Gaming Halo 2

[Sol-Blade]

No seriously, think about it.

[spoiler]Master Chief's name and #=John 117, 7 Halos, Covenant, Arks, Flood.[/spoiler]

There is a theme. It all really fits together when you think about it.

I am going to delve further into this, I'll let you know if I come across any other interesting facts. I pretty much sumed up everything in that other (Kinda large...:D) post of mine.

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]I haven't played the game yet but from what I've heard it's supposed to be awesome. Unfortunately I no longer have an Xbox to play Halo 2 on, and I doubt I'll ever actually get the chance to play the game in a serious manner because of it, but I have a friend who's buying an Xbox tomorrow just for the sake of Halo 2 alone.

I saw the advertisement for it today and I have to say that I like what they've done with Chief's voice. Spliffin.[/color]

[Brasil]

I've been playing Halo 2 for about 2 hours now, and it's pretty fun. I do have a problem with the level design; it seems really...multi-directional, and I found myself wandering aimlessly for too long only to stumble across the objective, lol. Once I got down onto Earth, it was a bit better, and I started getting into my groove-thang.

My initial impressions are it's a solid combat FPS. Certainly not the greatest ever, but it's solid. I'm looking forward to having a run online, once I get the controls set where I want them. The sensitivity has got to get changed, lol.

Halo 2 isn't the best thing since sliced bread, but it's good bread, nonetheless.

[Beorhun]

[quote name='Siren']I do have a problem with the level design; it seems really...multi-directional, and I found myself wandering aimlessly for too long only to stumble across the objective...[/quote]

I really didn't have much of a problem with that, except on Sacred Artifact. [spoiler]Not only are the Flood harder to kill than in Halo 1, but it's difficult to find your way around there.[/spoiler] Other than that, the level design is a lot more interesting and, well, funner than in Halo 1. My brother and I just beat Halo 2 on Co-op a day ago, and I haven't had much time to get on OB since then. [spoiler] I don't really have a problem with the ending, it gives you enough closure, but leaves it open for a sequel. Yes, the people at Bungie are a little bit evil for instantly making most of us play Halo 3, but the ending wasn't all that bad, or all that confusing. [/spoiler]

Now, onto the multiplayer...[SIZE=1]I don't, uh...have X-box live. [/SIZE] But, the 4-player slayer is really cool, and that's pretty much all I've played. I like the addition of Assault and Territories, but they really aren't very much fun unless you're playing with 16, players, or, so I've been able to conclude. Territories is pretty much King of the Hill from Halo 1, but it requires a bit more strategy. Assault, though...ooh...I love assault. Well, anyway, Halo 2 is awesome, and if you are reading this and you don't have it, well, either you're insane or you don't have an X-box :) .

[Guest biospark444]

sol-blade, u just cleared up so much for me. im half way throught the first halo novel right now. just wanted to say thanks. dont worry u didnt spoil anything for me

[Hito]

There is a local game shop here in Indiana and they had a Halo 2 lock-in. I must say that this is a very fun game with extremely good graphics. If you dont own this game, you shouldn't own an Xbox. By far, the mulitiplayer is the best. I must have played 12 hours worth of LAN and not once did i think it was old. It's one of those games that you need surround sound for and a huge TV.

I give Halo 2 a 10/10

[Sol-Blade]

[quote name='biospark444']sol-blade, u just cleared up so much for me. im half way throught the first halo novel right now. just wanted to say thanks. dont worry u didnt spoil anything for me[/quote]

[SIZE=-3]Halo: Fall of Reach? Yes, that is a very good book and really explained alot. It was quite possibly one of the best sci-fi novels I've ever read. Anyone know when the 4th book is coming out? I think December...

