Gearheads of War

When discussing large videogame franchises, it is impossible not to mention Halo. The series had broken more records than most other forms of entertainment even consider. The main protagonist is known by those who don¡¦t even play the games and people genuinely connect with him (which is even more impressive since he has fewer lines in his games than random background actors in film. Needless to say, when a Halo game launches, you know it whether it be the viral marketing online or when you are drinking your Halo 3 themed ¡§game fuel¡¨ Mountain Dew.

As a gamer, I was just as stoked as the rest of the crazed population making their way to the midnight launches to pick up their Legendary Edition versions of the game which costs more than the casual gamer spends a year on games. The night was chaotic, people were hyped and the first thing everyone did once they got their copy? Play the game.

The first thing I did when I started up Halo (besides covering my head with the helmet and looking in the mirror) was jump directly into campaign. My game fuels aside I was ready. The first thing that jumped out at me was the cut scene which looked strangely alien compared the halo I was used to, and even the beta. The environment was lush with outstanding lighting which really showed off the positives of Bungie¡¦s new engine. The human models did look very poor in comparison to the rest going on, but I am not staring at the dudes in the game so I didn¡¦t find this lack of polish very offensive.

In terms of game play, I definitely think that the first level is actually one of the more difficult ones, which is strange because most games prove the opposite. I played the game on heroic difficulty and those Jackal bitches really like picking you off from afar. The enemies were immediately aware of MC as soon as he walked into the general area. (Or maybe it was Arby being dumb and running in :/) Needless to say, their AI was improved for sure. One thing that games like Bioshock have me missing is AI that isn¡¦t (appear when MC reaches this point and attack). The AI is definitely very good, but it is still just a very ¡§last-gen¡¨ way to play a game. I am not asking for the game to be re-coded or anything, but the only enemies that felt like they used human tactics were the brutes. Arby got a little smarter towards the end, but team AI was really nothing I wouldn¡¦t expect out of an Xbox 1 game.

One thing I absolutely LOVE about Halo 3 is are the brutes. Though not as strong as the big daddies, they are nearly as tough at first (until you get used to fighting them) I had to acquire a strategy to use against them (lots of grenades from a distance) It was very cool when the game put you head first against many brutes at once, which was one of my favorite moments in the game.

The ways to play the campaign were very cool as well with deployable equipment. I actually replayed a few events to use different strategies (did anyone else though the grav lifts into groups of brutes to launch them into the air?) The game offered a variety of things to do, which is the perfect addition to the game since it is pretty straightforward in terms of path and gameplay.

I don¡¦t want to ramble too much about the game¡¦s campaign so I will now list the things I liked. The level design was done very well, though backtracking really shouldn¡¦t be this evident still. Especially when you are going to play through a game multiple times for the multiple amount of additions like skulls and the arcade like scoring (¡§stop killing my fucking kills Grymm!¡¨ fº) I don¡¦t want to spoil anything (though who hasn¡¦t finished the damn game?) But I will say the VERY end of the game is probably one of the best finishers to any game. Though the build up to that was a pretty big disappointment (can¡¦t we get an awesome boss battle AND cool ending?) But with such a bang at the end, who can complain? The story was ended in satisfying way (you MUST watch after the credits¡K especially on legendary).

So all in all, the campaign was exactly what I was hoping for and more.

Now the multiplayer portion of the game. I will keep this brief because my views are pretty basic. The game easily offers enough stuff to do in multiplayer to keep you busy for a year. Forge and Saved Films are the best additions to multiplayer games on console yet. But the actual gameplay its self in terms of slayer and really any gametype that involves getting the most kills just doesn¡¦t feel too balanced. The game doesn¡¦t have a bad lag problem or anything (though it does exist with host advantage too), but the way weapons are designed make things a little odd. I mean, carbine and battle rifle make any other weapon really irrelevant. The brute shot is like the boomshot in gears except it ALWAYS lets you down. These are just some of the few quirks that don¡¦t make sense (I bet melee will be toned down in a patch). But the same kind of problems existed in Halo 2, and that game did well eh? ;).

Personally, a problem I¡¦ve always had with halo involves the fact that most weapons require lots of hits to kill a person. This, mixed with run and gun gameplay don¡¦t mix well to the fact that a guy sitting back with a battle rifle watching people fight can succeed. It is actually the most effective way to approach slayer. It¡¦s only a personal problem I have with the game and I really can¡¦t knock it that many points.

Overall, I would give the game a 9.6 (no I am not copying Papi :)) I originally was going to give the game a 9.7 but decided to drop it .1 because my internet went out (just kidding).

The game is absolutely amazing, but to be completely honest I have played a very similar game two times before. While I don¡¦t want drastic change in gameplay, more things could be done besides giving the player more stuff to do. In comparison, I think Bioshock was a 9.8 and GOW would probably be a 9.6 as well. I am a sucker for good gameplay ;).

Random Thought: Why the hell did Bungie make the buggers MORE annoying and add a different MORE annoying flood type? I didn¡¦t proof read extensively since this is the second time I have typed this (damn you Command Prompt!).