Rob78
01-09-2005, 06:27 AM
Halo 2 was one of the most anticipated titles in gaming history, if not "The Most" anticipated. The end result wasn't quite what everyone was expecting, but there's no questioning it's greatness. Halo's popularity obviously demands a sequel from Bungie. so I'm here to provide an example of some of the things that Halo 3 could do to create a more intense action experience for it's single player campaign.
"Emotional Intensity"
While Halo and it's sequel both packed a punch when it comes to story, they lacked emotion overall. It's obvious that Bungie tried to make the game incredibly cinematic, but it failed in one point: playing on gamer's emotions. This doesn't mean that the game should make you break down and cry with sadness, and it shouldn't make you cheer with glee out of happiness, instead it should make you feel for the Chief, and it should create a bond with the characters around you.
Imagine if the Master Chief were surrounded by enemies, 6 or so Elites, a dozen Drones, a pack of Grunts, and Jackals slumped upon a sniper ridge. Now picture the Master Chief taking all of these enemies out single handedly. Sure it's badass and all, but where's the excitement? Instead, a pelican or some other form of Marine Transport could rush in and drop down some reinforcements, saving the Master Chief's ass in the process. Now that's exciting!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/ptrferdinand/halo3byglubsies.jpg
Art by: Nathias Ruiz-Used under concent(He's my friend)
As you can see above, a night time scene would work well for this. Perhaps in the rain, with a ton of fog. The Marines could bust in from the top, via a Pelican. See that other Spartan? You haven't seen another Spartan in either of the Halo video games, but if you've read the novels, you'd know that there are a few more surving Spartans aside from The Master Chief. Halo 3 could finally introduce them, and maybe they could be involved in a rescue scene like this one.
The Chief should not seem so superhuman in Halo 3. We all know by now that he has the strength of a dozen men, the speed of a cheetah, and the agility of an Olympic Athlete, but wheres the fun in fighting by yourself? The attachment with allies should be deepened. Halo 3 should force you to work alongside Marines or ODST Soldiers, instead of giving you the opportunity to run the gauntlet single handedly. This could quite easily be done without making the Chief seem weaker, but at the same time, making him seem much more human. Chief is a super soldier, but it's becoming less and less fun to fight a one man war in video games these days.
"This Operation Is FUBAR!"
Do you remember the 2 minute assault on the beach during the "Silent Cartographer" level in the first Halo? If you don't, then you obviously haven't played the game, because that was the most memorable and cinematic battle in the entire franchise thus far. If and when Halo 3 is released, it will more than likely be launched for the Xbox 2, which means that Bungie will have much more disk space to work with, meaning they can implement much more detail, as well as pack many more objects onscreen without sacrificing other elements of the game. This would allow the designers to create many more epic battles, perhaps even an all out conflict between hundreds of Marines, Elites, Brutes, Grunts, Jackals, Drones, and other enemies and allies, all of them either on foot with guns blazing, or in vehicles trying to run eachother down.
There should be much more of this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/ptrferdinand/moreofthis.jpg
And a whole lot less of this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/ptrferdinand/lessofthis.jpg
As I'm sure everyone figured out either when it was announced, or when they played Halo 2, the ATV was canned during production. Many gamers were outraged, simply because it seemed so damn fun to mess with, even though we had never seen it in action. It's not hard to figure out why it was let go though; there's simply no place for it in the single player campaign. The reason there's no real place for it is because there are no wide open environments to explore with it. Halo 3 could pack in much larger environments, with much more detail. Imagine riding off of a Pelican with an ATV, buzzing through a large valley with a sniper riding along behind you, all in an effort to carry him to a vantage point to aid soldiers in need. The battle would heat up wildly, and the drama would be through the roof.
