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Even though I can't stand a one-trick-pony developer that falls into cranking out mediocre sequel after sequel, I actually have high hopes for Reach; it was obviously the best of the Halo novels, and IMO some of the best sci-fi I've ever read.
I have a feeling it was spurred into development after the Halo movie failed to make it off the ground, which really should have been based on the Fall of Reach to begin with.
I hope they find a different style of play, though; ODST looks to be more of the same, and is just getting old at this point.

Gametrailers is still lagging behind on getting non-flash HD videos up of some of the other stuff I'm interested in... waiting with baited breath on Splinter Cell: Conviction and Mass Effect 2.
Alan Wake is looking like it might be really good... seems similar to the adventure/horror style of Resident Evil, but without the painfully Japanese aspects that drove me away from RE.

Earendil the Mariner wrote:

Even though I can't stand a one-trick-pony developer that falls into cranking out mediocre sequel after sequel, I actually have high hopes for Reach; it was obviously the best of the Halo novels, and IMO some of the best sci-fi I've ever read.
I have a feeling it was spurred into development after the Halo movie failed to make it off the ground, which really should have been based on the Fall of Reach to begin with.
I hope they find a different style of play, though; ODST looks to be more of the same, and is just getting old at this point.

The style will/won't be too different, I think. Fundamentally similar, but differently balanced. Your fundamentally weaker character won't really be able to go toe-to-toe with Brutes et al, so will have to go more for stealth/concealment etc, and actually (shudder) cooperate in co-op. Suppressed weaps and whatnot go with that.

Elite looks interesting. I've played the Arbiter more in H2 than the Chief. Much unexplored potential there, some following on directly from the H3 timeline (conflict with Brutes etc).

Pondering a bit recently, I think Greg Bear's signing to do a trilogy of Forerunner novels tends to confirm what I've long suspected, that the Peter Jackson Halo game will be set in the past. Same universe, but with his love of 'lore,' invented history, it's a natural fit, and different. And MS doesn't spend that kind of money without it's a tie-in to something. Bungie isn't even a part of MGS any more, so placating them by publishing the Halo backstory doesn't wash.

Heh, well they could have pulled a Red Faction and made it 3rd person .

elpato84 wrote:

NightCougar_37 wrote:

Heh, well they could have pulled a Red Faction and made it 3rd person .

Hey, I want to play the third person Halo I was promised back in whenever.

Is that the continuous-world Halo? How 'bout the original RTS Halo, ca. '98?

Halo slowly evolved to FPS as Bungie kept pulling the camera in from the sci-fi Myth orig, and liking the results.

I'd settle for a mere omnibus version, all 3 with 1 & 2 rebuilt on the H3 codebase- 'Net-based 4-way co-op, complexified geometry/ textures etc. You know, simple stuff. And make it scalable DX11 on the PC and 720 with customizable controls... oh, and mods. And cheat codes at last.

Two weeks, tops.

Most of what I've seen is "meh"

and the 360 stuff was just plain ridiculous, you can't trump three decades of scientific and academic research with a gaming console

and on a side note it seems odd with recent moves from sony, nintendo, and microsoft games tha they assume people are going to use their console for hours on end, would be nice if everyone had such free time

MacZiMiZer wrote:

Most of what I've seen is "meh"

But you kan haz more MGS! You'll just have to share it now. Play nicely with others...

and the 360 stuff was just plain ridiculous, you can't trump three decades of scientific and academic research with a gaming console

wut

and on a side note it seems odd with recent moves from sony, nintendo, and microsoft games tha they assume people are going to use their console for hours on end, would be nice if everyone had such free time

People never game for hours on end. Oh, wait- many do. Me, I just want flexibility, so let me save anywhere.

ukimalefu wrote:

Any news about Quake Live for Mac and Linux? (Their "coming soon" is taking a quite a while)

I haven't seen any, but I'll be sure to post any I see.

Earendil the Mariner wrote:

Even though I can't stand a one-trick-pony developer that falls into cranking out mediocre sequel after sequel, I actually have high hopes for Reach; it was obviously the best of the Halo novels, and IMO some of the best sci-fi I've ever read.
I have a feeling it was spurred into development after the Halo movie failed to make it off the ground, which really should have been based on the Fall of Reach to begin with.
I hope they find a different style of play, though; ODST looks to be more of the same, and is just getting old at this point.

