tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post3351700598088367600..comments2024-02-26T00:27:47.712-08:00Comments on Cross-Up: Let's discuss Halo 4.Voltechhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01038586008627390463noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-9302639680603838762012-12-05T13:59:20.540-08:002012-12-05T13:59:20.540-08:00Yeah, I haven't gotten far enough to try one o...Yeah, I haven't gotten far enough to try one of the naval battles, but I'm willing to take my brother's word for it and assume it's fantastic. Although he just beat the game a day or two ago, and...well, the ending sounds pretty bonkers. My primary reactions were "What is this game even about anymore?" and "Great, so they're setting up for Assassin's Creed 3-2?" He couldn't even explain if what happened in the end was a good thing or a bad thing.<br /><br /><br />It's also worth noting that, while I think that it's awesome to be able to wander around the colonies, AC3 makes it fairly obvious that it's all just wallpaper. Early on I was walking and talking with a guy through a bustling street, surrounded by ambiance and people doing their thing. Suddenly someone shouts "stop, thief!" and I see him run past me. So I chase after him, ignoring the guy on my left who's talking to me. I catch up to the thief -- an apple thief, the worst of 'em all! -- just as he turns a corner. And just when I'm about to start wailing on him...he drops the apple and starts walking back into the street, just like any other NPC. <br /><br /><br />I must have stood there and stared for half a minute. One minute he's a thief, and the next he's just another schmo. What happened? He didn't want the apple anymore? I had my eye on him the whole time -- hell, I was a foot away from him seconds after the chase began -- and as soon as he gets near a door, not even touching it, it's over? It was all just an act?<br /><br /><br />I don't think I've played the game since. I'm sure there's a good game in there past the prologue, but...well, unfortunately, that means I have to keep playing the prologue. Not looking forward to that.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-13944207515370380192012-12-05T08:22:20.666-08:002012-12-05T08:22:20.666-08:00Exactly. A friend of mine was really looking forwa...Exactly. A friend of mine was really looking forward to Halo 4. I remember the both of us reading a gaming magazine (forget which) and talked a bit about it. I don't have an XBox and I never played any of the games, but I was looking forward to see the reception. This was not expected, but with what's happened this year, it's more aggravating than shocking.<br /><br /><br />I thought the world learned from the shit storm earlier this year. Apparently not. ME3's ending was just BARELY saved by the free DLC. The damage is still there, but at least the fans got some ointment. I can only imagine that those who played of AC3 and Halo 4 will not be as lucky.<br /><br /><br />If I remember correctly, AC3 has easy too many moments where you have no choice but to walk very slowly to follow a character to reach the next location or mission. It felt pretty emergence-breaking and I typically don't mind slowing down in a game. :/<br />At least from what I hear the ship combat is ridiculously fun.uchiha-fan-4noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-44777056723887125452012-12-04T21:00:36.485-08:002012-12-04T21:00:36.485-08:00I feel sorry for Halo fans too...assuming they hav...I feel sorry for Halo fans too...assuming they haven't lapped up the campaign and forgotten about it. But you know who I feel even more sorry for? People who're on the fringes of the fandom -- people who don't love the series, but can't bring themselves to hate it. If they didn't like it, I'd wager this game will either inspire them to join the hatred camp, or leave them in a position where they can't bring themselves to care anymore.<br /><br /><br />As for AC3...well, I guess it can't be helped. Ending (and debates on quality for the other 90-ish percent of the game) aside, I feel like ME3 was decent enough, and AC3 is in roughly the same position. There are things that tick me off about it -- it seems to have that unfortunate habit of making the player take 5 steps just to trigger a cutscene, and the combat is a JOKE -- but I guess it won't kill me to keep playing it.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-78736139391790831312012-12-04T20:23:43.381-08:002012-12-04T20:23:43.381-08:00*sigh* I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry, but i...