First Reach Impressions

I'm only halfway through the campaign, so I'm not going to discuss that at this juncture, but I will say that I am enjoying it so far. My one complaint is that the new character models for the Elites feel a bit...rounded out, I guess. I remember the Elites in Combat Evolved seeming very lean and athletic-looking, but still having enough musculature to be far more imposing than Jackals. If the old models looked like collectible statuettes, the new ones look like action figures designs for children under the age of 10. They're devoid on edges and small parts. You can judge for yourself.

The first image is from Halo 2 and the second is from Reach. I guess the difference now that I see them side by side is how much broader the shoulders are on the Elite from Halo 2. The new models are almost too humanoid. They just don't jump out at you the way they used to. They might have done that so that they'll not such huge targets in multiplayer, but I think it kind of detracts from the single player experience.

As for the multiplayer, I think this game may go down as the definitive Halo game. Sure, there will always be people who like Combat Evolved the best, and there is literally nothing Bungie nor anyone else can do to change that, but there will always who think the first Super Mario Bros. is better than the third. Nostalgia and fear of change. I'm sure there will also be people who like Halo 2 the best, but I don't think anyone is going to say 3 is the best anymore. Nothing against 3--I loved 3--but CE, 2, and Reach will stand as the three paradigms of differing philosophies while 3 remains a neutered transition between 2 and Reach. CE will will remembered for its brilliant simplicity, innovation, and ease-of-use; 2 will be remembered as the best execution of a dual-wielding centered FPS; and Reach will be remembered for its clever gun balance, armor abilities, and staggering depth gameplay options. Unfortunately, Halo 3 is now obsolete in my mind. It had dual wielding, but it was more of a leftover from Halo 2 and hardly used. It had equipment, but equipment was gimmicky, frustrating, and at times over-powered. Armor abilities are basically like equipment, but fun. Halo 3 also had a great depth of gameplay options, but Reach has far more. Lastly, Reach's version of Forge makes Halo 3's look almost embarrassing. Double lastly, Halo 3 lacked any true standout maps like Blood Gulch, Lockout, or Ivory Tower.

While I was a big fan of dual-wielding and I will always argue that team slayer doesn't get any better starting with an SMG on Halo 2's Lockout, I can't say that I really miss it. Halo's gameplay really does benefit from shooting at guys you can barely see.

--Chilly P

Within Reach

The beta completely failed to sell me on Halo: Reach. Then I saw this video (one of Bungie's "ViDocs"), and now I am completely sold. For once, the last thing I care about is multiplayer. I'm decently excited about the campaign, very excited about Firefight, and I'm now drooling at the mouth for Forge World, which looks to be worth my $60 by itself. I may never (i.e., 'rarely') touch matchmaking. Anyway, enjoy the video.

--Chilly P

Trivia? !?!?!?!?!

(ht: Polska)

I hate trivia... but I know many people do not. So here is something for those of you who like this sort of thing.

Quiz for Halo games.

I did about 10 and then lost interest, so I can't really offer a "score to beat."


Enjoy.

Reaching for the Stars

Alrighty, I don't want to hammer on the Reach stuff too much, but I had already typed this once Chilly P had done his... so I will go ahead and post my stuff that I typed yesterday. I won't edit it or change it to ensure authenticity.

Upon reflection, my initial "debbie downer" approach to Halo: Reach might not have been entirely fair. I was very upset at the lack of strength with the majority of the guns (still am), but I have played the game a bit more to uncover a handful of things that make the game fairly enjoyable.

The Pistol-

The pistol is actually not as bad as I initially thought. To be honest, it is a viable option and my new go-to weapon when playing this game. If you are smart with how you shoot it, meaning patient, you can see delicious results. At a distance, you are able to knock someone's shield down with 4 or so shots, and then dink them on the dome for the kill. But as I mentioned, the pistol's (as well as the DMR) effectiveness depends on your patience with the gun. I first thought the "recoil" on this gun wasn't a big deal. The more I use it, the more I realize that you must wait until the pistol comes back square before firing your next shot (when shooting at a distance). When you do this, it feels astonishingly like the ol' Halo 1 pistol (not nearly as powerful, but still).

A quick note- Running the trigger when in close range is shockingly effective as well. I am starting to actually win battles (regularly) when using it against "spray and pray" guns.

