I'm going to start with a really, really tiny detail and try to use it to come to a sweeping statement about what makes a game fun. The detail we'll start with is weapon spawns in the Halo games: why timers are fair, but not fun, and why slightly random spawns may be unfair, but more fun.
the hole in lockout is fun and easy. go to where the glass in the celing is and you can go to the worp pad or to the bigger tower. crouch walk up in the wall by the door down to the worp pad. go to the left of the light. move right slowly till you get to the third black line in the light. while doing this keep jumping and it might take a few trys but eventually you will get it. you will know if you have done it by when you fall throuh the wall and land on the other side. yes the gardians can still kill you while you do this.
go to the middle of acension with the banshee. flip the banshee on the path way between the banshee pad and the center of the map. flip the banshee like your doing the banshee jump.( you will ned overshields and rockets) now do the banshee jump and if you did it right you should fly past the banshee pad and fall to the bottom of the map. now you can walk around. this might take a couple trys but it's fun in the end.
With the Public Beta fast approaching, there's even more Halo-related news spiraling out of Bungie and the community.
The Year We Make Contact
Ducain wrote to alert me of an update at Certain Affinity's site, and it's good news all around.
First off, they're passing around the news that Frankie at Bungie.net says the map downloading problems have been fixed.
GamePro.com has put together the list of the 52 "most important" video games of all time. Because it's a list done according to importance, it means that games that were significant, even if they were bad, are on the list. One assumes that's not why Halo is on it in position #45, which won a spot for "scores of subtle gameplay refinements", or why Halo 2 clocks in at #20 for its innovative matchmaking model.
Awesome O and Pillar of Awesome just announced that they've put together a Halo trivia quiz.
Frankie at Bungie.net writes that the planned playlist update is being delayed until next week (probably) while they continue to investigate the problems some users are having in downloading Halo 2 maps.
In an effort to get people together that have the new maps, since they are unavailable on matchmaking right now, the clan NEWMAPHOLDERS has been established. In this way we can coordinate with each other and play with others that want to try out the new maps. If you would like to join send a friend request to PugnaxX
Thanks
Not an entire day has passed since the release of Tombstone, Certain Affinity's Halo 2 homage to the Halo 1 favorite Hang 'Em High, along with Desolation, their remake of Derelict, before the first cracks are being found.
I made this animation using halo figurines and just thought i'd let some people know, its on youtube at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zHLMSMV33o
It's called Halo: Fall Of The Flood
Thanks, Ben.
Ok.... Everybody has been saying that Remembrance, the Maw, and Ghosts of Reach are the same. I don't think so. I want sheet music for Remembrance from Halo 2 soundtrack Volume 2. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, go to this
http://badrouter.net/f/halomusic/ideas/Rememberance.wma
Its a VERY pretty song and I would like to have it on music. Any response will be appreciated.
Ok.... Everybody has been saying that Remembrance, the Maw, and Ghosts of Reach are the same. I don't think so. I want sheet music for Remembrance from Halo 2 soundtrack Volume 2. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, go to this
http://badrouter.net/f/halomusic/ideas/Rememberance.wma
Its a VERY pretty song and I would like to have it on music. Any response will be appreciated.
Surprise, surprise-- the new Halo 2 maps by Certain Affinity apparently won't be only for the Xbox 360, but will also run on the original console. Hang 'em High and Derelict are coming to the new engine as Tombstone and Desolation.
Louis Wu says this article is supposed to have three parts, so I guess this is the end. Weapons? Covered. Characters? Covered. NPC behaviors? Covered. Cover? Covered. What's left? Oh, right. Story.
Plot Holes You Could Drive A Warthog Through
Normally, when one is talking about plot holes, one is referring to elements of a work of fiction that cause the audience to lose suspension of disbelief: characters acting contrary to their nature, unlikely and unexpected events, strange conspiracies of circumstance and coincidence. Things that make you want to lean over to your neighbor and say, "that would never happen in real life".
Works of fiction in fantasy and science fiction universes have a lot of different ways to conceal those flaws: magical mysteries and high-tech mumbo jumbo. Wizards are people who can summon fireballs from thin air, and the Enterprise is a ship which, by very definition, travels faster than the speed of light. All that remains is for these fictional universes to remain self-consistent. Which they sometimes do.
Gears of War, though, has some plot holes. They're different kinds of holes. Most of the time, characters in Gears are fairly easy to understand, and act in accordance with our expectations. Since most of the time we expect them to be either kicking ass or taking names, we are not confounded when these things occur. So when something happens that does seem unexplained, it stands out. Some sharp readers already pointed out a few, but I'll try and start from the beginning.