Halo.. is this it?
 

Don't get me wrong, I've become a big halo fan since my purchase.

.. However, Is this it? I'm about to beat the game on normal, then I'm going to go after legendary, it's been pretty easy, but with no penalty for dying, but going back to your last checkpoint, doesn't really make you care if you die.

It seams to me there should be a lot more to this game.
lets look

1. we have normal game play beat the game single player

2. same thing but co-op with you and a buddy

3. Multiplayer 2-16 with a LAN

Dose anyone know if you get anything for beating the game?

OK so no stimulants or challenges like PD (perfect Dark)
And how big are these X-box disc's 1.4 gig? Or bigger?
AND what has bugged me the most!!! Has anyone found an IN GAME audio option where you can lower the music or SFX?? what the hell is that.

So what I'm saying.. Great game, great game play, SERIOUS lack of Options and reply value. If only it had these thing that it's lacking I could say it has surpassed PD and GE, for now PD is still my #1 console FPS.

Get a clue halo team

It's called Halo online.

www.gamespyarcade.com Click on XBox Online.

offensive remarks removed. -namja

You are going from Normal to Legendary? You won't get past the second level.

I'm speaking from a single player point of view, you can't say you would not like to have an option to fight stimulants like in PD?

After the game is beaten on all levels what do you do then? What if you don't have broad band?

Multiplayer doesn't make the game.

All i'm saying is, I expected many more options for a main title, more weapons, more game options, more, more, more. It's a great game but it's also lacking alot. For all the hype.

You can also design your own multiplayer deathmatches and have a lot of freedom as to what you can do with them.

Yeah I tried the multi custom games, I dunno it still feels a little restrictive. I know it's not PD and GE, but i want a turbo mode and one hit kills

The game is a pushover in normal mode, in heroic mode you'll feel better about the game. In Legendary you'll hate the game unless you go two player.

Well, all I expected was a solid, ingrossing single-player experience. Halo delivered that in spades.

Thanks Bungie.

offensive remarks removed. -namja

You better get broadband if you want to play now or when MS launches their online network in the Spring. Why did you buy an XBox if you didn't plan on having broadband?

Anyway, Broadband is totally worth it just for the internet service. Halo online is just an extra.

I suck at games but this game is FUN and has great graphics I'm totally engroosed in it....I like how the bodies don't disappear right away. You can even blow up the bodies and make them flip across the ground while they lay dead... a guilty pleasure ;)

Nismo - you have no idea what goes into making a video game apparently... this game adds tons of technology to the mix of FPS games. Years in the making - it's a marvel of technology and well developed story and atmosphere... my personal complaint with it is the redundancy of some of the levels - reminds me of Serious Sam, but apart from that I think it's a well constructed game and you at least have to appreciate the efforts that went into making such a game. If this were a PC game (which it soon will be I understand), you could go to an online community of gamers who make their own levels and continue the story from there. I guess I don't understand what you're complaining about? What do you want for finishing the game? A cookie? Good for you - pat on the back... were you expecting some Final Fantasy cinematic or something? I don't know what you're talking about with the "stimulants" - sounds like you were hoping a couple of hits of meth would pop out of the screen for you to trip on. I wasn't very impressed with Goldeneye or Perfect Dark (although PD had some nice elements to it), but I was raised on PC FPS games, so perhaps my standards are too high. Halo has outstanding AI, compelling storyline, great graphics, atmostpheric sound, cool weapons and it's just damn fun to play. Even though it took you a day or a few hours to complete, remember it took many people years to make it. Anyway - I like Halo and even though it's not the best FPS game I've ever played, it's very well done and it's the first console FPS game that I've enjoyed. I say Kudos to the Halo team for making a great game. I think you ought to perhaps give them a bit more credit seeing as how you did seem to enjoy the game. Isn't that the point though? Leave them wanting more? :)

yeah, this game definitely rocked. Me and a friend just finished playing for 8 hours straight, literally, two piss breaks and one snack break. It rocked.

I don't mind the part about having unlimited lives at all :)

I would like to turn the music down just a bit, so I could hear what the characters were saying. That's just a minor gripe. I can't wait to play online.

Wasn't there news a couple of months ago that Halo for Xbox will NEVER have internet multiplayer capabilities?
I haven't been keeping up to date with news on this game so I don't know if it has changed or not, but here is the link.

http://consolewire.com/news/item.asp?nid=1315

As far as I'm concerned Halo Xbox is a cut down version of what you'll see on the PC. Most of the features you guys are talking about have been on PC games for a few years now.

