Halo: Reach

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

No it didn't.  Infact there were a lot of people bitching about how unimpressive it looked.

But whatever.  I'm not going to go down this road any further.  I'll just leave it at that.

[maxy]

Quick,somebody post R2 Google image

[TripleA]

No it didn't.  Infact there were a lot of people bitching about how unimpressive it looked.

But whatever.  I'm not going to go down this road any further.  I'll just leave it at that.

Yes it did, and those people need to calibrate the shit out of their TVs as well.

Because the final game looked exactly like that pic.

[Jansen]

[brawndolicious]

Wow, at least graphically it looks like the most impressive console game so far.

Well you might not like the art but technically, it's probably got more going on than any other console game (I never compare it to Crysis or whatever).  What can you think of that's more impressive?

I actually think the art in Halo is great  :sonic
You said graphically it looks like the most impressive console game so far, you are incredibly wrong. That's not to say Reach doesn't look great, it just doesn't look better than a lot of games.
Such as: GOWIII, Killzone 2, Uncharted 1 and Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, etc. Then there are the games that look on par if not slightly better than Halo Reach, such as: Resistance 2, Mass Effect 2, GeOW2, Ratchet&Clank;A Crack In Time, etc.
Since we're talking about technically impressive and all; What resolution does Halo Reach run in?

I believe it's full 720P, not like Halo3.

For what Reach does that other console games do not: Dozens of characters on screen that have GOOD AI and use tactics, dozens of dynamic lights casting their own shadows, HUGE sandbox levels that aren't designed around heavily scripted sequences, and the MOST realistic HDR and skybox of any game so far (PC or console).

It's scale is much more ambitious than any of the games that you listed.  None of them other than GeOW1/2 had really good AI either.  As a cherry on top, Reach also will have the 4 player co-op and theater mode.

[TripleA]

Wow, at least graphically it looks like the most impressive console game so far.

Well you might not like the art but technically, it's probably got more going on than any other console game (I never compare it to Crysis or whatever).  What can you think of that's more impressive?

I actually think the art in Halo is great  :sonic
You said graphically it looks like the most impressive console game so far, you are incredibly wrong. That's not to say Reach doesn't look great, it just doesn't look better than a lot of games.
Such as: GOWIII, Killzone 2, Uncharted 1 and Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, etc. Then there are the games that look on par if not slightly better than Halo Reach, such as: Resistance 2, Mass Effect 2, GeOW2, Ratchet&Clank;A Crack In Time, etc.
Since we're talking about technically impressive and all; What resolution does Halo Reach run in?

I believe it's full 720P, not like Halo3.

For what Reach does that other console games do not: Dozens of characters on screen that have GOOD AI and use tactics, dozens of dynamic lights casting their own shadows, HUGE sandbox levels that aren't designed around heavily scripted sequences, and the MOST realistic HDR and skybox of any game so far (PC or console).

You got a link to that 720p claim? Because all the released screenshots are @1080p and we all know Halo Reach won't be running anywhere near that.

And just about every single thing you listed has been done in other console games. Welcome to Killzone 2, Far Cry 2, MW2 -and since you bring up the PC- welcome to Crysis.

You need to play more games it seems.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Killzone 2 and MW2 were scripted to all hell and back - hardly what I'd consider sandbox shooters and they're certainly nothing like what the Halo series has been doing. Apples and oranges.  I think the biggest appeal of Reach is that we're finally getting that unpredictable Halo combat that people love with a pretty impressive looking engine behind it.

[TripleA]

Killzone 2 and MW2 were scripted to all hell and back - hardly what I'd consider sandbox shooters and they're certainly nothing like what the Halo series has been doing. Apples and oranges.  I think the biggest appeal of Reach is that we're finally getting that unpredictable Halo combat that people love with a pretty impressive looking engine behind it.

