116: Hard to Be Humble: Bungie on Bungie

[Russ Pitts]

Hard to Be Humble: Bungie on Bungie

"'Looking back on Halo 2,' Jarrard says, 'the most glaring omission was a real, proper ending to the game. When that game began, it was never intended to just stop. We definitely didn't intend to just yank the carpet out.'

'But they did. Oh, did they, and the fans weren't the only ones who noticed."

Russ Pitts speaks to Bungie's Brian Jarrard about Halo 2, Halo 3 and the perils of success.


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[imcaseyimhott [deprecated]]

I don't even understand how Halo got big. I guess being a PC gamer we get spoiled by great games over and over again that Console players don't have the chance to appreciate. With Halo, I see a very simplistic FPS with far below the graphical standard (Halo 1 and 2 especially), and gameplay that I personally saw with Duke Nukem 3d. The game play was easy no matter the difficulty, and the AI was about as intelligent as an AI controlled bomberman (no offense, to Bomberman, THAT was a great classic game).

I honestly don't get the hype, How can ppl choose Halo when they have Bioshock on the same console? Oh well, one more month for Crysis.

 

[Double_Helix]

Sticky nades. It's all it has!

 

[John Funk]

I've loved FPS games since Wolfenstein 3D, and Halo is still one of my favorites in the genre. The AI on the higher difficulties was actually fairly smart for the time, stuff like the two-weapon system/shields/frequently usable grenades/vehicular combat/a fairly engaging sci-fi story (for a shootan game)... lots of it had been done before, but not in the same game before. It was in many aspects a rather refined experience and lots of fun (being one of the only good games on the Xbox early on certainly helped).

I was in a garage band with my friends in middle school/early high school, and we all used to go upstairs at my friend Mike's house and play Goldeneye for hours after practice. He got an Xbox at launch and then Halo became our game of choice. There were four of us, it was four-player splitscreen... it was a perfect fit. We were high schoolers and couldn't really do LAN parties for PC FPS games, but we could definitely fire up the Xbox and blow each others' brains out that way.

Just because you can't see/refuse to see the appeal of Halo doesn't mean none exists. I've played quite a few FPS games in my time on this planet, and Halo 3 ranks amongst the best.

 

[Goofonian]

The way halo got big follows the exact same rules as how many businesses get big.

Its not who does it best that wins, its who does it adequately well and brings it to the masses.

 

[Arbre]

It got big because Microsoft was behind. The fact that the game was good enough, and great for any console gamer who was not used to PC games, simply finished the job.

 

[John Funk]

Well, also... splitscreen gaming is easier to quickly set up and have fun with friends rather than LAN gaming. Four guys at college can pop Halo/2/3 into the Xbox and have a blast drinking beer and blowing each others' heads off.. it takes a lot more effort to set up a LAN party and still have that realspace interaction where you get to call someone a little whore and that they should suck it down after you snipe them from across the map.

 

[Echolocating]

Back when I was into "multimedia" development, I had to purchase a Mac. I was really into my PC games and felt cheated by having spent a small fortune on a work machine that I couldn't really enjoy my favorite hobby with. Oh, how wrong I was.

If one were at all familiar with their previous works in the Mac gaming community, Halo's success is a no-brainer. The real mystery is how Microsoft managed not to ruin Bungie. ;-)

 

[Easykill]

...The Halo trilogy is.... epic. The multiplayer for 2 and 3 are the best ive ever seen on a console game and the campaign doesnt even feel like a game to me because of the way it sucks you in. I know people who cried at the end of halo 3, they were that emotional about it. If you dont like it, fine. Just dont say its not a good game.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Bioshock is an excellent game in many ways, but it's not a social game. For every story freak like me, there's at least one out there buying the game solely for its online multiplayer. Despite the stereotype, there are a lot of Halo players very much interested in the social aspect provided by its "virtual couch".

I wish Bioshock had that too; but it doesn't.

-- Steve

 

[Communist partisan]

I yust know that halo 2 was better than halo 3 but that's my opinion.

 

[Shadowed Intent]

With Halo, I see a very simplistic FPS with far below the graphical standard (Halo 1 and 2 especially

What?! you do realise that when it came out Halo CE had the best graphics available right?