It's things like this that make the Halo series my favourite.

[rossmum]

http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/03/23/82/

They didn't just C&P the Halo holo displays you see in the Array Control Room - they actually made every ring different, and gave it a different glyph, too. There's a lot of other good stuff on that site, in particular the Terminal section which covers their content and provides a Forerunner backstory constructed from them. The Hindsight sections are good for a read, too.

Although I've heard a lot of people call Halo generic or shallow, it's probably one of the deepest games I've ever seen. HL2's depth largely came from its characters, without too much beyond that other than the obvious progression... but Halo makes so many references to so many things, and left so many things to ponder before providing the final, whole truth in Halo 3 that it leaves any other game I've played for dead. I still remember the first time I played each game in the series, it had the most amazing feeling to it, thanks in large part to the absolutely breathtaking environments and the brilliant soundtrack... if I ever find a game which I love more, I will be truly amazed. I loved the way Bungie kept us guessing right up to the final moments, because it gave my brain's equivalent of system idle process something to tick over on for so long, and often for every answer came another ten questions.

I'm getting a little offtrack though; the incredible amount of love and detail Bungie put in is astonishing, particularly as it seems to have increased with their fame rather than just gone downhill like most devs tend to after they make their big hit. The Terminals, the incredible level design, the proper 3D sky which seems to serve no actual purpose outside of cinematics but they did it in every map anyway...

Anyway, enough of my rambling... what is it about the game that really draws you guys in?

[Pooky]

Unsurprisingly, Metroid Series. First one I played was Metroid II for the game boy and that game sucked me in like teek's cavernous ass. Up until Prime 2, 3, and Hunters (massive sell-outs) I felt the same about all the games.

[Hotrod]

I agree with everything you said Ross, the Halo series and Bungie are just amazing.

[Pooky]

Also, I just got back from reading several of the articles on that site. I'm left stunned. So much for your spoon, Yahtzee.

[Heathen]

Badass.

[jngrow]

I saw this a when I played, and literally stared at each rings, imagining what they would be like.

I've actually always thought this, and got a little annoyed whenever someone mentioned Halo's supposed shallowness. I though, "Wtf, this universe is huge/well thought out, am I the only one who notices this?" So, yeah agree lots ross.

[Con]

The detail and attention Bungie gives to everything in Halo is amazing. It's what makes Halo special.

[flibitijibibo]

Don't forget the b minor scale they create!

Also, I really like the Metroid series too. Like Pooky said, the Metroid Prime series has been rather crappy storywise (see edit. also, why the hell did they add characters/dialogue to MP3?!), but the games are incredibly well done when it comes to the millionbillion environments and the various life forms in said environments. MP3's engine/controls and MP1's story/locations would probably make a perfect Metroid game. Graphics between the three Prime games aren't too different, it's always been spectacular. The only difference I was able to clearly spot in MP3 was the particle effects.

EDIT- I should mention, MP1's story was magnificent, and in general was/is a sexilicious game. It died after that. Thanks for the catch, Pooky.

[Pooky]

Like Pooky said, the Metroid Prime series has been rather crappy storywise


Except the first one.

<3 Prime 1 with all my heart

[t3h m00kz]

I heard the second one blew ass, but I kinda like the controls in the third one. I may beat it at some point..

Ironically, I've beaten all of the side-scrolling Metroids except for Super Metroid, which I'm working on though my DS :V And no, Super Metroid wasn't ported to the GBA.

[TeeKup]

It did, which is why I haven't beaten it because I can't fucking stand it...

I sometimes find myself ready to grab for it. Then flashbacks of where I currently am, THE GODDAMN SWAMP, get disgusted and turn my 360 back on.

[Arteen]

It did, which is why I haven't beaten it because I can't fucking stand it...

I sometimes find myself ready to grab for it. Then flashbacks of where I currently am, THE GODDAMN SWAMP, get disgusted and turn my 360 back on.
WHAT. I love Torvus Bog! It has the greatest music in the whole game and is such fun to explore.

Prime 1 is one of my most favorite games of all time, and I like both Prime 2 and Prime 3, despite some mis-steps in their overall design. What I really dislike most is how segmented those games are. In Prime 2, the main portion of the game is "talk to the luminoth, go to a new area, find the keys, fight the boss, repeat x3", and in Prime 3, it was "go to a planet, unlock the path to the leviathan, beat it, repeat x3". In Prime 1, there was no deliberate, segmented structure to the player's progression, so it felt much more like actually exploring an alien world, as opposed to the regular, video-gamey "Go from level 1 to level 2 to level 3 etc".

[flibitijibibo]

What Arteen said. My first runs through Prime 2 and 3 took a span of about 2 days to beat (including non-play time) because they were so linear/samey with objectives.

On an unrelated note, Torvus Bog theme(s) = my most played song(s) in iTunes, and the Metroid Metal version is climbing pretty fast. My gf's gotten pretty sick of it actually, ha.

[Pooky]

Yeah I actually liked the bog atmosphere but the underwater segments with that stolen Super Metroid theme can fuck right off :|

[LinkandKvel]

I love how these threads nowadays flip the whole conversation lol

[teh lag]

.


