96 replies to this topic

[Drew]

Oh, yeah I'm happy they didn't pull from campaign too, I'm just saying look at how awesome a Halo visit would have been. Reach is gorgeous, sure, but Halo is far prettier. It's a shame that the engine kind of went to waste in that respect.

[aander91]

Oh, yeah I'm happy they didn't pull from campaign too, I'm just saying look at how awesome a Halo visit would have been. Reach is gorgeous, sure, but Halo is far prettier. It's a shame that the engine kind of went to waste in that respect.

This. Soo much this.

I think this is generally why Reach is at the bottom of the list for me. It's a good game but it just lacks too many things that are staples of the Halo series. I mean when you need DLC to get a map with Forerunner architecture you know something is fucked up.

[Niterider]

I kinda wish they'd left the space environment on Anchor 9 more open for forge maps. That way we can have maps that transition into the hanger. I can only imagine how fun that would be on Invasion, and it seems like the "space" mechanics are wasted on both Anchor 9 and Zealot.

[Drew]

Granted even Anchor 9's tiny area has way more actual play space than Zealot's. I do agree, though. Hopefully we'll see some DLC in the future with an all-space map.

[mattacus]

This. Soo much this.

I think this is generally why Reach is at the bottom of the list for me. It's a good game but it just lacks too many things that are staples of the Halo series. I mean when you need DLC to get a map with Forerunner architecture you know something is fucked up.

Reach is at the bottom of the list? This isn't the thread for the argument I want to make here, but I must fervently dis-concur.

[aander91]

Reach is at the bottom of the list? This isn't the thread for the argument I want to make here, but I must fervently dis-concur.

Bottom of the list of Halo games that is. It has strong gameplay but lacks in the aesthetic department in ways that the previous games absolutely excelled in.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that games should throw away gameplay for good graphics, but I strongly believe that video games should have heavy emphasis on the artistic side of thing. It's not that Reach doesn't have it, it's just that it lacked the mystery and grandeur that the other games had by the truckload.

[Slightly Live]

The bottom of the Halo FPS titles yet still better than 99% of the fluff out there. Anyone's "worst" Bungie Halo title is still smokin' hot by any standard.

[aander91]

The bottom of the Halo FPS titles yet still better than 99% of the fluff out there. Anyone's "worst" Bungie Halo title is still smokin' hot by any standard.

I completely agree.

Seriously, the game isn't by any means bad. It's fantastic. I just can't help but to think that if it were a non-Halo game I would've liked it better. It just feels so out of place.

[Drew]

I completely agree.

Seriously, the game isn't by any means bad. It's fantastic. I just can't help but to think that if it were a non-Halo game I would've liked it better. It just feels so out of place.

I don't think it's so much as out of place as kind of a letdown as far as setting goes. The engine, as we've seen, is awesome, and has tons of potential, but a lot of that was wasted on so much brown. I was really disappointed with the last level especially. Pretty skybox, yeah, but yet another desert level? Why Bungie? Even then, if it had been a little brighter, it still could've been great. I mean, look at The Ark from Halo 3. I still like the overall feel and aesthetics that it has more than anything else desert-themed in Reach. Kind of depressing, really.

[Syracuse022]

Reach is at the bottom of the list? This isn't the thread for the argument I want to make here, but I must fervently dis-concur.

Reach, for me, is better than any Halo except for Halo: The First. So many great gameplay decisions (grenade launcher, DMR, sniper tweaks) and while I do recognize all of the story shortcomings, I checked out of the Halo universe's more in-depth story considerations a long time ago. In the meantime, what's left is a great set of campaign missions and the best multiplayer since 1. Different strokes for folks like Mattacus and myself, I guess..

Do agree that the Noble maps show just how much better Reach maps can be going forward, however.

