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As an owner of an Xbox, I can only comment on Xbox games. And so, when reviewing games, they will all be Xbox Platform Games.
I would like to talk about the Halo Game Titles, and try to compare both games as they relate to the player/fan and to the story license.
Halo was a blockbuster game released early in the 2001 season and gained a lot of support and momentum as a first person shooter action game. At the time, it was pretty much the most advanced graphic game with a simplified combat control system.
In my opinion, however, not being able to compare with the PC Version, I found that the game mechanics meshed really well with the Xbox Platform. The game itself was designed in a way to allow player(s) a lot of choices and freedom to explore the game world by removing character development in way of level advancements and weapons and armor upgrades before being able to defeat the next stage Boss, which are traditional to most Action/RPG games. However, I acknowledge that Halo is not an RPG, the story is well suited for a Table Top RPG System and Game. It’s a ‘You do with what you got’ type game, where you must rely on your own cleverness and ability to remember how much ammo and health packs you have in reserve before getting into a situation that will get you killed.
The game length and complexity is more than adequate to keep a player engaged and focused on it and it the story is evolved enough to make the player want to learn more about it. Which are, in my opinion, very important factors that make a game great. I don’t want to get bored with it, I don’t want to be frustrated playing it, and I don’t want to have the game cut short because the developers ran out of ideas.
And so, I loved the Covenant, I loved the Marines, I loved the Flood, I loved Guilty Spark and the Halo Complex and I loved the game. The repeatability of it is great, as I have returned to it several times after beating it. Especially when I get an urge to cause some mayhem with the Warthog and the Sniper Rifle.
Halo 2, in my opinion, didn’t hold up to the first game. It featured enhanced game mechanics, enhanced graphics and controls and simplified even more the usage of the environment and main character but it removed some of the elements I liked about the original game. There was limited exposure to the game in way of having the player interact with the environment. I often found myself funnelled toward an area and launched back into combat, where, I would be again funnelled toward another area. Next thing I knew, I was completing the board and now given a new character to play. I didn’t much like the Arbitor Character and his game arc. I often found myself compromising my preference for one weapon due to lack of ammo and accessibility. Like I said, I like to snipe and cause general mayhem. There was no mayhem.
The game development seemed rushed, however, the story itself was great and engrossing. I loved the story, which makes me want to buy the books as opposed to the games, or read comic books if they are available, or should become available. The developers, at some point, forgot about the player and what made the game fun to play. I found several copies returned for resale at the local Game Stores, merely weeks after the release date. I still have my first game and I am reluctant to part with it. But the sequel, I’ve leant out to friends and I’m in no hurry to get back and they are in no hurry to play it.
And so, as for Halo 2, I loved the story, I loved graphics, I loved the music, and I loved the characters because they were the same characters as the first game with some new ones thrown in. But I didn’t enjoy the pace, the pulse, the character switches, the lack of accessibility of the weapons I loved from the first game, and I didn’t get to cause the same level of mayhem as I could in the first game. And so, I found Halo 2, blah.
Keep working at it guys and try to remember what it was that made the Archetype the best game of the year for the Xbox.