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| Halo Gameplay Impressions | |
| Posted By: Sam <sam_edge@charter.net> | Date: 11/1/01 9:11 p.m. |
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Got the chance to play Halo at the local mall today. Wanted to post some gameplay impressions, since there didn't appear to be any on the forums. :) Played at the Software Etc. Xbox kiosk for about 2 hours or so. It wasn't the retail packaging, so I'm not sure if what I played was the final retail, or a build that had been released early for demo distribution. I'll see if I can get more information and clarify on that when I go back tomorrow. ::Short Take::
::Long Take::
:Controller: The Xbox has caught a lot (LOT) of flak on the issue of the US controller. After giving the controller it's paces over a 2 hour run of Halo, I can honestly say..... it aint that bad. Period. The offset of the two axis sticks (as opposed to the PS/PS2 layout) actually makes it MUCH easier to use the twin sticks together. The only things I can level at the controller are 1) the face buttons could be be larger and in a better layout and 2) I wouldn't mind another couple of triggers, or shoulder buttons and triggers. The triggers are nice, but some other action buttons either under or on the shoulder of the controller would have been nice. And the face button placement might be better on the Jap controller and/or the 3rd party units. And all this leads into..... :Control: The control in Halo seems to be very configurable. The axis sticks had multiple combinations that could be setup for them, ie. split look and move on the two sticks or (my prefered) move with the left axis and look with the left (ala mouselook). Options for sensitivity and axis inversion (yep, check that one) were also there, but I didn't mess with the sensitivity. There are also options to change the button setup, but didn't verify if you can customize it or only use preset configs. Remember I mentioned those face buttons? With the default key setup, you can bet that for a while you'll be jumping when you try to reload the weapon ('til you get used to the face button placement). Changing weapons while in a heavy firefight also sucked. Lesson? Reload and gunswitch from cover. I ended up with a setup for movement/strafe on the left stick and a mouselook equivalent on the right stick. Oldschool fps stuff. You have different character slots that store configs and save game files in. Seemed to do pretty well. Also, if you're trying to impress anyone with your l33t skills, better make sure you have the control config set right before you try to wail on the Covenant. And the big question: Can the twidlysticks and all match up to a keyboard/mouse?
::Sound:: A retail mall in the afternoon, on a display unit with (moderately) poor sound quality, is not the best settings in which to evaluate sound. Plus, the local store was doing some rearranging; but, hey, they let me play Halo for two hours while they had to work. Everything that I heard sounded good; Marine chatter while blasting aliens, voiceacting, weapons etc. Same with the music. I wish I could have made it out more clearly, but it was too noisy. The immersive music is one of the things I look forward to most in this game. (From the movies and tracks that have been released, seems to rank up there with Jeremy Soule). Unfortunately, I can't accurately comment on it. The one thing I can say is that whoever picked the voice of the Master Chief did a great job. Kudos on that one. (BTW, who is it?) The one thing I could hear clearly (as Cov plasma grenades blasted me (multiple times) into the air) was this wonderful 'flying dirt' clump noise when a grenade goes off. I'm sure that there's much more, but that's the one little thing (that I could make out) that stayed with me. Maybe because I heard it so much..... ::Grafics:: OMG. Halo is like the Matrix. You cannot be told what Halo is. You have to experience it. Seriously. The cutscenes, the movies we've seen.... That pales beside the real thing. Debating getting an xbox? Go check out Halo in action. It really does put the movies to shame. It's really hard to describe in words how well the game looks. Seriously, go see it. But a snapshot..... The Cov have a man sized, non-portable Energy shield. (You've seen 'em in the screenshots). When you actually see them, though, they have this cool refresh effect, almost like the film on a soap bubble. And the really cool thing, they shift in color when they take damage, till they drop. It's a dynamic effect, and damn cool. Framerate was silky smooth all throughout my play. The only times I saw any skip at all was (duh) during level loads. (Which are FAST, btw. Under 3 seconds) I've heard rumors that the game has some frameloss with massive stuff onscreen; however, I didn't observe any while playing (~4 human troops, 6+ cov and dropship onscreen at one point). 