You missed the Far Cry 2 part, don't worry though I understand why.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Killzone 2 and MW2 were scripted to all hell and back - hardly what I'd consider sandbox shooters and they're certainly nothing like what the Halo series has been doing. Apples and oranges.  I think the biggest appeal of Reach is that we're finally getting that unpredictable Halo combat that people love with a pretty impressive looking engine behind it.

You missed the Far Cry 2 part, don't worry though I understand why.

I didn't miss it, but Far Cry 2 and Crysis are at least sandboxes unlike the KZ2 and MW2 examples you gave.  But let's face it, Far Cry 2's combat isn't even in the same league as Halo's.  FC2 gives you a bunch of options to pull stuff off but all the enemies just come off feeling like a bunch of multiplayer bots, and dumb ones at that. 

[TripleA]

Killzone 2 and MW2 were scripted to all hell and back - hardly what I'd consider sandbox shooters and they're certainly nothing like what the Halo series has been doing. Apples and oranges.  I think the biggest appeal of Reach is that we're finally getting that unpredictable Halo combat that people love with a pretty impressive looking engine behind it.

You missed the Far Cry 2 part, don't worry though I understand why.

I didn't miss it, but Far Cry 2 and Crysis are at least sandboxes unlike the KZ2 and MW2 examples you gave.  But let's face it, Far Cry 2's combat isn't even in the same league as Halo's.  FC2 gives you a bunch of options to pull stuff off but all the enemies just come off feeling like a bunch of multiplayer bots, and dumb ones at that. 

But Far Cry 2 is on consoles hence the reason why it was relevant in my post. Thus making the whole "no other shooter is a sandbox like Reach" argument is invalid.

From a gameplay perspective, Modern Warfare is the current king in the FPS genre. Nothing touches it.

Speaking of shooters with a huge scale, I almost forgot about Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

[Stoney Mason]

Why are you such an idiot?

What does any of what you are posting have to do with Halo Reach. I'm one of the biggest Call of Duty fans on the board yet I don't feel the need to shit up threads with game warz or telling people what the definitive fps is on consoles when there are plenty of valid MP games.

[The Fake Shemp]

You'd be wrong!

[TripleA]

Why are you such an idiot?

What does any of what you are posting have to do with Halo Reach.I'm one of the biggest Call of Duty fans on the board yet I don't feel the need to shit up threads with game warz or telling people what the definitive fps is on consoles when there are plenty of valid MP games.

Ironically enough it's you who's posting absolutely nothing to do with Halo Reach and the FPS genre.

I think this is the part where the "he's methodis!" claims start pouring out.

[Stoney Mason]

Why are you such an idiot?

What does any of what you are posting have to do with Halo Reach.I'm one of the biggest Call of Duty fans on the board yet I don't feel the need to shit up threads with game warz or telling people what the definitive fps is on consoles when there are plenty of valid MP games.

Ironically enough it's you who's posting absolutely nothing to do with Halo Reach and the FPS genre.

I think this is the part where the "he's methodis!" claims start pouring out.

Every post I make is on point about the topic at hand. Except this one and the one where I called you an idiot which you are. I honestly don't care if you are Methodis or not. What does it matter. You both are shitty fanboyish posters.

[The Fake Shemp]

Stoney

[TripleA]

From a gameplay perspective, Modern Warfare is the current king in the FPS genre. Nothing touches it.

I disagree.

What do you think is better, L4D or something.

[Green Shinobi]

Halo gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MW gameplay.

Modern Warfare is flashier and has cooler scripted moments.

The gunplay and AI in Halo are so far beyond Modern Warfare it's like comparing Prole or Mandark to Ganhyun.

[TripleA]

Why are you such an idiot?

What does any of what you are posting have to do with Halo Reach.I'm one of the biggest Call of Duty fans on the board yet I don't feel the need to shit up threads with game warz or telling people what the definitive fps is on consoles when there are plenty of valid MP games.

Ironically enough it's you who's posting absolutely nothing to do with Halo Reach and the FPS genre.

