9. Hit Scan Bullets
Hit scan bullets is one of the newer things that Bungie has implemented into any of their Halo series games. This feature is very rarely found in any first person shooter games likely because it is kind of unfair (especially for games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor where the person is very weak and getting a bullet across the map to hit someone means a lot more than if someone was hurt by one bullet across the map in any Halo game). This feature seems to make the game a little easier to play and seems to reduce the bullet lag and blood shots that had occurred in Halo 3.
In Halo 3 I found a lot of the time my BR would just not register on opponents (or allies, lol) across the map. Maps such as standoff were a nightmare to play because even sniping was semi-difficult from across the entire map. Occasionally when I would get a game of 4v4 any gametype on standoff I would usually quit unless I don't really care about having fun, which I always do because that is what video games are all about. The reason for the lack of registering bullets with the Battle Rifle across the map is because of the non-hit scan bullets. For anyone who doesn't know what I mean by "hit scan bullets," hit scan bullets means that the bullet that is shot has literally no travel time from the time it is shot and the time it hits the object it is aimed at. This is because the bullet travels virtually, instantly. Although I hate the DMR (kinda) I do like it because of its hit scan capabilities. If I'm not wrong I believe that the only weapons with hit scan bullets include: DMR, Magnum, Sniper Rifle and possibly the Needle Rifle.
The reason that I like the hit scan bullets so much is that it allows for an easier kill across the map. Although the hit scan bullets makes it easier to hit shots across the map on an opponent, the bloom took care of this by making it nearly impossible to hit more than one shot on someone across the map without the bloom taking over and disallowing you from having another accurate shot before the opponent flees into a building or nearby cover. Overall the hit scan bullets do in fact lead to slowed down gameplay. Even though I kinda like the hit scan bullets it is still very irritating that these instantly travelling bullets lead to two opposing players having a DMR battle across the map that could last for minutes. The reason for this is evident in the following example:
Two players are running around the map and all of a sudden Player 1 stops. "I think I just saw someone across the map," Player 1 thinks aloud. Player 1 proceeds to click down his right thumb stick in order to scope in on Player 2 so that he can kill him. The first bullet strikes Player 2 on his left thigh. At seeing this bullet strike him Player 2 runs over behind a rock, lets his shields recharge and returns a shot onto Player 1 who is still standing in the exact same location as he originally was. At receiving a bullet from Player 2, Player 1 hides and allows his shields to recover. Because of the ability of the DMR to hit somebody across the map easily even when somebody is moving this situation could continue like so: Player 1 hides behind a nearby piece of cover and allows his shields to recharge and then proceeds to shoot Player 2 again who then, you guessed it, hides to allow his shields to recharge. This situation could continue on for an infinite time because one bullet is never going to do enough damage to fatally injure their opponent. There is a VERY, VERY unlikely chance of this ever happening because eventually somebody will get bored and just run over to the other player.
Don't get me wrong about how I feel about the hit scan bullets; I really like them because it allows bullets to actually register. I was just providing an example as to why hit scan bullets can lead to slowed down gameplay in Halo: Reach.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Top 10 Reasons Why Halo: Reach Sucks (#10)
10. Armor Abilities
When I say "Armor Abilities," I do not mean all armor abilities in the game, just particular ones. To say a few: armor lock, camouflage, and hologram. These armor abilities just really get on my nerves seeing as how overpowered they seem to be while underpowered at the same time.
Armor Lock
This armor ability is probably the most annoying thing that Bungie could've added into Halo multiplayer. I don't know why but for some reason it seems like the only people who ever use armor lock are the extremely lucky people and the noobs. When I say very lucky people use it I mean that it seems like every time they use armor lock there is a teammate right beside them to finish me off. There have been countless times where I will see someone including myself in a DMR or magnum battle and once the enemy hits no shield they put down their armor lock. The worst part of this is that even in multi team there seems to be the armor locker's teammate standing around a corner just ready to finish me off. Another thing that annoys me about armor lock is the fact that even when somebody comes out of it while I'm still alive they seem to be invincible for the next 0.4 seconds which gives them a decent advantage over me seeing as how I am at the time a one shot kill. The situation that usually occurs when I ever use armor lock is as follows:
*Thinks: "Uh oh I think I might lose this battle"*
This armor ability doesn't annoy me as much as others but it easily gets on my nerves because it seems unfair and overpowered. Active camo used to be something that would be fairly hard to acquire in all past Halo games (except Halo 1 because it respawned every like 10 seconds) but now people are able to spawn with the camoflage ready to use at any time. I don't know about anyone else but doesn't that seem a little bit, oh, I don't know, UNFAIR?
