michaelg on 6/10/2008 at 01:04
I was in my local Gamestop last week and almost picked up this game. I've been playing both Stalker and the Witcher but have a hankering for a simple straight shooter. I know people around here bash it quite a bit, and I wasn't at all impressed with the demo, but after reading a few reviews, starting to wonder if I should give it a shot seeing it's so cheap and I can't play many newer games because of my aging comp.
If you go by most of the reviews, it's as good, if not better than the original HL and contains a better story.
Are my jaded opinions of the demo wrong?
june gloom on 6/10/2008 at 01:35
"If you go by most of the reviews, it's as good, if not better than the original HL and contains a better story."
APOPLEXY
I AM HAVING
oh my fucking god
afk stroke
MSX on 6/10/2008 at 02:00
I wouldn't say its better than the original HL. Mostly because it never takes itself too seriously. There's very little dramatic tension. They sort if try building some after the discovery of the flood but it falls short in my mind.
Also... its kinda easy. I played it on the toughest difficulty and beat it in an evening. It was designed for folks using a control stick. And its short. Also the shortness was not helped by the repeating level design that only lengthened the game because I got turned around in those damn repeating snow caves.
The game goes like this: You have to get somewhere. Dudes get in the way, you kill dudes, it saves, you have to go somewhere else. You get some friendlies and some vehicles sometimes, but you basically are railed to the next location. No real easter eggs or at least not enough for me to care looking for them.
The game is a good shooter, the weapons all have their place. The only real anomaly being the marine pistol that doubles as a sniper rifle. Handy, but a bit out of place.
The game was luke warm. In my mind anyway, but gets massive negative points just due to the drooling masses naming it the best game ever. I never really hated "gamer" culture till this game. It makes me hate, not due to the game itself, but to what it did to the genre I loved.
Trance on 6/10/2008 at 02:12
In multiplayer, the retarded netcode makes it necessary to shoot a full two feet in front of a moving target, but the game's a lot easier to control on the PC IMO. You can expect much of the same experience as the Xbox version, except 6 bigger maps and a couple things to shoot/drive/fly with.
Also a minor issue I have with the game is that the music played during cutscenes seems to have no real method to its operation; random mini-tracks will play at different points, overlapping each other and often setting totally the wrong mood for the moment. Another minor irritation is the 70-degree FOV to which I just couldn't adjust (I had to get a third-party trainer to increase the FOV to 90 like I'm used to).
I liked playing the game when I had it, but the necessity of having to shoot at air to hit someone in multiplayer got frustrating at times.
And if you've never been exposed to the Halo story at all, it's worth buying it at least to play the campaign once. Ignore the haters, it's an enjoyable experience the first time.
EvaUnit02 on 6/10/2008 at 02:24
Halo 1 is a great game, without question. The innovative (at the time) combat mechanics encourage strategic tactics and the AI is great (Play on Heroic or Legendary difficulties).
The only downside is the at times lazy map design, there's a lot of copy and pasted corridors later on. The levels prior to "The Library" are terrific though.
HamburgerBoy on 6/10/2008 at 02:46
The demo level is pretty much the only good level in the whole game, so if you thought it sucked you're really going to hate the later levels.
michaelg on 6/10/2008 at 02:53
Quote Posted by MSX
I wouldn't say its better than the original HL. Mostly because it never takes itself too seriously.
Well that's the reason I like the original HL so much. As intense as the gameplay was at times, it was also a very funny game. It also didn't take itself to seriously which is why I found it a better game than HL2 which I thought took itself
to seriously.
I think I will give it a shot for a measly 10 bucks. I instead picked up a game called Stolen that day. I had never heard of it but the premise looked good. Big mistake.
Trance on 6/10/2008 at 02:53
I personally liked Assault on the Control Room best (despite it having the design repetition that so many people have a meltdown over).
Andarthiel on 6/10/2008 at 03:42
I tried the PC version at a friend's place and it was pretty decent but nothing groundbreaking. Not worth the hype in my opinion, I know better and more enjoyable FPSs than Halo.
raevol on 6/10/2008 at 03:50
I have to give Halo props for two things: well-designed vehicle control (especially the air vehicles) and the ability to melee with your currently held gun. Other than that it's pretty mediocre, though solid. I can't play it on the Xbox without getting frustrated at the lack of mouse though.
Oh and bullet tracers on the sniper rifle were pretty ingenious too. Goodbye campers!
