Author Topic: Tom Chick reviews Halo, Halo fans unhappy. (Read 6608 times)

Billy Rygar · « **on:** September 23, 2007, 06:15:49 PM »

http://www.quartertothree.com/inhouse/news/365/
Good review. I like that Chick isn't afraid to call video game fans stupid for their attachment to the narratives in games.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:20:21 PM »

No offense to Quarter To Three, but they tend to love the games I hate. So that pretty much sums up what I feel about all this lol.

Vizzys · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:25:55 PM »

yeah i disagree about the feature set

he claims its the same as halo 2 with some new guns and vehicles, clearly he didnt want to look much further

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:30:42 PM »

I was reading their Halo 3 review thread and only a few posts in the question 'good reviews cause its a halo game' cropped with a mention to the famitsu review. As if Halo has the legacy with the japanese press final fantasy does.

Kinda bummed if its really only 10 hours, but it IS an action game and Tom may have played on an easy difficulty which would make it shorter since you go for cover less.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:30:58 PM »

sorry; who plays halo for the plot again? i play it for the setpiece battles, the quality shootouts, the incredibly unified level design, and the space guns. oh my, the space guns. he's stupidly comparing it to bioshock, forgetting that they don't have the same design goals at all.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #5 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:32:31 PM »

I dont think Halo has an attack move

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #6 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:32:52 PM »

also, in terms of the overall appeal of the game to its intended audience, halo 3's sp mode doesn't matter for squat.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #7 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:33:24 PM »

i will never forgive his aoe3 review!

demi · « **Reply #8 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:34:06 PM »

I don't think I would want to play co-op with Tom Chick. He would probably complain and make snide remarks during the cutscenes. cigarillo.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #9 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:34:40 PM »

Im pretty sure Tom is 'too cool for school'

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #10 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:36:04 PM »

he *was* a recurring guest character on the west wing! however, hating on halo for being halo -- especially if it doesn't stick any perfunctory mini-games or qtes in the middle of regular play as is the fashion these days -- seems pointless. it is fucking HALO. is he gonna bitch about super mario galaxy having themed platforming worlds?

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #11 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:37:18 PM »

they hate games that may promote violence against our new overlords.

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #12 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:51:15 PM »

Why do you guys always make a big deal about what Tom Chick says? Does he review for anywhere other than his forum?

Smooth Groove · « **Reply #13 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:54:08 PM »

Where?

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #14 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:55:47 PM »

Games For Windows, PC Gamer, Computer Games, 1UP, and Gamespy, to name a few.

demi · « **Reply #15 on:** September 23, 2007, 06:58:00 PM »

yeah we're pretty awesome.

Fragamemnon · « **Reply #16 on:** September 23, 2007, 07:34:17 PM »

Tom Chick's AOE 3 review is really bizzare, given that he gave the expansion a far, far better review. Which is really weird-it didn't change things up TOO much, to be honest.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #17 on:** September 23, 2007, 07:35:52 PM »

Yeah but AOE3 had attack move by that point

drohne · « **Reply #18 on:** September 23, 2007, 08:17:33 PM »

pc gamer doesn't give halo its due; news at 11. i like reading tom chick, but the difference between his dismissal of halo and a nintendo fan's is that tom chick can write an english sentence.

and if the dichotomy is 'halo or bioshock,' i'm afraid i'll have to side with the games that are actually entertaining from moment-to-moment

border · « **Reply #19 on:** September 23, 2007, 11:08:48 PM »

Quote from: drohne on September 23, 2007, 08:17:33 PM

and if the dichotomy is 'halo or bioshock,' i'm afraid i'll have to side with the games that are actually entertaining from moment-to-moment

Did you end up liking Bioshock? I don't recall reading your thoughts on it.

border · « **Reply #20 on:** September 23, 2007, 11:16:28 PM »

Also:

Quote

The engine doesn't even look much better and, frankly, the gunplay is so very 2001.

You have got to be shitting me. Exactly what is 2001 gunplay, and how does it differ from the oh-so-cosmopolitan gunplay of 2007?

