Halo 3 beta demo

[Leveller]

Ok, kinda surprised there's not a topic about this after it came out on Wednesday. Anony and I were exchanging competative messages about how far through our download had got before he had to go to bed.

 

Anyway...... what do you people think?

 

I didn't really play 1 or 2 much and have probably played more of the demo in the last 2 days than I did with either of the other 2.

 

I know that this is a beta and I'm guessing the game itself may be more expansive/extensive, but I'm really struggling to see the excitement in it.

 

Personally I'd rather play Vegas or Gears, or for that matter boot up my pc play some CSS, from what I can see the new Unreal Tournament would take Halo 3 to the cleaners if that's the genre of gaming you like.

 

I may play a bit more of the demo, but really only to see if I'm missing something and suddenly it'll be as great as so many people have said in the past it is.

[anonymo]

I'm no longer having your illegitimate children...

[Leveller]

Levymo and Anoneller were born at 4:37am today, both MOther and kids are doing well.

[Sgt. Slaughterâ„¢-TopBrass]

The story is what does it for me...allthough Halo 2 was too short and I was kinda mad when I beat it.

[Leveller]

I guess this leads me to the question, ok,if I play 1 + 2 it's not going to improve the multiplayer, so, if the story piece of 3 is not very good, as I believe was the case with 2, then why is Halo so loved by so many?

I can't see much in the multiplayer that I'd get excited about, everything it does is done better somewhere else.

[anonymo]

everything it does is done better somewhere else.

 

Couldn't disagree with you more.

 

Many people feel jaded by the Halo 2 ending because it was a cliffhanger and many people wanted to see an ending, but the story was good. I just think it left a bad taste in the mouths of many gamers. I'm also seeing a trend in game bashing more and more these days, like people have completely have unrealistic expectations from video games and movies.

 

Lev, if you can show me the game I should be playing that Halo 3 is trying to emulate, I will agree with you. With games like Quake 4 and Doom 3 going the way they did, I can't be confident that Epic won't completely destroy the game play of UT3. Just remember that every single UT game ever made for a console has been utter garbage.

 

Also, no game has a matchmaking system like we see in the Halo 3 beta...it's just ridiculous how any other company that currently has a game on XBL can sleep at night knowing that it can be done so well. Do I even need to mention the stat tracking for Halo3? I mean it kicks the crap out of any CS stat tracking I've ever seen.

 

Now I'm not saying that UT3 will be bad, I'm just saying I'm not optimistic whatsoever considering past experiences.

[Leveller]

Ok, I certainly concede the matchmaking is a nice feature, but it was also used to good effect in a 360 release title, Perfect Dark Zero.

 

I should have clarified that I was talking about the PC version of UT, and I didn't mention Enemy Territory: Quake Wars which is another game I believe will probably bring more new things to this genre.

 

I'm not really bashing Halo 3, I think it's a well executed shooter but to be honest having not played Halo and Halo 2, the multiplayer (which as far as I can see contains none of the much lauded story elements) has nothing to really grab me. Now horses for courses I know, and I may be a "newb" to the Halo scene as far as the story goes, but based on the multiplayer beta, there's no way as a new person to the franchise I could ever say that the mulitplayer experience excels or does everything (if anything) better than other games out there.

 

I'm going to rent Halo and Halo 2 and play them through before Halo 3 comes out, I'm happy to be proved wrong and the story may make this a must have for me, but.... I was trying to give my honest opinion of the multiplayer element I have seen and not blindly look at it assuming the "story" was going to make it a must have, when none of the story is covered in the multiplayer.

 

 

 

Oh, and I'm not sure that I actually said it was trying to emulate anything else, and I have no idea when the last time I ever even thought about CS stats was, if I'm enjoying the gameplay I don't really care if I'm ranked no.1 or no.180,000.