I think this is the part where the "he's methodis!" claims start pouring out.

Every post I make is on point about the topic at hand. Except this one and the one where I called you an idiot which you are. I honestly don't care if you are Methodis or not. What does it matter. You both are shitty fanboyish posters.

I'm confident this Methodis guy was simply another poster who offered his opinion and views on different subjects.

[The Fake Shemp]

Halo gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MW gameplay.

Modern Warfare is flashier and has cooler scripted moments.

The gunplay and AI in Halo are so far beyond Modern Warfare it's like comparing Prole or Mandark to Ganhyun.

Do you even play games?

[TripleA]

Halo gameplay >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> MW gameplay.

Modern Warfare is flashier and has cooler scripted moments.

The gunplay and AI in Halo are so far beyond Modern Warfare it's like comparing Prole or Mandark to Ganhyun.

I can see an argument for the AI, but gunplay?

No.

[cool breeze]

Neither CoD4 or MW2 single player compare to the Halo games for me, and I'm only talking about how much enjoyment I've had with them.  I genuinely dislike the single player campaigns of both those CoD games while I really like the Halo campaigns.

Multiplayer is totally different, though.  MW2 multiplayer is both incredibly fun and constantly bombards you with the feeling of accomplishment.  I can't do a fair comparison here because while I really enjoy CoD4/MW2 core gameplay outside of the stats, I can't really say if it is as strong as Halo and vise versa if Halo had that level of unlocks and stats.

I'm a bit confused about what's happening in this thread tbh.

[Stoney Mason]

I'm a bit confused about what's happening in this thread tbh.

Dumb shit brought on by Triple A


Its a matter of preference on either side anyway. A person can like a scripted experience or a sandbox experience. Neither is "better" or "worse". One can subjectively like one better than the other and a person can even feel that one better exemplifies the best of a particular approach. But when one starts arguing what is the definitive and better experience between two very popular and well respected and well reviewed series without conceding that a lot of it is personal opinion, you can tell they are full of shit.

And none of this still has anything much to do with Halo Reach.

[cool breeze]

To get back on topic about Reach, I played through half of Halo 1 today and my favorite part of Halo 3 (the covenant).  I don't mean for this to be a negative comment about other Halo games, but just from the video it looks like Reach is making meaningful enhancements to the things I liked most in Halo 1 and the series in general.  I would argue that Halo 3 didn't add anything to the campaign gameplay while Halo 2 had two or so big changes (dual wielding, which was smart considering different weapons affect shields/health differently in Halo 1) and removing the health bar and packs to rely only on shields and the tiny bit of integrity you had when they dropped.  Pretty excited for it.

[TripleA]

I'm a bit confused about what's happening in this thread tbh.

Dumb shit brought on by Triple A


Its a matter of preference on either side anyway. A person can like a scripted experience or a sandbox experience. Neither is "better" or "worse". One can subjectively like one better than the other and a person can even feel that one better exemplifies the best of a particular approach. But when one starts arguing what is the definitive and better experience between two very popular and well respected and well reviewed series without conceding that a lot of it is personal opinion, you can tell they are full of shit.

And none of this still has anything much to do with Halo Reach.

Thanks for your input 

[TripleA]

From a gameplay perspective, Modern Warfare is the current king in the FPS genre. Nothing touches it.

I disagree.

What do you think is better, L4D or something.

I think Modern Warfare is a solid online FPS for fast pace stuff. However, I personally think Battlefield 2 is the definitive FPS on the market simply because the battlefield series has always been suited better to the way I play shooters. Cannot wait to play Bad Company 2 I see a lot of promise in the beta.

Interesting.

Battlefield feels like Killzone to me. Without the sensitivity turned all the way up I really can't enjoy the experience at all. It's not 'tanky', but the controls don't feel as precise nor fine-tuned as they do in MW.

Anyways its time to catch some sleep.