I can understand that this may be a new thing for consoles, but really, you just know a better version will be available for the PC.

fmian:

Dude that article was way back in May 2001. Where have you been?? People have been playing Halo on the internet for the last month or so...

:lol:, time to wake from hybernation.

Interruption

I just moved into a new home, and had to give up my cable modem. There is NO high-speed internet service, cable or DSL, that I can get where I live now, at least for the time being. And it's AT&T and Qwest, so I'm not holding my breath.

Just some perspective that some people don't have access to broadband but still expect that a game released before a network is even available doesn't rely on broadband to make it a worthy purchase.

I haven't played much of Halo, but what I've seen looks decent. But not everyone has broadband options.

And I think "stimulants" was what PD called "bots." I have never played Unreal Tournament online, but I played against the bots constantly. Always enjoyed that...

Continue

Totally agree with you here. The fact is the majority of people on the internet today are still stuck at 56k. Much like Draven, I am also in an area that does not have broadband capabilities yet thanks to Qwest and AT&T's incompetence with hooking up the whole metro area or at least the pieces that they have power over (Qwest actually does not service ALL of the metro and Time Warner shares with AT&T).

Outstate Minnesota cities (i.e. affluent northern ones such as Duluth, Brainerd, Bemidji, etc.) actually have broadband available while some people in the outer ring (outside the 494/694 loop) affluent metro suburbs don't.

Having broadband is not a prerequisite to owning an X-Box. Many people like playing single-player games and are not interested in going on-line to play their games. Yes it's an added benefit, but they aren't buying the X-Box just for that.

I personally will probably never play console games on the internet unless FFXI is free as they're going to do in Japan. I played NFL2k1 and NBA2k1 on-line and it really wasn't that exciting. The computer is the place where on-line gaming is fun and many people are still stuck at 56k for that as well.

Fox where the heck do you live? I'm in Mounds View, which is near Blaine and the last way to describe this suburb would be aflluent. I get ATT Broadband. Have you checked recently? You know they are constantly expanding.

draven-x, looks decent is a understatement! :) It really is a wonderful gaming experience. In no way does this game need broadband to make it better. That's just the icing on the cake.

Did you ever stop to think that broadband might not be available in his area? Or maybe he can't afford it? Or maybe he's like me and has no desire in playing games online and only wants to play with his friends in the same room?

It is good to think through the possibilities before being a jerk and make a snide reply.

The fact is that broad band is too expensive for most people, $40+ a month here, and is still not available in many areas. Plus, many people, myself included, don't like online games. I want to play with my friends in the same room, not over the internet, otherwise I'd just rather play single player.

His gripes about Halo are certainly worthwhile. The single player games is fantastic, but the multiplayer deathmatches leave a lot to be desired, especially next to Perfect Dark which game you tons of options on how to set up a deathmatch. The lack of simulants is also inexcusable, they add a ton of replay value. For one you can practice against them buy yourself to get better at death matches, and secondly it makes multiplayer deathmatches more interesting if you have some computer controlled characters running around.

I'm northeast of you or directly east of you if you are closer to Blaine. It was planned that DSL and/or cable modem would come to the area by August and I have seen both ATT and Qwest putting orange lines down for cable, but they have not put any cable down yet in my area of the city. I would guess they are waiting until Spring. I never had cable until I went out to get a satellite system because cable did not come to my house. The farthest north high speed has come to me is White Bear Lake and Stillwater.

And when I say affluent I mean more along the lines of there are people who would probably pay the money to get DSL or cable in the parts of the metro that does not have it. Considering I am planning to move in the next few months it would be useless to pay for them to bring a line down to my house (and they will make me pay to string cable down to the house). Nevermind that I have enough to bide my time currently without adding broadband on-line gaming to the plate :).

And I stopped checking around October...

What on Earth are you talking about? Bots are nice, but not including them is forgivable. As for Perfect Dark, Can you have multiple players jump in tanks or jeeps in deathmatch mode and blow each other up that way? There are practically limitless "make your own rules" deathmatch modes, especially if you have some creativity.