[Drew]

Reach, for me, is better than any Halo except for Halo: The First. So many great gameplay decisions (grenade launcher, DMR, sniper tweaks) and while I do recognize all of the story shortcomings, I checked out of the Halo universe's more in-depth story considerations a long time ago. In the meantime, what's left is a great set of campaign missions and the best multiplayer since 1. Different strokes for folks like Mattacus and myself, I guess..

Do agree that the Noble maps show just how much better Reach maps can be going forward, however.

I agree with you on Reach being second only to CE, for the record. Triple probably ended up being my least favorite, as the campaign was very pretty but too short, and the multiplayer ended up being rather lackluster. Two, with one of the weakest campaigns, had multiplayer that was way better than 3's (maybe it was just the maps, but still...) and is right behind Reach as far as best goes. ODST was... ODST, I guess.

[aander91]

Two, with one of the weakest campaigns

It still blows my mind when people say this.

To each his own I guess.

[Drew]

It still blows my mind when people say this.

To each his own I guess.

Every level was a hallway. Sometimes they were wider hallways to accommodate vehicles, but they were always, always hallways. Think about it. Halo 3 was better in that aspect, much better, but the parts that were were very short-lived, usually. Reach still has some of those moments, but I feel as if it did the best job since the first as far as giving you approachable encounters that you could work out (or skip) in many different ways.

Also Jackal Snipers.

[Blaze]

It still blows my mind when people say this.

I think you've already established that you have anti-taste. No need to provide us with any more proof.


Campaign-wise, I'd rank these crappy games:

Halo 1 = My rose-colored lasik eye surgery prevents me from seeing this game anywhere but at the top. That shit is permanent.
Halo 3 = The Ark and The Covenant campaign levels make up for any "To War..." moments.
Halo Reach = A solid campaign but there are no levels that I want to play through over and over again.
Halo ODST = Does this even count?
Halo 2 = Miranda Keyes.

[Drew]

Campaign, for me; CE Reach Triple Odust The Second Main reason for Reach being above Triple is because overall I felt that while it had two great levels, it also had Cortana, which is arguably worse than the Library (making it the worst level in the entire series - though the entire second half of The Second was consistently bad, it wasn't atrocious) and Crow's Nest, the one hallway level to top them all. Otherwise very solid, but not as consistently great as Reach (not to say that Reach doesn't have its lowpoints either, but none of them come even remotely close to touching Cortana or Crow's Nest). ODST is above The Second, because honestly, it doesn't take much to top it. Plus it had its moments, and while played on Normal was fun at least one time through. Halo 2 felt more like a chore at times, and even when I went back to play through it leading up to my Reach campaign run, it just felt... horrible. The first few levels just can't make up for the atrocity that is the second half of Campaign. It's like Bungie sat down and said, "How can we make this as bad as possible?" I'll give them credit for not hitting Cortana levels of bad, but still, what the fuck, guys?

Edited by Drew, 12 December 2010 - 10:13 PM.

[aander91]

Eh. I always thought the art direction and overall build up of Halo 2 was fantastic. If for some reason the gameplay was lacking at some point, something else was drawing my attention away from it. The Sacred Icon levels are a good example. Personally, I have no gripes with the gameplay on this level, but I get the feeling that it got some of the replays. This is odd to me because I think that the levels from here to the end of the game are some of the most fantastic environment designs I've ever seen in a game. I guess most people don't really care about that though.

[Arcys]

I always had fond memories of Halo 2, but then I went back and tried playing the campaign. Screw that. I kept getting stuck trying to beat the Heretic. No matter what I tried I could not get past him.

For me, Halo 3 had the easiest campaign. I had to turn on quite a few skulls to make it a challenge. It does have my favorite level of all the Halo games, The Covenant. I don't know if it was the game play, but I do know it was the music. When you're fighting the Scarabs outside of the Citadel... damn. I always felt like I was part of something epic when the music crescendo'd at the end.

I keep wanting to go back and replay the ODST campaign. I never had much time to play on my 360 when it came out and didn't get to go back and do a Legendary play through. Loved the story.