Halo 3 (but not quite the discussion you may be expecting)

Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:38 pm by Tawakalna

the Boy got Halo 3 on Wednesday last, his feverish little hands eager to get their mitts on this supposed icon of the FPS genre, hence why I pre-ordered it for him well in advance.

Since Wednesday night, therefore, I've hardly seen him, apart from mealtimes and when I check that he's done his homework before playing at being the Master Chef or whatever the main character is (I've never played Halo myself.) He spent the weekend at a friend's house, with 3 or 4 of his school chums, all playing Halo 3 co-operative and multiplayer. It was finished after 14 hours of almost non-stop play - the little weasels game until they drop asleep (which I wholeheartedly disapprove of)

I've seen a bit of it whilst he's been playing it, and it looks good I must say, although I've seen better - for example HL2, Far Cry - but regardless of looks, I just don't see that any of the Halo series can possibly be the ground-breaking, iconic games that they are claimed to be by either the manufacturers, retailers, or fans. Interesting story, although the Halo installations are a fairly blatant Ringworld rip-off, but I'm not so bothered about that - it just strikes me as not terribly original in gameplay or structure, other than it's on XBox, making it accessible to a very wide audience. Again, to be fair, i haven't played it, but nothing I've seen of it really makes me want to, not the way HL2 appealed, or F.E.A.R. - I loved F.E.A.R. it looked and played beautifully, it was terrifying in places, creepy, a very convincing story (although again not terribly original but very well written) and had me gripped from the moment it started. No HL2 but really rather good.

so what's the big deal with Halo that makes it so irresistible to teenies

I've asked the Boy but as he's turned 13 and is now de-evolving into a greasy, spotty, shambolic lump and can only communciate in grunts, I haven't had much of a coherent answer.

(btw Halo 3 has a rubbish ending!)

Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:19 pm by Esquilax

*Shrugs* Marketing; that's your answer. It's the same thing with "Harry Potter"; the books are hardly non-derivative, groundbreaking, classic works written in the best traditions of modern literature, but they were marketed extremely well, hence their popularity. I have the original "Halo" for PC (I'm not picking up the second installment until I have a new PC and a free copy Vista), and it is not a bad game. But is it as good as people claim? I have never thought so. Perhaps the console adds some intangible quality that the PC-gamer cannot appreciate...

EDIT: Please, someone tell me that this is a joke?! That bloody Troll-man (i.e. The Orstrahhhhlian PM John Winston Howard)! Pretending to be a gamer! This will not stand! I am outraged! Well, amused, disgusted and outraged anyway

.

Edited by - esquilax on 9/30/2007 4:35:59 PM

Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:15 pm by cheese on toast

i think they play it religously like because its considered the "must have or your not cool" thing, im getting it, but thats because i like the story line to it, i wouldnt say im a big halo fan but i am a fan of it, i prefer other games such as FL, HL2 (that is an AWESOME series of games), and day of defeat (played since 1.1 released many moons ago).

And i agree with Ex, marketing it the way it has has helped it ALOT.

Universal Modding Forums

Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:21 pm by H.Q. Victor

Esq, that is a disapointing pic of the Master Chief. I have read all four of the books, and they are better than the games.

Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:08 pm by Tawakalna

Books? you mean spin-off novels based on a game? in my experience, they are invariably dreadful and not worth the paper that they're mass-printed on.

Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:24 am by Aod2

Esqy, someone developed a crack that allows Halo 2 PC to be played on XP

Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:24 pm by Cold_Void

bah i challenge you to find a halo fan that's even -heard- of niven, let alone read the book their favorite vidyeo game plagiarized so blatantly (without even so much as a thank-you for the incredible idea that sets the backdrop for the whole game)

i remember telling a friend of mine, who happens to be a halo fanatic, that Halo was nothing but YAFPS with an interesting backstory stolen from a much better story - anyhoo unreal tournament 2007 is going to pwn halo 3 for fun and overall gfx next month, and then all those fanboys will be eating their words

Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:40 pm by flybyu

I know many kids that play Halo but never got into it myself. I always liked Call of Duty and before that the Deadly Dozen. IMO Halo2-3 is overly hyped and the graphics are not that great.

“SISU”
(Pronounced: siss-sue)
(Meaning)
Guts, Tenacity, Steadfastness, Courage, and an Indomitable will to Succeed, and Survive.

Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:51 pm by Esquilax

AoD - I am well aware of that, however old Typhon will not be able to play Halo 2 in all its glory until he is upgraded anyway, so I am content to wait.

Mon Oct 01, 2007 3:27 pm by Tawakalna

<gasp> in glorious 8-bit colour, you cwazy pwehistowic Wabbit

will your 4mb RiSC processors cope with the excitement

Mon Oct 01, 2007 3:38 pm by H.Q. Victor

Taw, yep the books are good, and a 5th will be out in either october or November. Can't wait.

Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:14 am by Tawakalna

interesting use of the word *good* there, FD. turns out the Child had one all along, I gave it a quick flick through, let's just say that the cover was the best part, followed by the ISBN number and the glue on the binding - the rest you can leave. I wasn't particularly impressed, but then I didn't have much in the way of expectation.

Having said that, those Star Wars books weren't bad - not brilliant, but better than I thought that they would be.

Tue Oct 02, 2007 12:24 pm by Chips

Which starwars books? I used to read them all when I was younger, til I realised that the subsequent ones would never live up to those by Timothy Zahn!

As for Halo, I'd say it's gameplay. Not palyed it personally - but marketing may help people buy a game (kinda like Apple products = marketing) but there is only one reason people will buy it's successors, and that's because it's enjoyable.

Guess halo 2 must have been really good then

As for graphics, it's 2 years old (the xbox360) so surely they're pushing it's limits these days - it should lag well behind pc's, which can be upgraded of course

.

Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:02 pm by 007

well to rebutte all this

yes, i am a Die hard Halo fan, have all three for console, and the original Halo for PC...

part of the reason these games are so popular is just this. the gameplay. i dont care what a game looks like, or what the story is about, if the gameplay is not there, i wont play it. I have F.E.A.R. which I enjoyed immensly. Did i like more or less then Halo? No. I liked F.E.A.R. for different reasons. totally different games.

The other attraction of Halo is the MP online part of the threee games (albiet the first one did better in that area on PC) the first halo was only MP on the single console, unless you had multiple consols to link together. I was a very late comer to the Halo craze. Didnt even get halo 1 intil a bout 2 years after halo2 came out. i played thru it, and loved it. I picked up Halo 2 not long after I beat Halo1. The games were engaging, challenging, and there was really nothing else out there to match the first 2. Halo 3 is its own beast, and they changed enough in the game to make it a fair bit different the the first 2. While I like the game, the jury is still out on whether or not its all its made up to be. Did microsoft overplay it? Yes. Is it groungbreaking, not nesicarily (sp i know) is it fun? you bet. and when you come down to it, thats all a game really needs. If its fun, the fans will come.

007

Tue Oct 02, 2007 6:11 pm by Stormtrooper112

I'm just glad it's finally over! Halo 3 this, Halo 3 that. It's all I hear at school! I'll probably be the only one praising Starcraft 2 when it hits shelves

Guess I'll just have to find a new game to bicker about. >.>

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