Camo is still decently hard to see regardless of whether or not they are moving or not but still. I think Bungie originally put in the automatic radar jammer in to weaken the ability of the active camo (although I'm not entirely sure) but it seems like the radar jammer affects the opponents more than the person in camo. Sure your opponent knows you're close by, but they can't see you so that doesn't help and it also makes it almost impossible for the opponent to identify where you are on the radar as well. For all they know you could be right beside them or you could be two rooms away. Another thing that the active camo does is take away your sound ability once somebody in active camo shoots or injures you. Although this doesn't really affect how you play very much it can be extremely distracting to all of a sudden lose your sound and divert most of your attention to wondering why you can't here anything than to the enemy themself.
Hologram
Last and certainly least as well is hologram. This one bugs me the least out of all of the armor abilities that piss me off but it is still a minor annoyance. In a way I'm being a little bit of a hypocrite because I occasionally use hologram although I've only used it to piss off an enemy because it's really funny. I recall one game where the entire enemy team of four was using hologram. To make matters worse it almost seemed as if they synced the timing of the holograms because they would release up to four holograms simultaneously. While these four holograms ran at me the four opposing members of the team rushed as well and I assume you can imagine how much confusion that could create. Seeing as how bullets can't penetrate or go through the holograms the holograms act as a shield for the enemy which can make someone as hard to kill as someone who is in some sort of mobile armor lock.
The only time I don't mind holograms is when they are being used as a distraction towards me or when I'm using them as a distraction towards someone else. I find it kind of fun having to deal with holograms when they are used in a tactical way but when they are used as an assaulting, confusion type tactic it really annoys me and wish that armor abilities weren't in the game. Another thing to note is that holograms, while confusing when one person uses them, become disgustingly annoying when multiple members of the opposing team uses them. Bungie should make some sort of cap on how many people per team can use a specific armor lock (maybe a max of three out of four members of a team, not majorly effective, but at least not the entire team would be using it).
When I say "Armor Abilities," I do not mean all armor abilities in the game, just particular ones. To say a few: armor lock, camouflage, and hologram. These armor abilities just really get on my nerves seeing as how overpowered they seem to be while underpowered at the same time.
Armor Lock
This armor ability is probably the most annoying thing that Bungie could've added into Halo multiplayer. I don't know why but for some reason it seems like the only people who ever use armor lock are the extremely lucky people and the noobs. When I say very lucky people use it I mean that it seems like every time they use armor lock there is a teammate right beside them to finish me off. There have been countless times where I will see someone including myself in a DMR or magnum battle and once the enemy hits no shield they put down their armor lock. The worst part of this is that even in multi team there seems to be the armor locker's teammate standing around a corner just ready to finish me off. Another thing that annoys me about armor lock is the fact that even when somebody comes out of it while I'm still alive they seem to be invincible for the next 0.4 seconds which gives them a decent advantage over me seeing as how I am at the time a one shot kill. The situation that usually occurs when I ever use armor lock is as follows:*DMR battle*
*Thinks: "Uh oh I think I might lose this battle"*
*Goes into armor lock for as long as possible hoping a teammate might come*
*Comes out of armor lock*
*Dies instantly*
That is one thing that I don't understand. I mean is there like a beacon on all of the teammates' screens when there is someone in armor lock who needs help or something? Because there certainly isn't one on mine because I never receive help while in armor lock.