Narc thought so, too, until he got a closer look.

Okay, I admit it. After the announcement of Halo: Reach, set to come out in 2010, only twelve months or so after this year's Halo 3: ODST, I was set to bash Bungie for being unoriginal and Microsoft for upping the production quota on the goose that laid the golden egg(s).

I had a piece all written, with a pleasantly unpleasant pun in the title, about how this was only to be expected; that Microsoft almost certainly extorted... I mean, exacted from Bungie a promise to continue on with at least X more Halo titles after receiving their independence. This would appear to be true for all situations where X is two or larger. Originally I had thought perhaps ODST would be it; that was probably naive of me.

Of course there's always every chance that there are people in Bungie who want to continue with Halo. Just like Id software nearly split in half over the decision of whether or not to revisit Doom with Doom 3, one might imagine that some old-time Bungie devs want to go back to doing a game and a sequel and let the spinoff studios handle the third game, a la Marathon and Myth. It also seems possible, though, that there are Bungie devs who have not worked on anything but Halo, and perhaps some of those want to keep doing it because they like it, and others want to do something else because they're tired of it.

ODST, I figured, would be an expansion pack: some new campaign and multiplayer levels to tide us over while Bungie works on the Next Big Thing. In some ways, perhaps that's true. However it also looks like we're getting a lot more out of ODST than just that, and the design team have made some intriguing choices, many of which were on display at E3.

The first we already knew: no Spartans. ODSTs are not as strong or as fast. How that will be handled was fleshed out in the gameplay demo. ODSTs don't have shields. They rely instead on "health terminals" that work like Halo 1's health packs. That's the first of many gameplay throwbacks to Halo 1. The next is fall damage. Unlike the heavily armored Spartans of... well, of Halo 2 and 3, the ODSTs take damage if they fall too far-- which we see right off the bat as the Rookie exits his crashed drop pod. No word yet though on whether ODST will kill players for falling too far or moving too fast.

In part to compensate for less strength and speed, Bungie gave ODST the VISR mode, which is like an extended version of Halo 1's night vision sniper scope. It increases contrast and outlines interesting items (including allies and enemies). Spartans must be jealous; why don't they have this?

Then there's the Superintendent himself, who provides Bungiefen with another flashback: this time not to Halo but to Marathon. Superintendent terminals provide the player with an overhead map of the play area, showing areas of special interest and allowing the placement of waypoints to aid in navigation. The ODST HUD has a compass that shows those waypoints, just like similar play mechanics in Fallout 3, Oblivion and Mass Effect. (Marathon had an overhead map but no waypoints or compass; just an indicator of the player's position and direction.)

All of those things are interesting, but they had me at Firefight: kind of a campaign co-op light. I've never been a huge fan of traditional versus multiplayer, and campaign co-op mode tends to be a lot more demanding of bandwidth. If Firefight can be a compromise between those two, this mode, which pits 1-4 players against increasingly difficult waves of Covenant infantry and vehicles, could end up being my favorite new way to play a game I've been playing for the last ten years-- and might be playing for the next ten if Microsoft has anything to say about it.

Yes, this is unusually positive. I find myself suprisingly eager to get a copy (or two) of ODST and get exploring the ruins of New Mombassa. To make up for it, I'll be sure to make a post of all the game's foibles post-release.

ODST Is Your Older Brother's Halo

And the pistolo does look sweet. Joe Staten did ask during the playthrus, "Anyone here like Halo 1's pistol? Then..." Woots.

(One wonders what BC will think when he finds out about the map function. Uki? Maraaaa....th... )

3 smurfing maps, smurf doo. I can't believe that M$ has people convinced that multiplayer maps are worth almost 3 dollars a pop, as opposed to being available for free with content patches.

They didn't have the overhead of developing a new engine, and Halo 3's campaign was very short.

So excuse me, once ODST is released, I will be pirating it at my earliest convenience. Or hey, I may just go out and rent it.