[Aptorian]

Gothos, on 30 October 2012 - 11:06 PM, said:

POOPOO MCBUMFACE, on 30 October 2012 - 10:33 PM, said:

I don't think Halo brought anything new to the table generally

regenerating health/shields, the scourge of modern FPS

The first Halo game actually uses a compromise with a regenerating shield and a health bar system that needs health packs to replenish.

Call it a curse or call it a blessing but I honestly prefer the regenerating health and armor system to the old armor and health pick ups system. I recently played Serious Sam 3 and it just isn't very fun. You're constantly micromanaging how much health you have, back tracking, reloading because that last fire fight took out too much of your health and armor and there's no more left in the area, getting angry because bad game design or a scipted/triggered sequence fucked you over and now you have no health, etc. If anything in the modern setting, the old system would make chest high walls even more prolific in video games.

I prefer the regenerating system because it gives you more freedom and allows for faster progress because you wont need to reload or start over. Yes, it's a system that makes things more easy, but in my opinion it's also more fun.

[Morgoth]

Not to mention that the music in Halo was head and shoulders above anything else on the market at the time (within the FPS genre that is, though I'm pretty sure it could make a good showing against anything out there).

[Silencer]

Well I just pre-ordered Halo 4 today. O.o Not entirely sure why, given it isn't being made by Bungie, I don't game that much any more, and most of my friends werent' planning on buying it. >.> It just...looks like it will be awesome, I guess? :S


Oh, and I have recently purchased; Dishonored (good fun so far), Transformers; Fall of Cyberton (awesome!); Borderlands 2 (also good fun); and Medal of Honour: Warfighter (pretty 'meh', but not as bad as some reviews have rated it). I don't have the money for this, dammit! O.o

[Defiance]

Don't feel bad, Silencer, Halo 4 does look awesome. And, according to every review I've seen go up in the last 6 hours, 343i is completely worthy of Bungie's legacy. Apparently Halo 4 has the best campaign yet (both in terms of mission design and storytelling), and the multiplayer is supposed to be exceptional as well.

Monday night seems way too far away. I can't even remember when I was as excited for a game as this.

[Defiance]

Got it at midnight. Played through the campaign and Spartan Ops and I've been doing some multiplayer as well.

I've had a hell of a lot of fun with it. To start, the game is god damn beautiful, and gives Halo a much-needed graphical overhaul. The campaign was fun and probably had the best level design of any Halo game - each mission was enjoyable and had something that made it stand out from all the others (whereas, in pretty much every other Halo game, there's a mission/series of missions that are a drag/boring). The story was very enjoyable as well and works great on its own (while it is called the Reclaimer Trilogy, Halo 4 can stand entirely on its own). Things might be a bit confusing for those who are less familiar with the Halo universe's lore. For example (Halo 3 spoiler inbound)

Spoiler

At the end of Halo 3 it seems like a truce/peace has been made between humanity and the Covenant. While this is still intact as of Halo 4, there is a large sect among the Covenant who reject the peace the Arbiter has made and still follow the Forerunners as their gods.

.

Spartan Ops is alright. It's some good shoot-'em-up fun with a fun cinematic to kick it all off. The story hasn't been anything special so far, but hey, there's still 9 more episodes left for this season and best of all they're all free, so I can' complain.

Multiplayer is great, although inevitably some people will dislike it. Personally, I haven't really enjoyed a Halo multiplayer since Halo 2. I wasn't sure if I'd like 4 due to all of the customization/load-out stuff, but 343i did a really good job. Grenades are kind of disappointing, though...it seems like they have an incredibly small effective radius.

Hardest thing to get used to are the new sound effects. 343i has built everything from the ground up, meaning that weapons and enemies sound entirely different than they did in past games. It's not a bad thing as the sound in Halo 4 is incredible, but it just takes awhile to get used to hearing such a drastically different sound effect when firing something like the plasma pistol (I've been hearing roughly the same sound for 11 years, change takes some time to get used to). Also, no more methane masks for grunts, so they don't sound crazy and high as a kite.

The musical score is okay. It's not bad, but it's certainly not amazing. Where Marty's music added to the games, the music in Halo 4 just accompanies the gameplay. It fits, but it rarely serves to make anything more intense/dramatic. There are one or two tracks that I really enjoyed, though.

Best gameplay moment? The start of the eighth (final) level. Holy shit. Probably the coolest thing I've ever done in a Halo game and an awesome nod to some other sci-fi stuff. I won't bother going into detail because I don't want to spoil anything, but 343i pays homage to some other sci-fi in an awesome way.

[Silencer]

Yup Halo 4 is win. Great game all around.