The complaints about level design are worrisome, though......though I don't get how one can simultaneously whine about Halo's "corridor design" and praise Bioshock to high heaven.

drohne · « **Reply #21 on:** September 23, 2007, 11:38:21 PM »

i didn't manage to play enough bioshock to form any real opinion. its world design is of course world-class, i like its streamlined storytelling, and i like the way its characters take ideas to macabre extremes -- like that surgeon's final notion that 'beauty is an obligation.' but i also find it really boring, and i think this owes to certain identifiable design problems -- i don't think this is just some quirk in my tastes. the constant need to poke in corners for items spoils the sightseeing. the clumsy weapon management spoils the combat. and the hacking minigame is an inexplicable design howler. i still want to play it through one of these days, but i doubt i'll join the chorus of 10s

bluemax · « **Reply #22 on:** September 24, 2007, 01:47:55 AM »

Ars Technica joined in on the Halo 3 hate train:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/finishing-the-fight-a-review-of-halo-3.ars

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #23 on:** September 24, 2007, 01:51:14 AM »

Argh agendas, oh well. Ill get my copy, fuck em all.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #24 on:** September 24, 2007, 01:57:15 AM »

that didn't seem like a hate review at all. the tangible complaints that the sp campaign is short-ish (is 8-10 hours that bad? especially when co-op is included) and that the environments are constrained don't really diminish the fun; rather, they only disappoint in light of the expectations reviewers had, but that bungie never promised. i don't care if it scores an 8 or a 10, as long as it isn't so broken that it scores like lair did, where the flaws are apparent and utterly inexcusable.

demi · « **Reply #25 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:00:14 AM »

These are some wussies. Should have been a requirement to play on Legendary before reviewing.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #26 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:04:41 AM »

Im sure they just run and gunned easy. Normal or bust!

Sho Nuff · « **Reply #27 on:** September 24, 2007, 12:18:07 PM »

"So, yeah, Halo 3. Biggest gaming event of the year, I suppo--"

I stopped reading there

Mupepe · « **Reply #28 on:** September 24, 2007, 12:37:33 PM »

Quote from: Sho Nuff on September 24, 2007, 12:18:07 PM

"So, yeah, Halo 3. Biggest gaming event of the year, I suppo--"

I stopped reading there

same here

border · « **Reply #29 on:** September 24, 2007, 01:43:00 PM »

I guess I can't blame someone for being unimpressed, if they just blazed through the game in Normal mode. At that difficulty, the things that make Halo fun and unique don't really make a difference. You can just blast through with the assault rifle, never perfecting your grenade tosses or finding cover. If you did that, it wouldn't seem much better than any other shooter.

The battle lines are drawn, I guess. Bioshock will be the rallying point for people that care about story/atmosphere/presentation, and Halo 3 will be for people that enjoy detailed gameplay and scenario design. Which is sorta what burns me the most about the snotty, unsubstantiated "2001 gunplay" snipe -- Bioshock's gunplay doesn't strike me as anything we didn't already see before the turn of the century.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #30 on:** September 24, 2007, 01:54:32 PM »

I dunno, these days im just extremely suspect of snobs trying to carve a niche in teh virtual world of soap boxes. Im sure in a lot of cases the suspicions arent fair, but I feel them anyway. Too many years with fanboys clamoring for the public to love them or hate them.

I mean QT3 in general IS a haven for elitists, and thats fine, but half the reason I avoid gaming magazines is either because of this sort of situation, or the situation where Game Informer doesnt even play Orochi Warriors, but instead devotes the entire review to a Tycho-esque (penny arcade) write up about what it was like to see the 'horrible' game on their desk for review.

Fragamemnon · « **Reply #31 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:14:51 PM »

Quarter To Three's best feature is Jason McCullough's postings on the politics boards. The gaming side never suited me very much even when it was way more PC-specific. They are too picky on games and there are tons of people there that buy buy buy but don't really seem to play or enjoy games that much. It's a very jaded group of people, but at least they are still pretty friendly (unlike jaded freakshow forums like NMA or RPGCodex).

