Halo Reach Disappointment SP Campaign Comments

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Halo Reach Disappointment SP Campaign Comments

(49 posts)

Started 2 years ago by frostquake
Latest reply from polygem

12 Next »

frostquake
Moderator

NO SPOILERS PLEASE, AS I HAVE JUST STARTED.
Ok, I would like Single Player Campaign Comments, only please. No Co-op, No Multi-Player...Just comments if you are going to play SP by yourself, please.

I wasn't going to buy Reach, but the Wife surprised me with a copy, because she had thought I wanted it. I am playing SP, Solo, on Normal so far.

I can't place a finger on it, but there is something very wrong with the beginning of the SP Campaign, and I can't place my finger on it? Could it be that there is no sense of urgency, or foreboding?

Voice Work: WOW...it is bad, Really Bad. There are segments where people are calling for help, saying that there is "Covenant on Reach!" or they are "under attack." It is done in such a monotone voice, I wonder if they just took the first take or the guy was on lithium?

Graphics: Wow, there are some really bad, bad graphical locations. I like to explore and look around, not always following the chosen path. Looking over edges, show, well Smears?? You will have this flow of graphics, and then what appears to be a tear or jaggie, looks like it is just filled in, and not with the correct color palette. Like a Chocolate frosted cake that had White Frosting to fill in places where you just couldn't get the cake to fit together. Even walking up Hills and looking between rocks, this is noticeable.

Music: FIRST I love to play a game with the Music turned off, all the way through, through the first play through. I prefer to listen to nature and the ambient sounds of the world I am in. PLEASE if anyone knows, HOW to TURN OFF the Music let me know. I keep checking and I can't find anywhere I can turn the Music off. Just turning the TV volume down would remove the ambient and nature noises that I like to hear. I mean if we were really doing this, the true soundtrack would be the life going on around me, not a music soundtrack.

Also, the music when playing can sometimes be quite a distraction, from jungle drum beats to rock to electronic...it just feels, slightly askew for some reason.

AI: Wow AI is Bad Really, Really Bad. I have No control over my team, I can't ask them to stay put, while I try to maneuver into a sniper position to take out some grunts. Instead while I am sneaking behind a rock, my 3 AI team-mates rush in and kill everyone. Often time I am exploring and I see them rush forward and hear gun fire and by the time I get there, it is all done.

Crouching: Why can't I stay crouched?? This is common sense in all FPS, you can crouch by just pushing a button, and guess what you STAY CROUCHED!! But not here, I have to keep the button pushed if I want to stay crouched, and if you want to lay down and sneak on your belly, forget about it. Ok, Maybe I am really, stupid, but if you know how I can crouch, Permanently, let me know, PLEASE!!

The Reach Farm Rover: Hmmm, permanent skidding, and horrible control, worse then the Warthog.

Water: The water is UGLY, and very Fake...simple as that

So Far, overall...I am starting to feel that Bungie, really didn't want to do another Halo Game? Maybe they were ready to move away from Microsoft. I get the sense, that Bungie just said, lets get this out as quick as possible so we can move on to something else.

Everyone keeps Hailing this as the Best Halo Game Yet! Really, REALLY, I don't see it. In Fact, I think it worse, much worse. It just feels like a game that was "called in" with no real effort. The Hype definitely is much bigger then the game.

Ok, I could be wrong, it could get much, MUCH better, I am hoping so. I am having a very hard time playing for any length of time. The first play was 45 minutes, the Second Play was 30 minutes. I am still very early in the game, as I said before I am taking my time and walking around, but there is something wrong, something very wrong. I feels like I have stepped back in gaming, almost like this would be the first title with all the things I mentioned above being bugs and problems that would be fixed by a seasoned team by the final game. I am really surprised with all the flaws this game has, as if it was handed over to another developer.

Ok so What do you think. Please don't Troll or Flame...I am hoping you all are going to tell me that it gets much better, and the pacing picks up, and it gets better looking, and the voice work gets better, and so forth?? What do you all think??

Remember I am only talking about SP with AI, and No Co-op, just playing yourself and then allowing the AI to control the others.