If you haven't read the [COLOR=Navy]books[/COLOR] I recommend you do! They are more story driven than the [COLOR=DarkRed]games[/COLOR], obviously. :D

The Halo timeline goes a little something like this:

[COLOR=Navy][U][B]Halo: Fall of Reach[/B][/U][/COLOR] (The Prologue to everything)

[COLOR=DarkRed][U][B]Halo: Combat Evolved[/B][/U][/COLOR] <---> [COLOR=Navy][B][U]Halo: The Flood[/U][/B][/COLOR] (The book that goes over the events in the game)

[COLOR=Navy][U][B]Halo: First Strike[/B][/U][/COLOR] (Takes place after the destruction of Installation 04, and before the attack from Regret on Earth)

[COLOR=DarkRed][U][B]Halo II[/B][/U][/COLOR] (Where we are at now, and I hope that the next book/game will bring everything to a close!)[/SIZE]

[50 cent]

Okay I just wante to say, if your gonna come to this forum and just bash halo or halo 2 and not have good facts to back you up. Then don't say anything alright, because some of you don't look at the game as if you were a designer. Look it's not just gameplay that makes a good game, graphics play a huge roll as well as gameplay but mainly its the story see if you don't like a story you don't play just like superman. Plus no level is really repetitive because there is levels were you will need to stragetize(sp?) before going into a fight some you try to kill everything that moves but still your trying to do something. See if your gonna say ya shooting people is so repeptive then hey why don't you say that to the government because then there wouldn't be a war. Also you have to look a the story line, you can't have a good game without a good story. Also graphics you don't play a game with graphics that aren't great because everyone loves graphics. Also if your gonna say theres been a slight increase in graphics then you should get more facts to back you up on that one because well, They almost changed everyone mapping, texture, and lighting affect that they used the first one so the graphics are amazing. Also you can't say the next one will be bad just because you think the first one was, you need to try it first. But hey I wont hate you if you don't like it or your not a fan of first person shooters. So what you don't like it. All I'm saying is get cold hard facts before you come and bash a game when you have no clue what your talking about alright. 50 out

[Beorhun]

[I]Must...ignore...newbie's post...[/I]

Alright, I just noticed this now, but Halo 2 has an amazing sountrack. Better than the first, if I may say so myself. I just sat on my couch, listening to the soundtrack, and I was amazed by it. I've not yet played it on X-box live, and I'm glad that the rumor that the last two levels are only available on X-Box Live (anyone else hear that one?) has been safely debunked. Well, I just wanted to post about that, to clear the air after...(trails off, trying to avoid flaming anyone.) Well, I hope that multiplayer will keep things interesting until news of Halo 3 starts formulating (but then again, doesn't it always?)

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Halo 2's soundtrack is pretty darn good, I agree. My favorite piece is the slow, low strings one that you hear in the main menu. It occasionally comes in after the opening vocals.

Delta Halo has a nice strings portion when you start the level (when you're making your way into the small stronghold that has beam rifle dudes in it).

I agree that it is a major improvement musically over the first Halo.

[Brasil]

I am definitely enjoying the music to Halo 2. I'm pushing through the Quarantine-Zone right now, and some of the movements are quite nice.

I still have an issue with the level design; I'm finding some levels to be quite bleh...just boring and tedious to go through. Oddly enough, they're the Arbiter levels, and I love playing as the Arbiter.

In fact, I think it's more appealing than Master Chief. I simply just don't care for playing as some cookie-cutter, genetically and robotically-augmented Marine superhero cliche that plays like every single other FPS protagonist. With Master Chief, it's really nothing more than run n gun, because that's all the guy can do.

Arbiter, however, I enjoy the Camo. I like the "feel" of the character. I really appreciate being able to sneak up behind a Grunt in Camo, and slice him through the neck with an Energy Sword. It's a gameplay feature that could never be done with Master Chief, and it's a welcome variation, definitely, because I was getting really bored with the constant run n gun of the green guy.

I was playing a bit of Multiplayer with my brother earlier tonight, and...the exclusion of Offline bots bothers me. With the original, I can forgive, because it was the first game. With the sequel, however, and the emphasis on multiplayer...a lack of AI bots in Offline multi is inexcusable. Yes, I'll be getting Live this weekend, but still.

That said, the Multi is okay. It's average, really. I mean, it's what you'd expect from a combat FPS like this. However, even with the normal design and execution of the Multi, I had fun. A lot of fun. But I only had fun because I was playing with the right people.

