More on Halo: Reach

[The Mythmaker]

A very difficult article to respond too. Each point balanced by another.

If I dispute your interpretation of the story with facts from other sources, I prove your point about ancillary media.

If I dispute your opinion on the weapons, vehicles, etc., I get to sound like an angry fanboy.

If I dispute your views on multiplayer, I'd just be a hypocrit.

Why do you have to make this so hard?!

Well, at least there are a couple things I can safely complain about.

Firefight was never mentioned. You said you reviewed "single player," not "campaign." So I was a bit surprised by this ommision since, unlike dedicated multiplayer options, this can be done solo.

As for the "spartan weighs a ton" thing, it seems reasonable to assume that they are not wearing a medieval plate. It's called "powered armor" for a reason.

...yeah, that's all I got.

 

[duchaked]

wow...that was...uncalled for

I guess I don't usually bother reading comments past the first page, so I dunno if there are more fanboys or haters

both are equally annoying

but this was a low blow from Yahtzee, even I'll admit

 

[Le_Lisra]

Since I'm technically malnourished that's quite an achievement. I should wear this shirt more often.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Halo is mediocre story/singleplayer that got scrapped by dev for the multiplayer platform. Seems to me that they should have just forgone the whole storyline thing and stuck with what people obviously play Halo for. At least thats what I feel from Reach. The storyline was half-assed, the plot weak and the characters boring. Why bother making a singleplayer at all? In the end, I still don't play Halo MP because I'm tired of the same game with "new" elements added in, and multiplayer hasn't changed all that much since the Quake days other than weaponry. Its still in the end a fragfest, pure and simple.
I say this because almost every mp game I join, whether be it CoD or Halo, it always devolves into kill the other team/players more. Even CTF or "bombing runs" still ends up with the objective being ignored while players run around killing each other. Once in a while I get on games that actually have people interested in doing things other than deathmatch... but logically speaking for all my experiences the face of MP FPS's has always been the same.
Either way, its easy to pan any FPS multiplayer because they're all pretty much the same game with different packaging. Is it any wonder some people might be bored of it or don't think it is anything special?
Anyway, I've always figured you have to review the game from both sides of the field, and if the multi-player is just as bland as the last game, and the story isn't that great and the characters are passionless faceless automatons you can't really connect with in any way, then no matter how pretty a sheen you put on the graphics and physics, the game itself can never be "great". It all ends up with the die-hard fanboys who can't admit the game they love so much isn't the greatest thing in the world screaming at everyone who disagrees with them.
I do find it fitting they ended Halo with Reach though, it kills the series just as much as it kills the characters in the game.

 

[Vinchucca]

I agree with his points about the story. Especially because nobody seemed to be all that bothered about the covenant invading the planet. I know humans had experience with the covenant before (the fall of Harvest if you will) because I read the books, but even then it didn't make much sense why they allready seemed to know how every bit of covenant technology functionned. It must have been even more bewildering for newcomers to the series! Still, all things considered I like the game. The gameplay might not have changed much over the years, it still WORKS. In fact it works better than most other games out there. And multiplayer-wise I think Bungie outdid themselves again...even though we could use some new multiplayer-environments ;-)

 

[DEATHROAD]

I love this shirt, FUCK YOU!

OT: Liked halo myself but im glad its over, end of story.




i mean i payed damn near 50 quid for this shirt.. jesus..

 

[paragon1]

This shirt does not make me look fat! It's my consistently poor diet and lack of exercise that makes me look fat!

 

[Arcanite Ripper]

Boy, "Like" and "Hate" seem to be such heavy words these days.

OT: I'll offer my super-special bonus to the whole Imposter-Professor Layton reply comment or whatever. I've always thought Multiplayer games and modes were kept sometime solely- interesting in the same way Sports are, where it's not necessarily the game's rules to play, but how the uncountable number of different strategies and moves can be used to best your opponent while still following them. While the vareity in that constrained enviroment can get old after a while, It's how I managed to play excessive amounts of "Catch" for the past years. I guess you can play by yourself in that game, though i'd still file it under Multiplayer dependent.

...Though I guess it doesn't matter, as both options are usually always present.

