Who failed physics class?
It can be understood what a huge mountain the Bungie staff faced in creating Halo 2. The beast they had created in Halo 1 had thrived and taken control of the Xbox community. Their first game under Microsoft ownership became a system seller for the current premiere gaming console. In creating their next game they had to go bigger and badder, be more exciting, and push sales and imagination. The Bungie staff looked to their community and weeded through suggestions and found a legitimate addition to the Halo weapon roster: the sword. It was through the inclusion of the sword that the Halo universe was changed forever.
You can imagine the meetings taking place during Halo 2 development; exciting colorful storyboards, character sketches, and models strewn around an expensive office. Bungie employees throwing out ideas and bargaining and brainstorming attempting to peg down what the next invention gamers would be playing. At one point in these discussions someone mentions that "they could make the sword lunge at opponents!" What an exciting idea: a dashing attack involved with the sword, fantastic. This idea is taken and implemented, and yes, it's pretty cool. However if the sword is going to lunge when it attacks, the regular melee is gonna have to lunge when it attacks too. . .
The staff however sees no major problem with this, ok, so the melee's are going to lunge, big deal right? One fun and exciting part of Halo was that hand to hand combat was a very viable and important part of battle. Games have used melee weapons in the past with limited success, from slappers in Bond, to an array of knives in various games like Counter-strike. However typically these attacks were deployed by an alternative weapon. However in the Halo series you could simply punch someone with whatever weapon you wanted.
The Bungie staff has admitted when creating Halo 1 that the physics engine they created was basically based on what looked and felt right to them. However in Halo 2 Bungie outsourced the physics engine to a company known as Havok. While Havok has enjoyed success with their designs across numerous games, the application into Spartan and Covenant combat left something to be desired. If the Masterchief is to abide by typical laws of physics, then it must be questioned why he is able to break these frequently. While battling an opponent for what reason is the Masterchief able to achieve a sudden burst of speed forward allowing him to melee his opponent? What physical property allows the Masterchief the ability to increase his downward velocity due to gravity while swording or melee-ing an opponent? Are the rockets in Halo 2 heat-seeking to the temperature of the Masterchief? Are there shocks installed in his legs that prevent his suit from taking -any- type of damage due to falling. While I'm on the subject of dumb things I like to cry about why are the battle rifle bullets tracers? Tracer bullets in machine guns are typically used to signal the end of the clip. What Spartan engineer thought that was a good idea? Or really what Bungie employee thought "wow this is going to look cool, but will change the way the game plays entirely." I feel the muzzle flare is a great identifying way to find your opponents and served the Halo universe justly, however I digress.
All of these changes within the game create a gaming dynamic which is once again further from the success of the original. Over the years game design studios (such as Id, Blizzard, and Valve) have realized that if something works, stick with it and improve on it.
I can do without any comments informing me that "Halo 2 sold 2.4 million copies earning $125 million dollars in the first 24 hours!" Yes, this is amazing, making it the highest grossing release in entertainment history, surpassing Spider-Man 2. However the 1.5 million pre-orders, and millions of late night purchases had nothing to do with Halo 2, they had everything to do with Halo: Combat Evolved.
You can imagine the meetings taking place during Halo 2 development; exciting colorful storyboards, character sketches, and models strewn around an expensive office. Bungie employees throwing out ideas and bargaining and brainstorming attempting to peg down what the next invention gamers would be playing. At one point in these discussions someone mentions that "they could make the sword lunge at opponents!" What an exciting idea: a dashing attack involved with the sword, fantastic. This idea is taken and implemented, and yes, it's pretty cool. However if the sword is going to lunge when it attacks, the regular melee is gonna have to lunge when it attacks too. . .
The staff however sees no major problem with this, ok, so the melee's are going to lunge, big deal right? One fun and exciting part of Halo was that hand to hand combat was a very viable and important part of battle. Games have used melee weapons in the past with limited success, from slappers in Bond, to an array of knives in various games like Counter-strike. However typically these attacks were deployed by an alternative weapon. However in the Halo series you could simply punch someone with whatever weapon you wanted.
