I've never played Halo. I've never watched anyone play Halo. You could say, I am (wholly) inexperienced in the realm of Halo. But after reading a post made by Brad on 4playerpodcast.com, I'm giving Halo some of my undivided attention. More specifically, Halo 3: ODST.
Brad claims ODST to be "the closest thing we will ever get to a Firefly game" and that was kind of all he needed to say. As a gamer, you can assume that I'm a big nerd. And a lot of big nerds/gamers are, generally, interested in lots of other things not involving gaming... and one of those things for me has always been the universe of Serenity/Firefly.
But I don't know enough about Halo to say "I WANT ODST WHEN IT COMES OUT" and that's where YOU come in, readers. Look at my xbox.com profile, see what games I play, or take a look back at my posts. Should I consider diving into Halo-verse with a Halo game already out to test the waters? What are your thoughts on Halo 3: ODST?
Cary hates Halo; I'm not sure why, but I believe those were her exact words. (I think it had something to do with a certain lack of courtesy in multiplayer campaigns.) But she also hates God of War, and a lot of people loved that game. Obviously, Cary and I don't always agree on everything and when a game comes out that appears to be close to anything Firefly/Serenity related, I don't see myself staying away from it.
My hatred for Halo does indeed come from terrible multi-player experiences. That and the fact that the single player campaign on Halo 3 (which is the only one I've played) isn't worth a damn - and most people will attest you that.
ReplyDeleteI will say, however, that whenever I go to my sister's LAN parties we also play Halo 3 and I always have an amazing and fun time. It's just the type of game I will only play with friends.
Hmmmm. Well, I accept that. :)
ReplyDeleteCary pretty much nailed it, the online community out there can be horrible and it really does ruin the experience. Halo as a game is fine, Halo as a social experience with friends is great, but Halo with randoms (usually kids, unfortunately -- yay for making a generalisation) is an unpredictable, frustrating and even at times insulting affair. That said, matchmaking in the game is wonderful and as such there's a good chance you won't come across the same people again, opening it up to some really good matches too.
ReplyDeleteA good example for a comparison is the Gears of War games; the community/ies in those are much worse than Halo's, in my experience, and despite preferring Gears' type of play I think I would always play Halo first given the choice. If, somehow, you can get a group of friends together in Halo or even Gears though, then it'll be totally fun to play as Cary alluded to.
As for the single player, Halo 2 and Halo 3 are exactly the same as Halo 1 but with different levels and improved graphics -- you've played one you have played them all, basically. ODST on the other hand is taking the franchise in a different direction so it could end up being more appealing than the other three. Of course it would pay off narratively speaking if you had played the others, but really the background knowledge won't dictate your potential enjoyment of ODST, so don't feel obligated to play them or whatever. If the upcoming game interests you because of the Firefly comparison, or for another reason, then I say go for it, give it a go and see what you think. :)
As an aside, ODST comes with all of Halo 3's maps in multiplayer so it is the better version to get as far as multiplayer is concerned.
Steven: Thank you! That was extremely insightful. I may just rent it at some point to see how I feel about it, that way I'm not committing to anything.
ReplyDeleteWhen I play multiplayer, I always prefer playing with people I actually know, as well.