Edited May 19, 2007 by Leveller

[Fairweather]

i played the beta a bit today at one of my friends house and it was ok, nothing really overly new or exciting except for a few changes to comment about, it was pretty much as if i was playing halo2 w/ a couple new weapons and maps.

however it is the halo story line that has gotten me so hooked throughout the years and i can't wait to see how it ends

[Saris]

This is my conjecture, having played both games - Halo 1 was innovative for an FPS back in the day, especially for consoles. Everything about it was good - gameplay and storyline. By the time Halo 2 came out, it was nothing new, but it was a high-budget, well-developed game. They ARE good games, but I feel that with the XBox, and to some extent, the Nintendo consoles, every time the fan boys (just them, not everybody) get a morsel of a good game, they hype it up like its a godsend. Same thing happened to me with Gears of War, I heard so many good things about it, the videos looked awesome, then when I finally played it, I was asking myself if it was really even that better than Half-Life 2(obviously giving HL2 some leeway for being older.)

 

It's definitely worth the rent, anyone who plays games at all should give them a try (hype does exist for a reason most of the time), especially if you're into FPS.

[JackieChan]

I tried this last night and came to the conclusion that I still can't play console FPSs with a controller like that.

[Fairweather]

I tried this last night and came to the conclusion that I still can't play console FPSs with a controller like that.

 

haha true dat, if you could hook a keyboard and mouse up an x-box my skill would increase x 1923852903480934t89

[anonymo]

I tried this last night and came to the conclusion that I still can't play console FPSs with a controller like that.

This is the whole point...while many people hate hearing this, it is easy as pie to pick up a mouse and keyboard and do well in FPS games. Not true with console FPS games, there is skill involved in just picking up the controller. It's really just practice.

 

On another note, there is nothing more fun than "lasering" a warthog from across the map, full of the enemy trying to capture your flag.

[JackieChan]

I tried this last night and came to the conclusion that I still can't play console FPSs with a controller like that.

This is the whole point...while many people hate hearing this, it is easy as pie to pick up a mouse and keyboard and do well in FPS games. Not true with console FPS games, there is skill involved in just picking up the controller. It's really just practice.

I suppose that's true... Making it harder to aim does make it more of a challenge.

[VooDooPC]

Halo 1, 2, and 3 all have auto-aim. So I wouldn't think it's all that challenging or skillful to kill people with a controller compared too a mouse and keyboard.

Edited May 29, 2007 by VooDooPC

[JackieChan]

The only FPS games I was any good with was N64 ones. For some reason, that controller felt perfect for FPS games. Guess ones after that just didn't do it for me.

[anonymo]

Halo 1, 2, and 3 all have auto-aim. So I wouldn't think it's all that challenging or skillful to kill people with a controller compared too a mouse and keyboard.

You're high. Halo has never had auto-aim.

 

Jackie, I seem to remember Goldeneye wouldn't let you aim the cross hair unless you stopped and used the stick right? I never used that in multiplayer, was a death trap...

[VooDooPC]

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=9643166

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10989324

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10628243

 

I'd hate too burst your bubble, but Halo does have auto-aim. In fact, if you play Halo 2 on the PC it has no auto-aim but when you use the Xbox 360 controller it enables auto-aim which makes it much easier too kill people up close because your cross hair pretty much locks onto people.

[anonymo]

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=9643166

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10989324

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10628243

 

I'd hate too burst your bubble, but Halo does have auto-aim. In fact, if you play Halo 2 on the PC it has no auto-aim but when you use the Xbox 360 controller it enables auto-aim which makes it much easier too kill people up close because your cross hair pretty much locks onto people.

Halo's "sticky-aim" is different than "auto-aim".

 

If you ever played the game you would see this. There is no "auto-aim" in Halo, never was. There is an option for "sticky-aim" that no one uses as it causes more of a hindrance than it helps. "Sticky aim" is featured in most FPS console games as there tends to be a lot of whiners out there who think FPS with a controller is too difficult. If you can, try out Call of Duty 3 and turn on the sticky aim in that game. All you need to do is pull the left trigger and you basically lock on. Now that is auto-aim. In Halo the sticky aim will drive you mental, it never does what it is supposed to and pretty much ruins the game (unless you're Jackie <3).

 

You may also be confused by "magnetism" where all the bullets are somewhat magnetic and are attracted to the Spartan suit. But that's pretty much impossible to notice as I've more than once missed a headshot with the sniper by mere inches.

