That’s all I needed to hear.
Widescreen support?
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| Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell Widescreen support? |
Yeah. Saw that mentioned in a review today, which makes me happy.
In late 2004, there’s no excuse for ANY game not featuring widescreen support.
Nice.
EDIT: Found some info regarding the widescreen presentation at Team XBOX. Sorry if it’s old news/been posted already elsewhere…
One encouraging detail regarding Halo 2’s offline co-op mode is widescreen support. Being that Halo 2 fully supports 16:9 aspect ratio, the game will automatically play in a vertical split-screen so both players will essentially have a full screen to look at. Those gamers using the standard 4:3 ratio will play the co-op mode in a horizontal split-screen just like the original Halo. According to Bungie there is little to no graphical sacrifices in the split-screen co-op mode.
Well the numbers for the reviews sure sound nice. I haven’t read any of them yet but I’ll get to them soon enough. I’m really looking forward to picking my copy up on tuesday… I just hope I make it. I’ve been kind of sick all weekend. I’ll most likely head off to work tomorrow, but who knows. I just hope I make it to tuesday. Oh well. I’m sure I will. I’d probably have to be in a coma to miss this. I usually don’t geek out over video games, but Halo has me.
I just read all the reviews…they all loved it. Its pretty much critic proof.
Gamespot still gets my respect for actually saying some negatives…although fanboys are quick to call them haters.
Anyway, as far as the length. I would rather play a enjoyable shorter single player experience than a drawn out one that I get bored of. I am really anxious to see how the story plays out, but more anxious to jump on LIVE tomorrow night.
I know you Atlanta buggers will have the game 3 hours before me, but if you guys are up around 3 am ish…the west coast will be jumping on.
I tried to get the word of the people I know at the videostore [who said they were gonna rent it out early for themselves Friday] and he told me that they got an email saying they couldn’t rent it out early, ALSO, theyy would FUCK with anyones XBOX live account if they went on early.
Just a word of warning, I guess that dosn’t apply to review staff and stuff [Gamespot/IGN/EGM/etc.]
A lot of rumors going around about that. There have been 600 ppl logged into LIVE with the game and no consequences have been had yet.
Anyway, dumb question, but after reading the reviews I am curious as to what the final multiplayer map list is? I thought I saw them all, but now there are supposed to be 14 according to one of the reviews? 11 normal, 1 unlockable, and 2 you have to figure out how to find or something to that extent.
IGN said 1 hidden map and 2 that were from the first Halo.
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| Originally Posted by Fazer A lot of rumors going around about that. There have been 600 ppl logged into LIVE with the game and no consequences have been had yet. Anyway, dumb question, but after reading the reviews I am curious as to what the final multiplayer map list is? I thought I saw them all, but now there are supposed to be 14 according to one of the reviews? 11 normal, 1 unlockable, and 2 you have to figure out how to find or something to that extent. |
Apparently 2 are unlocked once the single player campaign is finished. I would assume you can’t get onto an online game offering those maps until you beat the game then. Which is an interesting choice, but a potentially frustrating one.
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| Originally Posted by Fazer Gamespot still gets my respect for actually saying some negatives…although fanboys are quick to call them haters. |
anyone who reads Gamespot would know that they are always very harsh reviewers, it’s very tough to get even just a 9.0 with them generally, and I’m just pointing this out because a 9.4 with them is practically a 10 anywhere else, so there shouldnt be any hate
By the same token, though, Gamespot is also notorious for bitching for the sake of bitching. Out of all the major gaming sites, I generally agree with their reviews the least.
Not saying they’re wrong about Halo 2, but hey…if somebody had to be slightly letdown by the game, I’m glad it was Gamespot.
They’re still assholes for ruining one of the plot twists, too…
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| Originally Posted by Slater They’re still assholes for ruining one of the plot twists, too… |
When I read the review earlier in the day, I skipped the paragraphs that had the spoilers. About 30 mins ago, I downloaded their video review and completely forgot about the spoilers they put into their written review… needless to say, I’m an idiot and yes… they’re assholes.