.

What is wrong with you people? I hate the Torvus Bog music so much :gonk:! And I loved the Hydrodynamo music. (But whoever designed the gameplay for that area is a fucking cunt.)

[Pooky]

What is wrong with you people? I hate the Torvus Bog music so much :gonk:! And I loved the Hydrodynamo music. (But whoever designed the gameplay for that area is a fucking cunt.)

Hydrodynamo music = (no I don't mean it's similar, I mean it's exactly the same) red brick area music from Super Metroid

Which is why I don't like it

I like that song but seeing Retro rip it off note for note in MP2 really turned me off. Seems like they were too lazy to make a new theme.

[sevlag]

anyways, going back to Halo.

the thing that got me hooked is when I didn't even know that I was playing it, one day I just went over a friends house and played this weird game at one point I was in the tank unfamiliar with the controls, almost drove off the bridge in the underground section of AoTCR (didn't know the name of the lvl back then).

later on down the line my friend gave me his copy of combat evolved for the xbox, I played it and liked the story line and saw how in-depth it was.

also, playd MP II, was ok, still sucked.

but yeah the first time I played on that one lvl before I even KNEW it was combat evolved got me hooked on the series

[flibitijibibo]

I think rockets on Chiron is what got me into Halo originally. It was so long ago it's mostly a blur now...

[Pooky]

playing Halo Trial at school with Geforce MX 4000s and no sound is what got me into Halo originally :v:

[jngrow]

playing Halo Trial at school with Geforce MX 4000s and no sound is what got me into Halo originally :v:

ffffffuuccckkjkk yeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh.

Halo trial, all minimum settings is what me get into halo pc.

[LinkandKvel]

ewww minimum???

[Con]

Halo Trial and the good old days of TSC...

Remember the video that plays at the end of the trial? Kind of weird watching that now; before I used to see Halo in such a different way.

[Heathen]

Damn. I remember the trial. Me and my mate would sit in the same room and play on the laptops. itw as hellafun.

[Roostervier]

Halo Trial and the good old days of TSC...

Remember the video that plays at the end of the trial? Kind of weird watching that now; before I used to see Halo in such a different way.
Yeah, I get that feeling with a lot of things. Sometimes I wish I saw it the old way, because it was really fun back then, but I like how it feels now, too. d:

[jngrow]

I think I enjoyed Halo the most when I first played it, Halo 2 because it was just like: "FUCK! COOL!", and Halo 3 hype.

Halo 1 was the most impressive run, lasting all those years with pretty much just campaign. H2 had XBL, which also lasted a while. I used to get really pissed off at XBL tho, prolly caused me more stress than enjoyment in the end.

But yeah, I've seen Halo in many different ways and enjoyed all of them.

[Siliconmaster]

Yeah, I get that feeling with a lot of things. Sometimes I wish I saw it the old way, because it was really fun back then, but I like how it feels now, too. d:

Same. It used to have a very mystical and nuanced feeling to it. Now, since I not only understand the game engine, but see through all the tricks game developers use in levels, it has lost some of that. I still love it, but I find myself thinking more of where the spawn points are than where the covenant want to place their troops. :D

Anyone else remember looking across the TSC chasm and wondering where those tunnels went? And if there were any way to get over there? It was so depressing when I finally used flycam and realized there was nothing there. D:

[Pooky]

Anyone else remember looking across the TSC chasm and wondering where those tunnels went? And if there were any way to get over there? It was so depressing when I finally used flycam and realized there was nothing there. D:

^

but then I like most games better at first when I don't know them inside out

helps to have a small sense of mystery

[Terry]

I actually skipped alot of TSC in my first run. I think I fell cleverly where I needed to, and I was like "Oh neat I didn't die, and here's the next objective". Or something like that. Silent Cartographer was the first level I played when I tried out the game with my cousins, man I saw halo pretty differently. Then when I finally got broadband online basically kept me hooked.

[Timo]

Anyone else remember looking across the TSC chasm and wondering where those tunnels went? And if there were any way to get over there? It was so depressing when I finally used flycam and realized there was nothing there. D:
Hells yeah. My brother and I launched a hog across it to find nothing. Same with the closed doors in AotCR underneath the bridges where two elites spawned, they don't go places either :-(

[LinkandKvel]

What chasm? Vid mb?

[Con]

What chasm? Vid mb?
best I could find is the view from player 2 at the beginning of this video. I know frogblast got a hog over there in another video, cant find it though

http://ducain.org/utfoo/movie/movies/scfall.mov

edit: here's the video of him doing it w/o hog
http://ducain.org/utfoo/movie/movies/invshaft.mov

[Siliconmaster]

best I could find is the view from player 2 at the beginning of this video. I know frogblast got a hog over there in another video, cant find it though

http://ducain.org/utfoo/movie/movies/scfall.mov

edit: here's the video of him doing it w/o hog
http://ducain.org/utfoo/movie/movies/invshaft.mov

Nice. Pretty epic grenade launch. I just love the detail in that entire area- gigantic space, tiny lights, and a whole lot of mystery. The even uvw'd the insides of that tunnel thing! xD Yay for Bungie.