Otherwise, the article was a seemingly-nice followup on a game I haven't followed since the beginning of the third one. Wish I had some spending money to decide on my own... ^^

 

[ShadowSilencer]

Yahtzee did you actually READ that "ancillary media", because it also explains away the floaty movement feel and the first half of the book makes the whole "mum" thing completely false. Next time make use of all the facts there, just taking the ones that support your argument shows narrow-mindedness.
As for the article, I agree with you about Reach's campaign. However, the gameplay has evolved over the years, it's just that for Reach they went back to halo 1's formula with some refinements from the other games. And what is it with you and saying that every game needs a boss fight? And did you even look at Firefight? Or Forge?
Honestly though, you didn't need to write an article about this. Everyone knows how you feel about Halo (you made it abundantly clear in the Turok review) so we all know you're just trying to get traffic figures and to make us to act like little gibbering morons in the forums.

Almost right. He's super troll so selective-mindedness works better.

Besides, this site is muti-user so it doesn't count. I much prefer sites that let you separate yourself from the world and keep your opinions to yourself. Why am I sharing my opinion of this site then? Because I am using all of you. OMG! I just turned into Nazi, Yahtzee's web-page reviewing twin who's name ironically rhymes with his!

 

[Silent Eagle]

Yahtzee makes it sound as bad as Twilight.
Another case of developers making bad sequels. "cough cough bioshock cough"

Halo Combat Evolved was great in terms of story but as for the franchise, I started having doubts for future titles after a little ways into Halo 2. Stopped caring all together after Halo 3.
I thought 2 was like a stepping stone to a more interesting immersive story with fun creative changes in combat.
Keyword:"thought"

 

[Oh That Dude]

Personally I can't take Yahtzee very seriously as a reviewer if he refuses to review more than half the game.

I mean, disregarding his lack of logic in refusing to accept that multiplayer is worthy of consideration when talking about a game, he also fails to acknowledge two pretty hefty elements of the game: Forge and Firefight. That's not even multiplayer but it's heaved into the "ignore" bin anyway.

And rightly so. Firefight is a massive waste of time. I played it single player, all I did was run around and try to stay alive. Got to the 4th wave, killed about 40+ guys and what did I get? 60 credits and nothing else? What's the point??? I'd rather kill 40 guys on the single player campaign where there's actually a reason for fighting.

All completely subjective opinion, and nowhere a reason he shouldn't have paid it some attention and delivered a judgement, regardless of what that would be.

What's not subjective is that Firefight is under the multiplayer menu and is popularly touted as a multiplayer game mode.

You're right, it's not subjective, it's just plain wrong. There is no multiplayer menu. There is a main menu, with Campaign, Matchmaking, Firefight, Custom games, Forge, and Theatre.
You can play Firefight in multiplayer, correct. In the same way as you can play the Campaign in multiplayer.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I was going to make a comment about my shirt, but it seems several people have done that already, so it's not clever anymore.

 

[Waaghpowa]

While YOU dont see the appeal of Multiplayer, SOME people do. And a LARGE ammount of people bought the game JUST for multiplayer, cause they dont care about story. If you want to call yourself a reviewer, you have to acknowledge all aspects of the game, or atleast enough to get the grasp. The story mode =/= CTF, so get your ass on Multiplayer or stop reviewing games that have Multiplayer.

He can't help but review games with multi player because multiplayer games are ubiquitous.

The problem with buying the game JUST for multiplayer seems ridiculous, especially if it's a full priced game. You're willing to pay 60 bucks for multi player alone? You might be ok with it, but some people, me included, think it's absolutely asinine to spend 60 dollars on a game with mediocre single player that only lasts 5 hours because the developers decided to cop out and make it mostly multi player. This is why Valve is so awesome, their games are either strictly single player or strictly multiplayer online and you never pay 60 bucks for them. I paid 30 dollars for the orange box and got Half Life 2, Ep1, ep2, TF2 and CS:S only costs 20 bucks. I'm definitely getting my moneys worth with them.

My point is that Valve doesn't split their attention when making a game, they focus on single player or online. Even EA is doing a better job with some of their online games, Battlefield Bad Company 2 AND Medal of Honor had 2 different studios working on it, one does the single player and the other does the multiplayer.

OT: My t shirt is awesome, it tells people that I'm an "Attorney at LOL"

 

[ironlordthemad]

I ignore what little the Halo Series is trying to say but the whole Jorge and that Doctor thing is annoyingly stupid, I would have though Yahtzee would get it since he is, after all, a british person.
I can't believe the number of people who think Jorge's mother is the doctor. Ignoring the fact that spartans are cut off from all family and indoctrinated into the military (explaining their suicide bomber esque fanaticism). Jorge isn't saying "mum" he is saying "mam" as in a mother figure or a respected older woman. Has no one here seen a single episode of "The Bill"?
Granted that she is a mother figure and a key part in raising Jorge into the Spartan he is, but she isn't his biological mother and the number of people I have to explain that too is getting annoying.
And I don't even care about the Halo Universe.