Hate to pile on Gamespot, their criticisms of the story may be valid (how the hell would I know, haven’t played the game). BUT I’ve always had two problems with their review policies. First, they have a real hang-up with sequels. If a game is too different from the original, they bitch that it’s missing the “magic” from the first game. If it’s too similar to the first game, they bitch because it’s “the same game, just re-packaged”. And sometimes they make both complaints about the same game(!) Their attitude seems to be “The sequel must be superior to the original in every way just to earn the same rating.” Why? As a result, I add a couple tenths of a point to every sequel review they do.
(I should note that their bias against sequels doesn’t always extend to franchises. Why? Who the hell knows.)
My other problem with their review process is a small thing, but it chafes… They always, always, ALWAYS comment on a game’s framerate for some reason. Games with so-so graphics get a big boost if the framerate is “rock-solid”. Of course it’s rock solid, the game has 8-bit textures and could run on my calculator. On the other hand, a game could have tech out the wazoo, rendered-on-the-fly geometry that puts Pixar to shame, created by a 100-man artistic team built from ILM burn-outs… but if the framerate slows from 60 to 55 when 125 enemies simultaneously burst into flames, they’ll make an issue of it.
On the plus side they’re pretty fair. They’re equal-opportunity bitch slappers (unless the game has “Tony Hawk” somewhere in the title.)
i hope microsoft doesn’t clamp down on monday users of Halo 2 for xbox live purposes. I finally loaded it up and played on xbox live for a good 3 hours. intense. I can’t wait until its fully operational and hooked up with bungie.net’s new online scoreboards.
I’m more inclined to believe Gamespot on this one. I’ll use San Andreas as an example. It was a brilliant game, but IGN’s 9.9 was way off. Gamespot’s 9.6 was much closer to the mark.
So, I am a little dissapointed to hear Halo 2’s single player campaign is more of the same. I won’t be rushing out to get an Xbox for it (I played through the original on co-op at a friend’s, and on PC). I was really hoping they got over the repeating identical hallway thing. Even IGN’s review admitted to this problem.
To me, the original had a few absolutely brilliant levels (Halo, then the one on the beach, and a few other spots in other levels) and then the rest were fairly tedious. It sounds like this formula has been repeated for the most part. I still look forward to playing it at a friend’s house, though.
Halo 2’s story and level design may/may not be great, but to be honest, I’m going to initially plow through it so I can unlock all of the multiplayer goodness because that is where the game’s value is at for me. And there, repetetive hallways and such cease to become a concern. Only Steve Murphy’s sniper rifle and pistol are problems in this world.
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| Originally Posted by Micah Robinson I’m going to initially plow through it so I can unlock all of the multiplayer goodness because that is where the game’s value is at for me. |
Micah gets to the crux of this issue. Due to the fact that I have been denied my day off tomorrow by DA MAN, I will now not be enjoying my Halo until 6:00pm EST. Now I want to get up and running on Live (wayward1) but… I would like to two additional maps (plus a little refresher in all things HALO)
So here is the question… Do you burn through the single player mission before going on Live so you are cool and can say things like “I already beat the game” or do you go straight to Live and attempt to not get fragged by some 10 year old uni-bomber in training living in Montana?
I am not sure if I can run through the single player campaign tomorrow night, so it could be the weekend before I get on Live if I need to beat single player first… What is a geek to do?
I have been looking at the stats website on bungie, and people are playing all of the stages. I don’t think you have to unlock the maps to play them on live.
I get the feeling you will have to unlock them to play them split screen multiplayer. It would be a bit frustrating and a bit stupid to force people to play through the single player experience (which I am still looking forward to) just to get the full Live experience. I am paying for live, they better let me play all the maps monday night.
Well you lucky American bastards, after 3 long years today is the day your dreams come true. Get as much practice as you can, because us Brits will be following on Wednesday to show you how it’s done.