*sigh* I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry, but it's true. Two reviewers I tend to rely on both mentioned it about AC3. One of them cursed up a storm. The other made a second video to analyze how and explain why the ending was awful. I was really bummed too since the game is on my Christmas list and from what I saw from a few walkthroughs, the game looks kinda decent.<br /><br />Believe me, though, ME3 has to be the peak of crap endings this year. I'm only baffled that 8 months later there are at least two games that clearly forgot that storm ever happened. From this though, Halo 4 seems to have the laziest final... "fight"... I have ever seen.<br /><br />Halo fans, I am sorry you guys were subjected to this bullcrap.uchiha-fan-4noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-28788158085445537222012-12-02T17:25:39.446-08:002012-12-02T17:25:39.446-08:00",..then Assassin's Creed 3"
Oh no...",..then Assassin's Creed 3"<br /><br /><br />Oh no. Oh...oh God, no. Don't tell me that one ends with a whimper, too. I'm working on that one right now, and I'm finding the Haytham prologue to be...well, let's just call it "unpleasant" for now. But AC3 stumbles too? You gotta be...<br /><br /><br />Sigh. All right. I'm gonna take the high road and NOT declare that triple-A games have started to hit a glass ceiling and gotten the myriad shards stuck in its collective sweaty, adipose-laden form...but it's really, really hard.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-10044971829747996682012-12-02T09:42:59.915-08:002012-12-02T09:42:59.915-08:00... first Mass Effect 3, then Assassin's Creed...... first Mass Effect 3, then Assassin's Creed 3, and now Halo 4.<br /><br /><br />What in the hell is wrong with games and their bullshit endings this year?! Are developers that overwhelmed by the [not] upcoming apocalypse?uchiha-fan-4noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-69823683499196965392012-11-14T19:12:32.801-08:002012-11-14T19:12:32.801-08:00Unfortunately, it looks like that's the way it...Unfortunately, it looks like that's the way it's going to be for a while -- at least with AAA games. I don't know if you read the stuff that gets posted on gaming sites or flip through the pages of GameInformer, but you're just as likely to hear about developers boasting about the new technology and how cinematic/realistic they can make their game instead of how those things make the game better. <br /><br />Beyond: Two Souls looks like it's got the trappings of a game trying to capture that "cinematic experience"; it's too early to judge, but the fact that their E3 presentation -- and plenty of instances since -- had them tripping over themselves to boast about Ellen Page and how they're capturing her essence in-game, it's a little hard to be optimistic. Doubly so when Uncharted, while a good enough series in its own right, is setting a lot of dangerous precedents. It seems like the only way for Drake to transition from scene to scene is by falling through/from something and crashing to the ground. The man is some kind of gravitational anomaly.<br /><br /><br /><br />Oh well...can't be helped, I guess. I'm hoping that we'll see a paradigm shift in the gaming world (sooner rather than later), but at least I have Devil Survivor 2 to tide me over until that happens. Now THAT is a game-ass game.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-78934979155898585672012-11-14T00:40:47.965-08:002012-11-14T00:40:47.965-08:00pffft haha that's hilarious! I've never fa...pffft haha that's hilarious! I've never fallen through the floor with a tank before, seems like it was very annoying.<br /><br />The only reason I remembered the part in that infested ship was because I had to keep replaying it over and over for hours on end to get through, and the Flood (yay I actually remembered something else from the game!) were pretty disturbing and incredibly obnoxious to get through.<br /><br /><br />I like that term, by the way. "Game-ass game". Think I'm gonna start using it around my place as well, if ya don't mind. Those types of games are so much better.