I did play Tom Chick in Age of Mythology once. Nice guy.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #32 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:18:21 PM »

yeah, the false dichotomy of "bioshock versus halo 3" is fuckin' lowbrow, especially for someone like tom. it's not only as wholly contrived and disingenuous as comparisons on TEH INTARWEB get, it does BOTH games a complete disservice.

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #33 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:23:21 PM »

BO BO BO BUT THEYRE BOTH FPS BO BO BO

AdmiralViscen · « **Reply #34 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:23:36 PM »

I beat the game in a solid 8 hours on 3 player co op.

I was satisfied with that length, and I never thought the environments were constrained. Except that one level.

Heroic btw.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #35 on:** September 24, 2007, 02:30:01 PM »

oh, i like tom; i've played him in aoe3 and rol. he's a really friendly, sharp dude, but it doesn't change that fact that half his so-called intellectual gamer's acumen is good old-fashioned usenet-brand contrarianism.

drohne · « **Reply #36 on:** September 24, 2007, 08:27:10 PM »

this isn't even contrarianism -- it's inane preaching to a certain beardy choir. yeah: halo's big design accomplishment was that it didn't require many 180 degree turns. amen.

border · « **Reply #37 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:25:08 AM »

Was it Tim Rogers or Tom Chick that started a new reviews website that does little more than give mediocre reviews to very popular games? Like they gave God of War an F, Halo a C, Donkey Kong a C, etc.....

ANECDOTE: I forgot Tim Rogers' name when I was trying to make this post, so I googled "metal gear solid 2 pretentious review", and his MGS2 review is the very first result.

etiolate · « **Reply #38 on:** September 25, 2007, 03:07:28 AM »

I don't think it's a dichotomy of Bioshock or Halo, but that Halo 3 might feel like going backwards after playing Bioshock. Obviously, I've been playing Prime 3 and the art in the game makes me wonder what the fuck every other dev out there is doing. It just makes everyone else look bad, as though its rooms and landscapes expose others' laziness. Maybe Chick feels this way about Bioshock and Halo 3.

drohne · « **Reply #39 on:** September 25, 2007, 04:38:43 AM »

ok, maybe the difference between tom chick and a nintendo fan runs deeper than i acknowledged earlier

in other news, i've got halo fuckin three and sleep is for the dead

MrAngryFace · « **Reply #40 on:** September 25, 2007, 09:49:05 AM »

Quote from: etiolate on September 25, 2007, 03:07:28 AM

I don't think it's a dichotomy of Bioshock or Halo, but that Halo 3 might feel like going backwards after playing Bioshock. Obviously, I've been playing Prime 3 and the art in the game makes me wonder what the fuck every other dev out there is doing. It just makes everyone else look bad, as though its rooms and landscapes expose others' laziness. Maybe Chick feels this way about Bioshock and Halo 3.

LOL. What the FUCK Etoilet. MP3 may be the best game on Wii, but its still a B+ title.

Robo · « **Reply #41 on:** September 25, 2007, 10:58:54 AM »

Quote from: border on September 25, 2007, 01:25:08 AM

Was it Tim Rogers or Tom Chick that started a new reviews website that does little more than give mediocre reviews to very popular games? Like they gave God of War an F, Halo a C, Donkey Kong a C, etc.....

ANECDOTE: I forgot Tim Rogers' name when I was trying to make this post, so I googled "metal gear solid 2 pretentious review", and his MGS2 review is the very first result.

It was Tim Rogers, and the site: http://www.actionbutton.net/

border · « **Reply #42 on:** September 25, 2007, 11:42:54 AM »

One star for Zelda: Link to the Past.....one star for Metal Gear Solid.....zero stars for God of War.

Ohhhhh, what brilliant iconoclasts they are!

recursivelyenumerable · « **Reply #43 on:** September 25, 2007, 11:45:00 AM »

I think one star is supposedly average in their scoring system. Looking at the recent reviews there might've been some inflation over time, though.

also, I know I'm just letting myself be trolled here, but Tim Rogers' devotion of multiple paragraphs of each review to totally bogus info about Square development history really gets under my skin. Just from the reviews on the first page we have the bizarre claim that "none of the original [Chrono Trigger] team exists at Square anymore" (about half the team is still there, including the producer and all three directors) and the even more bizarre claim that Sakaguchi was opposed to the staffing and platform choice of FF7 (he was VP in charge of all development at the time and as producer was directly responsible for those decisions!)