At the core of things, Halo 2's Multi is pretty damn basic, and I really don't think Halo differs from any other FPS on the market in terms of Multi, actually. Yes, Xbox Live; yes, LAN mode, but the core gameplay and approach isn't all that revolutionary (except for highjacking vehicles; that was a good idea), and the game isn't inherently fun; the players make it fun, and because my brother and I are a good match-up skillwise, the Slayer match was very close, and was actually a very balanced game.

There were times where we were both sniping at each other, he with a Sniper Rifle, me with a Beam Rifle (I won that little volley). Other times, he had a Rocket Launcher, and I unwisely hopped into a Ghost. Plasma Grenades were getting thrown onto Warthogs and each other, the Energy Sword got some major action, etc.

I'll give an updated impression after this weekend, because I'm having a bit of a Deathmatch on Saturday. You all know the Saturday Night Fever drill, lol.

[Beorhun]

Well, my friends and I are planning a Halo 2 LAN party tonight, and I've heard that all multiplayer is much, much better online or with at least 8 players. If I have any problem with the multiplayer, it's that the maps are kind of...blah. Sure, Coag and Zanzibar are some pretty awesome levels, but the rest is too cramped, and too boring to navigate around. Midship is great for Tiny Gnomes, a game that my cousin made. (You've heard of it before, all rocket launchers, no shields, infinite grenades. Stupid, but hella fun) but other than that, the rest is boring and otherwise forgettable.

I disagree with you, Siren, that the Arbiter's missions are boring. You completely contradicted yourself when you said that Cheif was repetitive run and gun, and that the Arbiter was repetitive, but the game in itself wasn't at all boring. (I trust everyone reading this knows who the Arbiter is.) I liked all of the arbiter's levels. [spoiler] Exception: the second to last one as him, against all the brutes? No thank you. [/spoiler]
Still, all of Halo 2's single player campaign is good. Very, very good. If you would recall, Halo's single player campaign was merely 'go to (this location) and clear a landing zone for (this group of marines)' or something similar. Compared to Halo, Halo 2's single player game is sublime, even in spite of it's 'to be continued' ending

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

I prefer the Chief levels so far, although I have only played one Arbiter mission. To me the Chief levels are just prettier. I despise the Flood.

I can't say that the Chief levels are painfully repetitive, really. I mean, they are to a degree, but no more so than original Halo's levels and not bad enough to make co-op unenjoyable. From Delta Halo to the [spoiler]killing of the Prophet of Regret[/spoiler], I enjoyed every bit, certainly far more than the preceding Arbiter mission.

[Brasil]

I'm about 4 levels from the Finale. I'm probably just about ready to finish up Quarantine-Zone, then there are 4 left, alternating MC and Arbiter, I believe.

Beorhun, I believe you misunderstood my point. When I mentioned being bored with the Arbiter's missions, that was because the levels themselves were bland. I was talking about the [i]level design[/i] when I said "boring and tedious to go through."

I still enjoyed the Arbiter missions, however, because the Arbiter is a much better character than MC, especially ability-wise, like I mentioned about the Camo, and his plot is far more interesting--I mean, honestly, do I really care about the cliched "Marines Stomping Bugs/Defending Earth" routine? lol Maybe it's just me, but Civil War/Internal Jihad is far more intriguing.

I find that with MC's levels, it's the opposite. We have a nice-looking level ("prettier"), with reasonably well-designed areas that have some real potential to provide some fantastic action sequences, but all we're able to do is play as The Incredible Hulk in a cybersuit? Excuse me?

MC's abilities consist of little more than run, jump, point, and shoot. That's it. There's no cloaking that [i]I've[/i] come across in 80% of the MC singleplayer campaign, but perhaps I missed it somewhere?