While wide open environments are awesome, Halo 3 would still need to include a few indoor locales too. One of Halo 2's biggest weaknesses for me was it's repetitive indoor environments. "Assault on the Control Room" was one of Halo's most beloved maps, why? Because it includes a variety of indoor and outdoor settings, with that warlike scene that I've been dreaming up, if only on a much smaller scale than it should be. Halo 3 has the potential to shake things up in the FPS genre, and it should take initiative to do so by creating more tension and drama (Emotional Intensity).
"Dear Humanity, We Regret Being Alien Bastards!"
The protection of Earth should take the place of the overall theme of Halo 3. Obviously there will be a couple of sub-plots (if you have seen Halo 2's grand finale, you know what those are), but The Master Chief needs to get his butt back to Earth if he plans on saving his homeworld. Bungie has been touting Earth as the Human's last safe haven, yet if it's so important, why were there only 2 levels that took place there? Halo 3 should focus at least half of the game on Earth in order to appease fans of the series. It's obvious that gamers were not satisfied (in large part) with the campaign mode, because it was just as repetitive as the first game.
When I last saw the Arbiter, he had teamed up with 2 groups of Covenant races in order to defeat the traitors. There's no telling what could happen next involving this civil war, but what could really stand out is the effect it has on the Human Race. Will the Arbiter's tea still fight against the Humans? Or will they choose to team up with them to stand against the traitors? These are questions that could have surprising results in Halo 3, and they could have an adverse effect on gameplay as well. Picture the Master Chief fighting alongside his Marine allies when all of a sudden a group of Elites and Grunts appear from above. The humans wouldn't quite realize what was going on until the Arbiter cleared a path through his troops to speak with the Master Chief about an alliance. Now that's cool.(That'd be the most memorable moment in gaming history!!!!)
"Bad Cyborg!"
Vehicles play a huge role in Halo, not just in gameplay, but in cinematics as well. The Pelican is used to drop down troops and vehicles, but imagine if the Chief could fly a Pelican himself, or another flying transport. Instead of having a weapon, the player could have soldiers board the belly of the machine. They could latch vehicles on to the Pelican by hovering above them and holding the Left Trigger. When the player reaches their desired destination, they simply press the left trigger again and their vehicles plops down to the ground. The soldiers could file out of the Pelican along with the player as soon as his feet touched ground, and the adventure could continue. This would add a much needed transport mechanism for times when the Warthog simply cannot carry enough troops to the desired stop.
Another point in Halo's admittedly large list of small mistakes is weapon variety. Bungie created a number of new weapons for Halo 2, but almost every one of them was a clone of another weapon. The Carbine was a copy of the Battle Rifle, with a small twist, the Particle Beam Rifle was an exact copy of the Human Sniper Rifle, the SMG was a clone of the old Assault Rifle, and the Battle Rifle was all but useless in most situations. Bungie needs to shake things up the next time around, and they can onyl do so by adding new weapons that cannot be directly related to the older models. The sword and the Sentinel Gun were unique, but I had seen both of them before in the first game. The Brute Shot is pretty much just a grenade launcher with a hefty blade attached to it, and it's fairly useless. Note to Bungie: Spice things up a bit on your third time around, include some truly alien weapons. Maybe a gun that; instead of hurting an enemy, stunned them instead. Sort of like a tranquilizer weapon that can knock out an enemy for a few seconds. In fact, instead of targeting only one enemy with it, how about having the weapon fire exploding bullets or grenades into a crowded area to paralyze a group of enemies? That would provide a sufficient advantage, enough so to warrant picking it up when you need to gather ammo or escape from a particularly nast situation.
"Sir...Finishing This Fight"
Halo 3 could very well end the Halo franchise for good, putting an end to all unanswered questions, and haulting the series before it becomes too dry. With a few tweaks to the system, it could become one of the most cinematic gaming experiences that anyone has ever witnessed. Bungie has a ton of potential on their hands, but it's up to them what they do with it. Let's hope that we come away with an amazing gaming experience.
It is not my goal to try and persuade Bungie to use these ideas, I simply want to address certain flaws, and ponder up some ideas that could be worked into making Halo 3 the standout title of the next generation of games.
