Halo: Reach

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Well anyone that was educated about the situation could've realized that ODST wasn't going to be much different considering that it ran off the exact same engine as Halo 3. Call it what you will, but ODST was really an expansion, MS just wanted to get 60 bucks out of people cause they knew people would buy it cause its got 'Halo' on the box.

Reach has been in development since before Halo 3 came out, and is built on an entirely new engine. If you are not hyped for the game and think that its going to be more of the same I understand that, but this is not really comparable to the ODST situation.

Not only that, but Bungie said ODST was still going to feel very much like Halo. They did say it would be a departure in structure and mood with the nighttime sequences, story telling, and that you would be more vulnerable as an ODST than playing as the Master Chief. They were right. If you followed all the updates I was posted in the ODST thread you would've known this or if you read the reviews, so it's your own fault if you got suckered into buying another Halo expecting the gameplay to be radically different. Maybe it's best this time these people wait to see if this "fresh approach" includes the actual gameplay too.

[sportsdude]

Re: Halo: Reach

Yeah, especially given the price for ODST when originally it was a cheaper game.

It just frustrates me because I know Bungie is awesome, I feel they're caged in too much because they can't risk offending the Halo faithful (understandably so, Reach is gonna sell millions no matter what I think ).

well I doubt they care much about upsetting the Halo faithful consider Reach is the last game they're making in the Halo series. I think they're more concerned with making a sound and technologically competitive shooter with other games on the market. Halo 3 was a bit too much like Halo 2 because Bungie knew they had to make it appeal to the fan base without going too far off the path from the way Halo 2 felt. Any more Bungie doesn't care because the people that will want it to be Halo 3 can just continue to play Halo 3, and the ones looking for something different can play Halo Reach. Of course there's going to be a lot of people in both camps as well.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Going back and looking at those leaked cellphone pics, it seems that person is legit. It's a little disappointing that he said the gameplay was largely the same to previous games, except for some tweaks to weapons and a cooldown device that you can pick up that gives you abilities like a halogram, cloak, and sprint. He did say it was early. I'm really hoping for more than just tweaks though.

[Miles_Yuhas]

Re: Halo: Reach

well I doubt they care much about upsetting the Halo faithful consider Reach is the last game they're making in the Halo series. I think they're more concerned with making a sound and technologically competitive shooter with other games on the market. Halo 3 was a bit too much like Halo 2 because Bungie knew they had to make it appeal to the fan base without going too far off the path from the way Halo 2 felt. Any more Bungie doesn't care because the people that will want it to be Halo 3 can just continue to play Halo 3, and the ones looking for something different can play Halo Reach. Of course there's going to be a lot of people in both camps as well.

I agree, considering that I do think its going to be considerably different that halo 2/3, I still plan to play reach and 3 from time to time.

There is still a large number of people that play halo 2 online.

[sportsdude]

Re: Halo: Reach

Going back and looking at those leaked cellphone pics, it seems that person is legit. It's a little disappointing that he said the gameplay was largely the same to previous games, except for some tweaks to weapons and a cooldown device that you can pick up that gives you abilities like a halogram, cloak, and sprint. He did say it was early. I'm really hoping for more than just tweaks though.

I'm with you flawless, but at this point I would think it's unrealistic to expect it to feel that much different from Halo 3. The 360 hardware is already being stretched to its max, Halo 3 was good on its own on so many levels and the game is being made by people that had a hand in Halo 2 and 3 and probably some CE lifers as well. They stick with what's comfortable because not only does it work, it's worked very well in the past.

I have no problem with the game feeling the same, I'm more interesting in seeing a more open storyline and gameplay, a darker art style, having to make decisions that affect the story, etc.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Yeah, you're right, and I would be down for a darker and more violent Halo with more ambitious gameplay designs. We still haven't got any info on the multiplayer, which I'm excited to hear about. I was thinking class-based, but now I'm not so sure, as Bungie would have to fundamentally change just about everything. I would be shocked if there isn't more progression stuff than just giving you a higher ranking though. One thing I would love to see happen is XBL Public. This is something that was going to be in Halo 3.

1UP: One of the menus we saw while we were at Bungie said XBL Public, it was described to us as a "Matchmaking for Custom Games." What is XBL Public bringing to the matchmaking space? Is there an XBL Private, as well for Halo 3 online play?