Please NO SPOILERS...Thank you

Posted 2 years ago #
Gadzooks!
Member

"Please don't Troll or Flame"

You've done a pretty good job of that already.

Posted 2 years ago #
freedoms_stain
Moderator

There weren't any sound controls in Halo 3 or ODST either, very short sighted of Bungie tbh.

It means I can't use my Turtle Beach XLC's in multiplayer or co-op because the voice chat is completely drowned out by the game.

Something to think about for your muptiplat efforts Bungie. Pretty much every other game has independent music, sound effects and dialogue level controls. There is a reason.

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

@ Gadzooks

I am being serious! I want real reaction, not Halo Fanboy reactions, of course they are going to like the game. I have all the Halo games, even bought at full price the 165.00 Helmet version and stood in line at midnight for Halo 3. So I am a Fan of it, I just feel like the SP is a step backwards.

Since I have not played Multi-player or Co-op I have no comments on that. Multi-player could be the best ever! I don't think I am alone in that. Acutal reviewers have been saying the same, Giving the Multi-player 10's and Single Player has been getting Lower scores around 7's...

I am just giving an Opinion on SP that's all, I am sorry if that offends you, but I am willing to listen to your Points on SP Only if you have played it with just yourself, no Co-op and using AI. Almost all games now days allow you to at least stop your other 3 AI team mates from rushing forward, by asking them to stay put. That is what is frustrating me the most, that and not being able to stay crouched without holding the stupid joystick in..LOL.

Oh well...I was hoping not to cause stupid comments, but I can see you already started them...SIGH!! :(

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

@ freedoms

So can you tell me is there a way to at least turn off the music?

Posted 2 years ago #
Psychotext
Member

The beginning is average, the rest is fucking awesome in my opinion. So far at least (I think I'm approaching the end). :D

Oh, and I've only seen three reviews which split the single and multiplayer scores, so it's hardly a particularly useful metric. Also, why did this need its own thread when there's a perfectly good impressions thread? ( http://www.vg247.com/forum/topic.php?id=1361 )

Also, you can crouch lock, lrn2optionsscreen.

Posted 2 years ago #
Kerplunk
Member

frostquake,

I wouldn't worry about Gadzooks comments. You've not trolled or flamed.

You may have criticised a game that he is fond of, however. ;)

I can't help agreeing with Psychotext's sentiment that your impressions of the game would have been perfectly at home in the impression topic rather than this new one. That might be interpreted by some as trying to deliberately raise the profile of a negative view.

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

@ Kerplunk

I started this as a Specific, being SP only with no co-op or Multi-player thread only. I wanted to be very Specific...Sorry I started another thread though.

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

@ Psychotext

could you be more specific please on crouch lock? Thank You very much, I really want that lock!

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

@ Psycho

I found it...YEAH!!!! Thank You Very Much Psychotext...Thank You very much indeed :) Now please indulge the secret of how to turn off the music in SP?? PLEASE???

Posted 2 years ago #
Psychotext
Member

I'm not going to tell you how to do that, because Marty am god (even though I'm not as impressed by his work in this one vs the other Halo games).

Posted 2 years ago #
DrDamn
Member

Crouch lock is in the control options. Look for the toggle crouch option.

Personally really loving the campaign - just finished mission 5. It's started off slowly and is really ramping up now.

RE: Music - The Halo series really does have some of the best music for this type of game, wouldn't want to turn it off personally - bit strange you can't though. There was one level where it went a bit too rock for me, but in general it's great.

AI: Friendly AI does seem to suck, which is odd as enemy AI is so good. I don't care so much if they want to bugger off somewhere by themselves, but when you are forced to rely on the AI to drive while you shoot or shoot while you drive it's awful. The overall experience in these situations is much better played co-op with at least one other.

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

LOL at Psycho...I knew you had an evil bone in your body, now are you going to tell me which one so we can take it out..LOL

Posted 2 years ago #
Gadzooks!
Member

@frostquake

Well you have either trolled or have based your assumptions on having played about 5 minutes worth of the game. However I shall address your points as if they were genuine:

Voicework: Overall the voice acting and motion capture are of a pretty high standard. Motion capture especially is a massive massive improvement over previous halo games. There isnt a constant stream of obscenities being shouted at lung-splitting volume, which seems to have become the norm for shooters, so perhaps the sublety or restraint threw you slightly.

