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ray245 wrote:Is there any large battle like those Call of duty kind?

Not really although you do get to join up in a tank convoy and blast through the Covanent lines. The battles are larger than those of the previous two games but still don't have the scale of the CoD series.

Just finnished playing through a 4 player Campaign Co-Op on Live, my gods, what a wild fucking ride!

Bungie really outdid themselves with this game IMO, absolutely blows the Halo 2 out of the water and then some.

Admiral Drason wrote:

ray245 wrote:Is there any large battle like those Call of duty kind?

Not really although you do get to join up in a tank convoy and blast through the Covanent lines. The battles are larger than those of the previous two games but still don't have the scale of the CoD series.

I don't know what you mean by "not really", since I've only beaten four levels and I've had at least four or five major encounters between myself and at least five marines against a dozen enemies... before their reinforcements show up.

Yeah, I have only played COD2 but with the vehicles and multiple enemies in halo 3, there are a lot larger battles than the COD series

Besides, when I think "COD" I think "heavy scripting".

SylasGaunt wrote:According to the VA credits most of the male crew of Serenity provide voices in here.

I thought one of those Sergeant dudes on the second level sounded like Mal.

I like what they've done with the weapon balancing so far.

-The Needler is now a monster. At short/medium range, it is the great pink doom.

-The Battle Rifle is a little weaker, but not enough to seriously impact its performance. It's still my favorite gun, though you still can't carry enough ammo for the thing.

-One submachine gun no longer has any recoil I believe. Or the recoil is signifigantly lowered.

-Dropping the Rocket Launcher's lock on was a VERY GOOD THING.

-The shotgun is useful again!

-The new Assault Rifle is a pretty good starter gun. I don't recomend carrying it around when you're facing off with about 20 brutes and Jackal snipers (who are all Lords of the Headshotz on Heroic and Legendary.)

-Thw new equipment is pretty good. It does add some things to the gameplay while not being totally absurd. Though i'm still wondering how the "shield drain" equipment is able to drain off a Brute's solid armor.

-The Gravity Hammer is a gas. One throw, and watch your enemies fly!

-The Brute Weapons have all been handled very well.

-The Plasma Grenade is now useful beyond sticking opponents again. It's much shorter fuse is very helpful.

-The Plasma Pistol's tracking is very reduced. No more PP sniping.

The game isn't making any waves the way Halo Combat Evolved made them, but it is a SIGNIFIGANT improvement over Halo 2.

Edit: I just noticed, the game has kamikaze grunts! They pull out two grenades and run suicidally at the Master Chief. Ain't they just cute?

Phantasee wrote:

Scottish Ninja wrote: (I have a hand in the use of that particular loading screen, by the way)

What did you mean?

I was at a preview in Seattle about (or precisely, I think four weeks) a month before launch. Bungie showed us some previews of campaign, with a certain loading screen, which I cannot currently remember. Later, when they were showing off the saved videos part, which they mentioned was an earlier build of the game, we saw the loading screen that's in the game now.

Everyone in the theater cheered and clapped every time we saw that screen. I think that may have had an influence on the design team.

4)I may have missed something, but I don't think it's been explained why the Hunters and Grunts are back in the Covenant fold after apparently joining the Elite rebellion in Halo 2.

Some Grunts were still fighting with the Brutes in parts of Halo 2.

As for the Hunters, well, you have to remember that these are intelligent creatures with their own minds. Its a civil war, some are going to go on one side while others are going to go on the other.

A few extra spoileriffic thoughts:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that the Ark has an insane industrial capability; that new Halo that it was building was almost fully completed inside of a couple of months of the destruction of 04. That includes a fully functional main weapon and atmosphere and climate. Spark said it would take only a couple more days to finish building the thing. The Death Star construction figures boggle the mind, but the Ark seems even more powerful.

Also, does anyone else get this "King Arthur" vibe at the final cutscene after the credits? The part where the Chief says "Wake me when you need me." and then goes to sleep echoes the old legends of Arthur sleepinmg until he is needed by his people again.

Regarding the Brute armor IIRC it's referred to as powered in several sources. In addition you've got shield failure effects when you shoot it up enough, and on the higher level brutes at least it will actively repel plasma grenades if you chuck it at them before pounding them a bit.

Just as few Covenant crusiers can glass a continent in less than an hour with thier main weapons. That is fairly damn impressive.

Some Grunts were still fighting with the Brutes in parts of Halo 2.

As for the Hunters, well, you have to remember that these are intelligent creatures with their own minds. Its a civil war, some are going to go on one side while others are going to go on the other.

It kind of makes me wonder why there are no more elite remnants still fighting for the covenant? (at least there havent been any up to my part in the game) You would think there would be at least a few hardcore followers still fighting for the prophets. I miss fighting the good 'ole elites

Panzer Grenadier wrote:

Some Grunts were still fighting with the Brutes in parts of Halo 2.

As for the Hunters, well, you have to remember that these are intelligent creatures with their own minds. Its a civil war, some are going to go on one side while others are going to go on the other.