Bungie: The basic idea with our online play still begins with our party system. You can invite your buddies to the party and it's easy stay together and play whatever you want in the game. If you want to keep it private you can set the privacy so that only friends can join, or so that an invite is required in order for any player to join the party. On the other hand you might need more players to play the type of game you want to set up and that's where XBL public comes in handy. When you need more people you can just open your party to the public. It's the perfect way to create a custom game and find people to join you.

1UP: If I've created a game with my friends and don't have enough people for a good match, will there be a way for us to meet up with players that we don't know and have them join our game?

Bungie: That's the perfect example of how XBL public works. In a party with 3 friends but that game you've created really needs 8 players to be fun? Set the maximum party size to "8" and open your party to the public. Public players will be able to find you and join, so you'll get the other 5 that you need for the game.

[Miles_Yuhas]

Re: Halo: Reach

Yeah, you're right, and I would be down for a darker and more violent Halo with more ambitious gameplay designs. We still haven't got any info on the multiplayer, which I'm excited to hear about. I was thinking class-based, but now I'm not so sure, as Bungie would have to fundamentally change just about everything. I would be shocked if there isn't more progression stuff than just giving you a higher ranking though. One thing I would love to see happen is XBL Public. This is something that was going to be in Halo 3.

If we could get public customs I will probably be playing this for a long long time. My friends and I are always saying how cool it would be if there was public customs in Halo 3.

[Cyros]

Re: Halo: Reach

Gamespot trailer speculation:

http://www.gamespot.com/special_feature/breakdown_halo/image-feature/index.html?image=1

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Bungie Weekly Update

The Halo: Reach trailer was produced directly in our new game engine using real game assets. Because the game is still in the midst of development, which means things like framerate are still in flux, we do something called a “frame dump” that lets us spit out the content, frame by frame, and then compile it back as the video you all saw on Saturday. We can actually run this same cinematic right now, within the latest game build, but it’s not always at the consistent smooth framerate of the final game (yet).

This trailer absolutely represents our visual bar for the final game and is near identical to what you’ll see next Fall. The single biggest difference between this trailer and the final game will be the extra generous amount of anti-aliasing (the smoothing of “jaggies” or edges of pixles) present in what you’re watching right now but rest assured that Reach will be significantly improved in this department compared to Halo 3.(The extreme “AA” in the trailer was due to the “frame dump” mentioned above.)

Suffice it to say we’re really excited about the technological and artistic advancements we’re making with Reach and you’ll see more from the campaign in just a few weeks.

AA confirmed and still retaining the awesome lighting, which was the culprit for no AA in the Halo 3 engine.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Bungie: Winter Pentathlon Preview '10

Halo: Reach Super Secret Game Mode

Some number of players will square off against some number of other players in what will undoubtedly be a rousing and highly competitive game of something we’re not talking about yet!

Points awarded for doing all kinds of untold stuff!

Concept art found on Game Informer's website.

[Candyman5]

Re: Halo: Reach

Nice, man I want the Beta released so bad..... Atleast I got ME2 and Dragon Age to hold me over....Not to mention the other 84 games coming soon that will be awesome...XD

[Miles_Yuhas]

Re: Halo: Reach

This game has to be class based. Everything that they have should seems to have emphasized each character being different from each other and always carrying certain weapons.

Can't wait for the media to start dropping. Should be in a week, Bungie has said mid-January.

[Miles_Yuhas]

Re: Halo: Reach

Gameinformer has released the cover for the magazine featuring Reach. They have a hub site that they are scheduling information release to throughout the month.

http://gameinformer.com/mag/haloreach.aspx

The Cover:

http://media1.gameinformer.com/images/site/pages/halor/202cover_front.jpg

And the full wrap around:

http://media1.gameinformer.com/images/site/pages/halor/202cover.jpg

Shows the team of spartans, minus the new guy (nicknamed lone wolf) that is introduced as the new 6th in the VGA trailer.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Nice cover. Can't wait for the info.

[Cyros]

Re: Halo: Reach

Gameinformer has released the cover for the magazine featuring Reach. They have a hub site that they are scheduling information release to throughout the month.

http://gameinformer.com/mag/haloreach.aspx

The Cover:

http://media1.gameinformer.com/images/site/pages/halor/202cover_front.jpg

And the full wrap around:

http://media1.gameinformer.com/images/site/pages/halor/202cover.jpg

Shows the team of spartans, minus the new guy (nicknamed lone wolf) that is introduced as the new 6th in the VGA trailer.

I still laugh everytime I see the guy with painted helmet.