A new Halo game came out on Tuesday and I was fortunate enough to get it brand-spanking new. As I have started to play through this revamped version of the now-10-year-old classic, I am giving you some of my initial impressions. The Bible often calls Christians to give thanks and since Thanksgiving is right around this corner, this will be post will be Thanksgiving-flavored.
Things I’m thankful for that Halo:CE Anniversary does not have: These are features that future games added that Anniversary makes me appreciate more.
1. Assassinations: I found this out the hard way. When you sneak up on an Elite in Halo: Reach and give him a melee to the back, you get a very dead elite. When you sneak up to an Elite in Anniversary and give him a melee to the back, you get a very angry Elite who will turn around and try to kill you.
2. Vehicle Jacking: This has been around since Halo 2, so trying jack a vehicle is practically instinctual at this point. This gameplay feature was most sorely missed in the second level when you crash land on Halo for the first time. After fighting off some troop, I came under attack from two banshees. I had nothing to fight them off with so naturally, when one came close I started mashing the hijack button. I was hoping to get myself a banshee to ride, but instead I got a banshee to the face.
3. Facial Models: The new feature to switch from HD to old school really highlights how far games have come in terms of both graphical textures and facial movements. The facial models were still a little behind par compared to some newer games, but they did pretty good considering they were just building on top of existing tech. While doing the obligatory “calibration/teach you the controls” sequence,d I used the graphics switcharoo button to compare the old and new faces and saw that indeed the new face was obviously more detailed and advanced. But what I also noticed was that the new guy had A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FACE. I noticed later that they also changed Capt. Keyes’ face. I guess they thought the old versions were poorly detailed and ugly.
4. Armor Abilities: The one that I’ve missed so far is sprint. There’s some walking on the second level before you get the warthog and I started to get impatient. Call me spoiled.
Things I’m thankful that Halo:CE Anniversary does have:
1. Fun with the Warthog: Roaming the landscape in the warthog is still as great as ever. Compared to the newer iterations, this warthog seems slower and clunkier, like driving through mud constantly. But, there’s still all the fishtailing, turreting (yes, I make up words), running over enemies and accidental flipping goodness.
2. Grunt Funeral Skull: This is actually a game-changer, for both good and bad. It’s great because it turns every dead grunt into a plasma bomb. I love that extra layer of strategy where you can use a well-placed headshot on a grunt to set off an explosive chain reaction and do some extra damage to their forces before getting close. The downside is that it turns every dead grunt into a plasma bomb. Everything’s fine if you take a grunt down from a distance, but what happens when you’re in close quarters? You better have a quick way out or you’re toast. This was a problem particularly in the tight crawlspaces on the Pillar of Autumn. And remember how I said the warthog seems to ride a little slower? Guess what happens when you slam a grunt into a wall- stationary warthog becomes flying warthog (since they don’t explode yet). And just my luck most of the time this occurred next to a cliff. As I’ve always thought about Halo, one of the greatest things is that many times when you die, you die in a spectacular and catastrophic display of explosions.
3. Exploring Environments: I’m still fascinated by this world all these years later. I think I could probably explore Forerunner structures for an entire game and be completely happy. I don’t really have much idea why that structure is firing blue globs to the other side, but frankly I don’t care because it’s just so darn cool to watch.
4. Story: The writing and structure of the plot is so well done and easy to follow. They give you enough to understand the context of the action, but you’re never too bogged down in an abundance of detail. There’s that sense of mystery and awe that I talked about in the previous post that’s still captivating. The characters are almost instantly easy to love (or hate) and of course the voice work is top notch.
That’s all for now. Come back Tuesday for Halo: The Flood.
Reclaimer 105 
Playthrough Impressions: Halo: CE Anniversary
A new Halo game came out on Tuesday and I was fortunate enough to get it brand-spanking new. As I have started to play through this revamped version of the now-10-year-old classic, I am giving you some of my initial impressions. The Bible often calls Christians to give thanks and since Thanksgiving is right around this corner, this will be post will be Thanksgiving-flavored.
Things I’m thankful for that Halo:CE Anniversary does not have: These are features that future games added that Anniversary makes me appreciate more.
1. Assassinations: I found this out the hard way. When you sneak up on an Elite in Halo: Reach and give him a melee to the back, you get a very dead elite. When you sneak up to an Elite in Anniversary and give him a melee to the back, you get a very angry Elite who will turn around and try to kill you.
2. Vehicle Jacking: This has been around since Halo 2, so trying jack a vehicle is practically instinctual at this point. This gameplay feature was most sorely missed in the second level when you crash land on Halo for the first time. After fighting off some troop, I came under attack from two banshees. I had nothing to fight them off with so naturally, when one came close I started mashing the hijack button. I was hoping to get myself a banshee to ride, but instead I got a banshee to the face.
3. Facial Models: The new feature to switch from HD to old school really highlights how far games have come in terms of both graphical textures and facial movements. The facial models were still a little behind par compared to some newer games, but they did pretty good considering they were just building on top of existing tech. While doing the obligatory “calibration/teach you the controls” sequence,d I used the graphics switcharoo button to compare the old and new faces and saw that indeed the new face was obviously more detailed and advanced. But what I also noticed was that the new guy had A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FACE. I noticed later that they also changed Capt. Keyes’ face. I guess they thought the old versions were poorly detailed and ugly.
4. Armor Abilities: The one that I’ve missed so far is sprint. There’s some walking on the second level before you get the warthog and I started to get impatient. Call me spoiled.
Things I’m thankful that Halo:CE Anniversary does have:
1. Fun with the Warthog: Roaming the landscape in the warthog is still as great as ever. Compared to the newer iterations, this warthog seems slower and clunkier, like driving through mud constantly. But, there’s still all the fishtailing, turreting (yes, I make up words), running over enemies and accidental flipping goodness.
2. Grunt Funeral Skull: This is actually a game-changer, for both good and bad. It’s great because it turns every dead grunt into a plasma bomb. I love that extra layer of strategy where you can use a well-placed headshot on a grunt to set off an explosive chain reaction and do some extra damage to their forces before getting close. The downside is that it turns every dead grunt into a plasma bomb. Everything’s fine if you take a grunt down from a distance, but what happens when you’re in close quarters? You better have a quick way out or you’re toast. This was a problem particularly in the tight crawlspaces on the Pillar of Autumn. And remember how I said the warthog seems to ride a little slower? Guess what happens when you slam a grunt into a wall- stationary warthog becomes flying warthog (since they don’t explode yet). And just my luck most of the time this occurred next to a cliff. As I’ve always thought about Halo, one of the greatest things is that many times when you die, you die in a spectacular and catastrophic display of explosions.
3. Exploring Environments: I’m still fascinated by this world all these years later. I think I could probably explore Forerunner structures for an entire game and be completely happy. I don’t really have much idea why that structure is firing blue globs to the other side, but frankly I don’t care because it’s just so darn cool to watch.
4. Story: The writing and structure of the plot is so well done and easy to follow. They give you enough to understand the context of the action, but you’re never too bogged down in an abundance of detail. There’s that sense of mystery and awe that I talked about in the previous post that’s still captivating. The characters are almost instantly easy to love (or hate) and of course the voice work is top notch.
That’s all for now. Come back Tuesday for Halo: The Flood.
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