In total agreement with you. When I move and broadband is readily available (and trust me, that will be a significant factor in where I move) I'll probably pay the big bucks for it. Thing is I would probably play PC games and use the speed more for the internet than playing my PS2, X-Box, GameCube, etc. on-line. I have grown up playing single-player because I didn't have anyone around my age that liked to play games in my area. But I would easily play PC games on-line.

Well, I'm pretty sure Bungie was in a lot of pressure by Microsoft to get the game out alongside the launch of the XBox. The development effort required to get decent bots implemented cannot be underestimated (the development of the Quake 3 bots was what held that game up for as long as it did).

Also, even though I have broadband at home I really don't have any intention of playing Halo online. A solid single-player experience was all I expected from Halo and that is definately what it brings. Everything else would have been icing on the cake, but I wouldn't have wanted the game's release to be delayed because of it.

Wiring your XBox through your PC and playing Halo online through Gamespy Arcade doesn't count in my book, because most people have never heard of Gamespy and would have no idea how to do this.

Halo did not support internet play out of the box, and I would say that internet play is not available to all but a small minority of potential XBox owners

If you need broadband to enjoy XBox then the XBox is doomed, because broadband users are a pretty small market. Eventually, most people will have it, but that's a good 3-5 years down the road, which will be too late for the XBox. Right now, many people don't see any reason to pay that much more per month for internet service, and many people don't have any broadband option available in their area.

I'd say broadband needs to cost $29.99 per month, and must be extremely problem free and user friendly before it reaches a market penetration that can support the XBox. Until then, the XBox either needs to be strong enough with its offline games, or it needs to die.

You can't have a niche console, just for geeks and early adopters. There aren't enough people to support it. Dreamcast proved that.

We'll just have to agree to disagree. To me bots are a big deal. I don't care about tanks and other vehicles. I just want people on foot with guns in my deathmatches. If I wanted to blow people up in vehicles I'd play Twisted Metal, which I wan't because I hate vehicular combat games. ;) Also you shouldn't have to be creative to make up a good deathmatch. You should just have to pick a couple options in a menu just like in PD.

This is the way I see it. Halo sets the bar for single player, or co-op, console FPS's and likely won't be topped for some time. Where as PD has set the bar for multiplayer deathmatch console FPS's and likely won't be topped for sometime.

Feel free to disagree, that's what opinions are for. Halo is the best singleplayer/co-op console of all time bar none, but is simply mediocre in the multiplayer (in the same room, not online crap) department IMO.

I agree its multiplayer isn't the strongest part of the game. But I guess my problem is people saying it's not very good. It is pretty good just because of cool things like the vehicles. Of course you can get out of them and go sniper someone if need be :D

ScandalUMD, you don't need a broadband connection to enjoy the X-Box just like you don't need a broadband connection to enjoy the PS2. There isn't even an official network setup yet. It will just be icing on the cake for X-Box users when it comes out. It's really nice for those of us with broadband, who don't have to go buy an adapter in order to use it.

I agree. I never meant to imply that the multiplayer isn't good. I was just saying it wasn't phenomenal or anything like Halo's incredible singleplayer/co-op game or PD's deathmatch mode. I was mainly dissappointed just because I expected more. When it came out, PD was the best single player console FPS of all time and the best console deathmatch game of all time IMO. I was expecting the same out of Halo, and it only delivered in the single player mode IMO, as I said it is easily the best singleplayer/co-op console FPS of all time. Unfortunately the deathmatch mode is just good, above average, but not great.

Totally agree with what you said here. Sorry for misinterpreting your earlier post.

I nomally don't play online games either. My broadband is for web browsing and mp3 downloading. Halo just happens to be a perk.

And snideness is my trademark. I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for the compliment.

It's about how much your time is worth. If you prefer to spend lengthy amounts of time for a connection 1/50th the speed of broadband just because it costs half as much, be my guest.

offensive remarks removed. -namja

Didn't you just say that above? Deja Vu.

And I prefer playing with my friends in the same room playing over the net at the same time.

PD does have a lot of options in setting up a deathmatch, I'll give ya that one.

LOL! That's a good one. Why would I want to play a stimulant when I can take on several guys over the net?

And If I needed extra practice, I would just bump the level to legendary and play through the single player game.

Without getting into the options argument, multiplayer modes, or any of that, I would like to say that I personally believe GoldenEye and Perfect Dark are far superior to Halo in fun factor. That's me. I can't wait until PD Zero drops...