The DMR-
Same goes for this gun, timing is everything. But different from the pistol, I think the DMR might actually lose strength when you don't allow it to gain its composure, so to speak. When you are completely calm and collected, and fire when the gun is perfectly accurate, it is a strong and impressive gun. Yet if you fire this bastard when the reticule isn't completely centered, the accuracy is laughable as well as the damage seems to drop as well. So here again, having poise is key.

-SWAT is still awesome. Despite an amorphous and sometimes confusing hit box for head shots, this gametype still is a lot of fun.

-Stockpile is about as fun as reaching your hand into a bag of dicks. I hate the premise, and I hate the randomness with the spawns of the flags. There is a strange aspect of offense/defense that I don't enjoy, so I rarely find myself smiling when playing this.

-1 Flag ctf is also not something I like to play. Halo 1 (the original daddy) never had offense and defense gametypes, and there was a good reason for that. It is a stupid fucking gametype unless your name is Counter-Strike. Reach tries to slip it in there occasionally, and you end up having to endure 2 minutes or so of hectic gameplay that results in everyone using sprint and running around like a bunch of assholes.

-I wish the game made a noise when voting was going to begin, because all too often I am on my computer not paying attention, and the next thing I know I am being visually sodomized by fucking stockpile.

Alrighty, that is enough for now.


SC

Reach Out and Touch Faith

...because faith is almost all I have to go on at this point. Every time I dive into Reach, I have fun for about 30 minutes and then I find myself wondering, "Is this it?" There are times when Reach really shines, and there are some aspects of the game that truly are the best of the series, but it's just not keeping my interest. Since the beta came out, I think I've actually logged less time on it than I have Bad Company 2 since then. I see why Bungie's ready to move on, because the formula is getting old.

I'll go through the positives first because I don't want to give the impression that I think this is a bad game. First, the level design (for all two levels) is fantastic. Both maps are intricately planned and offer tons of corridors for battle. They're not as plane-Jane as Guardian or Epitaph, not as pointlessly open or symmetrical as Snowbound or The Pit, not as confusing to learn as Ivory Tower or Lockout, and they're not filled with the awkward set pieces that made Hang 'Em High look like a paintball arena in a canyon. Learning you way around takes seconds, but mastering the intricacies takes hours. Both levels also have a great sense of verticality, something that suits Reach far better than any FPS I've ever played.

Second, I like the armor abilities. They seem fairly well balanced, and each has its advantages and pitfalls. Clyde's a fan of invisibility, while I feel naked without a jetpack. The aforementioned verticality (I think I just invented that word) of the levels gives the jetpack the edge it needs to be competitive with the other abilities, since it would offer little to no use on a map like Snowbound or even High Ground. The only problem with the armor abilities is that they make the hammer and sword better. The jetpack, cloak, dive, and sprint all make it much easier to get in close before the enemy has time gun you down.

Lastly, I really like what they've done to compliment gameplay. Adding names to map locations is brilliant, they finally mapped melee to a shoulder button, you can queue yourself to automatically join a friend when they finish their game, and navigating your friends list to send and receive invites is all done in-game now. Okay, let's get to the complaints.

First and foremost, where the fuck is my BR? Is it really so hard to balance a single shot weapon with a three-round burst weapon? You already have loadouts, just let us choose which rifle to start with.

Okay, got that off my chest; time to talk like an adult, now. My main problem with the game is that it's some sort of bizarre hybrid between Halo: CE and Halo 3. For every step the game takes forward, it takes another 2 back trying to recreate the first game. It just doesn't work that way. That game wasn't built for Xbox LIVE and a lot of aspects that fit that game well don't work in Reach. This is what happens when you let incessant fanboys with rose-tinted glasses cloud your judgement. Believe it or not, there are plenty of people who like the sequels more than the original, but they're not as vocal because they can still play their favorite version to their heart's content (hang in there, guys!). Here's the thing: bringing back health packs, fall damage, and single-shot rifles doesn't automatically mean you're getting the CE fans on board. Halo 1 was about horizontal play in spacious areas--don't act like you played anything other than Blood Gulch or Hang 'Em High seriously. Yes, both maps had elevated areas, but there was very little overlapping. The magic of Halo 1 was using an impossibly accurate pistol to gun down enemies you could hardly see. Hell, even the shotgun had pretty incredible range because close encounters were so few and far between. The reason health packs and fall damage were appropriate for that game was because these long range battles were the norm. Without health bars, a skilled pistolero could have wreaked havoc on lesser players because there was no good way to sneak up on him and he could typically manage to isolate encounters to one on one.