Graphics: Looking over edges shows smears? No, it certainly doesnt. there are some huge vistas, especially later in the game, with rediculous amounts of detail considering the distances. I advise some alcohol or vinegar-based glasses cleaner and a lint-free cloth.

Music: I honestly dont know if there are any indepandant volume controls. I've never felt the want to change the volume levels. Personally I love the musical and sounds-effect cues, they can give you a very big clue about what is about to happen. If you dont like the music then fair enough, however it is more than incidental in most cases.

AI: In some missions you lead a squad, in some you dont. When you lead, you will trigger advancement points. When you dont lead, the AI will dictate the pace. Again, you seem to be commenting based on a fraction of the first missions length.

Toggle crouch option is in the options screen.

As for thinking Reach was rushed, a contractual obligation, etc. Well, that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

It is very very obvious that Reach is exactly what Bungie described it as: A love letter to the Halo fans. Pacing, level design, enemy AI, vistas, cutscenes.. all are a notch above previous Halos.

EDIT:

Completed it only on Heroic so far. I did have a couple of occurences of friendly AI obscuring my vision when sniping, but that was as bad as it got.

Posted 2 years ago #
Christopher Jack
Member

There is no way to turn music off, if you don't find it in options, it's not there.
The campaign considerably picks up, the start is incredibly dull, but i can assure you it drastically improves, though i do miss those occasionally funny comments from the grunts :'(
Yes, your AI teamates are pretty bad, but atleast you don't have to baby sit them.
The voice work is a very, VERY small part of the game, found nothing wrong with it though, atleast there was no black man with a white boys voice :P
The civilian vehicles are useless, best used as cover & nothing more.
The graphics are fine, far from perfect, but it doesn't strip any of the gameplay away, just the occasionally funny looking rock, still looking river or painted looking backgrounds, most of which appears to have no depth.
All in All, it's a great game with a few flaws but not something you should buy JUST for the campaign, it's a Gold sub seller, proof!-i bought a 3 month sub mainly for this.

Posted 2 years ago #
AHA-Lambda
Member

i finished it on normal last night and will do a legendary run through soon. actually if i'm being honest it just seems too familiar to other games to wow me much. IMO nothing beats halo 1 and odst is second to that as it seems to be the only game where some actual change of pace has taken place.

Nevertheless i found halo reach fun but nothing amazing despite the review scores (abit like RDR) the one thing that i am indeed quite disappointed in is actually the story =(

In terms of the plot I would think that if you're going to make a prequel then there should be a good reason in the plot to do so, like some new information that totally makes you look at something from the other games differently and gives a different context to them (e.g. MGS 3) but there are no revelations here: NONE!

i wont go more in depth than that tho for fear of spoilers

"All in All, it's a great game with a few flaws but not something you should buy JUST for the campaign, it's a Gold sub seller, proof!-i bought a 3 month sub mainly for this. "

Ah crap! D=

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

Thank You Gadzooks, I appreciate your comments. I am currently in a forklift while the AI has rushed ahead..Just watching the forks disappear into the concrete, and you can't lift the forks to pick up pallets, so there are collision detection problems, but I see that in any game.

Yes the Vistas are Grand at a distance, I am talking about right at the edge of a cliff, and climbing some peaks and hill, there are framework patches that don't match up, the texture on one piece will be the wrong color and the grain won't match up, that is being picky so I can let that go, as long as it doesn't get too bad. Wish I could post pics here so I could show you.

You are right about playing breifly, but much longer than you suggest, as I said , I played 45 minutes the first time, and 30 mins the second time...so I have a ways to go, but these are just first impressions, and

Maybe I am not being fair, because I Hold Halo to such Higher Standards?

Oh, and I will be buying the Soundtrack to listen to separately away from the game, because I do enjoy Halo Music very much. I guess I am just weird in that I prefer music to be off, as in real life. Music tends to give clues away about a Big Fight coming up before you get to it, and I like to be surprised.

But thank you for replying and giving your opinion as well.

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

Thanks Cysis and AHA.

