Halo: Reach

[EvilRyu2099]

It's this trend of forgetting and willful ignorance that bothers me. I can name many great FPS, but so many of the Halo promoters seem to forget their existence. I was once told that Half-Life, Doom, Quake, and Unreal Tournament were all pointless to consider because Halo was better and those games were on PC, as if by virtue of their being on a different platform they were either irrelevant or did not exist. Yet I was there for the release of these titles, and they redefined either elements of or the entirety of the genre. And yes, these are deep games, even if you choose to deny it. Contemplate the strategies that go into beating Doom on Nightmare difficulty and how it practically requires you to make enemies battle it out with each other. Then consider the difference to console versions where frames of animation were removed so enemies rarely fight one another because they never face each other.

I also lament the change from PC FPS to console FPS, not because I find anything inherently wrong about console FPS beyond my dislike for using analog sticks for first person movement (I find them preferable for third person movement, which is why I favor third person shooters on consoles), but because I dislike the slow pace required due to the lower sensitivities of console games. Dsheinem and I were recently discussing this in the IRC channel, that console FPS tend to be slower games because they lack the sensitivity for the quick turns found in PC FPS. I have always preferred frantic action in my FPS titles, so I lament the loss of this speed. Perhaps you feel vengeful towards PC gaming purists who used to tout the capability of their preferred gaming machine. I don't know, as I can't speak for you.

I see Halo as the start of this anti-PC gaming trend. The PC port of Halo is sluggish, with a poor framerate and gameplay that feels lacking. For me, I point to it as the start of the transition from PC to console, and now we see important features either intentionally left out, changed, or forgotten to favor console gaming.

Not to mention, you can't mod the games on console like you can on PC... Unreal, Quake and Half-life are as memorable for their mods as they are for the actual games.. In fact, TFC and Counter Strike 1.6 aren't even original games, but mods of Half-Life...

[fastbilly1]

So I picked up Reach on Friday - one of my reps bought some hockey tickets off me and I found it used, so I spent a whopping $13 on it. Is it Gods Gift to gamers? No, is it Halo the way Halo should be, yes. It is full of excitement and makes me forget about the story modes in 2 and 3. It really makes you feel like you are part of a unit. Granted there are some parts that I thought were alittle too like the first game...the second stages are AWFULLY similar, same with the first night stage, but thats ok. And after playing several rounds of Firefight, it was well worth the price of entry.

I played it coop for the first five stages Saturday night and it was like playing the first one in coop with buddies back in college. It was alot of fun. For thos eon the fence, it is much more like Halo 1 than 2 or 3. There are somethings that really piss me off though. Why did they move melee to R1 from B on Southpaw buttons?

I didnt play as much as I thought I was going to - had to save some little girls from big robot men, but it was awesome.

[AwesomeMonstar]

I played it coop for the first five stages Saturday night and it was like playing the first one in coop with buddies back in college. It was alot of fun. For thos eon the fence, it is much more like Halo 1 than 2 or 3. There are somethings that really piss me off though. Why did they move melee to R1 from B on Southpaw buttons?

It's not just southpaw, it's for all button variants.

It spawns from the bumperjumper set up from 3, a set up that places jump on one shoulder and melee on the other. It allowed for you to keep aiming while jumping and meleeing and what not and is pretty much universally used by anybody who plays at a higher standard (like MLG, tournaments, blah blah blah). It seems odd at first but it allows you to transition quickly from firing into melee, which can be a life saver with any close range weaponry like the shotgun or even the sniper rifle at times.

[AwesomeMonstar]

Not to mention, you can't mod the games on console like you can on PC... Unreal, Quake and Half-life are as memorable for their mods as they are for the actual games.. In fact, TFC and Counter Strike 1.6 aren't even original games, but mods of Half-Life...

You should toy around with all the options available to you in the halo franchise. It's something I always thought was undersold about the series. The level of customization and specifications you can make to the multiplayer is downright insane. There may not be mods, but there are nearly an unlimited amounts of gametypes you can create for it, and now, with a much improved forge component, just as many maps to match.

[fastbilly1]

It spawns from the bumperjumper set up from 3, a set up that places jump on one shoulder and melee on the other. It allowed for you to keep aiming while jumping and meleeing and what not and is pretty much universally used by anybody who plays at a higher standard (like MLG, tournaments, blah blah blah). It seems odd at first but it allows you to transition quickly from firing into melee, which can be a life saver with any close range weaponry like the shotgun or even the sniper rifle at times.

It just goes to show that we need full button remapping. And to be honest, I dont really care what tournament gamers prefer - they have more drama than cosplayers.

I am just upset that you can use the forklift for much of anything. I did kill a hunter with it but that was a fluke.

[AwesomeMonstar]

honestly, I've always kind of wondered why games today don't allow completely custom controller mapping. Mind you, I have no idea what it takes to program something like that, but I can't imagine it being too hard.

[EvilRyu2099]

You should toy around with all the options available to you in the halo franchise. It's something I always thought was undersold about the series. The level of customization and specifications you can make to the multiplayer is downright insane. There may not be mods, but there are nearly an unlimited amounts of gametypes you can create for it, and now, with a much improved forge component, just as many maps to match.

I'm sorry but I prefer faster pace FPS with full customization and gameplay tweaks on a mouse and keyboard than I do with slow paced games with double analogs.. Also, I've seen the customization with Halo and it definitely blows away most console FPS games, but it doesn't hold a candle to the UT franchise or even TF for that matter.. In UT you can tweak pretty much everything, from speed, weapons, and even make custom maps with custom music.. Sorry but PC>>>>>>>console fps..

[MrPopo]

honestly, I've always kind of wondered why games today don't allow completely custom controller mapping. Mind you, I have no idea what it takes to program something like that, but I can't imagine it being to hard.

I think it's mostly laziness on the dev's part. From a technical standpoint supporting multiple controller configurations should be pretty trivial. The hardest part is creating an interface for the remapping.

[emwearz]

I am up to the 8th mission, and I have to say this is by far the best Halo game I have played.

. Easy to follow and interesting enough story based on the classic theme of an invasion
. There is no flood, as the game takes place before they are discovered
. The game is much faster paced (and there are some pieces of rock music which go well with it)
. A much larger range of enemy's
. Characters that are more interesting, they are still weak compared to other titles but compared to the past Halo releases I find I care a lot more about the Noble team.
. I much prefer the new control scheme compared to 3, I can understand this being annoying if you were use to the control scheme in 3, but to me I enjoyed it much more.

This is the first Halo game I have actually liked, I finished the first 3 but it was a bit of a chore, especially when the flood came into it, once I finished them I was glad to be done with them and will most likely never play them again, however I would happily give Reach another run on Legendary in the future.

[yomomma1]

^ I am pretty sure that the halo 3 scheme is in one of those controller options.