Games TM issue 88 scores

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Harry Ola
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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Harry Ola » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:27 am

consolegaming wrote:
Rik wrote:The difficulty level in Halo simply doesn't just increase damage or the amount of enemies like most games, it totally changes the way the enemy reacts to your tactics.

If people haven't worked that out in the last seven years then they truly are thick.


I agree, but I tend to play these games on easy/ normal difficulty as I do not have the time or patience to keep restarting and I am crap at fps games.


Halo CE was the first ever FPS I played, so I started on easy and loved it. I stepped up to Normal for Halo 3, as that was where the achievements kicked in. I was glad I did, as it was a much more engaging level. I have just finished ODST on normal and I just think it is a great experience on that setting. This surely is one of Bungie's biggest achievements, being able to pitch the game in a way that provides a great experience whatever the skill/FPS familiarity level of the player.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by consolegaming » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:28 am

I am going to try Halo 3 and ODST on Normal then when I get my 360 back, probably around Christmas as the PS3/ PSP have more than enough to keep me occupied until well into next year.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Shadow » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:29 am

The review reads like he really didn't want to like the game, he's clearly paid no attention to the story, and criticising the voice acting is just bizarre, it really is as good as any other game out there in this regard.

He also seemed to think that the flashback sequences all ended in the deaths of squadmates, which is wholly untrue.

The Eurogamer and EDGE reviews mentioned the strict reviewing standards which were imposed by MS so perhaps this has soured the experience for him.

Regardless the review is stupid and a totally unfair reflection on the game.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Tafdolphin » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:38 am

Rik wrote:
How long it takes is irrelevent. The fact is your getting a mission pack + horde + the halo 3 multiplayer (which everyone whom ODST is aimed at already has) and Microsoft are charging £50 RRP for the privelidge. Even if it's available at discount GamesTM/GameCentral both reviewed it based on the full price and found it lacking.

It's like valve charging £50 for blue shift.


You're starting to sound like a robot.....you earlier complain it is four hours long but now "How long it takes is irrelevent" :lol: A "mission pack" would be the same gameplay, ODST has some very different gameplay due to the comparative weakness of the player and the removal of dual wielding and some weapons.

the halo 3 multiplayer (which everyone whom ODST is aimed at already has)
As stated previously it contains all the DLC which not everybody has and the Mythic pack which nobody had, so you're simply wrong.

It doesn't have an RRP of £50

The Games TM review says price wasn't a factor if you read the review.

Have you played the game?


I find myself halfway between these two extremes. I agree with Carlos' sentiment that MS/Bungie are charging a premium price for what is essentially a mission pack/expansion but I imagine Rik is right in saying that it's great fun.

This is my major objection to buying the game; I won't pay full price for an expansion pack. The multiplayer maps etc are, as almost every review I've read states, almost an after-thought, something to appease the masses. Most of it is not new content, it hasn't cost Bungie a penny to include them; the people who already have them have paid money for them, and the people who haven't bought them wouldn't have gone out and got them if they weren't in ODST. Firefight is more interesting, but again as a lot of reviews have said, it's Horde but not quite as good.

For me, it's always been about the singleplayer, and the singleplayer here is massively overpriced from the sounds of it. It uses an old engine, old assets and probably cost a fraction of the price of a full game to make. From the reviews the gameplay remains essentially unchanged. Chucking in a few already available goodies does not justify ramping the price up as high as it is. I don't doubt that it's fantastic fun, I love CE and Halo 3, but I can't justify the cost.

I actually think it's something of a low-blow from Microsoft at this price. So yeah, bargain bin/second-hand purchase for me.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Hero of Canton » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:48 am

If Halo 3 didn't exist, ODST would be absolutely deserving of 9s and 10s. But it does, so it isn't.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Wedgie » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:52 am

So in your opinion, if Bungie didn't slap on "Halo 3" on ODST then how would it fare? That would be very interesting as we would never really know would we? :shock:

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Christopher » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:54 am

Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Wedgie » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:56 am

suzzopher wrote:Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:


:shifty:

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Christopher » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:57 am

Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:


:shifty:


Set during Halo 2.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Wedgie » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:58 am

suzzopher wrote:
Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:


:shifty:


Set during Halo 2.


I got the impression it was halfway between Halo 2 and Halo 3? :shifty:

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Denster wrote:My phone messaged me yesterday after i'd encouraged him to download and play the RESi demo.


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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Christopher » Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:59 am

Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:
Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:


:shifty:


Set during Halo 2.


I got the impression it was halfway between Halo 2 and Halo 3? :shifty:


Well it is but it's more Halo 2 than 3. Shouldn't have bothered numbering it. Halo: Recon would have been awesome.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Wedgie » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:01 pm

suzzopher wrote:
Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:
Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:


:shifty:


Set during Halo 2.