You are right about the AI sound effects, it is not your AI team-mates but some of the Reach People asking for help right at the beginning that came off computerized, and maybe it supposed to sound like that.

I am so very glad to hear everyone saying it picks up though...very happy indeed.

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

Am I the only one, who finds a Vehicle in Halo and try to drive it as far as possible, I am trying that with the Fork Lift right now?

Posted 2 years ago #
Gadzooks!
Member

@frostquake

I may be coming off a bit grouchy today as the missus got 11 stitches in her hand yesterday and made damn sure that I suffered as much as her, by amongst other things, not letting me sleep.

Posted 2 years ago #
Gheritt White
Member

Those stitches made her horny, eh Gadzooks? Eh? ;)

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

That is Ok Gadzooks...And I am very sorry for your Wife's hand, Hope she will be ok? One thing about Cyberspace, is there is no way for someone to know if your being sincere. I try to be careful in my wording, unfortunately I am not a great Orator like Socrates and George Bush Jr...Oh wait...LOL. I do hope your wife's hand will be ok...I surely want her back to her usual self of slapping you with it..LOL...just a joke...And I hope you can sleep tonight at least...Maybe you should take an Ambien or Lunesta tonight..LOL

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

Oh and I do wish we had a Chat room, so I could ask my stupid questions, like how to crouch...and not use the forum for it, it makes me feel really stupid when I ask a question like that, yet the answer was there in front of me all the time, and I have a BIG DUH!! Moment, I am having those alot these days. I looked and looked and looked and couldn't find that Crouch Toggle and yet there it was in front of me..LOL.

Posted 2 years ago #
Gadzooks!
Member

@Gheritt

"Those stitches made her horny, eh Gadzooks? Eh? ;)"

I've never seen it because the concept somewhat disgusts me, but after that comment I can't help thinking of a Ken Russell film named Crash (I think).

*gag*

@frostquake

The missus should be fine thanks, there was no nerve or blood supply damage. Funny you should mention slapping me as we practice Hung Gar Kuen together and I should be able to get a few weeks up on her while she recovers! :)

Posted 2 years ago #
Gheritt White
Member

Hey, just think of it as another orifice...

...I WENT THERE!

Posted 2 years ago #
Gekidami
Member

Voice Work: Its terrible... But then i cant play the campaign in English. Its funny, when my system language is set to English i have English voices in MP & Firefight and English text (menues and whatnot) but the audio in the campaign isnt in English. So yeah, thanks limited DVD space.

Graphics: The visuals in Reach sort of remind me of the visuals in Resistance 2; They dont look bad but they seem to be abit messy. Also the framerate seems to be really wonky at times, it was abit iffy seeing so much slow down during the games intro.

Music: Seems ok to me, its well composed but like in all Halo games i think the choice of music is abit odd in some situations.

AI: Looks ok to me, the allies are as thick as planks but the enemies are pretty cunning. Shame they look abit mechanic in their movements. Also it was pretty surprising seeing the Covenant fighting 2 'monsters' at one point, the 'monsters' looked abit stupid but i definitely didnt see that coming.

Water: I'm only about 4 or 5 missions in so maybe at some point theres a bit with more water? Looks ok for now though.

Overall the games is solid, alot of the stuff i didnt like about the other Halo games has been fixed. I'm abit fedup of the constant "Dropship incoming!" moments though. Just like ODST, it feels like the campaign is based around firefight mode to much. Again, i'm only about 5 missions in but right now thats how it seems.

Posted 2 years ago #
Christopher Jack
Member

@Gekidami, some people may not know about the bottom half in your 4th paragraph, i do, but it maybe considered a spoiler...

Posted 2 years ago #
frostquake
Moderator

Due to Crysis comment, I will not read Gekidami's post...sorry...If you could omit the part Crysis is referring too, I will be happy to read it, then you or someone else could let me know it is safe to read, thanks!

Posted 2 years ago #
Christopher Jack
Member

It's not BIG, but people may not know of this, infact it's only a small part of the campaign.

Posted 2 years ago #
Gekidami
Member

I cant edit my post any more, but its not really a spoiler per se, its not a major plot point. You see it happen in about the third (maybe even the second) mission, so its something you see pretty early in the game.

Posted 2 years ago #

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