Halo 3 Post Mortem

[BreakABone]

I don't know how well this will work, but its worth a shot.

A ton of games come out surrounded by hype and expectations. Some live up to it. And others fall flat on their face.

It is tough to judge at first, but like all things in life, time is the true test.

It has been over half a year since the release of Halo 3. And I am curious as to what everyone's thoughts on the game are now.

To be fair while I liked the game, I have found that it has died down a lot quicker than Halo 2 and just doesn't have that it factor anymore.

Maybe, it is the onslaught of competition it had to face, but Halo 3 just seemed old hats after the likes of the Orange Box, Call of Duty 4 and even Bioshock. I think the fact that very few publications had it in the running for Game of the Year last year showed that.

Anyhow, this is to look back at Halo 3 and see how time has changed your opinion.

[Typhoid]

I've beaten Halo 3 over 10 times, and I only keep playing it with friends for the co-op missions with easter eggs enabled.

The game in my mind isn't that fantastic to begin with, It's a Halo game, afterall.
The storyline was short, and terrible at times - and the online feels just like all the other Halo's, but with better graphics and game engine.

You can only play the same game so many times and still be genuinely amazed.

[Aladuf]

I went into Halo 3 with low expectations and came out satisfied. I didn't expect to be blown away by it and I wasn't, not to say it isn't a great game because it is, but it's about as "generic" of a FPS as you can get.

Halo 3 is good because it does a whole lot of things right, it's overall very solid but I didn't have any desire to keep playing too long after its release. The only time I play it now is with BaB and some of his friends.

To be fair to its replay value for me though, not many games I play end up consuming my time too much because in the end I wind up playing Gears again in no time.

To sum it up:

I went into it expecting: C

What I got: B+

[Fox 6]

The best part of that game was IMO having 3 friends with you and having a death race in the last part of the game. Took like 2 hours to actaully beat the level :P

[Dyne]

I think it's still an insanely polished effort that's a lot of fun and MORE than made up for Halo 2. I think it's a 9 game at the very, very least.

[Jonbo298]

Friends only play it when we want some 4 player action since there isn't alot of local 4 player take online action. We wish CoD4 had some of that.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

I've beaten Halo 3 over 10 times, and I only keep playing it with friends for the co-op missions with easter eggs enabled.

Wow 10 times?
Granted, you can beat the game in about 8 hours if you know what you are doing. Maybe even a lot less.

You can only play the same game so many times and still be genuinely amazed.

Don't you love GTA IV.

Originally Posted by Aladuf

Halo 3 is good because it does a whole lot of things right, it's overall very solid but I didn't have any desire to keep playing too long after its release. The only time I play it now is with BaB and some of his friends.

Yeah how much have you played recently?
I mean I don't like the game but we played Halo 2 all the way up until the Halo 3 launch. Squrel can attest since he is the only reason I play the damn game.
He needs to move on to big boy FPSes.

Originally Posted by Fox 6

The best part of that game was IMO having 3 friends with you and having a death race in the last part of the game. Took like 2 hours to actaully beat the level :P

I didn't know until later on that you could actually leave your teammates behind since the level falls apart after the forerunner.

So when we first beat the game, certain parties left me to die while the jumped aboard the ship at the end.

Originally Posted by Dyne

I think it's still an insanely polished effort that's a lot of fun and MORE than made up for Halo 2. I think it's a 9 game at the very, very least.

You are overly positive on most games it seem.

Originally Posted by Jonbo298

Friends only play it when we want some 4 player action since there isn't alot of local 4 player take online action. We wish CoD4 had some of that.

And what the hell is the deal with that?
I love online as much as the next guy, but why the hell does it have to be at the sacrifice of splitscreen action?

[Dyne]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

You are overly positive on most games it seem.

Most? There's a lot of games I will slam. Off the top of my head, a ton of people loved Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, but I hated it. I much prefer Link's Crossbow Training and Ghost Squad.

[Renwood]

Originally Posted by Aladuf

not to say it isn't a great game because it is, but it's about as "generic" of a FPS as you can get.

It doesn't take outrageous risks with the gameplay or level design, but there are far more generic first-person shooters. Something like Area 51: Blacksite, Turok, or TimeShift; games that rely on a gimmick or premise to cover the weak gameplay.

Halo relies on its core gameplay (the 30 seconds of fun) to achieve anything. It took ideas that had already been done, and threw them in together in the original Halo, and what came out of that was fun. And since then, its been incremental refinements of that initial system. What holds it back in Halo 3 is what has held it back from the beginning; hit-or-miss art direction and, in the Campaign, mixed level quality and a so-so story.

[Aladuf]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

Yeah how much have you played recently?
I mean I don't like the game but we played Halo 2 all the way up until the Halo 3 launch. Squrel can attest since he is the only reason I play the damn game.
He needs to move on to big boy FPSes.

I've not played at all recently! You and your damn work schedule keeps you from playing so I never play with you since you're not on.

And whats a "big boy FPS"? I sure as hell know you don't mean that crap-shoot COD4?
Edit: I guess I shouldn't call COD4 a crap-shoot for the most part. I hate hate hate HATE the perk system because it does everything for the player, but I also mostly hate hate hate HATE the community for the MP.

Originally Posted by Renwood

It doesn't take outrageous risks with the gameplay or level design, but there are far more generic first-person shooters. Something like Area 51: Blacksite, Turok, or TimeShift; games that rely on a gimmick or premise to cover the weak gameplay.

Halo relies on its core gameplay (the 30 seconds of fun) to achieve anything. It took ideas that had already been done, and threw them in together in the original Halo, and what came out of that was fun. And since then, its been incremental refinements of that initial system. What holds it back in Halo 3 is what has held it back from the beginning; hit-or-miss art direction and, in the Campaign, mixed level quality and a so-so story.

Yeah, generic really wasn't the word I wanted to use but I couldn't think of anything else. I kinda really meant that Halo 3 is like the basic fps. When I hear "FPS" the first game I think of is Halo.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Aladuf

I've not played at all recently! You and your damn work schedule keeps you from playing so I never play with you since you're not on.

It isn't just me.
Halo night hasn't been happening due to work and most of my friends having finals and thesis due in grad school.

I hope Halo night makes a return this Wednesday.

the rest shall answer when home.

[Aladuf]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

It isn't just me.
Halo night hasn't been happening due to work and most of my friends having finals and thesis due in grad school.

I hope Halo night makes a return this Wednesday.

the rest shall answer when home.

I wish we could all play again this weekend, it's a Grifball weekend again!

[gekko]

I actually felt Halo 2 was what Halo was always meant to be. The problem is you got some of it for Halo, some more for Halo 2, and now the complete package. It loses the initial "Wow" factor when you've experienced much of the game for years.

But as someone who wasn't a big fan of Halo or Halo 2, I loved Halo 3 and think it completely lived up to the hype. That being said, I'll take COD4 anyday, and haven't really touched Halo since it came out. Well, to be fair, I haven't touched much of anything since COD4 came out.

[Renwood]

Not talking about single player, I hope? Worst campaign from what is supposed to be a genuinely great game in a long time.

Looked pretty, at least.

[Aladuf]

Originally Posted by Renwood

Not talking about single player, I hope? Worst campaign from what is supposed to be a genuinely great game in a long time.

Looked pretty, at least.

I know you're not talking about me but, I loved SP in Halo 3, something about it I really dug.