This Reviewer Totally Gets Me

With the impending release of Halo: Reach, or as I like to call it "Halo: Reach into your pocket and steal all your money", I've been seriously debating whether to give the franchise one more chance.

I own Halo 3 but I haven't beaten it, or put more than a few hours into the multiplayer. It's a franchise I've tried hard to like, but just can't for reasons I've found very difficult to articulate. Until I read this review of Halo 3 by GameCritics.

I think it's unfair to call the gameplay mechanics of Halo outdated. I can play Doom or Duke 3D and still have a blast with them today. Good gameplay mechanics don't have an expiry date. I know it's treason to say his, but maybe Halo's weren't that great to begin with.

What the reviewer really does a good job of explaining though, are the problems with the story and overall schizophrenic tone of the games. The Halo series seems to really have a problem with taking itself far too seriously, and at the same time not seriously enough. We have all this orchestral music playing, and an ad campaign that promises an epic space opera.


Then we are just running around a base or through the jungle while these funny little alien guys scream and run around like retarded Jar Jar Binks rip-offs. You have your idiotic squad mates that sound like the frat boys this game is clearly aimed at. It just totally demolishes any sort of tension or atmosphere they had created so far.

Halo: Reach looks like it addresses a few of my problems with the series though. The designs look better, the overall mood seems more somber and mature, and there's a sprint feature. Most of all, running up and bashing enemies with your gun is no longer more effective than shooting them with it. I may have to give this one a try...