Daimon's Lair

I've really been enjoying Halo 3 multiplayer, especially since I've gotten my wife (who's over at Asserting Reality) into it. You should have seen her playing Grifball--jumping up and down and screaming at the people on our various teams who were being idiots. Or, alternately, cursing the few really good teams we encountered. I think, over the two nights we played, we probably won around 70% of the time (with something like 50 matches under our belts). I'd also say that once I got the "ball" I probably scored at least 75% of the time. So, seriously, guys, GIVE ME THE BALL!!

Which, I have to say, is really funny, because the first weekend I encountered the joys of grifball, I was terrified of picking it up. My my, how things change with a little EXP.

An added perk is that, somewhere in between the thrill of competition and the frustration of getting pwned by a cadre of vastly superior players, my wife gets really, really horny. It's great. She's such a little freak, it's awesome. (She'll probably kill me for posting this, but oh well :P).

Somewhere in between grifball and constantly getting pwned in Team Swat I'm starting to wear myself out on Halo 3. Don't get me wrong--I'm still in LOVE with Bungie's awesome game and I'm freakin' out about Halo Wars LCE and the Mythic Map Pack coming in the mail on March 4th, but I'm starting to want to branch out a bit.

So, even though I started Bioshock--which is awesome, btw--I felt like playing a little COD4. So far I've beaten the first two levels on Veteran. It's challenging to some degree, but nowhere near like any of the Halo games on Legendary (esp. solo Legendary). That said, I'm starting to shudder when I think about the TV station clusterf*** and the timed run down the hill to the helo. Any timed run in a FPS is madness. I hate them, because I am just not a run and gun guy. Then again, the sniper mission is probably going to take me a couple hours to beat. I'm a decent sniper, but can I kill 70-100 odd guys in under five minutes? We'll see. . . .

So, anyways, I'll keep y'all posted. I know I've got more games to review and stuff, but I'm just not feelin' it right now. But we'll see.

Peace!

Immersion: I wouldn't quite call Gears a tactical shooter, but I wish most tactical shooters would emulate Gears' cover system. Hide, pop out and shoot, duck back, hop over, SWAT turns, etc. all occur relatively seamlessly--aided by the on-screen hints.

Despite being light on a storyline, I actually found Gears to be quite immersing, because events take place in such a focused storyline. You never join a larger unit, you occasionally split up, but you feel like you're always right there. The scenery does the Xbox 360's hardware justice, and the sound design is top-notch (despite a relatively so-so soundtrack--especially compared to the Halo trilogy).

The story of Marcus, Dom, Cole, and Baird is full of rather blah banter but there's some really good lines. You get a sense of each of their personalities, and while the tactical command menu is basically worthless, they have some of the best friendly AI programming available in a shooter (especially compared with my latest experience with the abolutely worthless Arbiter in Halo 3's early levels).

Another thing which contributes to the sense of immersion are the nearly ever-present Kryll, which threaten to nearly-instantly devour you if you stray into the dark (a la Pitch Black). The relatively simple puzzles required to get your way through the darkened streets represent a requirement to always be aware of your surroundings--even when there are no apparent enemies. That's something I really like.

One final thing I have to comment on is how beautiful the COG architecture is--despite it's mostly ruined state. Before E-day and especially before the Pendulum Wars, the planet Sera must have been one beautiful place.
Replay Value:

Core gamplay is quite good for the campaign, but I could take-or-leave the multiplayer (especially since I tried it after already being on Halo 3's server for many many hours). At least it's not glitchy like the sequel still is. So I'm not piling on adulations like other critics. Then again, I haven't liked many multiplayer shooters apart from the Halo trilogy, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark.

Balancing:

So far, I've only played through on casual--despite having played through numerous shooters, simply because I wanted to get through the game. I found it challenging, but I'll probably play through on Hardcore (but probably not Insane, though we'll see).

A couple criticisms: despite my liking for the Kryll as a gameplay mechanic, I found the UV turret level stuck out in a game otherwise lacking in vehicular combat (something notably present in the sequel).

A much bigger gripe is the Berserkers. I appreciate the challenge they represent, especially given the time-delay required to lock on the Hammer of Dawn. The thing is, they're never really integrated into the Locus horde as a whole (e.g., you never see a member of the Theron guard releasing one, they just show up all of a sudden, and (thankfully) alone). And despite being alone, they somehow manage to be even more annoying than the Hunters in the Halo trilogy. Which, trust me, is saying a lot.

Final Impressions:

I got this game for free, but I had always planned on buying it. I would still buy it again, but buy it if you're the type that likes singe or two-player co-op, not online multiplayer, because the multiplayer sucks. A must play, but I game I'll probably eventually trade in.

Sorry I haven't been updating much lately. My wife and I have been on a bit of a Halo 3 kick, both multiplayer and the campaign. We're trying to beat the campaign co-operatively on Legendary after both getting (temporarily, I'm sure) stuck doing the same on solo.

So far it's been a lot of fun, and though I'm glad there are 'macro' checkpoints (in that you can re-start a co-op campaign at several rally points throughout a level, I wish there were more because sometimes it takes a while to beat a level--the longest so far is Tsavo Highway (about 1:15).

I'm sure that compared with other Halo 3 players, we're pretty sucky, but it's all about the fun, no?

What's interesting too is that while I'm definitely noting differences between Heroic and Legendary, I'm still basically getting stuck at all the same parts. In fact, parts that I used to get stuck at all the time (like where the whole mess of drones appears in Crow's Nest) we got through on the first try.

The hardest parts so far are the same: the first encounter with a full Brute Pack in Crow's Nest took us a good half-hour to beat. Tsavo Highway in general was difficult, but the part where you have to dismount on take on another Brute Pack took us a LONG time (probably 45 minutes or so out of the whole 75 minutes on the level).

The thing I'm realizing more and more: it's all about the headshot. Plus, since Bungie is soo stingy about sniper ammo, I've renewed my appreciation for the BR. I only wish I was better with it in multiplayer. 7 out of 10 times I get pwned when it's BR vs BR. I'll have to rectify that. . . .