Zero Punctuation: Halo 3

[ccesarano]

Look, I know PC gamers love to think that the computer gaming platform is number one, but the fact of the matter is back when the first Civilization came out it was named Game of the Year on PC and a best seller while, at best, strategy game of the year on Super Nintendo. However, the game sold around the same number of units on both, despite being a PC game best seller.

Straw Man? Can you provide the sources? And can you also explain why you make the assumption that a strategy game that has came out on PC and NES will have the same quality over both platforms? You dismiss the keyboard and mouse argument, fair enough, but in this case it is necessary to incorporate that factor.

First, let's all do the derailment dance! *dances a fine Irish jig*

While I cannot prove everyone used it, the mouse for the SNES had already been released by then, as it came with Mario Paint and individually. I don't recall if you could also get it package with Civilization, but memory recalls both a small box and a gigantic box. Unfortunately, for sales numbers I have no physical proof. Even the Wikipedia page lacks any such numbers, and I have never been able to find them in the past.

 

[imcaseyimhott [deprecated]]

Ah Finally a reviewer that isn't suck up Microsoft's ass and sees how boring and plain Halo 3 really is.

 

[Manic Inc [deprecated]]

He should have at least played the multiplayer, even to just rip on the morons who you come across on Live and the daft things that people do. This was still great, but ripping on the single-player to a multiplayer focused game is kind of like, well, what were you expecting?

 

[the_pearson_person]

Great review. AGAIN. And very accurate from what I hear, although I'm yet to buy it. I may buy it when it goes down to budget price level.

And don't forget my weekly spam:


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[walshicus [deprecated]]

To be fair, I've played the first 2 and there isn't really a plot to begin with. Oh wait, there tries to be, but it gets stuck like a broken record and repeats the same bit for 2 hours so that the story actually lasts more than 15 minutes.

There's a metric shittonne of plot; it just isn't all put out on display. Halo's storyline [a nice mish-mash of original writing, Star Hammer, the Culture series, Aliens, Christian and Norse mythologies] is layered. You can play the games and skip every cutscene and still know what to do. You can watch the cutscenes and listen to the in-game dialogue and have a better understanding. You can hunt down every last clue and piece of information in the game, and then mix that with the novels, graphic novels, action figure biographies and the ARGs and get a greater idea of what's going on still...

But the game never forces it on you. It's integral in understanding WHY events are unfolding as they are in the games, but it's not integral in having fun within it.

http://halostory.bungie.org/ <- we've spent the last eight years or so working on that.

 

[BeefSteak]

He should have at least played the multiplayer, even to just rip on the morons who you come across on Live and the daft things that people do. This was still great, but ripping on the single-player to a multiplayer focused game is kind of like, well, what were you expecting?

But then again, the game -WAS- basically marketed on the Campaign mode. "Finish The Fight" and "End Of The Epic Journey" is saying that the Campaign is going to be great. They should have just said "Blow Up Your Friends With Lots Of New Sh*t!".

Also; Love all your vids, Yahtzee. Keep'em up!

 

[drunkymonkey]

Look, I know PC gamers love to think that the computer gaming platform is number one, but the fact of the matter is back when the first Civilization came out it was named Game of the Year on PC and a best seller while, at best, strategy game of the year on Super Nintendo. However, the game sold around the same number of units on both, despite being a PC game best seller.

Straw Man? Can you provide the sources? And can you also explain why you make the assumption that a strategy game that has came out on PC and NES will have the same quality over both platforms? You dismiss the keyboard and mouse argument, fair enough, but in this case it is necessary to incorporate that factor.

First, let's all do the derailment dance! *dances a fine Irish jig*

While I cannot prove everyone used it, the mouse for the SNES had already been released by then, as it came with Mario Paint and individually. I don't recall if you could also get it package with Civilization, but memory recalls both a small box and a gigantic box. Unfortunately, for sales numbers I have no physical proof. Even the Wikipedia page lacks any such numbers, and I have never been able to find them in the past.

I was more at issue with your comparison of best game for either platform, and the vague and not exactly solid reasoning behind it. However, as you say, we don't want to slip further off the tracks, so I won't bother saying any more on the issue or the issue of Wii60.