I took some time writing this, trying to address all of the aspecs that weren't perfect in Halo 2 and I can only hope that you find these ideas reasonable, and that you don't think I'm trying to knock on Halo 2's greatness.
"Emotional Intensity"
While Halo and it's sequel both packed a punch when it comes to story, they lacked emotion overall. It's obvious that Bungie tried to make the game incredibly cinematic, but it failed in one point: playing on gamer's emotions. This doesn't mean that the game should make you break down and cry with sadness, and it shouldn't make you cheer with glee out of happiness, instead it should make you feel for the Chief, and it should create a bond with the characters around you.
Imagine if the Master Chief were surrounded by enemies, 6 or so Elites, a dozen Drones, a pack of Grunts, and Jackals slumped upon a sniper ridge. Now picture the Master Chief taking all of these enemies out single handedly. Sure it's badass and all, but where's the excitement? Instead, a pelican or some other form of Marine Transport could rush in and drop down some reinforcements, saving the Master Chief's ass in the process. Now that's exciting!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/ptrferdinand/halo3byglubsies.jpg
Art by: Nathias Ruiz-Used under concent(He's my friend)
As you can see above, a night time scene would work well for this. Perhaps in the rain, with a ton of fog. The Marines could bust in from the top, via a Pelican. See that other Spartan? You haven't seen another Spartan in either of the Halo video games, but if you've read the novels, you'd know that there are a few more surving Spartans aside from The Master Chief. Halo 3 could finally introduce them, and maybe they could be involved in a rescue scene like this one.
The Chief should not seem so superhuman in Halo 3. We all know by now that he has the strength of a dozen men, the speed of a cheetah, and the agility of an Olympic Athlete, but wheres the fun in fighting by yourself? The attachment with allies should be deepened. Halo 3 should force you to work alongside Marines or ODST Soldiers, instead of giving you the opportunity to run the gauntlet single handedly. This could quite easily be done without making the Chief seem weaker, but at the same time, making him seem much more human. Chief is a super soldier, but it's becoming less and less fun to fight a one man war in video games these days.
"This Operation Is FUBAR!"
Do you remember the 2 minute assault on the beach during the "Silent Cartographer" level in the first Halo? If you don't, then you obviously haven't played the game, because that was the most memorable and cinematic battle in the entire franchise thus far. If and when Halo 3 is released, it will more than likely be launched for the Xbox 2, which means that Bungie will have much more disk space to work with, meaning they can implement much more detail, as well as pack many more objects onscreen without sacrificing other elements of the game. This would allow the designers to create many more epic battles, perhaps even an all out conflict between hundreds of Marines, Elites, Brutes, Grunts, Jackals, Drones, and other enemies and allies, all of them either on foot with guns blazing, or in vehicles trying to run eachother down.
There should be much more of this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/ptrferdinand/moreofthis.jpg
And a whole lot less of this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/ptrferdinand/lessofthis.jpg
As I'm sure everyone figured out either when it was announced, or when they played Halo 2, the ATV was canned during production. Many gamers were outraged, simply because it seemed so damn fun to mess with, even though we had never seen it in action. It's not hard to figure out why it was let go though; there's simply no place for it in the single player campaign. The reason there's no real place for it is because there are no wide open environments to explore with it. Halo 3 could pack in much larger environments, with much more detail. Imagine riding off of a Pelican with an ATV, buzzing through a large valley with a sniper riding along behind you, all in an effort to carry him to a vantage point to aid soldiers in need. The battle would heat up wildly, and the drama would be through the roof.
While wide open environments are awesome, Halo 3 would still need to include a few indoor locales too. One of Halo 2's biggest weaknesses for me was it's repetitive indoor environments. "Assault on the Control Room" was one of Halo's most beloved maps, why? Because it includes a variety of indoor and outdoor settings, with that warlike scene that I've been dreaming up, if only on a much smaller scale than it should be. Halo 3 has the potential to shake things up in the FPS genre, and it should take initiative to do so by creating more tension and drama (Emotional Intensity).