<br /><br /><br />(Although, to be fair, I once saw the 3 Uncharted games played through in their entirety and formatted into a movie. Gameplay looks like crap, but I'll admit they made for damn fine movies. All the more reason it should have been a movie to start with instead of a game trying to be a movie!)Sir Quafflernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-10546822654088313772012-11-13T20:17:54.317-08:002012-11-13T20:17:54.317-08:00Looks like you remember more of Halo 3 than I do. ...Looks like you remember more of Halo 3 than I do. I just remember blurs of caves and Crazy-Cortana and that final level where you drive the Warthog. Oh, and for like a third of the game I kept chanting "Zombie Africa!" to my brother because of the music. And the zombie...things.<br /><br />But now that I think about it, I can't remember anything from pretty much any shooter released in the past six years -- and this is coming from someone who remembers "Twenty-three is number one!" from Zelda: OoT. I remember the big stuff from the Gears of War games, but mostly when people die instead of plot details, why the soldiers are doing what they do, or entire levels. Same goes for Halo Reach -- all I remember is the characters dying. I'm starting to think that the gaming industry is in a more dire condition than I imagined...<br /><br />...And then I remember games like Metroid Prime (and plenty of Nintendo-branded games, arguably), and think we'll be all right. You've got it nailed -- it's a memorable game in spite of lacking a spelled-out story, a half-hour of cutscenes, and lots of characters dying. It leads me to believe that anything with the Nintendo moniker is what I'd like to start calling a "game-ass game" -- games that don't try to be movies, but experiences that you'll take with you wherever you go by virtue of them being...you know, games. Varied, deep, satisfying, yet ultimately simple games. <br /><br /><br />So basically, the opposite of Halo 4.<br /><br /><br />Also, fun fact: when I was playing with my brother, there was this weird glitch where he was driving a tank, and then suddenly he and the tank fell through the ground and he died. Which wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't about to enter an area that DEMANDED the use of a tank. Quality!Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-56793950679137046482012-11-13T15:14:38.556-08:002012-11-13T15:14:38.556-08:00The only Halo game I've ever played to complet...The only Halo game I've ever played to completion was Halo 3. It didn't have much of a story to it, but it had its fun action-packed moments, and one run through Hell to get Cortana back. Beyond that, I don't really remember much of what happened.<br /><br /><br />This also makes me sad. The games are set up in a very intriguing universe that I want to know more about, but I can't because i have to run down a corridor, press a button, and shoot until every non-human is dead. How disappointing. This is why I just can't get into nearly any FPS game: There's no exploration, just set pieces.<br /><br /><br />The only ones I CAN get into are the Metroid Prime games, and they don't really fit into that genre anyway. I mean yeah, you spend the entire time underneath that helmet (or rolled up in a ball) but I can still get SOME emotions and character from Samus; not as much as other games, but it's still there. And unlike Halo, I ACTUALLY feel like I'm Samus, because I'm able to make all the decisions myself instead of being herded into tight linear corridors. Also, the worlds are more interesting because I'm able to learn about them in-game. The Scan Visor is seriously one of the best things I've seen in gaming.<br /><br /><br />Back to Halo; I'll play through it with friends when we just need a stress-reliever, as it really is fun to mess around in offline multiplayer (I'm specifying OFFLINE because I hate dealing with the troglodytes that inhabit XBL), but beyond that I can't be arsed to play it at all. Good thing I've got other games to occupy my time with now, Pokemon Black 2 is absorbing a crapton of my free time, that Adventure Time game will be coming in just in time for Thanksgiving, and I hope to pick up the new Assassin's Creed game sometime this winter break (it's the only modern-day franchise I give a damn about).Sir Quafflernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-52466705139785898882012-11-12T17:25:30.804-08:002012-11-12T17:25:30.804-08:00Maybe the Didact was so shocked by being attacked,...Maybe the Didact was so shocked by being attacked, he temporarily forgot he had powers. I mean, has he ever been attacked before? It was probably a huge shock to his system.<br /><br />Now, to Halo 4's credit, it DOES at least have an ending -- from what I've heard, that's more that can be said about Halo 2's "finish the fight" fiasco. But without a good final boss fight forcing you to earn that victory and that ending, what's the point? I could have watched a walkthrough of the last level on YouTube, and it would have had the same effect.