Active Camo
Camo is still decently hard to see regardless of whether or not they are moving or not but still. I think Bungie originally put in the automatic radar jammer in to weaken the ability of the active camo (although I'm not entirely sure) but it seems like the radar jammer affects the opponents more than the person in camo. Sure your opponent knows you're close by, but they can't see you so that doesn't help and it also makes it almost impossible for the opponent to identify where you are on the radar as well. For all they know you could be right beside them or you could be two rooms away. Another thing that the active camo does is take away your sound ability once somebody in active camo shoots or injures you. Although this doesn't really affect how you play very much it can be extremely distracting to all of a sudden lose your sound and divert most of your attention to wondering why you can't here anything than to the enemy themself.
Hologram
Last and certainly least as well is hologram. This one bugs me the least out of all of the armor abilities that piss me off but it is still a minor annoyance. In a way I'm being a little bit of a hypocrite because I occasionally use hologram although I've only used it to piss off an enemy because it's really funny. I recall one game where the entire enemy team of four was using hologram. To make matters worse it almost seemed as if they synced the timing of the holograms because they would release up to four holograms simultaneously. While these four holograms ran at me the four opposing members of the team rushed as well and I assume you can imagine how much confusion that could create. Seeing as how bullets can't penetrate or go through the holograms the holograms act as a shield for the enemy which can make someone as hard to kill as someone who is in some sort of mobile armor lock.
The only time I don't mind holograms is when they are being used as a distraction towards me or when I'm using them as a distraction towards someone else. I find it kind of fun having to deal with holograms when they are used in a tactical way but when they are used as an assaulting, confusion type tactic it really annoys me and wish that armor abilities weren't in the game. Another thing to note is that holograms, while confusing when one person uses them, become disgustingly annoying when multiple members of the opposing team uses them. Bungie should make some sort of cap on how many people per team can use a specific armor lock (maybe a max of three out of four members of a team, not majorly effective, but at least not the entire team would be using it).
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Top 10 Reasons Why Halo: Reach Rocks (#10)
10. Firefight
Right from the summer release of Halo 3: ODST's new "firefight" gametype I thought firefight was going to absolutely be amazing. After buying Halo 3: ODST I could not wait to rip open the packaging and try out the new (and VERY hyped up) firefight gametype. Unfortunately I found firefight very boring within only about 15 minutes of gameplay. At high difficulties the covenant seemed almost impossible to kill, especially as the sets, waves, rounds etc continued to progress. At low difficulties I found the covenant disgustingly easy to kill even far into the match.
I remember playing one game for close to two hours with my friend and I couldn't believe how much of a waste of time it had been. I barely had fun and it was so repetitive it made me never want to play Halo 3: ODST ever again.
The problem with Halo 3: ODST's firefight was a LARGE combination of not only low amounts of health, not to mention a poor health system in general, very different from the classic "Halo" health system of shields, but no matchmaking system, and boring repetitive maps with unoriginal weapon drops which are the same every time. Small amounts of customizable options within firefight made spawning with a decent SMG and a poor pistol made firefight extremely boring for more than about one game. It was also hard to ever play on a low difficulty because you literally have no objective or goal to complete; just a never ending onslaught of grunts, jackals, brutes and the occasional hunter pair. I was very unsatisifed with Halo 3: ODST's firefight which made me never want to play another Gears of War 2 "Horde" type game from Bungie ever again. (In other words I never wanted to play firefight again).
When I heard about Halo: Reach's firefight my reaction was "meh, probably going to be the exact same as Halo 3: ODST's firefight." I heard about all of the customizable options and still my reaction was "meh." It wasn't until the day after Halo: Reach's release that I played firefight and I very much enjoyed it.
Making the game actually end after completing a certain amount of waves just made the game so much more fun, it finally had an end, an objective, a goal! I could also adjust what types of enemies would come out, what kind of weapons I would spawn with, how long I could use my armor ability for and even if I needed to reload my weapon! Naturally like any person playing just to have fun I put on unlimited jetpack, bottomless cup ammo with sniper rifle and rocket launcher and lots and lots of grunts. It was a blast! The most fun I have ever had playing firefight. I liked the fact that I was actually killing grunts as a spartan, I could move faster, jump higher, and withstand much more damage than a normal ODST.