It kind of makes me wonder why there are no more elite remnants still fighting for the covenant? (at least there havent been any up to my part in the game) You would think there would be at least a few hardcore followers still fighting for the prophets. I miss fighting the good 'ole elites

It might have been an outright genocide; Truth says that he believes that the Elites never followed the Covenant's religion, even though we can clearly see them in Halo 2 showing their faith. I wouldn't be surprised if he was holding irrational or speciest outlooks; we already know he is extremely deluded.

CaptHawkeye, weren't the Needlers in Halo 2 already pink doom in close and medium ranges (except against Flood combat forms for some reason)?

Back on topic, do any Europeans here have Halo 3 already?

Panzer Grenadier wrote:Yeah, I have only played COD2 but with the vehicles and multiple enemies in halo 3, there are a lot larger battles than the COD series

Halo 3 has three UNSC tanks on screen while in CoD 2 you have like ten British tanks on screen at the same time. CoD2 has far larger battles than Halo 3.

Panzer Grenadier wrote: It kind of makes me wonder why there are no more elite remnants still fighting for the covenant? (at least there havent been any up to my part in the game) You would think there would be at least a few hardcore followers still fighting for the prophets. I miss fighting the good 'ole elites

Off hand the Elites got a much rawer deal than the hunters or grunts. What with the prophets downgrading them.. a harsh blow considering they were IIRC the first of the races to join the prophets in the covenant.

That and there's probably some old racial tensions as well. The Covenant is rather species biased.

I'm done SP, and the last level was fantastic; Talk about memories of Halo 1 indeed: The control room of the incomplete Halo was almost identical to that of Installation 04, and like Halo 1, the game ended with a harrowing final run in the Warthog to escape certain doom, only this run (much of it through Halo's uncompleted superstructure) was far, far better done than the one through the Autumn in the first game: The environment is far more open, eliminating the contrived "racetrack" feel of the Autumn run, and there are more natural hazards along the way (such as the ring's exposed superstructure blowing itself apart around you, creating holes to fall to your death). There's no timer like the first game, only Cortana giving periodic warnings of the ring's charging status: I'd say not knowing exactly how much time you have left makes the level seem more tense. Like before, there are still hordes of Flood enemies to drive through along the way, though at least this time, there is someone around to man the Warthog's gun even in single player.

Admiral Drason wrote:

Panzer Grenadier wrote:Yeah, I have only played COD2 but with the vehicles and multiple enemies in halo 3, there are a lot larger battles than the COD series

Halo 3 has three UNSC tanks on screen while in CoD 2 you have like ten British tanks on screen at the same time. CoD2 has far larger battles than Halo 3.

Uh, that giant hueg Scarab battle? You have multiple Hornets, Pelicans, Scorpions, and Warthogs zipping around with Ghosts and Choppers on the ground, while fighting TWO Scarabs at the same time.

[R_H] wrote:CaptHawkeye, weren't the Needlers in Halo 2 already pink doom in close and medium ranges (except against Flood combat forms for some reason)?

Only at short range and while being dual'd. Their RoF was pitiful and their slow speed, when coupled with their easy to spot flight path, made them generally impractical weapons.

Peptuck wrote: "Hello there, Mr. Spartan! I'm a small, waist-high insectlike Flood form. Watch me quintiple my body size in a couple of seconds, absorb direct hits with rockets, smack you across the room, and then morph into another insect variant that scuttles up the walls and shoots you with hundreds of razor-sharp spines.

Introduce them to the pointy end of a Brute Shot.

It slices, it dices, it makes greasy Flood kibble.

Peptuck wrote:

Admiral Drason wrote:

Panzer Grenadier wrote:Yeah, I have only played COD2 but with the vehicles and multiple enemies in halo 3, there are a lot larger battles than the COD series

Halo 3 has three UNSC tanks on screen while in CoD 2 you have like ten British tanks on screen at the same time. CoD2 has far larger battles than Halo 3.

Uh, that giant hueg Scarab battle? You have multiple Hornets, Pelicans, Scorpions, and Warthogs zipping around with Ghosts and Choppers on the ground, while fighting TWO Scarabs at the same time.

Not that big, I counted three Hornets, I don't recal any Scorpions, one Pelican, and one maybe two Hogs.

And a fuckload of level geometry.

The CoD2 tank battle had low visibility and was in a mostly flat desert. No level geometry to fill up the memorys.

Vendetta wrote:And a fuckload of level geometry.

The CoD2 tank battle had low visibility and was in a mostly flat desert. No level geometry to fill up the memorys.

I'll give you that. The Halo 3 battle had more stuff but it wasn't a "larger battle"

Admiral Drason wrote: Not that big, I counted three Hornets, I don't recal any Scorpions, one Pelican, and one maybe two Hogs.

One scorpion that you can ride down to the scene and drive around if you choose not to take the hornet.

This sucks...I hate being a one man army FPS, I rather have more scripted armies being around me, makes the battles nicer to look at.

Oh I forgot to mention one of my favorite moments.. the Mad Max assault during The Storm. The chief and a pack of marines on mongoose ATVs with more marines with rocket launchers riding on the back assaulting covvie AAA defenses and then going after a scarab weaving between legs and popping off rockets.

Awesome idea as a whole, as was the assault on the two scarabs towards the end.