Halo: Combat Devolved
Included with such contrarian opinions of mine as the PS2 is a better system than the Xbox is the idea that the original Halo (I haven't looked at the sequel yet) does not deserve its hype.
I must clarify again, as people seem to naturally look at only the negative implications of these types of assertions, that I am not saying (as the typical "haters" love to) that Halo "sucks". I'm saying I believe it is undeserving of all its hype. In fact, I'll probably post a dual list of which games I feel do, and which don't (I already have a couple short Amazon.com lists that take an initial stab at it).
For now, I want to throw megaprops toward GameSpy.com, the only big-name gaming website I've seen to audaciously post a review (2001, by staff writer Sal Accardo) that is along the same lines as the one I will eventually write. Good on ya, Sal.
posted by Chris Huston @ 3/12/2006 02:10:00 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks very much to both of you for your comments. Pat, it's good to see you sneaking into the blog for which I know you you have a secret death-wish. :-)
And it's great to see a new reader -- from Philly, no less. I've only been to the city once, two Christmases ago, but fell in love with it.
It would be interesting to see the game Bungie intended and if it addresses the issues I have (again, many of which can be found in the GameSpy review). Your Microsoft-meddling explanation isn't a difficult one to swallow. I wasn't familiar with Bungie's stuff before Halo, though I have heard great stuff about it.
I may be misunderstanding your "technical shortcomings" reference, but I don't really remember anything significant in that regard. From what I can tell, that was one of the few areas in which the game excelled in my mind, no quesion.
In an attempt at something resembling brevity (I know, too late), I wont address your very valid "immersion" comment except to say that I think the onus is on the designers and developers to create that magnetism. I leave my expectations at the door when the CD goes in the tray, and I let the game affect me on its own merits vs. the hype.
In fact, I make a reasonable effort to wade through any initial unfavorable feelings to give each game a fair shake, and that effort actually increases in proportion to the hype: Gran Turismo 3 as my greatest example of this (which I now love).
And then, there are times when not the slightest bit of allowance is necessary: Far Cry and GTA being my two greatest examples here. Far Cry, even on my grungie system, playing it at all the lowest settings (and you may remember the graphics were probably a bigger part of that hype than even Halo's), I was sold. Sold cold. I looked at the graphics and scratched my head (not knowing what I was missing) at all the hype, but the open-environment design stunned me. At a time when FPSs had fallen completely off my radar, it became on of my favorite games.
I am naturally hype-averse, but Far Cry absolutely obliterated that aversion and rocked harder than anything I could remember seeing.
Okay, so so much for brevity. Hope that explains my position a bit better. I hope to provide more convincing detail in future with a full-blown review.
Thanks again for the comment.
Holy mackerel. I didn't even get to your comment, Pat. Apologies.
No argument at all about the single- vs. multi/online-play. I haven't played it online, so I probably should have clarified that my comments are meant exclusively to address the single-player game.
From what I could tell, though, a lot of the hype was being thrown equally to the single-player mode, so that's what I feel compelled to counter.
I've never been interested to try any multi or online gameplay (e.g. I've never played the Sims), mostly for logistic reasons, but mostly because I have enough fun with single player games: I don't know what I'm missing, essentially. (I happen to prefer softball to baseball, too; maybe that explains a lot. ;-))
Just using my imagination, though, I can see how multi-player Halo could be far more enthralling than single player. It would seem, for starters, to address most of the issues I have with the single-player game.
And finally (I like to reiterate), I don't mean to invalidate anyone else's experience with my perspective. Halo has a lot (even in the single-player) that I can see some, even many enjoying, but there are some definite and serious flaws that seem to get brushed over. I'm just trying to be one more small voice to keep things balanced.
Sometimes my voice resounds with the majority (Gran Turismo, GTA, Far Cry, etc.). Sometimes it doesn't (Halo, Metroid Prime, Drakan, etc.). Hopefully, I'm getting fairer the more I critique.
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