normally a crappy last resort weapon.
Before you go your own way for a moment, make sure you take out all the Covenant in the room. You'll notice some invisible Elites at the start of being on the ship. Take these out as quickly as possible as their swords are a 1 hit kill. Try chucking a few grenades at the doorways to take a good number of them out before they even get into the room.
Take out the Hunters as quickly as possible and hopefully you should have a number of guys left. Now, once your in the room where you open the door. Try to take out some of the Covenant first - then open the door to let the marines through. This way they'll have more of a chance to get through the door and get into positions. Remember to give them covering fire and concentrate on the Elites.
The biggest dangers for your Marines in these closed in areas are Elites, Hunters and grenades. Remember, if you have a Needler - be sure to unload a whole clip into an Elite, then hide round a corner or something.
The Needler is one of the best weapons if you know how to use it.
Some hate it but overall, you just need to change tactics with it. Rather than run in like Rambo, you keep your distance, preferably with some cover to get behind and just unload a few clips at the enemy and let the needles home in on them.
One of the good things about Halo is that there really isn't a crap weapon in the game. All weapons are very useful - even a pistol which is normally a crappy last resort weapon.
Savatt78 wrote:
> Anyway - Strafex, have you got a place nearby where you can rent X-Box
> games ? If you have and you have a few quid to spare, look out for
> DOA3, Project Gothem Racing, Jet Set Radio Future, Buffy The Vampire
> Slayer.
No place to rent games.
Having said that, JSRF is the only one I'd especially want to play (although Buffy would probably be a laugh).
I've played the other 2 at my friends house.
PGR - I've never really been into realistic racers of any sort.
I sort of liked it, but it's not really my kind of game.
DOA3 - I might like it more if I had a chance to practice a bit.
It seemed a bit easy to button bash and pull off combo's - then again, so do a lot of games on first play.
> As for your marines dying - they tend to get wiped out more as you go
> up the different difficulty settings.
> Its hard to give any tips in keeping them alive as they don't follow a
> set path and will act different to what they did before.
> I've kept a good number of them alive a lot in the past though. Its
> just as much down to what they do as much as what you do.
Remember level 3 on the alien ship?
A few coridoors before you rescue the commander?
The marines wait for you in a control room, you come back to find they've all been killed. Also, did Bungie have to kill ALL of your friends in the escape pod (beginning of level 2) on impact?
It's annoying when they get killed off and there's nothing you can do about it. :-(
Still, when there is something I can do, I try to do it, like taking out the big guys like you said (although once there was 2 of them and while I was dealing with one, the other went and killed all my men!).
Besides, if something goes wrong, I can always load up the last checkpoint...
As to Dringo, I'm looking forward to Mario Sunshine more than Timesplitters 2, but I'll definately be getting both...
I'd better cancel my Turok order.
> Anyway - Strafex, have you got a place nearby where you can rent X-Box
> games ? If you have and you have a few quid to spare, look out for
> DOA3, Project Gothem Racing, Jet Set Radio Future, Buffy The Vampire
> Slayer.
No place to rent games.
Having said that, JSRF is the only one I'd especially want to play (although Buffy would probably be a laugh).
I've played the other 2 at my friends house.
PGR - I've never really been into realistic racers of any sort.
I sort of liked it, but it's not really my kind of game.
DOA3 - I might like it more if I had a chance to practice a bit.
It seemed a bit easy to button bash and pull off combo's - then again, so do a lot of games on first play.
> As for your marines dying - they tend to get wiped out more as you go
> up the different difficulty settings.
> Its hard to give any tips in keeping them alive as they don't follow a
> set path and will act different to what they did before.
> I've kept a good number of them alive a lot in the past though. Its
> just as much down to what they do as much as what you do.
Remember level 3 on the alien ship?
A few coridoors before you rescue the commander?
The marines wait for you in a control room, you come back to find they've all been killed. Also, did Bungie have to kill ALL of your friends in the escape pod (beginning of level 2) on impact?
It's annoying when they get killed off and there's nothing you can do about it. :-(
Still, when there is something I can do, I try to do it, like taking out the big guys like you said (although once there was 2 of them and while I was dealing with one, the other went and killed all my men!).
Besides, if something goes wrong, I can always load up the last checkpoint...
As to Dringo, I'm looking forward to Mario Sunshine more than Timesplitters 2, but I'll definately be getting both...
I'd better cancel my Turok order.
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