It doesn't quite feel like a Halo game, what with the things it has borrowed from other shooters, but in the end it's a solid addition to the franchise and a kickass experience all around. I haven't even finished the first level of the campaign, mind; been too busy playing multiplayer (I normally clock the campaign on Heroic long before I hit MP, but not this time XD).

[Aptorian]

Pre-purchased the Deluxe editions of Assassins Creed 3 and Fsrcry 3 for the PC. I... I can't help myself. I have the self control of a fat kid in a candy store.

[Cause]

Got myself the halo 4 limited edition yesterday! Great Game

Discovered I won a PS3 Dishonored in steel case. More Excited for the case then the game.

Got my review copy for Assassins Creed 3 sitting gathering dust. I don't know when Ill get thirty hours to finish this game.

[Defiance]

For the people who bought ACIII: How is it? I heard the ending was pretty atrocious, at least on Desmond's end, which just further makes me feel that the developers tried to do too much...Desmond was totally unnecessary and the games would have been better without them, at least in the 3 that I've played...still haven't picked up Revelations.

Ordered God of War Saga (includes 3 main games and 2 PSP games, all on the PS3) for $30 a few days ago, eagerly waiting for it to get here since I haven't played the original games in years and I have yet to play the 2 PSP ones.

[Aptorian]

COD: Black Ops 2 just arrived in the mail. Why oh why do they insist on releasing videogames on a Tuesday in America? (I actually know why, but it still makes me angry though).

[Lucifer's Heaven]

Aptorius, on 12 November 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

COD: Black Ops 2 just arrived in the mail. Why oh why do they insist on releasing videogames on a Tuesday in America? (I actually know why, but it still makes me angry though).

It doesn't affect me at all or anything, but I'm actually curious as to why?

[MTS]

Lucifer, on 13 November 2012 - 04:39 AM, said:

Aptorius, on 12 November 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

COD: Black Ops 2 just arrived in the mail. Why oh why do they insist on releasing videogames on a Tuesday in America? (I actually know why, but it still makes me angry though).

It doesn't affect me at all or anything, but I'm actually curious as to why?

Yeah me too. Pay day is on Monday maybe?

[Obdigore]

Media (CD's, Movies, Games) are all released in the US on Tuesdays.

There are two theories I have heard of why that is, besides tradition.

1) Freight generally ships from manufacturers on Wednesday or Thursday, this allows the games to get to the stores on Monday, although this may be because of the Tuesday release and not causing it.
2) Tuesday is the first day of the week counted on the Billboard top 100 charts, so music started releasing on tuesdays to take advantage of seven days of sales instead of less, all other media followed suit.

[Defiance]

I imagine the original reason was for shipping (although possibly for other forms of media rather than video games), but now it's convinient for things to be released on a Tuesday. This way, when a new book/game/movie etc. comes out, stores will know when to put it on the shelves rather than having to put up a new book on Monday, a new game on Friday, and a new movie on Sunday. It also likely drives sales beyond what Obdigore said - if I know that Call of Duty 15 is going to be released next week, I can be 99% sure that it'll be on a Tuesday, thus making it easier for me as a consumer to know when to go out to spend my money.

[Aptorian]

All of the above plus, statistically, Tuesdays is perhaps the slowest day in retail and so the shops like to release big games this day to attract customers and the publishers like it because there's not much else going on to compete with their release. It's all market analysis and psychology I guess.

[Cause]

Obdigore, on 13 November 2012 - 04:48 AM, said:

Media (CD's, Movies, Games) are all released in the US on Tuesdays.

There are two theories I have heard of why that is, besides tradition.

1) Freight generally ships from manufacturers on Wednesday or Thursday, this allows the games to get to the stores on Monday, although this may be because of the Tuesday release and not causing it.
2) Tuesday is the first day of the week counted on the Billboard top 100 charts, so music started releasing on tuesdays to take advantage of seven days of sales instead of less, all other media followed suit.

I once heard Michael Pachter explain that its because Wal-Mart wanted it so

[Gothos]

Midweek Madness on Steam: Darksiders II 66% off...... and I have no money. grrrr

[Dolmen 2.0]

I bought Anno 2070. (don't look at me please, I can't bear it.)

I generally hate these games. Then I started teaching housing, development and Urban theory. And suddenly this is my crack.

Will do my best to play more tekken tag in hopes of curbing my nerdometer.

That is all.

[Macros]

give in to it.
you know you want to build those cities.

[HiddenOne]

gonna go get Borderlands 1 today, yes I know the new is out but I want to try it out before I get in too deep

I'm looking forward to getting ripped off when I trade in some old games, too


EDIT: I love this game, so killer

This post has been edited by HiddenOne: 19 November 2012 - 02:48 PM