<br /><br /><br /><br />Also? Liquid deserves to have slipped on a bar of soap. Surely he could have delegated the task of clean-up duty to one of his goons. Pffft, some villain -- can't even command respect of his men.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-30353271759633672232012-11-12T17:10:44.744-08:002012-11-12T17:10:44.744-08:00Not to be a hater, but from what I've gathered...Not to be a hater, but from what I've gathered there IS no difference. It looks better, sure, but the gameplay is exactly what you'd expect/are used to. Even reviewers and fans (and the occasional super-fan) seem to think it's just like the other Halo games. But this being Halo, it didn't need to change, I guess.<br /><br /><br />Not that I would have minded a bit of change, but hey, what can you do? Besides expect a new developer with nigh-infinite funds to shake up the formula and plug up all the haters' whining-holes once and for all?Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-72727265693101310632012-11-12T14:40:47.680-08:002012-11-12T14:40:47.680-08:00I don't see the difference between this game a...I don't see the difference between this game and the others. It all just looks the same to me.Tom Badguyhttp://www.tombadguy.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-83030152732079370372012-11-12T07:44:26.847-08:002012-11-12T07:44:26.847-08:00hat was pretty mind boggling. Anticlimax much? ...hat was pretty mind boggling. Anticlimax much? I think it's fairly amusing how similar the ending is to another huge disappointing ending in the gaming world... *cough* Bioware *cough* Difference being that this completely diffused the Big Bad's Bad-assery.<br /><br /><br />You can effortlessly hang Master Chief in the air with a gesture, but you can't make yourself float? N$%%@ please. <br /><br /><br /><br />If you want a desperate last boss fight done right they should have taken a page from Metroid. Namely Super Metroid. Hell even QTE the game: "Asura's Wrath" supplemented the QTE last boss with over the top visuals and general ridiculousness. This is just... the equivalent of Master Chief settling things with a game of cards.<br /><br /><br />No worse that that. I can't take credit for this: But in Metal Gear Solid Decoy Octopus actually dies of a heart attack and you never actually fight him. This is an extreme of this. It's like... if instead of finding Liquid snake at the end atop Metal Gear Rex he found an unassuming little girl that was like:<br /><br /><br />"Oh! You're looking for liquid? He was looking forward to fighting you to the death, but when he was tidying up he slipped on a bar of soap and broke his neck. Sorry. Oh? And the missile launch? Yeah... you see he was never really good at system maintenance so it just shut itself off."<br /><br /><br />*Roll Credits*Eric R. Jacksonhttp://twitter.com/Dimanagulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-49278558631092188172012-11-11T22:19:32.599-08:002012-11-11T22:19:32.599-08:00Ah, I see. Well, that's the way it goes, I gu...Ah, I see. Well, that's the way it goes, I guess. But on the plus side, now you can focus on adding even better games to your list! Ones that DON'T miserably handle their final confrontations!Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-86353284553171163692012-11-11T21:48:11.629-08:002012-11-11T21:48:11.629-08:00Sadly enough I had no real plans for playing onlin...Sadly enough I had no real plans for playing online, so I'm gonna have to skip Halo 4. I really should have phrased it "thanks for the heads up on an abysmal single player campaign."Jordan Levellsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-40201041536327585272012-11-11T19:37:03.069-08:002012-11-11T19:37:03.069-08:00"But this one...this one's way different...."But this one...this one's way different."<br /><br /><br />Yeah, I admit that I got that sense near the end. When I said I was sad and tired and disappointed, I meant it. Like, I'm still angry at the game, but I'm more likely to summon up remorse than rage. (It probably helps that I was listening to Unforgotten at the time; I don't know Halo well, but I friggin' LOVE that song.) It's just so frustrating; I was under the impression from reviews that Halo 4 had more than just the best campaign yet -- it was a fantastic story in general. I guess I should have known better, given that the same was said about <i>Halo: Reach</i>, and I'm convinced every main character could be convincingly played by rocks.