The thing I found about the original Halo was that it was painfully repetitive, and the MC single-player mode in Halo 2 is no different. Dmitry and I agree pretty much that co-op is quite fun in Halo 2 (my brother and I were blasting across the bridge last night, me in the Scorpion Tank, him in a Ghost, then a Wraith later on...that was pretty fun, especially when I got the juggling routine down with the cannon), but for me to enjoy the single-player mode, I need to play co-op, because otherwise, I'm going to be on auto-pilot the entire way through, except when I'm playing as the Arbiter, because then I get to be sneaky, and I'm a devious little bastard.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Alex what difficulty do you play Halo 2 on? Because it's hard to be on auto-pilot on Heroic/Legendary I think, regardless of whether you are Chief or the Arbiter. In fact, because Chief doesn't have cloaking, your strategies with him have to be quite clever to get past some areas.

On the higher difficulties (especially single-player, or Legendary co-op where if you die you don't respawn but rather the both of you have to start at the last checkpoint) Halo becomes a bit trickier than run, jump, point and shoot. When a dual-wielding elite or a sniper can down you in literally one second, you have to really plan your actions. Brainless firepower can only get you so far (actually in Legendary about as far as this one room in the first mission where enemies pour in from a drop ship in waves; that is really friggin hard).

[Brasil]

I'm on Normal for my first play-through, but even then, Normal shouldn't be a cakewalk, and it is a cakewalk, lol. At this point, the AI is good--better than most games, and I'm very impressed with the AI, but it's still predictable. Enemy jumps behind a pillar, I strafe around said pillar and blast said enemy. Enemy begins strafing around said pillar, I follow in the opposite direction and blast said enemy. It's just normal combat, nothing special.

I'm hoping that Legendary and Heroic actually enhance the AI to the point where it will be an actual challenge from better AI [i]strategy[/i] and not just increased [i]damage[/i] or a [i]torrent[/i] of enemies, because, really...the only reason you have to be careful on the higher difficulties, it seems from your post there, is because there are just stronger and faster enemies, and more of them, not smarter ones.

Basically, if I can have smarter enemies and fewer of them and have a challenging game as opposed to "dumb" enemies and thousands of them to get the same kind of gameplay challenge, I'll take the smarter and fewer any day of the week, know what I mean?

[Sol-Blade]

[SIZE=-3]Actually, on Legendary and Heroic, all the Covenant you fight are all higher ranks and they do indeed have better AI. They will throw more grenades, actually flank you (To the point where you'll mouth WTF a couple times), fire extremely accurately...they rarely miss with any weapon...even the Fuel Rod, and worst off all is that at least 50% of all weapon fire is an instant death. They will take your shield down in seconds, so get used it. I think Legendary on [B]Halo II[/B] surpasses [B]Ninja Gaiden[/B] for my [I]Hard as Hell[/I] game of the year. lol

You'll learn to hate the Jackal Snipers, they are One-Shot kill on Legendary. It's all about who can fire their trigger faster...

Time for another spoiler from yours truly...if you got the LE edition you'll know what I am talking about. Otherwise move along...

[spoiler]For those of you who got the LE edition, there was a little booklet called [I]Conversations From The Universe[/I]. Well, there was one page titled [B]>>> LLTTLR FRV7 TRBTH TV 7LR0Y HBVBT RLGRLT >>>[/B] that confused alot of people...probably even you so I bring to you the translated message in plain English. It's a letter from the Prophet Truth to the Prophet Mercy about the Prophet Regret. [/spoiler]

[CENTER]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[/CENTER]
[spoiler]>>> Letter From Truth To Mercy About Regret >>>

To thine own eyes, Prophet of Mercy

Dearest Brother,

I hope this finds you well. My sorrow and anger precede me
with regard to the atrocity and heresy at Halo. We shall
avenge this destruction with some of our own. Work proceeds
apace on our battle plan. The Sangheili will do what is
asked of them, and the Jiralhanae will show the humans what our
strength looks like at close quarters.

But this message concerns neither the planning nor the
discovery of the human homeworld. Rather I question
Brother Regret's suitability for this great purpose.

I am aware of his tenacity and ambition, but I believe
his youth and reckless reaching may prove to be grave
risks to the perfection of this undertaking. You have noted
his rashness in the past, and yet neither of us has acted.

I suggest that we continue as planned, but we would both
do well to pay mind to Brother Regret, and provide wisdom
and guidance as needed. This matter is too important to be
left to inexperienced hands. Piety is no substitute for wisdom.