With the move to dual-wielding in Halo 2, maps became much more intricate and close-quartered. Having a weapon as deadly accurate as the pistol in that game would have rendered dual-wielding useless, and having health bars would have made stringing kills together even harder than it was. Plus, maps became much more vertical with a lot more layering, and having fall damage would limit your mobility too much.

So, the problem is that Reach is trying to be every Halo at once so it can please everybody, but it does it all wrong. The maps are tighter and more vertically oriented than ever, and having fall damage and health bars just adds an unnecessary amount of stress to the gameplay. The developers at Bungie are no better than Icarus' father who gave him wings that would melt as soon as he had too much fun with them. The difference in winning and losing a close-quarters battle is so minuscule that having health bars just punishes the good players after winning the first time. The open, long-distance gameplay of CE allowed the better marksman a fighting chance regardless of whether he shot first or had more health. The closer the battle, the better chance the lesser player has, especially when they fire first. To add to the problem, Reach plays more close quarters than any other Halo game to date. The shotgun has very, very little range, the rifles are entirely inaccurate unless fired very slowly, and the assault rifle and pistol have one hell of a time trying finish someone off in a single clip. The problem is that only a couple of weapons can actually kill someone who's more than 20 feet away before whatever armor ability they're using allows them to escape or close the gap. If they do close the gap and get within 10 feet, at that point the rifles are too weak to be of any real use. It's ludicrous how often the best strategy is to get in close and punch twice...or just spam hand bombs.

Luckily, I think a lot of this can be fixed. Unless they plan on opening the levels up and flattening them out, I say get rid of fall damage and add some sort of recovery rate to the health bars. They don't have to be as immediate as the shield, but a surviving player shouldn't have to leave a strategic position to have to find a damn health pack. I understand the motivation to limit camping, but the health bars really hurt the wrong people in objective-based gametypes. No one should have to make a detour to a health pack before getting into the hill or trying to gank some last-second enemy flags in Stockpile. Also, if they want to please the Halo 1 crowd (or, well, anybody who's played any console FPS ever), put the range back in the game. The recoil concept either needs to be thrown out or severely lessened, and the rifles need a slight boost in power. It's hilarious that they tried to make the rifles more like the pistol by making them single shot, but then made them harder to use and less accurate than the BR. Obviously, they missed the point. Anyway, if the DMR and needle rifle are made as accurate as the CE pistol, Reach should have CE's range game, and that's all it needs from CE (other than wacky Warthog physics).

Next, boost the power of every other gun (not including explosives or melees weapons) so that Halo 2's dynamic close quarters combat is back. It's ridiculous that punching someone twice is easier, faster, and more effective than the shotgun or even a fully-loaded assault rifle. Punching needs to be nerfed back to where it was in Halo: CE. It really needs to just be a last resort so you don't get that ridiculous trend from early Halo 3 days where people would just run straight at each other trying to get the winning punch. If I remember correctly, punching was originally made more powerful in a Halo 2 patch as to give single-wielding players a chance against dual-wielders. It made a lot sense for that game. But, since dual-wielding became less of a focus for Halo 3 and was completely nixed for Reach, why is the punch still so powerful? All it does is promote brainless bee-lining between players, and makes the sword and hammer all the more effective since someone wielding a gun has lost their best strategy. It's okay to make the assault rifle actually good, it just needs to lose to the pistol and rifles outside of 10 feet. Hell, make it effective from range if tap-fired correctly. There's no reason for it be nothing but a last (spray 'n') prayer or just a set up for a punch. If you make the guns better, the power weapons become less dominate (but still powerful) and the game will become less frustrating.

If all these changes are made, the game will still be dynamic and have the variety that made Halo 2 and 3 so great while also reviving the simple point-and-shoot nature of the first game. It doesn't matter which of the first three Halo games is the best because that debate will never settled, and it really doesn't matter. Bungie is never going to make a sequel that feels more like Combat Evolved than the sequels because it's a step backward in most areas. What is indisputable, though, is that CE was the most easily accessible Halo, and that's what they need to bring back. All that the recoil, the fall damage, the health bars, and the weakness of the guns do is make the game less accessible.

--Chilly P

Halo : Reach - Initial Thoughts

(I am hoping that Chill P doesn't post about 4 hours later disputing everything I am going to try to say (like this), but we shall see.)

The game feels much better than I figured it would, which is encouraging, but there are still some complaints that I have.