There is no doubt that Bungie really did a good thing by improving their firefight, to be honest it was one of the least things that I was excited for in Halo: Reach yet it is one of my favourite parts of it. Bungie outdid themselves on this part of the Halo: Reach game but it is certainly not the best part about Halo: Reach.
Right from the summer release of Halo 3: ODST's new "firefight" gametype I thought firefight was going to absolutely be amazing. After buying Halo 3: ODST I could not wait to rip open the packaging and try out the new (and VERY hyped up) firefight gametype. Unfortunately I found firefight very boring within only about 15 minutes of gameplay. At high difficulties the covenant seemed almost impossible to kill, especially as the sets, waves, rounds etc continued to progress. At low difficulties I found the covenant disgustingly easy to kill even far into the match.
I remember playing one game for close to two hours with my friend and I couldn't believe how much of a waste of time it had been. I barely had fun and it was so repetitive it made me never want to play Halo 3: ODST ever again.
The problem with Halo 3: ODST's firefight was a LARGE combination of not only low amounts of health, not to mention a poor health system in general, very different from the classic "Halo" health system of shields, but no matchmaking system, and boring repetitive maps with unoriginal weapon drops which are the same every time. Small amounts of customizable options within firefight made spawning with a decent SMG and a poor pistol made firefight extremely boring for more than about one game. It was also hard to ever play on a low difficulty because you literally have no objective or goal to complete; just a never ending onslaught of grunts, jackals, brutes and the occasional hunter pair. I was very unsatisifed with Halo 3: ODST's firefight which made me never want to play another Gears of War 2 "Horde" type game from Bungie ever again. (In other words I never wanted to play firefight again).
When I heard about Halo: Reach's firefight my reaction was "meh, probably going to be the exact same as Halo 3: ODST's firefight." I heard about all of the customizable options and still my reaction was "meh." It wasn't until the day after Halo: Reach's release that I played firefight and I very much enjoyed it.
Making the game actually end after completing a certain amount of waves just made the game so much more fun, it finally had an end, an objective, a goal! I could also adjust what types of enemies would come out, what kind of weapons I would spawn with, how long I could use my armor ability for and even if I needed to reload my weapon! Naturally like any person playing just to have fun I put on unlimited jetpack, bottomless cup ammo with sniper rifle and rocket launcher and lots and lots of grunts. It was a blast! The most fun I have ever had playing firefight. I liked the fact that I was actually killing grunts as a spartan, I could move faster, jump higher, and withstand much more damage than a normal ODST.
There is no doubt that Bungie really did a good thing by improving their firefight, to be honest it was one of the least things that I was excited for in Halo: Reach yet it is one of my favourite parts of it. Bungie outdid themselves on this part of the Halo: Reach game but it is certainly not the best part about Halo: Reach.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Hey there!
Hey everyone who is reading this and thanks for visiting my blog. (As you all most likely know) I am known as PoolShark403 or Scootiee depending on whether or not you know me over Xbox Live or if you know me through YouTube. www.YouTube.com/PoolShark403. I am known to forge Halo 3 maps and post them on YouTube as well as a voice overed commentary of me which allows me to tell you guys what the map is all about and why I did what I did in each map. You may have also seen my Halo 3 Forge Tips and Tricks series which allowed me to share some of my forging secrets with anyone who watched the videos.
Hopefully I'll be allowed to play Halo: Reach sometimes in the near future and create a brand new map for you guys because I know I haven't posed a video in what seems like forever. For now I will be accepting any videos that are captured by somebody that has to do with Halo: Reach, especially forging. Any new and creative Halo: Reach forged maps will be greatly welcomed so that I can provide all of my subscribers with the videos I have shown them in the past (but maybe a little better now).
Hopefully I'll be allowed to play Halo: Reach sometimes in the near future and create a brand new map for you guys because I know I haven't posed a video in what seems like forever. For now I will be accepting any videos that are captured by somebody that has to do with Halo: Reach, especially forging. Any new and creative Halo: Reach forged maps will be greatly welcomed so that I can provide all of my subscribers with the videos I have shown them in the past (but maybe a little better now).
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