Halo: Reach Discussion

[=sw=warlord]

Hmm not sure if anyone else noticed this.
Still not liking the whole facepaint on helmet thing, that kind of thing is usualy reserved for the GoW and Unreal kind of game not Halo.
Also i know the spartans were enhanced but...

[L0d3x]

They are already screwing with the story. For starters, it looks like they are wearing Unreal-inspired versions of the Mk. VI MJOLNIR armour, when they should all be wearing the Mk. V. Second, one of the signature Spartan II things is that they are all wearing the iridescent green armour, and that there are no markings on them whatsoever. That is part of what makes them like nameless/faceless ghosts in the field.

I like the visual style, I don't like the stylised approach to the actual world though. If I want to play Gears of War or Unreal Tournament 3, then I will go and play them. Leave Unreal out of my Halo, thanks.

I agree with you completely.

[teh lag]

:/

Visually pretty impressive. Can't say I'm a fan of much else. I'm not at all liking the GOW look, especially for the Spartans. I can't believe we didn't get to see the Mjolnir Mark V helmet again, or at least the classic green armor (agahaghhsgdrf why are two of them blue?). I honestly thought I was looking at ODSTs at first. I miss the Pelican too... it's pretty much the definitive Human flier. If it wasn't for the Hogs and the BR on the guy's back, I honestly would need to be told this was Halo and not some generic spacemarine game.

The one addressed as "Commander" is Carter-259 (see 1:19 mark)... I was hoping to see Fred and Kelly and co. here, but it looks like we're following some other group. Welp. I'm guessing that this probably isn't the group in Fall of Reach (I don't think the books mentioned some "lone wolf" dude meeting up with them)... FOR had all Spartans not in that group of 5-6 get glassed before anything important happened, so I'm eager to see how (if?) Bungie gets themselves out of that one.

E; yeah the unarmored (wtf!?!?!?) prosthetic arm is a major oddity. I really don't like the direction this is going in.

E2; The Spartan numbers that I can see:

"Commander" = Carter-259
Robo Arm Woman = Kat-320
Red Shoulder with drinking canteen embedded in his chest = Jorge 052
Sniper = ???
Dutch Wannabe = ???
Lone Wolf = ???

This definitely isn't the team that we know. Oh well.

[=sw=warlord]

Lag, what do you think of the whole robotic arm thing, because that kind of strikes me as odd because no spartans in the books were refferenced as having a artificial arm without being a drop out.

[Hotrod]

Lag, what do you think of the whole robotic arm thing, because that kind of strikes me as odd because no spartans in the books were refferenced as having a artificial arm without being a drop out.

Actually, there was one Spartan who did get his arm blown off, and was still present in later battles, which was James. So it makes plenty of sense to have another Spartan with a prosthetic arm.

I, for one, really am in love with Halo Reach, every bit of it. I was expecting it to look good, but definitely not as good as this. Sure, I am disappointed to not see any Pelicans in that cinematic, but I'm more than sure that there will be some that show up in the game. Bungie aren't idiots, they know we want Pelicans, and they will give us Pelicans...at least...I hope so...

[=sw=warlord]

Actually, there was one Spartan who did get his arm blown off, and was still present in later battles, which was James. So it makes plenty of sense to have another Spartan with a prosthetic arm.
Which book was that in because i don't remember that, i do remeber one being vapourised by a hunter fuel gun though
I, for one, really am in love with Halo Reach, every bit of it. I was expecting it to look good, but definitely not as good as this. Agreed, this engine actualy looks like a newer engine not an upgraded halo 2 engine, although the skull on helmet botheres me a little.

I find my self rather fond to the new particle system, those clouds and the explosion look pretty good.

[teh lag]

Actually, there was one Spartan who did get his arm blown off, and was still present in later battles, which was James. So it makes plenty of sense to have another Spartan with a prosthetic arm.

I, for one, really am in love with Halo Reach, every bit of it. I was expecting it to look good, but definitely not as good as this. Sure, I am disappointed to not see any Pelicans in that cinematic, but I'm more than sure that there will be some that show up in the game. Bungie aren't idiots, they know we want Pelicans, and they will give us Pelicans...at least...I hope so...

My problem isn't with that it's there. My problem is with it being exposed like that. What advantage could there be to having those (comparatively) small metal bones out there instead of the Mjolnir's arm piece?

And, an interesting observation from some HBO dudes:

http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/...pl?read=956942

it sounds A LOT like 052 says "Pegasi." If he means Pegasi-Delta, then there's a good likelyhood that at least the Lieutenant is a Spartan-III. That means that the events of Ghosts of Onyx The SIII assault on Pegasi Delta, is a part of the LT's backstory. Of course this is all speculation, but it would certainly be a new direction. Of course, with Bungie, there's rarely no backstory.

Spartan IIIs would at least be nicer than totally re-working what happened to the Spartan-IIs. I'll be quiet for now, I guess...

[=sw=warlord]

Anyone notice Jorge mentioned Pegasi, if he talking about Pegasi delta than it sounds like the new guy maybe a spartan 3.
If thats the case it could well be more of them are also spartan 3's which would explain the skull paint on the big guy as well as the rest having their helmets off.
Spartan 2's were rarely ever shown to have their helmets removed in books or in the game with the cheif, how ever the spartan 3's were not trained from a young age they were recruited which would explain the loose military attitude and removal of PPE[Personal protection equipment] in a combat zone.
E: gah lag beat me to it.

[FRain]

I have two things to say about this if this really is an ingame cinematic.

60fps

Anti Aliasing.

Also, who is to say those aren't mark V outfits? Who said those other variants were Mark VI specific? Who said those Mark VI variants weren't reworked?

[Rob Oplawar]

Visually pretty impressive. Can't say I'm a fan of much else.

IAWTP.

Here's the thing. They seem to be moving away from their origins here. My opinion is, if you're going to keep doing Halo, preserve those things which make it unique and which the fans love. It's nice to add new vehicles, but don't replace the pelican. It's nice to make the engine prettier, but don't make it brown like every other FPS.
Then again, I wholly approve of them doing new things: Do a new IP! We all love Halo, but Bungie and MS are really starting to do it to death. This is the 6th Halo game, and while the new engine looks gorgeous, in order to make it anything but the same thing we've seen five times before, they're risking alienating the fans. If you want to keep doing new things, move on, and let Halo be Halo, imo.

Now, I loved FoR, and I am interested to see a gritty, realistic Halo in a gorgeous new engine following one of the better story arcs in the series. This game has plenty of opportunity to be fucking amazing. But, after getting my hopes up for Halo 2, and then Halo 3, and then Halo Wars, and then ODST, I still find the original to be the one I love. Not that those games detract from the original by their mere existence, and this game will be no different, and it is nice to continue to explore the universe. As for the corny dialogue in the trailer, it's not as though Halo 1 had such fantastic dialogue either (perhaps our standards were lower back then? or perhaps it was balanced by the story we've come to know and love). I'll give Bungie the benefit of the doubt here and say this game, despite its departure from its origins and the worrying decline of quality in their storytelling, looks pretty fucking sweet.

Plus, they insist that this one really is their last Halo game, and that they really are working on a new IP as we speak. Here's hoping Halo goes out with a bang and not with a whimper, and here's hoping their new IP will be a worthy successor to Marathon and Halo.


e: Also, the irony is not lost on me that I have spent a few years working on my own addition to the Halo universe while complaining about Bungie's additions to the Halo universe. I'm a hopeless fanboi, aren't I?