It's actually one of the reasons I don't really want to get into R6--but that's because it's primarly a first person shooter and I don't really agree with being able to peek around corners without a true line of site..it changes the game drastically. Not bashing it--haven't really played it outside of the demo--I will get to it eventually.

But I agree with your comment, in that they did it in R6 and people are enjoying themselves quite a bit..so why on earth wouldn't you do it in a game that offers you the ability to go third person anyway?

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.

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 :(

@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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Guess not :/

Ah fuck. Oh well. NEEXT!