Perhaps I worry too much. You know that I embrace caution,
but we cannot have inexperience or arrogance at this
great juncture.

Be pure, be vigilant, and never rest.

By my hand,

Prophet of Truth[/spoiler]
[CENTER]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[/CENTER][/SIZE]

[Brasil]

Sol, the flanking is definitely strategy boost, and the grenades could be considered that, too, but the accuracy is far from a strategy boost--it's still the "stronger and faster" enemy idea. But, I look forward to being challenged as opposed to simply getting swarmed.

I screengrabbed a few shots from the Special Edition copy of Halo 2, specifically, the Behind the Scenes look. I apologize for the quality of these screengrabs; I have a feeling there's some type of copyright protection on the bonus DVD, lol, so the images come out somewhat scrambled. But, it's really just a discoloration, I think, and the facial expressions are still pretty clear, haha.

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_163.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/1920/PDVD_163.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_147.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/3413/PDVD_147.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_150.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/8597/PDVD_150.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_151.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/5986/PDVD_151.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_153.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/5646/PDVD_153.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_154.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/3897/PDVD_154.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_161.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/43/PDVD_161.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

[center][url="http://img131.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img131&image=PDVD_164.jpg"][img]http://img131.exs.cx/img131/3613/PDVD_164.th.jpg[/img][/url][/center]
[center] [/center]

Some of these facial expressions are priceless. XD

[Sol-Blade]

[SIZE=-3]Well true, it is in a sense just harder to kill them. There are by no means MORE Covenant than before, they are just appear as the more "Senior" ranks of the Covenant and are more agile and accurate with their weaponry. They also carry alot more Energy Swords now, so as soon as they waste their primary weapon, the Elites will break out an Energy Sword. I mean, ALL Elites. So if you hiding from 3 or so Elites, and they dry out their Plasma Cells, you better start running. They will take to the offensive alot more on Legendary. Lots of time, when you need to hide to recharge your shield (Which will happen alot, alot more than you would like to) they will just charge at you head-long and try and finish you off.

But yes Siren, the whole [B][I]You do less damage to Them, They do more damage to You[/I][/B] rule is in place. Even so, I still feel there is a definite AI boost on Legendary.

You should still check it out at least once. :D[/SIZE]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

The thing is, it doesn't really matter [i]why[/i] the Covenant is better at handing your *** to you on the higher difficulties (and yes, Sol is right that there are not MORE of them; they are just more hardcore). Whad [i]does[/i] matter, and happens to be the case, is that you have to actually strategize to defeat them. Because they will kill you in moments if you slip up or do something stupid, you had best make like the Batman and come up with a winning plan and execute it flawlessly if you want to progress to the next checkpoint. Yeah, that's how it goes. Checkpoint by checkpoint. In the city level, I had to take to the rooftops to off the sniping jackals and various grunt/elite units. It was still hard, but it worked much better than skulking around the mazey walls.

This is why the Baldur's Gate series for PC were so killer. They were hard, but if you changed your strategy on a fundamental level, and you changed it to the [i]right[/i] strategy, you would be victorious. The same goes for Halo.

But yeah, my friend Dennis said it best: "On Legendary, the elites will pee their name in your face with your own dick."

[Brasil]

Firstly, I think it actually does matter quite a bit exactly [i]why[/i] the Covenant makes you their whipping boy, because if they're doing so simply because they've been jacked-up on Steroids, as it were, instead of outmaneuvering you, I think there's a fundamental difference there that needs to be recognized, because the former is simply a brute force boost, while the latter is an actual AI boost.

An Elite or a Jackal being able to kill you in one shot in Legendary is not indicative of, nor is it conclusive of, an increased artifical intelligence; it just means that they're more accurate, and their shot damage has been increased.

To avoid death, you need to develop different strategies to kill these super-enemies, some strategies being taking to the rooftops to pick them off from above.

However, these strategies are nothing new, and it still comes down to the fundamental level of run n gun, a basic gameplay facet that can be found in virtually every single FPS ever made, sans Doom 1&2, and any other FPS with a non-existent vertical look control.

