2007-01-10 18:25:49 In reply to TheBeagle (2007-01-10 18:20:31)

2007-01-10 18:31:45

Well there's something to be said for the integrity of solo and multiplayer respectively. What makes a good multi game doesn't neccessarily bode well for a solo campaign experience.

Personally I hope Halo 3, rather than totally catering to the Halo 2 fanbase, separates its multiplayer component from the campaign so that the solo experience can be as exciting as possible without having to mind things like weapon balance and keeping every gameplay mechanic reasonable within the boundaries of a multiplayer game.

There are a huge amount of fans on both sides, some whom will claim Halo is all about the matchmaking and shooting friends in the face and some that cling to the characters and the universe and the stories told. The difference is that keeping the multiplayer the same won't harm anyone, while keeping the solo bit the same will end up with another feeling of playing Halo 1 again.

With GRAW it was just really strange that they decided to keep the multiplayer component so close to 2, because as far as I know, GR2/SS were sort of sleeper hits on Live. For me, the lack of a co-op experience true to the real campaign killed GRAW, and once again you were stuck with that pack of retards for a squad. Dammit.

It's ironic how these series, both RS and GR, have been at the forefront of squad based combat games for all these years, and they still have some of the STUPIDEST squad mates in any game. Here comes Gears, swooping in with a first in a proper squad based environment for Epic, with buddies that actually manages to do something worthwhile from time to time.

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http://www.gamespot.com/users/SimonM7 - AETOA Gamespot

2007-01-10 18:46:52

Yeah, and how come almost every dev that makes tactical military games, mention about "cover". Many games have done cover, so why not include it. By now everyone knows that once you are being shoot at you want to stay away from the bullets, and that means, go behind a solid hard oject to avoid the firefights and the bullets coming at you.
I think it was dumb move to remove the covery system from the MP in GRAW.
And hopefully now that RSV and Gears are out, they are smart enough to put it in there.

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2007-01-10 18:51:58

Simon, you gotta admit though, Gears AI isnt exactly the smartest AI out there when it comes to team AI.
I seriously dont get it why the enemy AI is so far more superior to the team AI. And whats so funny about GRAW and its AI was that one my first run, I knew that you could switch their command from "Recon" to "Assault", and that did not happen until near the end of the campaign hahaha. I know very stupid of me.

Right now I have no idea what to do. I have been waiting for Lost Planet so loong and it comes out in 2 days, but in like 3 months Army of Two and GRAW 2 is coming out as well, then I have no money for those, and I really want a great game, but I do not want to miss out on LP.
I do not know what to do. =(

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2007-01-10 18:55:49

I'm not saying that singleplayer and multiplayer can't be balanced seperately, I'd just rather they didn't seem like two different games entirely. Though I'm not sure I agree about Halo--what worked in multiplayer, atleast in terms of weapon balance, worked in single player..especially since they didn't include multiple weapons from single player in the standard weapon set for mp. And keeping the mp portion of Halo the same would too hurt..I think it would be a dissaster, really.

Oh and Sath, I'm feel your pain..February and March have too many releases I'm interested in. This other console sitting here isn't helping either, it wants some love too :(

2007-01-10 19:03:28

I am glad I only have one love for consoles, and thats 360, until Xbox 3 of course haha.
But I know that one of the members here have posted a picture of a release date sheet of the games for 2007. Now I dont know if all that is true or not but what I saw at 04, theres like GRAW 2, Mass Effect and Army of Two. I might be wrong but correct me.

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2007-01-10 19:05:16 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-01-10 18:55:49)

@sath

I think the hardest part about creating teammate AI is that they can't be absolute terminators either. I remember the first few Medal of Honor where your mates would pretty much take care of everything unless you dove headfirst into the action just to get some shots off.

In Gears they manage to run around and do things despite not dying an awful lot, and while you can't actually rely on them if an enemy decides to fondle you up close, they still do a fair job of keeping enemies occupied at long range when you're surrounded and stuff. That's quite unlike GR: Advanced Babysitter, where you need to walk them over the street and stuff.

@grift

Yeah I didn't intend to directly comment on or criticise your stance, it just got me thinking of an observation I'd already made about what Halo must do at least in my mind to feel fresh and exciting again. To me the biggest worry is the popularity of the online game because I think it might make Bungie and/or the MS guys more conservative in their approach to Halo 3 multiplayer. You know how anal multiplayer gamers are.

I mean we're both pretty much on the same page about UT(99) still being the best UT, and that's sort of the notion I think could kill the prospect of Halo 3 feeling really different and unpredictable in its design.

Dual weild was awesome in singleplayer but some quote it as killing the multiplayer game and want nothing to do with it. What if similar design choices are abandoned to keep the multiplayers happy about 3? That's a disaster in my eyes.

We'll see I suppose.