 

[thebreadbinman]

How can you complain about the spazztarded physics etc whilst raving about the fact that it's not like all the other realistic shooters?
and companies spend just as much time on designing/building multiplayer levels and maps and making sure the user experience is enjoyable with new and innovative products as they do on single player, especially those like HALO and COD that revolve around it, so dismissing it entirely from a game is childish. For someone so eager to embrace new gaming revelations and going on about how it's the medium of the future, you seem rather sceptical to embrace such an important breakthrough that is social gaming.

 

[Stevepinto3]

But as for competitive multiplayer, I'm sorry, I just don't see the appeal of playing the same maps over and over again to find out which one out of you is the best at whatever it is you're doing. That's not why I'm into gaming. Call me antisocial.

Sure, but you can't blame the game for that. Different games cater to different tastes.

The fact that one is not into competitive multiplayer gaming doesn't make games that focus on it bad, it just makes them games that don't belong in ones tastes. The game can still function properly, have solid and well-balanced gameplay, that sort of thing.

And yet, millions of dollars were invested into designing, writing, and programming the single player campaign. There's no excuse for just making that suck because "well, people will get it for the multiplayer".

If the only thing that's been good about the Halo series has been the Multiplayer then why should I or anyone fork over $60 so I can play the exact same thing but with jetpacks? If that's all this was about they could have saved a lot of money on both ends just by making it an expansion pack.

 

[i7omahawki]

Wow, what a worthless 'article', to follow up a rather mundane review.

So let's see, Yahtzee refuses to play the multiplayer, the aspect gamers likely spend at least 60% of the their game time playing. Hell a bunch of the online-players haven't even touched the Halo 3 campaign. Some folks just aren't interested, and Bungie seem to pay a lot more attention to the multiplayer.

So instead he pays attention to the story, only he hasn't bothered to play much, if any, of the previous games, neither has he glanced at the canon.

I doubt Mass Effect 2's story is abundantly clear to people who haven't played the first, Y'know why?

- The game has sold many, many copies.
- The history/canon is available online, for free.
- Boring the fans (the people games like this are generally aimed at), with details they already know about, isn't good storytelling.

Granted, Halo: Reach doesn't sound like a great game, I haven't touched it in fact, yet it is clear that Yahtzee is making bad judgements on a game he wrong foots from the start.

Complaining about a game being mediocre, and then making a mediocre review and follow up statement which ignores the most important facets of the game, is poor conduct for a reviewer.

 

[ShadowSilencer]

Personally I can't take Yahtzee very seriously as a reviewer if he refuses to review more than half the game.

I mean, disregarding his lack of logic in refusing to accept that multiplayer is worthy of consideration when talking about a game, he also fails to acknowledge two pretty hefty elements of the game: Forge and Firefight. That's not even multiplayer but it's heaved into the "ignore" bin anyway.

And rightly so. Firefight is a massive waste of time. I played it single player, all I did was run around and try to stay alive. Got to the 4th wave, killed about 40+ guys and what did I get? 60 credits and nothing else? What's the point??? I'd rather kill 40 guys on the single player campaign where there's actually a reason for fighting.

You realize that without online enabled you get more credits for firefight? That being the case, if you are going to get the full feel for single player you have to disconnect yourself from Xbox Live. This point you made completely ignores the point of the post you took time to quote. (Single-player vs. Multiplayer vs. "I dont like Firefight")

 

[Cowabungaa]

And yet, millions of dollars were invested into designing, writing, and programming the single player campaign. There's no excuse for just making that suck because "well, people will get it for the multiplayer".

If the only thing that's been good about the Halo series has been the Multiplayer then why should I or anyone fork over $60 so I can play the exact same thing but with jetpacks? If that's all this was about they could have saved a lot of money on both ends just by making it an expansion pack.

Woah partner, don't get me wrong, I didn't react on the Halo part, just that statement. I haven't actually played Halo: Reach (sadly) so I'll reserve my judgement on that one.

I personally loved the campaign of the previous Halo's though, except ODST's, but that's because I didn't play that. Hoped that one would blow a fresh wind through the series, but it didn't. Halo 3 all over again, and I kinda longed for something fresh.

 

[roostuf]

God dammit Yahzee you bastard im not fat! And besides im not into halo much it looks great the graphics and gameplay, but im with Yahzee with this one.Besides im into KillZone Muhahahaha!


KillZone shotgun> Halo shotgun