Secondly, Sol, about your point regarding Elites depleting their Plasma Cells, then rushing you with an Energy Sword, going on the offensive, etc...if they're not hitting you with the projectile weapons, because you're hiding behind a wall, why would they drain those cells in the first place if they're hitting nothing but wall? Why waste ammo?

By that same token, why wouldn't they just rush in to begin with and start hacking away with the Energy Sword?

Furthermore, if you're hiding (i.e., pinned down, i.e., on the defensive), and they're shooting (i.e., attacking), that means they're on the offensive to begin with.

I sound like I'm bashing the game, but I'm not. I do enjoy it, but these little things irk me to no end, lol, because they're pretty weird and iffy AI faults in my opinion.

EDIT: And your friend has an...ah...[i]interesting[/i] way of putting things, Dmitry.

[Sol-Blade]

[SIZE=-3]Well they don't just sit there and shoot at the wall, or whatever object you are hiding behind. Due to the fact that their firerates [i]are[/i] ridiculously high, they will run out of ammo much faster than before. They will also break out their Energy Swords if you get close enough now, lots of times they will just toss their weapon aside and rush you if you are within (This is an estimate) 10 ft of them.

Also, I never said that increased damage and accuracy were signs of increased AI. I think you misunderstood me. :D

As I said, even though they are just more harder to kill, they DO imploy more tactics to their attacks. If you hear closely, the Elites will shout commands at the Grunts. They will say things like, "Finish off that straggler!" and attack a wounded marine and "Take out that Sniper!" to take out (obviously) a sniper. More often than not, you will see the Jackals actually move up infront of the Grunts and Elites to cover them with their shields while the Grunts throw grenades from behind it and the Elites will simply shoot over the Grunts and the Jackals. The flying Drones will not simply fly at you, they will use side routes (If there is room permitting) and fly around you when you least expect it. Also, the Elites will no longer carry "Dumb" combos of weapons. Instead of simply carrying two Plasma Rifles they will carry a Plasma Pistol and a Plasma Rifle. They will take out your shield with the Charged-Up Pistol and finish you easily with the Plasma Rifle.[/SIZE]

[Brasil]

If they're not just blasting the wall, how are they running out of ammo? Higher fire rates or not, the only way for them to deplete their Plasma Cells is to fire their weapons (or I simply haven't come across the Cell Drain areas yet :p), and if they're drying up their Plasma Cells, that would imply they've been pulling those triggers quite often, and most likely, in your direction, as you are their enemy and such.

But since you're behind the wall, and they're not hitting you with the projectile fire, they simply shouldn't be firing, because it's a waste of ammo. Higher fire rate or not, they're still firing, and still running out of ammo, and therefore, they're not being all that effective, in fact using pretty poor judgment and strategy. Don't you agree?

[quote=Sol]Actually, on Legendary and Heroic, all the Covenant you fight are all higher ranks and [b]they do indeed have better AI[/b]. They will throw more grenades, actually flank you (To the point where you'll mouth WTF a couple times), fire extremely accurately...they rarely miss with any weapon...even the Fuel Rod, and worst off all is that at least 50% of all weapon fire is an instant death. They will take your shield down in seconds, so get used it. I think Legendary on Halo II surpasses Ninja Gaiden for my Hard as Hell game of the year. lol

You'll learn to hate the Jackal Snipers, they are One-Shot kill on Legendary. It's all about who can fire their trigger faster...[/quote]
I took the opening, bolded sentence there to be your thesis statement, and then the following sentences as support for the thesis, which would mean that the discussions about grenades, flanking, and accuracy were all related to supporting your point that the AI is improved.

Guess you just phrased it awkwardly, then? ~_^

The tactics you just went through are nice and all, but they're still to be expected. They're still commonplace military strategies to place shields up-front, grenaders behind them, and projectiles in the back row. In fact, it's really no different from Roman combat, or Nordic, or even modern military procedures. It's all run-of-the-mill stuff, yet people are still saying that Halo's combat is the best ever, or blows everything else away, etc etc, when it's just the same type of stuff you'd find in both real life and in other FPS.