 

If you really want to test out the difference between the feel of Halo with a controller and a PC FPS like CSS with a controller just plug it in (or get the wireless receiver, $20) and try. I was quite surprised how little difference there is between the two. (I got an awp kill with the controller...beat that!)

 

I used to hate Halo when it first came out because of the controls, but my friends at the time were playing it so much that I had to get into it and eventually you get used to the stick (I actually used to play inverted for a long time, you might try that as it's more intuitive).

 

The biggest thing missing from Halo in terms of control, which I really wish they would address, is 180 degree turning. This is the real limitation of a controller, slow rotation speed.

[VooDooPC]

Okay, either way it helps you aim.

[anonymo]

Okay, either way it helps you aim.

Well to some I guess it would help, I think this is why there is so much controversy over it on the Halo forums. I can't play with it because it makes my aim worse, it's just too badly designed or just not powerful enough. When you're trying to aim it moves your cross hairs towards the closest enemy but gets confused easily when there are multiple enemies on screen. Basically if you're proficient with the controller then it will mess you up because you're actually trying to aim where you want to. A lot of people new to FPS with a controller just don't have the practice to move the cross hairs to where they want it to go so the sticky aim helps them out.

 

Also, aiming with an analog stick is different than aiming with a mouse. A lot of aiming comes from how you position yourself and where you rest your cross hairs. I find that you need to concentrate on your physical position and where your crosshairs are when playing console FPS games in order to be proficient with aiming, where as with a mouse and key board, it's no problem to do all the aiming with a mouse because you have the ability to make quick or slow movements on a specific pixel. At the same time, with a controller you have your button layout in a very ergonomic fashion whereas with the keyboard your hand is in an awkward position at all times making it more challenging to hit certain keys while still controlling your movements.

 

As you know I play both PC and console FPS almost equally, I would never say one is better than the other in terms of controls, the both have the pluses and minuses. There of course are hardware/software considerations in that as well, where the playing field on a console is much more even than that on a PC only because on a console everyone has the same hardware, software and generally input devices.

 

Personally I don't see cross platform FPS gaming lasting very long. PC games tend to be more controlled and at a (somewhat) slower pace where console games tend to more frantic and fast paced

[anonymo]

So it's all over now (unless you're still playing custom matches). How did you guys like it? I loved it to death! Especially considering it's a heavily dumbed down version of what Bungie actually has in store for the multiplayer.

 

I made it to Sergent Grade 3 with 40 Rating Points...how'd you guys do?

[JackieChan]

Jackie, I seem to remember Goldeneye wouldn't let you aim the cross hair unless you stopped and used the stick right? I never used that in multiplayer, was a death trap...

I never used the default controls (where you had to use the joystick to both move and aim). I used the controls where the C buttons were to move and strafe and the joystick to turn and aim. Felt perfect. It was that 1.2 control style.

[anonymo]

Jackie, I seem to remember Goldeneye wouldn't let you aim the cross hair unless you stopped and used the stick right? I never used that in multiplayer, was a death trap...

I never used the default controls (where you had to use the joystick to both move and aim). I used the controls where the C buttons were to move and strafe and the joystick to turn and aim. Felt perfect. It was that 1.2 control style.

Oh yeah...it's all coming back to me...I used to play this with a certain group of friends and near the end of its run I started using the c buttons for movement and would school them all (after being the schooled for so long). Haha...thanks jackie, I recently had an argument with these friends about our days playing GE and now I have ammunition!

[JackieChan]

Jackie, I seem to remember Goldeneye wouldn't let you aim the cross hair unless you stopped and used the stick right? I never used that in multiplayer, was a death trap...

I never used the default controls (where you had to use the joystick to both move and aim). I used the controls where the C buttons were to move and strafe and the joystick to turn and aim. Felt perfect. It was that 1.2 control style.

Oh yeah...it's all coming back to me...I used to play this with a certain group of friends and near the end of its run I started using the c buttons for movement and would school them all (after being the schooled for so long). Haha...thanks jackie, I recently had an argument with these friends about our days playing GE and now I have ammunition!

Aww nuts. I was saving that for goldeneye at FF.

 

2v2, I choose mo on my team!!

[anonymo]

It's been years...but I seem to remember a bet I had with a certain stuttering individual...