[brawndolicious]

You got a link to that 720p claim? Because all the released screenshots are @1080p and we all know Halo Reach won't be running anywhere near that.
And just about every single thing you listed has been done in other console games. Welcome to Killzone 2, Far Cry 2, MW2 -and since you bring up the PC- welcome to Crysis.
You need to play more games it seems.

I'm not sure if there was confirmation but for Reach they did actually figure out a solution to get that mathematically correct HDR without having to use two framebuffers (like Halo3) so it should be actual HD..hopefully.

But those games don't do anything like Reach.  Crysis and FC2 do have the big open environments but you don't really fight good AI and you obviously don't have good friendly AI either (or co-op).  On paper at least, Reach really is pulling off more than any other console game though.  Specifically the AI and the lighting make it that way.

Personally, I just like Halo's graphical style more than those other games though because it has a really clean, colorful look instead of a crapload of in-your-face post-processing.  The environments just look beautiful in Halo games and now it looks like the character models will look decent now too.

[bork]

Halo multiplayer remains my favorite console FPS experience, so I am looking forward to Reach.  ODST was a huge letdown; not because of the campaign, but because Firefight a) gets old quick and b) you can only play with people on your friends list.  My biggest gripe with the game is that it didn't get its own multiplayer mode, but it's just an overpriced Halo 3 expansion on a disc and blah blah blah; we've been over it all before.

[maxy]

For the (not)interested
Reach appears to be 1152x720...1152 is bit iffy,it may be higher,but so far that is the best pixel counters can say.
Also some evidence points to deferred rendering and beautiful HDR is still there...one thing is for sure,ton of work has gone into this engine.

Lots of smaller details in vidoc,bird in the distance casting shadow
http://www.abload.de/img/halo27sct.gif

[maxy]

Dudes, Halo: Reach isn't even out yet. Why are you arguing over its graphics that for 99% will be still tweaked and changed before the game's release?

Bah,its just TripleA chasing his own tail.

[TripleA]

For the (not)interested
Reach appears to be 1152x720...1152 is bit iffy,it may be higher,but so far that is the best pixel counters can say.
Also some evidence points to deferred rendering and beautiful HDR is still there...one thing is for sure,ton of work has gone into this engine.

Lots of smaller details in vidoc,bird in the distance casting shadow
http://www.abload.de/img/halo27sct.gif

Thanks for the info, hopefully they'll manage to get the game running at an HD resolution.

[TripleA]

You got a link to that 720p claim? Because all the released screenshots are @1080p and we all know Halo Reach won't be running anywhere near that.
And just about every single thing you listed has been done in other console games. Welcome to Killzone 2, Far Cry 2, MW2 -and since you bring up the PC- welcome to Crysis.
You need to play more games it seems.

Personally, I just like Halo's graphical style more than those other games though because it has a really clean, colorful look instead of a crapload of in-your-face post-processing.  The environments just look beautiful in Halo games and now it looks like the character models will look decent now too.

That crapload of in-your-face post processing is what differentiates the amazing-looking-games from the alright-looking-games 

[Third]

Halo games always looked low budget to me.  People never bought Halo games because of its awesome graphics, because the graphics never were awesome to begin with.
But the gameplay was always tight. When you want to buy a game with state of the art graphics and mediocre gameplay you can buy Killzone 2.

It seems that Bungie will finally make a Halo game that will look excellent for once. Halo Reach should be great, in that regard.

[cool breeze]

Halo 1 looked incredible when it was released.  The other ones fell below expectations partly because of how impressive Halo 1 was during release.

[Third]

Halo 1 looked incredible when it was released.  The other ones fell below expectations partly because of how impressive Halo 1 was during release.

Yeah, I remember being shocked when I first played Halo on the Xbox. It looked so impressive at that time.
But my post was actually directed towards the sequels; Halo 2, Halo 3 and ODST. While the games still kept the awesome gameplay of the original, they also kept the graphics from 2001.