The Bungie staff has admitted when creating Halo 1 that the physics engine they created was basically based on what looked and felt right to them. However in Halo 2 Bungie outsourced the physics engine to a company known as Havok. While Havok has enjoyed success with their designs across numerous games, the application into Spartan and Covenant combat left something to be desired. If the Masterchief is to abide by typical laws of physics, then it must be questioned why he is able to break these frequently. While battling an opponent for what reason is the Masterchief able to achieve a sudden burst of speed forward allowing him to melee his opponent? What physical property allows the Masterchief the ability to increase his downward velocity due to gravity while swording or melee-ing an opponent? Are the rockets in Halo 2 heat-seeking to the temperature of the Masterchief? Are there shocks installed in his legs that prevent his suit from taking -any- type of damage due to falling. While I'm on the subject of dumb things I like to cry about why are the battle rifle bullets tracers? Tracer bullets in machine guns are typically used to signal the end of the clip. What Spartan engineer thought that was a good idea? Or really what Bungie employee thought "wow this is going to look cool, but will change the way the game plays entirely." I feel the muzzle flare is a great identifying way to find your opponents and served the Halo universe justly, however I digress.
All of these changes within the game create a gaming dynamic which is once again further from the success of the original. Over the years game design studios (such as Id, Blizzard, and Valve) have realized that if something works, stick with it and improve on it.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!However Bungie decided to modify the majority of the gaming cues that made Halo what it is. I believe this reasoning is dissapointing and foolish.
I can do without any comments informing me that "Halo 2 sold 2.4 million copies earning $125 million dollars in the first 24 hours!" Yes, this is amazing, making it the highest grossing release in entertainment history, surpassing Spider-Man 2. However the 1.5 million pre-orders, and millions of late night purchases had nothing to do with Halo 2, they had everything to do with Halo: Combat Evolved.
posted by Annihil8or at 1:48 AM
7 Comments:
Just wondering... Where did you get the information that led you to make this statement, "The Bungie staff looked to their community and weeded through suggestions and found a legitimate addition to the Halo weapon roster: the sword"? Are you assuming they didn't think of the sword themselves? Or is there an actual source that shows this? From what I know, most developers don't look at ANY ideas from fans while making a game.
Oh i have no genuine source that they looked specifically to fan input. In no way did they conduct a formal survey or anything. I said this in reference to all of the "what weapon do you want!!11!" and the like on the B.net forums.
Well you make it sound as if Bungie did not look carefully at how they would change the game. I mean, had Bungie NOT looked carefully, then how the hell did they stumble upon a First Person Shooter that is possibly one of the most popular out there right now, being played by millions right now?
You simply make it seem as if Halo 2 is a degraded version of Halo 1, except it isn't, both are completely different, and furthermore, highly successful on their own merit. Both have spawned huge amounts of popularity, and furthermore, are even fun to mess around in.
Don't just say that people play Halo 2 now because of Halo 1, because that is definitely not true. Yes, certain physics are bypassed in making this game, yet many commercial products do that, and Halo 2 isn't the only one to do so and still be a success.
Reality....
That was by me BTW
More than 75% of Bungies sales were infact pre-orders of Halo 2. Why must you ask would all those thousands of people pre-order a game? Because of the previews or because of a Number 1 FPS shooter console game that was unlike any other? This was suppose to be the Sequel to the greatest game ever created. As we all know in any Trilogy, the Sequel is Usually the worst one. You can look at games, movies, anything from the past. Lets hope that the Trilogy follows the law and is as good as the Original.
"Halo 1 will always take more skill anyways you want to look at it."
FACT.....
Prince, that comment was horribly opinionated, but I guess everything is around here.
So you're denying the fact that millions of gamers still love and play Halo 2? I mean, millions played it after it released, and it is still the most popular game on Xbox Live. People are extremely eager for Halo 3, and it is still trumped as the Killer APP of the 360, a game that could compete with the PS3 were it to release on the same date.
Now, what makes you think that so many people do not like the game? Is it possibly just your own opinion reflected on the entire gaming public?
And they changed it because they found cause in changing it. They changed it because they looked at something and thought, gee, this would make the game better. And they did it. And the game got better. More people liked it, the game was far more popular. What Annihilator posts here are discrepancies found in an amazing game, but come on, those discrepancies exist in every great game out there. And furthermore, were they to even get rid of say, the auto-aim, I'd say it would degrade the game. It just would. You may say that it takes less skill, but I only care if the game becoems more fun to play, and if there is still potential in other areas in which I may enjoy the game.
And UT04 was actually a very good game, and reviews do agree with me. Many enjoyed the introduced vehicular content, and furthermore, I had much fun in the Deathmatch scenarios found in the game. UT03 I actually found as if it were a mere expansion to the game, and nothing else really.
Halo 2 is a great game, and its gameplay/popularity backs up my opinion. Again, you may find discrepancies with the game, but that is so with everything. And on a further note, of course some people won't like it, and of course some people will wish it were Halo 1, but the game still stands as a hugely successful game anyways. Everything highly popular, and furthermore is different than the original, will have guys like you bashing every small problem found in the game, even if that problem adds to the gameplay in the game.
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