Really? Was it the last Maw level that bugged you? What didn't you find fun about the game? You have to admit that last level was pretty damn cool and fun :)

Thank you joshhinkle, and the others that got my points,I am in complete agreement with you, Someone understood!!!

I have no Problems with Single and Co-op they are great. The facts are that I want replay value. And without SIMULENTS, IMO there isn't much, after I play single player just once, In my personal experience I will remember the story and remember what's around that next corner, it just isn't as fun.

Starting up an ME vs. 8 mix and match with normal - dark SIMULENTS in PD. I can do that at anytime. I know it will be fun, so I will continue to do that instead of halo multi.

Broadband.... I have a job. thanks. the fact is that all i can get in my area is 144/144 PacBell DSL, i did sign up, and they came out and looked around and said i needed some more lines or something, said they would be back on a date to install and they didn't show up I called and there was 2 story's at there office one that said i had already had it installed and another that they still needed to come out, I canceled then. + number one I shouldn't have to have broadband to enjoy any game, unless it is made only for multiplayer, IMO that isn't a good excuse why halo is better or not.

Game Development..... On the contrary I Probably know more about game development than most of you posting here, this is not a flame, just a fact. I used to work for EA, Nuff said.

Game Release... IMO i wouldn't have minded waiting longer for halo to be released, IF Bungie would have added any of the features I have mentioned, ESPECIALLY in game Audio controls!!!

Game Size... Granted Pretty graphics are nice, so this may account for the lack of game options, although I doubt it considering how many options PD has with a little cartage compared to these 1gig PLUS X-box disc's. How many PC games dose anyone know of that are more than one gig in size or even 600 megs. Diablo 2 LOD is all I can think of, witch is a much different game. IMO time must have been a vary big factor in the development of this game, even though it has been in development for 2+ years

so.. superior disc size (1gig+), 2+ years of work, Plenty of FPS before to take notes from, NO AUDIO CONTROL!!!!! IMO bad multiplayer options leaving much more to be desired.

So for now i will play the single player game and beat it, then i will sit, i can't play multi by myself, and the game is repetitive enough as it is, so i won't be going through it over and over again, BORING

Halo is a great game but I still completely agree with joshhinkle here, I'll give it the single player, but PD's multi is still far superior and with much more replay.

Do you have any buddies who will come over and play multiplayer with you?

Hey, by the way, you seriously deprived yourself of a longer gaming experience by playing through it on normal. Heroic is the only way to go. You'll find the game gets a lot more enjoyable and rewarding in Heroic. Let us know how the Legedary levels go, like I said you won't get past the second level if you are playing in single player mode.

yes... but it's going to be a tough one, between GE, PD, and halo

I'll agree that the addition of bots and additional multiplayer modes would have made Halo a better overall package. But as someone who worked at EA (is EA developing any games? I thought they were just a publisher :confused: ), I'm sure you are aware of the pressure that a publisher can put on a developer to get a game out a certain date. I am sure this was the case with Halo. Here you had an unproven system (XBox) that needed a marquee title to go with it to move systems. Therefore I'm sure Bungie had to trim some features to get the game out on November 15th.

The situation was different with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. They were developed for an established system by a second-party developer which probably could have taken all the time they needed to complete the game.

I didn't mean to write this much, but I think we're being a little too hard on Halo. Given the timeframe Bungie had to work with, I believe Halo is about as good as could have gotten.

I think, however, that's it's valid to be disappointed in the multiplayer options.

The games I buy are almost always games that have tons of replay value. Either multiplayer, or fighting/racing games that can be different every time. I hate buying a game that is linear, beating it, and having that be it.

To say that Halo multiplayer is great over the net, fine. But my wife and I bought a home that doesn't have broadband available. So I am stuck with 56k until Qwest/AT&T get off their asses and hook me up. It's not too much to ask that the multiplayer be better.

I would rather play full screen multiplayer, so bots would be nice. No split or quartered screens. My preference is the whole television screen, so the lack of bots is a serious disappointment to me. Personally, that adds a lot, so I feel the game is somewhat lacking.

Maybe they can address this with an "upgrade" later on. Utilize that hard drive a bit.

draven-x: do you own an X-Box or Halo? I got the feeling from your "One and Only Which Console do you Own and Why" post you don't. If you don't own it, did you defeat the game?

Sorry, but I take any opinions on a game by someone who doesn't own said game with a giant grain of salt. If you are basing your entire opinion off of a game review, that's extremely fanboyish to me.