<br /><br /><br />RE: the Didact boss fight -- I've heard that pretty much every Halo game has terrible (or nonexistent) boss fights, so maybe it was silly of me to expect anything better; on the other hand, a new game with a blank check begs for more than...well, that. It'll be interesting to see how gamers respond to Halo 4 once the hype has died down and heads have cleared; hopefully, what's happened here won't be indication of a very troubling paradigm shift. <br /><br /><br />...Well, no more troubling than what we have at the moment. The new Call of Duty comes out this week, so it's very likely that Activision will make enough money to start a new world order.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-78836656939353615222012-11-11T19:18:58.390-08:002012-11-11T19:18:58.390-08:00Well, I wouldn't go so far as to completely je...Well, I wouldn't go so far as to completely jettison it from your list. If you like playing online, this is probably a good game to have around...though with CoDBlops 2 on the way, who knows what'll happen next. But if you're getting Halo 4 with aims of getting the most out of the campaign, you'll be left wanting and frustrated.<br /><br /><br />I don't mean to be a Yahtzee/Zero Punctuation fanboy, but he brought up a good point -- if a mostly-multiplayer-focused game is going to be a full sixty dollars, it needs to have a solid single player to justify the price. Halo 4 doesn't. And that's about all I can say.<br /><br /><br />Maybe wait for a price drop. Then it might be worth it...again, assuming you have any intention of playing multiplayer.Voltech44noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-63716232055599862352012-11-11T17:05:35.730-08:002012-11-11T17:05:35.730-08:00I once asked, in a blogpost long ago "Who Is ...I once asked, in a blogpost long ago "Who Is Master Chief?" Thanks to this article, I now know that there's nothing to Master Chief. There is no who. There is only a suit with guns. Also, I agree with your view of Cortana's character deign. I recently decided to get a Cortana toy (basically for the sword it was packaged with) and its pretty much just a statue of her with her hips cocked. And the designers of the toy decided to define her buttocks for some reason. <br /><br />You know the what else? I was planning on getting Halo 4 for Christmas. YOu just saved me from cluttering a spot on my list with a bad game. Thanks.Jordan Levellsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6904713839696769313.post-49227276151914803912012-11-11T15:30:52.881-08:002012-11-11T15:30:52.881-08:00You told me to read this because the righteously h...You told me to read this because the righteously hateful Meet The Browns article was amusing to me, but this one...this one's way different. Mostly because you're a gamer and you know exactly which points to adress.<br /><br />I liked Meet the Browns because it was about a black guy makiing fun of a show that is supposed to be about black people but fails miserably at it. I liked this article because it was about a gamer saying what we're all thinking<br /><br />To be honest, writing and plot in gaming has been getting better, but the Didact boss battle (by far the funniest video and follow-up in this article) is definitive proof that programmers and writers occasionally get stupidly lazy when dealing with boss battles. Reminds me of the Warhammer 40k game, where you play an invincible badass space solider with a giant fucking hammer that shoots lightning, mowing down space orks and demons and suddenly having go through a chain of QTEs instead of a boss battle.<br /><br />I mean come ON, gaming people! I'm not much of a gamer and even I can tell you that yoou're doing some incredibly stupid shit, when you pull a QTE in lieu of a boss fight? The Didact was built up to be the NEXT GREAT ADVERSARY to the Master Chief so I get that they might have decided to play it safe and undo his omnipotence so he could remain a plausible foe.<br /><br />But that shit they pulled? That discredited the Didact once and for all. Even if the guy merges himself with the DeathPlanet George and you have to fight him while surfing a Space Platform made out of mechs, energy cannons blazing across LaGrange space, he will still be the little bitch you one shotted in the previous game.<br /><br />Seriously, gaming people, what the fuck?Kostantinenoreply@blogger.com