The problem with game sequels, as I see it, is that an audience of fans from the prior game has certain expectations. From the reports of the Rhoxbox team, there will be no problem with Halo 2 - even in its prerelease state - relating to graphics, sound, or how the game is technically implemented. However, the game play modifications detailed by the team indicate a much different style of play from the game's first version. As someone who enjoyed playing Halo, I believe some of these changes will be well-received, and others detrimental to certain strategies.
Just some of the changes listed by the article include flag carrier speed; the inability of a person with the flag to drive a vehicle; and loss of melee range. While I'm not completely opposed to any of the following changes made, my comments relate to how the changes may impede the game play of Halo as players currently know it.
It's also noteworthy that since all changes mentioned are specific to multiplayer games, Bungie will be allowed to issue Xbox Live updates if any changes need to be made -- or reversed. Due to the way that Microsoft uses its "signing authority" for XBE (Xbox Executable) content downloads, third-party developers needing to issue patches are limited to changing multiplayer Xbox Live aspects only. (It also is helpful that Bungie is owned by Microsoft, so they can theoretically also issue single-player patches if something in the game proves to be buggy. One would hope, however, that said patches will be in short supply, and the game will be bug-free at release.)
So as follows, here are the changes currently slated for Halo 2 mentioned by the Rhoxbox article.
This is similar to the existing speed penalty in Halo to players wielding an Oddball, for example. However, this speed penalty is not mandatory, and it is not known whether it will be customizable in Halo 2. I personally would like to see a variant where the flag carrier can have other modifiers applied - these could be either positive or negative, depending on the preferences of the players (such as shield, visibility, or damage.)
In our build the flag carrier was slowed to approximately two thirds normal movement rate.
While this might be useful for people that walk over the flag in the middle of a heated firefight, and scream out as they are rendered defenseless, it was also an important strategy in the original version of Halo to force one's opponent into the flag, causing them to become temporarily defenseless. With the inclusion of a mandatory "pick up" button, this will no longer be the case. Granted, this modification will stop rage on the part of many players and be closer to real life. Players using the strategy of not allowing their opponents to shoot back will just have to be quicker on the trigger.
Did we forget to mention you now must hold the X button to pick up the flag? At last, there will be no more weapon-flag juggling while trying to pop your pursuers.
The ability to mow down players with a Ghost was impressive in Halo. If opponents are simply able to jump over the Ghost, though, then climbing into an alien craft will become even less appealing: If the Ghost pilot slows down to turn around, after a Spartan has jumped over it, in the words of Joe Staten, "taken!"
The jump maneuver in Halo 2 is actually worth using. A SPARTAN can now jump over charging ghosts with ease and the added height also comes in handy for map shortcuts, especially when obstacles block clean movement.
Combined with the slight auto-aim implemented to adjust for the Xbox controller, both the pistol and sniper rifle were formidable weapons in Halo. After several rounds of Halo PC, I personally find it much easier to track and kill opponents with a two-shot hit, or headshot. This should make the game more encouraging to have each player select a role: rocket wh0re, flag capturer, defender, or the skilled sniper. The sniper rifle (which, according to latest knowledge, still contains four shots before a reload is required) will be much harder to compensate for, and likely successively so after three shots are fired.
Missed headshots with the sniper rifle were not cause for concern when a quick follow up bullet dropped your enemy dead in the original Halo. This version no longer has the luxury of zipping off two quickies as a recoil effect has been added which jerks your gun upward after the first shot is fired.
Not to insult the "house rule" - it probably has a legitimate purpose - but requiring an escort in smaller CTF games is a bit of overkill. At a LAN party, I can see how it could potentially make the game more fair, but when implemented for a wider audience, it's foreseeable that people will dislike it.
At our bi-weekly LAN gatherings...it has always been the house rule that the flag carrier be visible at all times and as such he could not drive any vehicle nor mount the chaingun in the Warthog... Many newbies to our LANs scoffed at this idea.
Hence the need for a toggle as to the flag carrier's attributes: not only is the carrier at a severe disadvantage due to the inability to pilot vehicles, but they are also slowed down by the speed. While depending on a teammate may be the direction Bungie is taking with Halo 2, depending on a teammate can also be the downfall of a team. In 1v1 to 3v3 CTF games, each team will be essentially forced to have, at most, one player on defense while the others go and attempt to sneak, smash and book their way back with the flag. Depending on the skill level of teammates, having a chauffeur could prove to be both players' downfall. This rule seems to encourage the formation of larger games with at least four players per team. Again, an optional setting for this (although likely more difficult to implement technically for Bungie) would serve well for smaller games.
You'll actually need an escort to drive your ass home. Teamplay is the name of the game so start making friends today. After all, a driver sure beats hoofing it back at reduced speed.
The addition of destructible environments ensures that hiding places must be selected more carefully. Obviously, not every object is destructible; most large rocks will not budge even if peppered with chaingun ammunition. It will be a trial-and-error process to see which objects are more "solid" than others for the initial life of the game.