I got the impression it was halfway between Halo 2 and Halo 3? :shifty:


Well it is but it's more Halo 2 than 3. Shouldn't have bothered numbering it. Halo: Recon would have been awesome.


Or without Halo?

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Denster wrote:My phone messaged me yesterday after i'd encouraged him to download and play the RESi demo.


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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Hero of Canton » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:02 pm

Wedgie wrote:So in your opinion, if Bungie didn't slap on "Halo 3" on ODST then how would it fare? That would be very interesting as we would never really know would we? :shock:


You mean, if it was a brand new franchise? Well, it wouldn't have Halo 3's multiplayer component, would it?

That's a big part of the issue here - it was clearly (and even some Halo fans will agree with this) originally meant to be an expansion pack. And MS knew people would pay full-whack, so it bundled in the Halo 3 multi to make it feel better value, because the game and Firefight alone weren't quite enough.

Though perhaps that says a lot of what's expected of games these days that a good - if fairly short - single-player campaign and an entertaining co-operative multiplayer mode isn't considered enough for a full-price release.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Wedgie » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:05 pm

Hero of Canton wrote:
Wedgie wrote:So in your opinion, if Bungie didn't slap on "Halo 3" on ODST then how would it fare? That would be very interesting as we would never really know would we? :shock:


You mean, if it was a brand new franchise? Well, it wouldn't have Halo 3's multiplayer component, would it?

That's a big part of the issue here - it was clearly (and even some Halo fans will agree with this) originally meant to be an expansion pack. And MS knew people would pay full-whack, so it bundled in the Halo 3 multi to make it feel better value, because the game and Firefight alone weren't quite enough.

Though perhaps that says a lot of what's expected of games these days that a good - if fairly short - single-player campaign and an entertaining co-operative multiplayer mode isn't considered enough for a full-price release.


Perhaps... but most of the gamers who buy this will have Halo 3 already with most of the DLC multiplayer?

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Tafdolphin » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:10 pm

Hero of Canton wrote:Though perhaps that says a lot of what's expected of games these days that a good - if fairly short - single-player campaign and an entertaining co-operative multiplayer mode isn't considered enough for a full-price release.


I don't think it says anything not already blindingly obvious; people want an actual full game when they're paying a full game price. It's not like this is a new trend or anything...

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Shadow » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:13 pm

Matt Hazard was a short game with no multiplayer options, no-one complained about value there (quality perhaps, but not value) I'm sure there's a bunch of other FPSes with short single player campaigns and no multiplayer, it's only because Halo3 was bigger that this seems expensive (I don't actually agree that it's expensive btw), if you compare it to it's other contemporaries in the genre then it's plenty big enough.

For the record, I finished Modern Warfare's single player faster than I finished ODST.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Christopher » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:15 pm

Shadow wrote:Matt Hazard was a short game with no multiplayer options, no-one complained about value there


Yeah but Will Arnett made up for the lack of game :wub:

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Tafdolphin » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:19 pm

Shadow wrote:For the record, I finished Modern Warfare's single player faster than I finished ODST.


I thought that too was massively over-priced; I bought it second hand for about £20. Even then, at least it was a standalone game.

As for the contemporaries comment, I can't (with the exception of COD4) think of any other AAA shooters with running lengths of less than 10 hours.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by Hero of Canton » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:42 pm

Tafdolphin wrote:
Hero of Canton wrote:Though perhaps that says a lot of what's expected of games these days that a good - if fairly short - single-player campaign and an entertaining co-operative multiplayer mode isn't considered enough for a full-price release.


I don't think it says anything not already blindingly obvious; people want an actual full game when they're paying a full game price. It's not like this is a new trend or anything...


But in the past we'd have much less than that. Online multiplayer is a fairly recent development, and it seems games are often marked down for no multiplayer whether the game warrants it or not. It seems very few games (bar RPGs) are allowed to stand alone with just a single-player component.

The argument here is whether ODST is a full game or not. I think it's quite telling that a lot of shops reduced the game to around £35 or thereabouts - I don't think it was just a price war so much as the retailers being aware that it wasn't really a brand new game. Or at least not its multiplayer component.

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PostRe: Games TM issue 88 scores
by mcjihge2 » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:50 pm

Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:
Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:
Wedgie wrote:
suzzopher wrote:Should have been Halo 2: ODST anyway :roll:


:shifty:


Set during Halo 2.


I got the impression it was halfway between Halo 2 and Halo 3? :shifty:


Well it is but it's more Halo 2 than 3. Shouldn't have bothered numbering it. Halo: Recon would have been awesome.


Or without Halo?


They should have called it; New Mombasa 2.3 Recon ODST, charged 2100msp for it, and not included the Halo3 multiplayer - then it would have got a GamesTM [8] 8-)

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