30 or 60 fps? I don't know. All I can say is that it looked constantly smooth. ::Gameplay:: Addictive and fun. Killing aliens and oggling at the eye candy ;). I was playing at the Heroic level (not the best level to use when trying to adjust to the game controls) and the game is a blast. One of the particular things I wanted to point out is the use of checkpoints. After every major encounter or so (or set of encounters) you'll run across a checkpoint. Basically, it's a floating save. Get nailed, eat a Cov grenade, etc, and you're back at the last checkpoint. It really kept the action fun and fluid during my play, and it seemed to make dying a lot less disjointed. Also, the placement of the checkpoints seem to be fairly safe (at a lul in the action) so the player doesn't get stuck in a no-win situation. I was dying quite a lot at first, so I can say that that system is VERY nice. As has been posted earlier, the cov grenades STICK. Nail a grunt, and he runs around screaming (watch it, sometimes directly at you). Nail an elite, and he gives his yell, before maybe getting a shot or two off. The grunts, though.... nail one with a plasma grenade. You have to see it. Good stuff. The cutscenes (that I saw, one that isn't in a downloadable movie) are very nice, and flow well with the action sequences. I was pleasantly surprised by the new movie that I saw, as I wasn't expecting it. It didn't jar the transition between the levels at all; in fact, it made for a very smooth transition. Again; the downloads we have don't the cutscenes justice. ::No Comment On:: I wanted to have a section of stuff that I didn't have time to mess around with.... Vehicles: I didn't get to a level that has an vehicles yet. Therefore....nada. Weapons I saw: AR, pistol, needler, plasma pistol, plasma rifle. That's it. I don't know what else is in or what isn't. Multiplayer: Played single solo missions only. No MP. ::FIN:: All in all, Halo appears to rock. This is one of the few times I've seen a game which looks like it might be able to deliver (or even surpass) the hype. Sometimes a game will 'set' a genre. Like Starcraft. Any RTS game that comes out is bound to be compared to Starcraft.... until something can come around and dethrone it. I'm not aware of any game on the PC or a platform that I could accurately use as a measuring stick to compare Halo to. Yes, it's a story based fps game. Halflife or NOLF? The grafics on Halo are truely awesome -next generation stuff-, and the storyline looks to be very tight and well done. Plus, the interaction with other characters is something that we haven't seen at this level before (The marines will TELL you that you are in the way, instead of just shooting you in the back. Move out of the way, flank the enemy and flush them, and that same marine will help you finish them off). The action and pacing are smooth. Halo could be one of those defining games. It -might- be the next measuring stick. Is it the next yardstick? GOTY? I can't tell you after only 2 hours of play. However, I can tell you that tomorrow I'm heading back for another dose. Sam
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| Replies: |
| Halo Gameplay Impressions | Sam | 11/1/01 9:11 p.m. |
| Sweetness! Good review! | Psyrixx | 11/1/01 9:29 p.m. |
| Re: Halo Gameplay Impressions | Fuolornis Fire Dragon | 11/1/01 9:37 p.m. |
| Re: Halo Gameplay Impressions | slumbermonkey | 11/1/01 9:42 p.m. |
| Re: Halo Gameplay Impressions | vector40 | 11/1/01 10:22 p.m. |
| Re: Halo Gameplay Impressions | Sam | 11/1/01 10:26 p.m. |
| Wow. Another very nice post. I agree totally. *NM* | Fuolornis Fire Dragon | 11/1/01 11:18 p.m. |
| Re: Halo Gameplay Impressions | Aginor | 11/2/01 12:32 p.m. |
| Re: Halo Gameplay Impressions | vector40 | 11/1/01 10:21 p.m. |
| STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Jester | 11/1/01 11:09 p.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Fuolornis Fire Dragon | 11/1/01 11:32 p.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Psyrixx | 11/1/01 11:39 p.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | {mAc}Dark_Eagle | 11/2/01 12:15 a.m. |
| Myth 2 (RPG or RTS?) | Jester | 11/2/01 1:45 p.m. |
| Re: Myth 2 (RPG or RTS?) | RAZORBACK | 11/2/01 4:07 p.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Sam | 11/2/01 6:46 a.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Jester | 11/2/01 2:15 p.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | vector40 | 11/2/01 7:44 p.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Fuolornis Fire Dragon | 11/2/01 9:52 p.m. |
| Thanks! plus more stuff..... | Sam | 11/4/01 7:41 a.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | SoSD | 11/2/01 9:41 a.m. |
| Re: STARCRAFT?!?!? [OT RANT] | Sam | 11/2/01 11:19 a.m. |
| you played ... | customsex | 11/2/01 4:31 p.m. |
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