As I tracked him to my right I growled that the wall had blocked my line of fire. My grief turned to glee as the bullets ripped through the cement barrier revealing gnarled rebar and chopping down my foe.
What a great addition - a sniper looking out a window suddenly finds himself with a "blue spider" on their face, or a hallway full of cocky defenders suddenly hears the "tink, tink, tinktinktink" of a fragmentation grenade before their base is breached. The same addition applies to windows that slam shut: the attacker can't look out, and the defender can more easily gain access to a controlled area.
The glass windows...had at least four hit zones enabling you to pop out a corner and toss a grenade through your newly formed hole.
The "destructible vehicles" capability, though, means that exceptionally lengthy Capture the Flag games will lack any vehicles for returning flag carriers in towards the end of the match. A "vehicle respawn" timer, similar to that of Halo PC's, would be an appreciated feature to discourage hoarding of vehicles at a specific base. In addition, the capability of vehicles to be destroyed will make shooting the vehicle, rather than any occupants, a more attractive proposition: an explosion will likely decimate all players inside, due to...
Halo 2 vehicles can sustain damage. If a vehicle goes up in smoke it is out for the remainder of that game. While we played, a Warthog near me was still drivable but was beginning to catch fire as flames crept out from beneath the hood.
The "vehicle tracking" feature, as it appears right now, will end up being the weapon of choice for camping hobos all over. Already I'm starting to hear complaints from LAN participants about how I'll be able to ruin even more people in vehicles than usual.
With all the added vehicular combat Bungie stepped up the SPNKr rocket launcher with a tracking device (vehicles only).
What this addition balances is Bungie's decision to involve vehicles in gameplay even more than typically seen.Limitations on dual wielding are par for the course. The obvious exclusions to the feature will include shotguns (as mentioned), rocket launchers, sniper rifles and, if rumor about the Covenant Carbine being a sniper rifle is correct, that as well.
Dual wielding... goes a step further with combo wielding [...] by enabling the player to mix and match his weapons... Shotguns require two hands and, thus, cannot use this feature.
How close is close? Obviously the "closest" is at the point where a player can no longer move forward because the opponent is in the way. The only way to really determine this would be to play the game for oneself or see a video of the melee attack in action and the exact point at which one is successful.
The range has been shortened immensely for melee attacks requiring the player to be toe to toe if he wants to get a few jabs in.
Both interesting changes, although the "fishtail" effect when using a Warthog was great for clipping enemies if you could manage it properly. Your choice now seems to be a head-on hit, made more difficult by the increased jumping ability. You'll also need to be driving the vehicle quickly in order to avoid...
Vehicle control in Halo 2 has changed a bit. The beloved Warthog now has tighter steering effectively reducing the fishtail effect from Halo 1 to nil. Ghosts, as well, have been modified a touch. Control is not as smooth as before with more drifting and some tweaked physics hampering the turn-on-a-dime handling from its previous incarnation. The added boost acceleration is great for streaking across maps but the downside is a loss of steering control which balances gameplay quite well.
This technique sounds like it will be the most visibly fun addition to the game. I can believe the Bungie guys when they mentioned at E3 that boarding was something "they did all day" - just watching videos of a Ghost pilot being forcefully tossed is enough to clamor demand for the feature, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the main features included in the attract video.
The boarding aspect of Halo 2 is a great equalizer when dealing with vehicular enemies. The key to this new technique is timing. Although you cannot board a charging vehicle due to its speed, once your opponent slows to turn around or attempts to back over you the time is right to press the X button and knock him to the ground, thereby allowing you to take control of his ride and speed off to slaughter his buddies.
This behaviour is similar to that described in the Halo series of books, where Chief starts hurtin' bad once his shield's down and he's taking fire. Personally, I like the ability to have shieldless games with low health (similar to one-shot-kill fests), or the hand-in-hand capability to play a game with 200% health, no shield: strategies change in this gametype and add some variety to Classic Halo. An optional option, perhaps?
We don't need no stinking health paks! We are SPARTANS! And thus the tru7h was revealed that health was removed, replaced by a stronger shield which still retains its re-charging properties.
I will be one who will weep for this weapon. As Vector has mentioned about the MaxGames 2002 Tournament, there are some players who can make the Pistol their Friend. Even though the Battle Rifle looks to be a decent weapon, the fact is that using the Pistol well in multiplayer modes offers oneself a significant advantage. I, and many others, will miss this weapon's presence. Yet in its absence, it will balance out the game in ways the Pistol does not allow, due to the original Pistol's sheer power to drop Spartans.
Our familiar friend the Pistol had been replaced by the more efficient Battle Rifle.
Among other changes that were mentioned in this article were the inclusion of triggers (for opening and closing grates and barriers); the ability to select either Master Chief or Elite for player type; ability to change controller settings from within the game, and the new permutations that LAN gaming has to offer (from 2 to 16 Xbox units - but still no mention of the possibility of having over 16 players.)
By all means, the modifications to a game like Halo cannot be done lightly -- but from the results that this and other previews have shown, everything seems like it will turn out for the better. By all means, the hands-on approach that Bungie is taking the game in should work out just fine.