Halo 2 isn't a bad game, of course, but it's not revolutionary in the least, apart from the online component.

[Sol-Blade]

[SIZE=-3][QUOTE=Siren]If they're not just blasting the wall, how are they running out of ammo? Higher fire rates or not, the only way for them to deplete their Plasma Cells is to fire their weapons (or I simply haven't come across the Cell Drain areas yet :p), and if they're drying up their Plasma Cells, that would imply they've been pulling those triggers quite often, and most likely, in your direction, as you are their enemy and such.

But since you're behind the wall, and they're not hitting you with the projectile fire, they simply shouldn't be firing, because it's a waste of ammo. Higher fire rate or not, they're still firing, and still running out of ammo, and therefore, they're not being all that effective, in fact using pretty poor judgment and strategy. Don't you agree?[/quote]
Well, I'm not going to lie to you, your point is valid and I am at loss of words right now! You win...lol

But seriously, the only situation I can figure them losing ammo when they aren't firing at you, would be if they were firing at other Marines (And there are Marines in almost every Master Chief mission) and after they died, they also run up to the corpse and blast it a couple times. But all in all, they could not even be running out of ammo at all. They might just be switching over to their sword for the hell of it.

Then again, I once picked up the Plasma Rifle he threw and it had a charge of 2. Who knows? Maybe when the AI is firing, their weapons deplete at a much faster rate than normal, even if they fire the same amount of shots as you do. If all Elites spawn with their Plasma weapons at 100 charge, then how come after only firing a few shots their weapons suddenly have charges of around 75-80? I think that could be a possiblity, but only if the whole [i]Spawn with Full Charge[/i] rule really exists!

[QUOTE=Siren]The tactics you just went through are nice and all, but they're still to be expected. They're still commonplace military strategies to place shields up-front, grenaders behind them, and projectiles in the back row. In fact, it's really no different from Roman combat, or Nordic, or even modern military procedures. It's all run-of-the-mill stuff, yet people are still saying that Halo's combat is the best ever, or blows everything else away, etc etc, when it's just the same type of stuff you'd find in both real life and in other FPS.

Halo 2 isn't a bad game, of course, but it's not revolutionary in the least, apart from the online component.[/QUOTE]

Yes, the game [I]was[/I] overhyped. I by far never said it was going to be revolutionary, or genre-changing in the least. But, it is a good game. Little flaws, yes.

But as I argured with Fable, [I]"Love the game for what it is, not what it is hyped up to be..."[/I]

Heh, the more and more I read my posts I am beginning to look like a Halo fanboy...I'm not. I just really enjoy the game, most notably the story! Take it seriously, there is alot more there than meets the eye! :D [/SIZE]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Yeah, good luck really running an Elite out of ammo. I've not been able to do it, haha. Believe me, I've really wanted to at times. I think they pull out the plasma sword just because they feel like dicing you up rather than shooting you from a distance.

But how can you discount AI tactics that mirror "real life" tactics, Alex? After all, isn't that the whole point of Artificial Intelligence in the first place? What do you expect out of good AI, anyway? Superhuman strategy? Halo 2 does display the best AI in a FPS I've ever seen (I have not played Half Life 2 yet...), so I am not sure what standards you have set for it but there really is no precedent for them.

You also have to realize that good FPS AI is [i]hard[/i] to do. Harder than hell. You cannot expect, as a human, to actually be outwitted. But you can expect to be outplayed, and that's where other AI improvements such as accuracy (which falls under AI, by the way) come in.

Think about what it takes to program an "intelligent" Covenant Elite. I have, and I find Halo's enemies to be, more than anything, impressive. If other FPSs boast AI as good as Halo 2 on Legendary, then kudos to them.

It's not about being revolutionary. It's about being good.

EDIT: I don't mean to attack your views or anything, I am just wondering where exactly you're coming from. When I criticize a game for something, it's because I've seen *better,* you know what I mean? Does Halo 2 have something to aspire to? Heh, it might, it took a while for any game to outdo Descent II's AI actually.