Ok, I decided in the end to see what the fuss was about. Many of you will be aware I am not a Halo fan, I find the games mediocre. But I felt a curious desire to try this one out and see if it had gotten any better, so picked it up earlier today to tide me over until Fallout New Vegas tomorrow (day off, lots of free time, and feeling ill, so needed something to sit around and do).
Initial thoughts were mixed. The graphics are an improvement over the others. I know many people reported no real difference to ODST, but there is some improvement, especially I think in the simple choice of colours used. Halo's 1-3 were too bright and garish for me, ODST too dark to see anything most of the time. Reach has finally struck the balance, a slightly more muted colour palette than 3 gives it a more realistic appearance, immediately a plus for me.
On the other hand, the gunplay is still massively underwhelming. In any sort of shooter, the guns and their use are the key element for the whole game. Halo for me has always been disappointing here, and this one is no exception. They don't sound powerful or dangerous, and have little to no effect on the enemies. I have surround sound and noticed rather bizarrely that everyone else's guns are actually louder than my own, the main gun in particular, the assault rifle, is barely noticeable when it shoots. The other thing I realised is there is no recoil effects, which is a serious lack.
Now, a game I am a big fan of is Gears of War, and enemies in that also require an awful lot of shots, so what is the difference? Why does that work for me? Simply put, it is down to impressions. In Gears, I get the feeling that the guns are very powerful, and the enemies are incredibly tough. In Halo on the other hand, I get the impression that the enemies are not especially hard, and that it is the gun which is rubbish. This makes Gears feel very satisfying, and Halo very frustrating. The length of time it can take to bring down an enemy makes every shootout feel like a real grind, and really slows down the action for me. It is a far cry from something like Modern Warfare or Bad Company which is all about rapid reactions and itchy trigger fingers, a few rounds kills you or the enemy alike. Conversely Halo feels like chipping away at each individual enemy. This is the same reason I found borderlands very unsatisfying, the action is just slowed down too much.
It also feels to me a bit random as to how much damage an enemy can take. Maybe Halo veterans can work it out, but sometimes it seems like half a dozen shots kills an enemy, and sometimes it can be two magazines of fire. Even the grunts can sometimes take a great many rounds to down. One of the biggest criticisms I have is the lack of aimimg, it pisses me off in Left 4 Dead, and it pisses me off even more in Halo, the inability to just look down your gun and increase accuracy. As someone who likes to place single shots, or short bursts, with precision, the lack of aiming is very frustrating. Coupled with the previously mentioned lack of recoil, it just makes the shooting feel incredibly basic and unsatisfying.
Grunts. Oh how I hate grunts. They were a stupid idea in the first game, and as the series has developed they have only gotten worse. Halo has become increasingly serious and gritty, the story more drawn out and mature. More and more it makes the grunts seem like a dreadful mistake. Reach is all about tragedy, yet we have little hairless ewoks waddling around waving their hands in the air. Please get rid of them for the next game, they just ruin the whole thing.
AI is still below par compared to many modern shooters, your allies have a dreadful habit of shooting at enemies they cannot actually hit. Now this is a problem in a great many games, don't get me wrong. The problem is not unique to Halo, but it annoys me in every game. When you have a team of super soldiers with you, you expect a bit more than them to stand behind a wall pouring magazine after magazine of rounds into the very wall they are stood behind. I also destroyed an anti aircraft gun by simply standing in its' shadow and letting an enemy wraith demolish it with its' mortar, it took quite a few shots, you would think they might have realised at some point. The other thing I have noticed multiple times is allies general chatter shouting 'all clear' or words to that effect, when in fact there are very clearly still enemies around. I even had a door unlock and a computer voice say something like 'base secure, welcome lieutenant' whilst there were still three covenant about...
The sound track is ok, it is something people seem to universally rave about, but so far I haven't heard anything special in 3, ODST, or Reach. What I have noticed so far in Reach is a resounding crescendo score, the sort of thing that ought to be saved for the end of game finale, starting up occasionally during minor skirmishes, which makes the whole thing sound rather sad. I know it is a major struggle, and will all end badly, but having a big score start up every time you shoot an ewok rather spoils the impact. On the subject of audio, Kat has some truly dire voice acting, was she done by some sort of robot being trialled? Personality wise too she is just Michelle Rodriguez in every film she has ever been in, rather cliched. I found the others a bit stereotypical too, ticking all the standard action squad boxes, but they are at least bearable.