I found this review to be excellent. It was funny, charasmatic, and it was nice for it to be about a recently released game. The Bloom complaints particularly put me into fits of the giggles.

 

[Morayman]

I think everyone needs to take a "chill pill", Agree with his comments or not, his flash vids are damned good and only a retarded sea monkey who'd been drinking paint stripper all day would disagree with that...anyway i played halo1 and halo2 THEY WERE OK (I personally preffered no2)but then with a lack of an internet connection for my xbox they would be just that, OK. The halo games were probably the only games worth getting for the first xbox seeing as though munches odysee turned out to be a load of cow vomit.
As for this new installment well i dont have a 360, just doesnt interest me (im stil replaying rome total war NOW THATS A GAME!)so i cant comment on halo 3 but with so much hype that was going on about the game its not suprising that it wasnt able to meet everyones "standards" (there i tried to defend it) anyway keep up the great work yahtzee i look forward to next weeks ramble fest (~ ^^)

 

[Arcanum3000]

Excellent review. You could remove every instance of "Halo 3" from the review, replace it with "Halo", and you'd have essentially my opinion of the first game. Since everything I've heard is that the subsequent games are more of the same, I never felt a desire to play them.

On a mostly unrelated note, is Yahtzee not talking as quickly as he did in his earlier videos?

Also, any chance of getting Zero Punctuation updated Wednesday morning instead of at noon? It seems like a great way to wake up in the morning.

 

[Jerakal]

ahh that was a good review Yahtzee, it made me aware of one of the reasons I would currently make a rather crappy critic myself. I can fool myself into thinking really mediocre games are pretty good, rather then see them for what they are, I have a tendency to overlook the bad qualities in a game in favor of it's good ones despite the fact that said bad qualities may be so massive and obvious that they make me want to carve my eyes out with the nearest sharp implement of destruction. That being said I completely agree with everything you had to say about Halo 3 and the franchise as a whole.

I probably wouldn't be able to be nearly so critical since 2 of my brothers have been a fan of the series since they first bought it for their respective Xbox's on day one. It's worth saying that even a hardcore Halo fan like my brother can still find your videos hilarious without getting the slightest bit angry. In short, bravo.

 

[BinkyStuttocks [deprecated]]

If you're going to attempt to bash Halo 3 in a humourous way, at least put some humour into it. This just felt like a video version of every internet post about Halo 3. Next time choose a game that every idiot with a keyboard hasn't shit on.

 

[Manic Inc [deprecated]]

I won't deny that the entire marketing of the game has been insane and perhaps focusing on the wrong stuff.

Still, I haven't played it yet (360 being repaired...yeah yeah) but my mates talk of it with a smile on their face and almost a tear in their eye. Not many games get that kind of passionate love out of people. I'm not sure if I could call a game like that 'average'. It has a dedicated audience that really get an almost religious exhilaration out of it.

Many people here talk of how such-and-such is better, but a games purpose is for it to be fun for the player, and these thousands of die-hard Halo fans seem to be getting a huge amount of enjoyment out of it. I guess that means - so what if other games may be better in whatever way. So many people are loving every minute of Halo 3, and that's the kind of response a videogame is meant to create.

I say credit to Bungie for pulling it off, regardless of whether everyone agrees. I'm looking forwards to playing it nonetheless.

 

[Morayman]

If you're going to attempt to bash Halo 3 in a humourous way, at least put some humour into it. This just felt like a video version of every internet post about Halo 3. Next time choose a game that every idiot with a keyboard hasn't shit on.

( _ ¬¬) sigh

 

[Hengst2404]

I happen to agree mostly with his thoughts on Halo 3 and would actually love to see him turn his eye to the so-called untouchable titles like the Final Fantasy games or the Metal Gear games. These 2 series of games tend to get a free pass whenever they are released due in large part to them not being western titles I am sure.

 

[PhantomBoyo [deprecated]]

Edit: Removed all my previous comments. I swore I wouldn't get bitchy, and am not going to step on my principles. I just wish this wouldn't turn into PC vs. Console Bashing.

Still, the being blown all the way to Narnia bit makes me wet myself