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #44 on:** September 25, 2007, 12:33:16 PM »

Link to the Past is kinda crap, though. and Heather Campbell's spot-on evisceration of Twilight Princess was quite apt, if hyperbolic.

come on, when it's on, the site is a hilarious satire of gaming reviews. when it's not, well, it *is* embarrassing -- see eric-jon whatshishyphen's classic game reviews.

recursivelyenumerable · « **Reply #45 on:** September 25, 2007, 12:39:09 PM »

so is the false development history info supposed to be part of the satire?

btw, I don't expect reviewers to share my obsessive-compulsive interest in dev. details, I just think if they don't really know anything about the development, they shouldn't devote half the review text to pretending they do. it'd be great if they just talked about the game with no pretensions of behind-the-scenes insight at all.

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #46 on:** September 25, 2007, 12:47:51 PM »

well, it could be -- it's a joke site! who knows! pro reviewers tend to contrive "facts" to fit their agendas, after all.

T234 · « **Reply #47 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:05:09 PM »

I would *almost* literally kill somebody for a job like that.

To get paid to review video games would be a COLLASOL IMPROVEMENT over what I have now.

T234 · « **Reply #48 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:17:26 PM »

Are you serious?

recursivelyenumerable · « **Reply #49 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:18:04 PM »

I can't really tell Tim Rogers' actionbutton reviews from his non-actionbutton reviews. (other than that they're shorter I guess) Were those satire too?

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #50 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:24:25 PM »

hahahaha

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #51 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:25:52 PM »

jeff bell! is that you? can you send me those hot hot luke-on-frankie makeout pics i know you keep as blackmail

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #52 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:29:13 PM »

IT'LL BE HOT DOODS YOU CAN STROKE IT WHILE PLAYING HALO 3 ONE-HANDED

MASTER CHIEF ALL THE WAY TAKIN IT TO THE EXTREME LIMIT

YOUR CONT TO SOC IS WHUT

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #53 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:31:30 PM »

WHOOOOOOOOOOO IM FUXXIN PUMPED BIATCHES

*global mute MS JEFF BELL*

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #54 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:33:05 PM »

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #55 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:34:11 PM »

you have a dashing smile, jeff

T234 · « **Reply #56 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:34:46 PM »

FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER I MAKE 6.75 AN HOUR AND DRIVE 90 MILES A DAY TO MAKE THAT I KNEW THE SECOND PART WASN'T SERIOUS FOR FUCKS SAKE I THROW UP EVERY TIME I HEAR THESE WHINY "GAMES JOURNALISTS" BITCHES COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR JOB I HAVEN'T GOT A FREE GAME SINCE I WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD I SOLD 35 FUCKING DREAMCASTS WHERE THE FUCK IS MY INTERVIEWS

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #57 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:38:44 PM »

I think I'd rather continue painting behind the uncleaned toilets in the apartment complex I contract out to than be a game journalist.

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #58 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:41:55 PM »

Funyuns?

i'm having a change of heart

T234 · « **Reply #59 on:** September 25, 2007, 01:55:08 PM »

AND ANOTHER THING YOU BITCHSE WANNA CHARGE ME A HUNDRED DOLLARS TO FIX MY GODDAMN ETHERNET PORT ON MY 360 FUCK YOU I'M THROWIN A TOWEL ON IT YOU FUCKERS WILL FIX ANY DUMBASSES MACHINE WHO SETS IT ON CARPET YET WON'T FIX MINE FUCK SCENEIT IN THE EAR IT MIGHT AS WELL HAVE A WIN BUTTONM ON IT I CAN WRITE A LOT BETTER THAN THIS BUT IM JUST PISSED OFF

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Author Topic: Tom Chick reviews Halo, Halo fans unhappy. (Read 6608 times)