On the positive side:
-The game's general feel reminds me more of the earlier Halo games, and less of Halo 3.
-The new armor loadouts are intriguing, and add a nice wrinkle to the game.
-There is voting in matchmaking now, so you have a variety of options each time you want to play.
-Team SWAT is delicious.
-The controls have been changed on the controller to a more user friendly style that makes shooting and meleeing easy. (In the past, if you wanted to be quick on the sticks, boxer or green thumb were your only options. Now, Bungie finally got their shit together and moved the melee to the right bumper.)
-While moving around the map, the game has built-in names for all locations... so no more of "Steve's rock" or "Bill's hill" to describe stuff. Now, it will say something descriptive that everyone can learn and therefore instill uniformity.
-Health packs are great and allow for action after your shield goes down. You know exactly how much life you have, and finding health packs isn't that easy where you would be able to complain.

Ok, so how about the negatives?

My thoughts on the Halo series of games all boils down to the success that Halo 1 had, and the foundation it laid for the rest of the series. Halo 1 was built around slow, methodical, precise shooting from medium to long range, but also allowed for up close combat that was sporadic and exciting. The pistol dominated the game (like it or not, that is still what made the game as great as it was), but shotguns, plasma weapons, or even assault rifles had their purposes. With all of this, long range fighting still took place by ample amounts of sniper rifles (on most levels) as well as pistols being used. (Oh and also, I would be rude to not include the king of multiplayer Halo 1, which was the rocket.) Anyway, these were the crucial vertebrae in the backbone of the greatest multiplayer FPS that consoles had ever seen.

Halo: Reach seems to follow in the footsteps of Halo 2 and 3 in that it still lacks the killing power from medium range. The DMR and pistol are great, but they still need too many shots to kill, which is frustrating. Put simply, people aren't dying very quickly unless you have extremely powerful close range or long range guns. All too often, I get into DMR battles with people where I am pelting their face and the shield keeps lighting up as the person just runs right at me with their favorite "spray and pray" gun and kills me. This isn't the way Halo should be played. The skill and precision have been toned way down, and the "hold the trigger down" factor has been upped dramatically. I would hope that the DMR/pistol will be increased for the actual game, but we shall see.

Oh, and God forbid you get into the "covy team slayer" gametype, because the covenant rifle with a scope is firing licorice candy apparently. You have to shoot until your fingers are tired to actually kill something.

This will work for now, but I will need more time with the game to really get a feel for it.

Something to remember is that this is only a Beta, and the game will probably be much different than this come the fall. But as of now, I would love to see gun strengths increased so that the constant holding down of triggers and hoping for a kill comes to an end.



SC

That's a Reach

As I continue along with Clyde's cheese-laden, punny titles concerning Reach posts, I find myself having a much different outlook on the upcoming beta. First of all, I'm in a camp of people who like Halo 2 & 3 better than CE. Personally, I found the landmark Xbox 1 title boring. Sure, I participated in some epic CTF Blood Gulch games, but fore the most part, the game came down to the pistol and the sniper rifle. They were basically different versions of the same gun, and the game felt stagnant because of it. Yes, it was a landmark title. Yes, it changed console FPSes forever. Yes, I believe it is one of the top 5 most important games of the past decade. However, variety is the spice of life, and Halo: Combat Evolved's sequels had variety out the wazoo.

So, unlike Sweet Clyde, I thoroughly enjoyed Halo 3. It was infinitely customizable, had solid gameplay, and had exemplary matchmaking. That being said, it certainly wasn't perfect. The counter-vehicle weapons were far too easy to use, and outside of Infection and Grifball, the gametypes were largely uninspired (It's not a good thing when Team Deathmatch/Slayer is the best gametype). Like Clyde, I too would have liked see a larger variety of mid-range rifles. There's no reason there can't be a BR and a pistol.

I had rented ODST when it came out, and it was definitely at least two weeks-worth of solid entertainment. The campaign was the best since CE, Firefight was entertaining, and the pistol in that game was extremely satisfying (weaker than CE's, but much faster and just as accurate). There's really nothing like one-shotting a Grunt in the face.