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http://www.gamespot.com/users/SimonM7 - AETOA Gamespot

2007-01-10 19:11:11

Well, we'll definitly see..hopefully sooner than later :)

I think Halo 3 will contain some pretty ambitious changes from Halo 2, atleast I hope so. And I hope that they work those changes into both the campaign and the multiplayer experience..

I don't really want either to stand out, I want them to both live up to the standards that Bungie has set for themselves. Obviously MP stands out in the long run, but I expect a pretty excellent sp/co-op experience to be in there as well..and I think they're well aware of those expectations.

2007-01-10 19:17:23

Since nobody seems to like PDZ as much as I I guess the comparison is a bit lost around these parts, but I sort of hope that Halo 3 has that kind of replayability about its solo campaign. Gears has tags, but you still feel rather done with it once you've completed it on Insane.

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http://www.gamespot.com/users/SimonM7 - AETOA Gamespot

2007-01-10 19:24:46

Collectables aren't really a compelling reason for me to play a videogame, anyway. Halo has replayability, I think..mostly through co-op.

2007-01-10 19:51:02

Improved character models, more detail here and there, perhaps more going on at once, and of course better explosions. I see no other big improvements in the graphics side.

Not bad though, it looked amazing in that third video, I'd like to see more physics work though.

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Where the crap is Shenmue 3 SEGA? Scrap that thing called Shenmue online and finish the Shenmue epic story on 360!

2007-01-10 20:01:32

Simon - They might as well just make the AI dumb as hell then, not that they are. If they make the team AI as strong as the enemy AI it feels then that you are playing with a good player, which is what I want. I want my teammates to really protect me, and do what they are suppose to do and kill the bad guys while I am doing the same and trying to figure out the next move.

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2007-01-10 20:16:02

I have some questions.

Releasedate ?
How long did it take for you guys to play singleplayer on the first GRAW ? Love games that last forever. (which means more than 15 hours SP-mode)
Is it worth to buy GRAW2 if I don't have XboxLive ?

Amazing graphics btw !

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XBOX 360 FOREVER !

2007-01-10 21:14:44 In reply to GriftGFX (2007-01-10 19:24:46)

Yeah, it's a bit of a weak incentive, but I suppose it's something. Seeing as not even insane is particularly challenging, the feeling that there's not much more to do in it sets in rather dramatically when you're done with the campaign on that setting.

PDZ keeps giving you more objectives and paths with each difficulty, and on top of that, as you unlock new gadgets you get even more ways to get through a level and in many cases find new weapons and stuff. Oh and it gets so insanely difficult around Perfect Agent that the prospect of playing it on Dark Agent is practically nightmare inducing. Just as it should.

One of the most disappointing aspects of a game like this/that is when you're up for a greater challenge but the game simply doesn't have more to offer you. Competetive multiplayer is a feeble substitute if what you miss is shooting Locust kneecaps and blowing their heads up with the magnum.

I guess one thing Halo 2 didn't water down - on the contrary - was the difficulty of the Legendary mode. It's almost off puttingly difficult next to the much more sympathetic Heroic. They should make a new difficulty if they insist on having you both die instantly from your mate dying.

AaaaAAAAaanyhoo.. Pretending like we're still on topic, if RSV is an indication, Ubisoft recognize people's desire to play the story mode in co-op, and hopefully that rubs off on GRAW2.

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http://www.gamespot.com/users/SimonM7 - AETOA Gamespot

2007-01-10 22:10:00 In reply to SimonM7 (2007-01-10 21:14:44)

2007-01-10 22:30:07

Ah fuck. Oh well. NEEXT!

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2007-01-10 22:33:50

They're at Gametrailers aswell:

Air strike gameplay:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=wmv&id...
Cross-com commands gameplay:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=wmv&id...
Controlling the mule gameplay:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=wmv&id...
Helicopter raid gameplay:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=wmv&id...

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2007-01-10 22:43:43

I definitely see a visual upgrade.

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Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

October 20th 2007 (A good day)

2007-01-10 22:57:41

Those 'Helicopter raid' and 'Controlling the mule' vids almost look like a downgrade in most aspects, but in that 'Cross-com' vid you can see the improvements indeed.

But Í get the feeling it's kind off in the same state now, as GRAW1 was at X05 (relatively).
What makes me think this is because things like; when he zooms in with the sniper, the area outside the scope is darkned out, just like the GRAW1 build at the X05.
When GRAW1 released that was changed dramatically, aswell as the graphics.

So I think this game will see quite a big improvement before it's release if I go by what happened with GRAW1...

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2007-01-10 23:59:36

Crosscom is certainly the best, though i worry about the lack of colors.

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2007-01-11 09:43:23

Fnally the HD version is up as well.

HEres the new GRAW 2 SP Interview - No HD.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=16191&ty...

Ok, release month is set up, March. Oh man this is not happening. I need money for all this great games!!!!

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2007-01-11 13:57:00

This game has some of the most glorious explosions I have seen in a game yet.

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"It is such a quiet thing, to fall. But far more terrible is to admit it." ~ Kreia in Kotor2