"Dear Humanity, We Regret Being Alien Bastards!"
The protection of Earth should take the place of the overall theme of Halo 3. Obviously there will be a couple of sub-plots (if you have seen Halo 2's grand finale, you know what those are), but The Master Chief needs to get his butt back to Earth if he plans on saving his homeworld. Bungie has been touting Earth as the Human's last safe haven, yet if it's so important, why were there only 2 levels that took place there? Halo 3 should focus at least half of the game on Earth in order to appease fans of the series. It's obvious that gamers were not satisfied (in large part) with the campaign mode, because it was just as repetitive as the first game.
When I last saw the Arbiter, he had teamed up with 2 groups of Covenant races in order to defeat the traitors. There's no telling what could happen next involving this civil war, but what could really stand out is the effect it has on the Human Race. Will the Arbiter's tea still fight against the Humans? Or will they choose to team up with them to stand against the traitors? These are questions that could have surprising results in Halo 3, and they could have an adverse effect on gameplay as well. Picture the Master Chief fighting alongside his Marine allies when all of a sudden a group of Elites and Grunts appear from above. The humans wouldn't quite realize what was going on until the Arbiter cleared a path through his troops to speak with the Master Chief about an alliance. Now that's cool.(That'd be the most memorable moment in gaming history!!!!)
"Bad Cyborg!"
Vehicles play a huge role in Halo, not just in gameplay, but in cinematics as well. The Pelican is used to drop down troops and vehicles, but imagine if the Chief could fly a Pelican himself, or another flying transport. Instead of having a weapon, the player could have soldiers board the belly of the machine. They could latch vehicles on to the Pelican by hovering above them and holding the Left Trigger. When the player reaches their desired destination, they simply press the left trigger again and their vehicles plops down to the ground. The soldiers could file out of the Pelican along with the player as soon as his feet touched ground, and the adventure could continue. This would add a much needed transport mechanism for times when the Warthog simply cannot carry enough troops to the desired stop.
Another point in Halo's admittedly large list of small mistakes is weapon variety. Bungie created a number of new weapons for Halo 2, but almost every one of them was a clone of another weapon. The Carbine was a copy of the Battle Rifle, with a small twist, the Particle Beam Rifle was an exact copy of the Human Sniper Rifle, the SMG was a clone of the old Assault Rifle, and the Battle Rifle was all but useless in most situations. Bungie needs to shake things up the next time around, and they can onyl do so by adding new weapons that cannot be directly related to the older models. The sword and the Sentinel Gun were unique, but I had seen both of them before in the first game. The Brute Shot is pretty much just a grenade launcher with a hefty blade attached to it, and it's fairly useless. Note to Bungie: Spice things up a bit on your third time around, include some truly alien weapons. Maybe a gun that; instead of hurting an enemy, stunned them instead. Sort of like a tranquilizer weapon that can knock out an enemy for a few seconds. In fact, instead of targeting only one enemy with it, how about having the weapon fire exploding bullets or grenades into a crowded area to paralyze a group of enemies? That would provide a sufficient advantage, enough so to warrant picking it up when you need to gather ammo or escape from a particularly nast situation.
"Sir...Finishing This Fight"
Halo 3 could very well end the Halo franchise for good, putting an end to all unanswered questions, and haulting the series before it becomes too dry. With a few tweaks to the system, it could become one of the most cinematic gaming experiences that anyone has ever witnessed. Bungie has a ton of potential on their hands, but it's up to them what they do with it. Let's hope that we come away with an amazing gaming experience.
It is not my goal to try and persuade Bungie to use these ideas, I simply want to address certain flaws, and ponder up some ideas that could be worked into making Halo 3 the standout title of the next generation of games.
I took some time writing this, trying to address all of the aspecs that weren't perfect in Halo 2 and I can only hope that you find these ideas reasonable, and that you don't think I'm trying to knock on Halo 2's greatness.