• 25Apr 05

  They Know We Want It

  Bungie and Halo, two of the things that will most be remembered from this generation. No matter what haters say, the original Halo was damn near FPS perfection for the time of it's release, Halo 2 being a damn fine game as well. Perhaps Halo 2's solo campaign didn't live up to it's expectations (its a bit of a cliche at this point to say if you want single player, go with the original, for multiplayer go with Halo 2, but it's honestly true) and overall didn't feel as epic as the original, save for a few select parts. I respected Bungie immensely after Halo, but they've dropped quite a bit in my eyes with Halo 2. They had 3 years to create a game, and while great, the gameplay was near perfection in my opinon, many little bugs and glitches were allowed to slip through and quite simply ruin the multiplayer gameplay for about 6 months, which they finally patched SOME of last week. (although the more prominent gameplay bugs are still as ripe as ever, one such being the glorious super jumps, allowing players to get positions where they can wreak havoc upon everyone, and from a place of complete safety)

  Now, after waiting 6 months for a patch that quite simply, in my eyes, only fixed half the game's problems... Bungie gives us 4 new maps (not an impressive number by any comparison, considering the game launched with only 11 multiplayer maps, one would assume Bungie wanted to repay it's loyal customers with some freebies) and charges for half of them. Okay Bungie, take a tip from a developer that gives it's fans what they deserve, such as Epic Games, each recent Unreal game to my knowledge has launched with an almost bare minimum of 30+ maps, almost all of which are very high in quality, and imaginative at that. (who can forget that train level in UT04 or my favorite level in an FPS so far, Citadel from UC) While some of Halo and Halo 2's maps are instant classics, Zanzibar and Beaver Creek for example, some are absolute travesties, one such being Collusus. So, Bungie launched a game, that was about 3 years in the making, with ELEVEN multiplayer maps, then wants to charge us $20 in the end, about 7 months after the game's release for 9 new ones, which in my opinon, WE DESERVE. But, to quit beating around the bush, as the title of the journal stated.. They know we want it.

  Everyone who play's Halo 2 somewhat regularly will pay, because many of us are hooked on Halo. Halo 2 is one of the few FPSes that have held me for any extended period of time, even though its arguably my favorite genre, even the glorious Half Life 2, which somehow pulled FPS Game of the Year on this site (an award I don't think it deserved) only kept me playing for about 2 weeks, while Halo 2 is going on half a year. Halo 2's gameplay is an nice twist from what many other FPSes are, the shield system makes it so winning a firefight doesn't HURT you, unlike many other FPSes, where if you win, you might have sustained grave injuries. Halo 2 is the closest thing to a perfect online FPS out now, although it's still quite a far way from it. I could easily list the severe gameplay issues, weapon balances that could use rectifying, hell, just about all my Xbox Live friends and I could help Bungie make it a better game in one 2 minute long conversation. And that is the worst part about Halo 2 online, most players see what could make the game almost perfect, we realize the plasma pistol is an overpowered wreck, that the sniper rifles killing someone from two shots in the foot is a joke, that the battle rifle is too effective at close range, among a few other, smaller issues. And yet... in Bungie's recent patch.. they toned down two weapons that quite simply didn't need to be toned down, if the others weren't... I must say, what with this joke of a patch, and charging for maps that we should have hard in the first place, Bungie is really making me question any future loyalty, as I know they are doing to many of you.

  Sorry for the rant, I know it skipped around quite a bit, but I'd like to go over one other topic, so the two of you who might read this can sample this amazing game. I recently purchased Jade Empire and let me just say, Bioware has struck gold again, it's an absolute masterpiece in my eyes, its fun, action packed,an interesting story, and above all else, a very interesting completely new intelluctual property you will have fun learning the ins and outs to. Anyone who has even considered it, buy Jade Empire now.

  Thanks for reading, if you got this far

  • Posted Apr 25, 2005 6:20 pm GMT
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