[brawndolicious]

Halo2/3/odst basically used the same engine though.

h1-Reach marines:
http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Reach/images/cutouts/Marine_Comparisons.jpg

barely any difference between the halo 2 and 3.

[AdmiralViscen]

Halo 3's character models were shit but the overall look was quite good. Some levels were duds too but a lot of them were pretty good looking, even if they were never cutting edge.

[Stoney Mason]

Kinda cool. Whatever I think about the Halo games sometimes, I like that Bungie tries to always innovate on the matchmaking side.

Bungie has been a bit quiet regarding multiplayer features in Halo: Reach, but Shack twisted the development team’s arm and got some information on Active Rosters, Queue-Joining, and the Arena system.Here is just a small sampling of Reach’s online features:



Active Roster: You’ll get detailed information about any friends playing Reach including who they are partied with, what game they are in and more without using Xbox Live Guide.
Queue-Joining: Reach will automatically join up as soon as your friends are joinable.

Improved Voting System: Each playlist will provide players with four options so you no longer have to risk voting down a favored map.

Arena Playlists: This is a Slayer and Team Slayer set of playlists entirely geared toward the hardcore. The rating system is smart enough to realize that kills aren’t the other determining factor behind skill. The divisions are Onyx, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Steel. To qualify for ranking, players will have to play a certain number of games a day to gain a “Daily Ranking”, which will be an average of a player’s best games from the day. Casual gametypes will not appear in Arena playlists.

Ranked and Social Combined: Playlists will be smart enough to put you and your party in the proper match based upon how many players you have. If you go in with more than four, it will properly split your party across the teams and fill in the blanks with additional players.

Streamlined Party-Up: After a match, players will be kept together and it will automatically roll into looking for the next match. The system is flexible enough to allow Bungie to determine, per playlist, whether to keep a team together and find a new set of opponents or keep an entire game together and move onto the next map.

Matchmaking Connection Options: The options for finding games in matchmaking will be more open to the player, if they so choose. The same goes for finding players that speak to same language.

Social Settings: In addition to these connection options, players can rate themselves along four axes to add another layer of criteria to the matchmaking. Players will define their playstyle in the following four categories: Teamwork, Motivation, Chattiness, Tone. This allows Bungie, for example, to try and build a team of chatty, polite, team-playing, winners in serious playlists. Should also help alleviate the epidemic of smurfing.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62865

[cool breeze]

all I want is to play co-op with people outside of my friends list

[cool breeze]

http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/gametrailers-tv/89?ch=1&sd=1_hd

bunch of new video from the beta around in there.  Looks really great but I didn't know they took out dual wielding.  I thought that was one of the few ways the series changed significantly in later games since it let you sacrifice pure power for a combo that could take apart the shield and health quickly.

[Stoney Mason]

Perhaps a nice Halo fan would be kind enough to summarize what are the major changes about the MP from a gameplay perspective since I haven't really been following news about the game.

[cool breeze]

vs Halo 3

-no dual wielding
-elites and spartans have different abilities; elites dodge/roll while spartans sprint
-equipment are no longer power ups and rather things you select before spawning
-equipment ranges from the invisible cloak, jetpack, to temporary indestructibility that sacrifices other abilities, etc.
-assassinations/stealth kills.  you attack melee someone from behind and you go into a 2-3 second animation that insta-kills the victims.  this can get canceled out of if the victim's teammates shoot you off his back
-new game modes

one new game mode in the beta is spartans vs elites (forget the official name) which is essentially round based attack/defend.  In this mode you actually select starting gear (main and sub weapon + the equipment) and after each round/stage (three total) more opens become available.  The same is true for vehicles and at first you may have the warthog around, but by the end of the game scorpions become available.

[Stoney Mason]

Thanks.

The assassinations/stealth kills thing sounds.... weird.

The rest seems interesting enough.

[maxy]

Embargo on Reach beta has ended

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/halo-reach-multiplayer-beta-hands-on


I like this shot,camo looks great

[AdmiralViscen]

What do you have to do to get those freebies for the end of XBox 1 support? I've played Halo 2 on live recently and I didn't get the free points.

