SBaby
Dungeon Master
There doesn't seem to be a topic about this on the front two pages, so I figured I'd step up and tell you what I think about it.
I just rented this one from my local Blockbuster. And I know that alot of people are probably wondering what I thought about it (or rather, what I think about it so far). And I've got a feeling that some of you will buy it or won't buy it based on what I say. To you, I can only say that I'd recommend seeing what multiple people have to say about it, don't just go on what I think. That said, I liked the game. I thought it was pretty good. For a first attempt in making a Halo RTS, they did an excellent job.
I like using all the units and creatures from the Halo soon-to-be-multiverse. Yes, I have a very strong feeling that Halo will become a multiverse before too long, because that tends to happen with every major series outside of Mario and Pokemon (and even Pokemon has recently shown signs of possibly becoming a multiverse, reference Mystery Dungeon).
I am happy that they use System Link for the multiplayer instead of making it strictly online, like most next-gen games that are not on the Wii do it. The Wii still has alot of local multiplayer functionality, which continues to make it the ideal multiplayer system. But yeah overall, I had alot of fun with it, and it's really holding me over while I wait for Red Alert 3 to hit the PS3.
There are flaws, however. The game is not perfect. And unfortunately, some of these flaws are very difficult to overlook. The first one, and the one that most mainstream RTS fans are going to get is the extremely annoying population cap. Basically you have structures that you can build to increase it up to 40 or 50, depending on the map. But it can't ever go beyond that without putting alot of effort into it, which ends up being more trouble than it's worth. But worst of all, this makes what normally would be a 20 minute skirmish into a mission that could take you hours on end to complete as you constantly fight against the in-game cap (anyone that's played games made by Ensemble Studios knows what I mean by this).
I really wish they didn't have that stupid population limit in the game. All it is, is a big gimmick to prevent you from getting a big army, because they were too lazy to script a better AI for handling that. And you can make every excuse in the book about it, but that's what it comes down to. I knew this would happen when I learned that Ensemble Studios was designing the engine for the game, it's their main trademark, and no surprise, it's what people hate the most about them. And I even warned people about it, but they still bought it because it's Halo, and how can you screw that up? Oh believe me, Ensemble found a way.
Ensemble Studios, if you're reading this, stop using population caps as a crutch in your games, it's not fun and it is not cool. Make better enemy AI instead. I mean, everyone else does.
Second, going back to the AI. You've basically got the Ensemble trademark Fire Emblem-caliber Rock-Paper-Scissors mechanic in the game. Basically there are three types of units, Infantry, Aerial, and Artillery. Artillery beats Infantry, Infantry beats Aerial, and Aerial beats Artillery. And Scarab beats you. Alright I can see that. It's a basic RTS mechanic that's used in pretty much every type of game outside the Command & Conquer series, and it usually works pretty well.
Here's the thing. The AI is either so ingenious with their units that you never had a chance in hell from the get go, or they're so stupid that they only ever send one type of unit after you. There's very little balance when it comes to the AI's actions, and it's just insanely pathetic. Whenever you go against multiple enemies, you'll usually get a smart one and a stupid one, and the stupid one will often hold the smart one back. I remember one skirmish battle where the Covenant side sent nothing but Grunts and Hunters against me. It's ridiculous. Hopefully this will be addressed in an expansion, because this really needs to be.
So yeah, that's pretty much it. If you like Halo, and are looking for a new way to play it, I recommend it (well, you probably already have it if you're a Halo fan). It's no Command & Conquer, but for a first attempt at an RTS, it's not bad.
I just rented this one from my local Blockbuster. And I know that alot of people are probably wondering what I thought about it (or rather, what I think about it so far). And I've got a feeling that some of you will buy it or won't buy it based on what I say. To you, I can only say that I'd recommend seeing what multiple people have to say about it, don't just go on what I think. That said, I liked the game. I thought it was pretty good. For a first attempt in making a Halo RTS, they did an excellent job.
I like using all the units and creatures from the Halo soon-to-be-multiverse. Yes, I have a very strong feeling that Halo will become a multiverse before too long, because that tends to happen with every major series outside of Mario and Pokemon (and even Pokemon has recently shown signs of possibly becoming a multiverse, reference Mystery Dungeon).
I am happy that they use System Link for the multiplayer instead of making it strictly online, like most next-gen games that are not on the Wii do it. The Wii still has alot of local multiplayer functionality, which continues to make it the ideal multiplayer system. But yeah overall, I had alot of fun with it, and it's really holding me over while I wait for Red Alert 3 to hit the PS3.
There are flaws, however. The game is not perfect. And unfortunately, some of these flaws are very difficult to overlook. The first one, and the one that most mainstream RTS fans are going to get is the extremely annoying population cap. Basically you have structures that you can build to increase it up to 40 or 50, depending on the map. But it can't ever go beyond that without putting alot of effort into it, which ends up being more trouble than it's worth. But worst of all, this makes what normally would be a 20 minute skirmish into a mission that could take you hours on end to complete as you constantly fight against the in-game cap (anyone that's played games made by Ensemble Studios knows what I mean by this).
I really wish they didn't have that stupid population limit in the game. All it is, is a big gimmick to prevent you from getting a big army, because they were too lazy to script a better AI for handling that. And you can make every excuse in the book about it, but that's what it comes down to. I knew this would happen when I learned that Ensemble Studios was designing the engine for the game, it's their main trademark, and no surprise, it's what people hate the most about them. And I even warned people about it, but they still bought it because it's Halo, and how can you screw that up? Oh believe me, Ensemble found a way.
Ensemble Studios, if you're reading this, stop using population caps as a crutch in your games, it's not fun and it is not cool. Make better enemy AI instead. I mean, everyone else does.
Second, going back to the AI. You've basically got the Ensemble trademark Fire Emblem-caliber Rock-Paper-Scissors mechanic in the game. Basically there are three types of units, Infantry, Aerial, and Artillery. Artillery beats Infantry, Infantry beats Aerial, and Aerial beats Artillery. And Scarab beats you. Alright I can see that. It's a basic RTS mechanic that's used in pretty much every type of game outside the Command & Conquer series, and it usually works pretty well.
Here's the thing. The AI is either so ingenious with their units that you never had a chance in hell from the get go, or they're so stupid that they only ever send one type of unit after you. There's very little balance when it comes to the AI's actions, and it's just insanely pathetic. Whenever you go against multiple enemies, you'll usually get a smart one and a stupid one, and the stupid one will often hold the smart one back. I remember one skirmish battle where the Covenant side sent nothing but Grunts and Hunters against me. It's ridiculous. Hopefully this will be addressed in an expansion, because this really needs to be.
So yeah, that's pretty much it. If you like Halo, and are looking for a new way to play it, I recommend it (well, you probably already have it if you're a Halo fan). It's no Command & Conquer, but for a first attempt at an RTS, it's not bad.