Despite all said above, I am enjoying it. It is fun enough, don't get me wrong, just really nothing special, exactly like all the others. I am not very far in so far, on 'tip of the spear' trying to destroy an anti aircraft gun whilst drones, hunters and a wraith mob me. I will come back and update this with final impressions once I finish, which given the length of the other games probably wont take long at all.
- this is pretty, I'll give them that
Initial thoughts were mixed. The graphics are an improvement over the others. I know many people reported no real difference to ODST, but there is some improvement, especially I think in the simple choice of colours used. Halo's 1-3 were too bright and garish for me, ODST too dark to see anything most of the time. Reach has finally struck the balance, a slightly more muted colour palette than 3 gives it a more realistic appearance, immediately a plus for me.
- looking good
On the other hand, the gunplay is still massively underwhelming. In any sort of shooter, the guns and their use are the key element for the whole game. Halo for me has always been disappointing here, and this one is no exception. They don't sound powerful or dangerous, and have little to no effect on the enemies. I have surround sound and noticed rather bizarrely that everyone else's guns are actually louder than my own, the main gun in particular, the assault rifle, is barely noticeable when it shoots. The other thing I realised is there is no recoil effects, which is a serious lack.
Now, a game I am a big fan of is Gears of War, and enemies in that also require an awful lot of shots, so what is the difference? Why does that work for me? Simply put, it is down to impressions. In Gears, I get the feeling that the guns are very powerful, and the enemies are incredibly tough. In Halo on the other hand, I get the impression that the enemies are not especially hard, and that it is the gun which is rubbish. This makes Gears feel very satisfying, and Halo very frustrating. The length of time it can take to bring down an enemy makes every shootout feel like a real grind, and really slows down the action for me. It is a far cry from something like Modern Warfare or Bad Company which is all about rapid reactions and itchy trigger fingers, a few rounds kills you or the enemy alike. Conversely Halo feels like chipping away at each individual enemy. This is the same reason I found borderlands very unsatisfying, the action is just slowed down too much.
It also feels to me a bit random as to how much damage an enemy can take. Maybe Halo veterans can work it out, but sometimes it seems like half a dozen shots kills an enemy, and sometimes it can be two magazines of fire. Even the grunts can sometimes take a great many rounds to down. One of the biggest criticisms I have is the lack of aimimg, it pisses me off in Left 4 Dead, and it pisses me off even more in Halo, the inability to just look down your gun and increase accuracy. As someone who likes to place single shots, or short bursts, with precision, the lack of aiming is very frustrating. Coupled with the previously mentioned lack of recoil, it just makes the shooting feel incredibly basic and unsatisfying.
Grunts. Oh how I hate grunts. They were a stupid idea in the first game, and as the series has developed they have only gotten worse. Halo has become increasingly serious and gritty, the story more drawn out and mature. More and more it makes the grunts seem like a dreadful mistake. Reach is all about tragedy, yet we have little hairless ewoks waddling around waving their hands in the air. Please get rid of them for the next game, they just ruin the whole thing.
- spoiling it for everyone
AI is still below par compared to many modern shooters, your allies have a dreadful habit of shooting at enemies they cannot actually hit. Now this is a problem in a great many games, don't get me wrong. The problem is not unique to Halo, but it annoys me in every game. When you have a team of super soldiers with you, you expect a bit more than them to stand behind a wall pouring magazine after magazine of rounds into the very wall they are stood behind. I also destroyed an anti aircraft gun by simply standing in its' shadow and letting an enemy wraith demolish it with its' mortar, it took quite a few shots, you would think they might have realised at some point. The other thing I have noticed multiple times is allies general chatter shouting 'all clear' or words to that effect, when in fact there are very clearly still enemies around. I even had a door unlock and a computer voice say something like 'base secure, welcome lieutenant' whilst there were still three covenant about...
- painting that on must really restrict his vision...
- definitely her best angle
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