So, am I excited about Reach? Honestly, I'm not sure. I've been playing Halo since 2001, and the formula's starting to get old (even Bungie is ready to move on). The assassinations look pretty cool, but I fear they're going to be frustrating. They look like they're basically the same thing as chainsawdomy in Gears of War 2. The armor stuff worries me a lot, too. There's one where you go invincible for an amount of time but are forced to stand still. Invincible. I don't care if you can move or not, being able to dictate the beginning of a period where you can't die has to be overpowered. On the flip-side, jet packs are cool as shit. They just are. Like bacon and fire, jet packs make everything better. As for bringing back health bars, I say, "BOOOO!" Halo 2 pioneered regenerating health, and it's become the standard for good reason.

I definitely like that Elites and Spartans are more differentiated this time around. I don't remember the details, but I believe Elites are faster, weaker, and can jump higher. Don't quote me on that. If that's case, sounds good to me. I'm also thrilled that there's a gametype that looks a lot like Rush from Bad Company. I love Rush. However, 6v6 might not be enough people to populate such a gametype. Also, Rush is greatly benefited by dedicated servers; it'll be interesting to see if Invasion can run smoothly. As for the Head Hunter and Stockpile gametypes, I hate to say it, but they sound like more losers to throw in with Juggernaut, Territories, and Rally.

So, to summarize, like Clyde, I'm cautiously optimistic, but for different reasons. Where he's looking for a more old-school game, I'm looking for something completely fresh and unlike I've ever played before. Oh, I also want to see Infection and Grifball more fleshed out, and I'd like to be able to host public custom games.

--Chilly P

The ol' Reach around

Well, I am still reluctant to lose my shit over this game, but I will admit that I picked up ODST to ensure my spot in the beta. This video adds some nice things that make me not want to strangle a child, like:

-Health (no more ambiguous bullshit red flashing screen) - I love the health pack idea, it helps define how much life you have left at all times. When Halo left health packs, and moved to the popular "increasingly red glowing screen" I wanted to mail a package of feces to Bungie. It is extremely hard to quantify your survivability with a flashing screen. Oh, 3 yellow bars of health? I know absolutely how much that is. Win.

-A workable pistol in the post Halo 1 world? - I am suspicious of this, but I am still rocking a boner nonetheless. If this thing is anywhere near the days of old (which I guess it probably won't be), it could be happy times for us all. From the brief appearances in the videos, it looks to be a rapid fire pistol much like the ones from Halo 2 and 3; but I would guess they upped the power a notch or two.

-If the pistol sucks, it appears that the single-shot rifle looks to be dominant, and I would imagine play much like the pistol of Halo 1. Well, if the pistol doesn't deliver the way I want it to, this single shot rifle will do just fine. As long as it doesn't require more than 3-4 shots to kill (on head-shots), I will be content.

-Other rifles that aren't depending on gimmicks- In my opinion, the Halo games needed more basic rifles that vary on strength and firing power. The BR and the carbine were really the only viable options after Halo 1, so toss a couple more in the pot... and people might have to choose rather than settle.

-New gametypes that might be entertaining - The video mentions a gametype with reinforcements in waves that reminds me of Battlefield, which would be great. It is curious that this game seems to be borrowing bits and pieces from other shooters to create this "masterpiece," but as long as it is fun I am alright with it. So take what you need Bungie, just leave behind the bullshit.

Things that concern me:

-The armor stuff- Hopefully these won't be game breakers and can be finely tuned during the beta process. The last thing I want to see is only one of the types being used due to its strength.

-Model types- In the past, using the elites is about as much fun as kissing your sister. You are guaranteeing more head-shots and also hearing goofy grunts. If some of these games will use offense and defense with the different races/models, I hope one side isn't a handicap simply because of the models being used, and not gamer ability.

__________

I won't ramble for too much, but the game appears to be intriguing at worst. If it sucks, I can drop it like I did Halo 3 at a certain point and continue playing Fifa or whatever else is out there. If you haven't grabbed ODST (note: fuck ODST, I mean solely for the Beta like me), I would suggest going HERE:. Thanks New Egg!

SC

Halo : Reach info

Well, I can't say I am overly excited about the newest Halo that is eventually going to come out, but I have a feeling that I (like many others) will end up buying it and playing it.

With that in mind, I figured knowing some things about it (as they release it) can't hurt.

I found this video and figured it might be of interest.




It is odd to me that Halo is looking more and more like Call of Duty/Battlefield/(equipment based games) but I guess that is the current trend with FPS games these days. The customizable stuff seems to add a nice wrinkle or two, but I am reluctant to get excited. You frequently see Gears of War-like sliding in this video, which is awkward looking. I still cringe when I see the hand to hand animations... I mean, is this Tekken, or a FPS? Time will tell.

SC