[maxy]

Nothing,MS should contact you

[maxy]

lol looks like Halo 2 HD

It looks like a painting.

[maxy]

Well if you haven't noticed today's games have pretty shitty grass,trees,etc...PC games included
Some games even use 2 poly trees.
As for textures,i would be more concerned about texture filtering,because this is a semi-open world game.

As for painting i was just semi-joking,but some details on Spartans look like somebody painted them by hand literally.
Not much to see in the above shot,that is cropped from higher res image.

[Chinner]

Only time when Bungle where at the top of their game technically was with Halo 1. Since then they've fallen far behind. Still, I think Reach looks quite nice.

[SantaC]

Only time when Bungle where at the top of their game technically was with Halo 1. Since then they've fallen far behind. Still, I think Reach looks quite nice.

compared to todays games it looks like ass

[maxy]

Like I stated in this thread before, I think...

I'm just trolling. Technically it look alright, but now that Bungie isn't anywhere near the top dogs they used to be in terms of tech, the fact that they're terrible at creating good looking assets is even more apparent. Design wise, the game looks bland, flat and sparse.

Yeah,i know...

I was never fan of Bungie art(close-up especially) ,but when i start playing i forget about everything.

But this is Bungie,cut everything not important to gameplay(fun)...especially in multiplayer.

If everything goes well,this game will be the top game on XBL for years to come...not an easy task to do
They are already pushing it with armour abilities,jetpacks...probably a hell to balance

[Stoney Mason]

If everything goes well,this game will be the top game on XBL for years to come...not an easy task to do

Actually it probably is relatively pretty easy since Halo is essentially the Mario of the Xbox platform. Not saying it isn't necessarily well deserved. Just saying anything first person shooter related and named Halo will sell millions and be on top of the XBL activity charts for years. (As long as it has a dedicated MP section)


Not a diss post at Halo games just to be clear.

[cool breeze]

Haven't the top xbox games for the past few years been a rotation of three game series? CoD, Halo, and Gears?

Reach looks pretty great for what it is doing.  It's not like it would compare with Metro 2033 in screens but that game is all in tight corridors with a handful of characters.  They're hyping up the scale of Reach as one of the changes.  First time since Halo 1 that a game in the series has been impressive in that way.

[AdmiralViscen]

Gears was always at #1 but Major Nelson would always leave an asterisk saying that Halo 2 would have outperformed it if they combined the charts. Halo 3 has never been less than number 2.

[maxy]

New vidoc:Carnage Carnivale

Lots of interesting stuff for multiplayer freaks

http://www.bungie.net/projects/reach/vidaudio.aspx?c=58

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[cool breeze]

reading up on the beta there is more to the Spartan vs Elite differences, at least for that one mode.  Spartans have health like Halo 1 where their health doesn't recharge, only their shields, while both recharge for elites.

also, the default controls are changed (since there isn't dual wielding) to make better use of the bumpers

[maxy]

Elites also have much faster regeneration rate.

[Chinner]

i liked the vidoc but i found bungle developers trying too hard to be 'GAMER DUDEZ'.

[cool breeze]

I think they want that Modern Warfare audience back.  I don't think they want to directly compete with the weed and F.A.G.S stuff, so they need to up the GAMERZ MOUNTAIN DEW.

and they showed off the two new editions of the game.  I'm using a touch pad now so it's impossible to be productive and post the pictures, but the $80 one comes in a neat looking box with an art book and exclusive elite armor for multiplayer.  The $150 is a giant crate (seriously) that contains everything from the $80 one, a big mode/toy set of the campaign characters standing by a rock, and an exclusive Spartan armor.

[cool breeze]

oh shit

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I0HCVK/

$150 crate edition on Amazon for $60

[bork]

When is the beta coming out?

EDIT: May 3rd?  Nice!