Number 18: Halo, Bungie 2001
Intro:
The player is dropped into the story, and immediately the Master Cheif (the player's rle) is established as an honored super-soldier. Momentum for the story goes from 30-60 almost immediately, and epic music propells it all. Menus get haunting choral themes, reinforcing the game's plot.
Getting Going:
Hand holding goes on for a few minutes once the player is in control, and thankfully checks to make sure whether inverted looking is right for you or not. Controls are explored on a need-to-know basis, so the player gets used to a little at a time (even if the first level teaches you just about everything within ten minutes). Ally support in the beginning is welcome and helps intimidated players ease into the game a lot more smoothly.
Fun:
Enemies say the darnedest things! Why a force of alien religious fanatics just happens to speak English is far beyond me, but its still great to hear little grunts tell me that I'm "everywhere!" befor I shoot their puny little heads with the AWESOME CONTROLS. Thanks to wonderful balancing, I'm constantly feeling trigger-happy driving stresses pushing me forward, thanks in part to a rechargable shield that lets me be a lot bolder than I might have otherwise been.
Visuals:
Nice draw distance! Despite looking pretty good, character animations tend to be a little jerky (especially in cut-scenes, where people turn their head so fast I'd think their necks would soon wear out and snap). The motion-sensor is a great touch, especially later when mobs of tiny Flood appear as a big red dot on the radar and scare the living daylights out of me. And on top of that, combat is fun to watch.
Intelligence:
Boo! Allies are little help, since they depend more on checkpoints than on the player's position. Enemies are more intelligent than I've seen, but often swing from cowards to over-zealous cannon-fodder and rarely show any signs of smarts.
Immersion:
Big world and no glaring glitches paired with constant threat of attack and spooky atmophere keeps the player focused and active. Pop-ups during the first level are highly distracting, but for the rest of the game respawns are very quick and the player can keep in the game even after suffering humiliating defeat.
Cameras:
Mostly first person, so no issues there. Third person cameras ride surfaces, which gets annoying in tight spots.
Controls:
Very good! This is the first console FPS I played to balance the gameplay and the joystick-look limitations, instead of expecting players to have mouse-look reflexes on a joystick that always seemed to not quite make it or just barely over-shoot.
Ideas:
Rechargable shields for health? HOO-RAH INDEED. This lets the player be a lot more adventurous, even after a tough scrape. Having only two weapons on the player at a time solves the problem of carrying and switching between many many different weapons without a keyboard. And the game seems made with joystick-bound players in mind, which is great considering the relative failure of PC FPS ports on consoles.
Memory:
A fun FPS on a console? Finally, a shooter I don't need to get a graphics card for! High Concept with a winding story gives the game the same impact many action films have, with the explosive and visually pleasing action everyone craves. And of course, giving players the ability to smoothly control the Master Chief would be wasted without some multiplayer goodness to sink one's teeth into after the single player game is through.
The player is dropped into the story, and immediately the Master Cheif (the player's rle) is established as an honored super-soldier. Momentum for the story goes from 30-60 almost immediately, and epic music propells it all. Menus get haunting choral themes, reinforcing the game's plot.
Getting Going:
Hand holding goes on for a few minutes once the player is in control, and thankfully checks to make sure whether inverted looking is right for you or not. Controls are explored on a need-to-know basis, so the player gets used to a little at a time (even if the first level teaches you just about everything within ten minutes). Ally support in the beginning is welcome and helps intimidated players ease into the game a lot more smoothly.
Fun:
Enemies say the darnedest things! Why a force of alien religious fanatics just happens to speak English is far beyond me, but its still great to hear little grunts tell me that I'm "everywhere!" befor I shoot their puny little heads with the AWESOME CONTROLS. Thanks to wonderful balancing, I'm constantly feeling trigger-happy driving stresses pushing me forward, thanks in part to a rechargable shield that lets me be a lot bolder than I might have otherwise been.
Visuals:
Nice draw distance! Despite looking pretty good, character animations tend to be a little jerky (especially in cut-scenes, where people turn their head so fast I'd think their necks would soon wear out and snap). The motion-sensor is a great touch, especially later when mobs of tiny Flood appear as a big red dot on the radar and scare the living daylights out of me. And on top of that, combat is fun to watch.
Intelligence:
Boo! Allies are little help, since they depend more on checkpoints than on the player's position. Enemies are more intelligent than I've seen, but often swing from cowards to over-zealous cannon-fodder and rarely show any signs of smarts.
Immersion:
Big world and no glaring glitches paired with constant threat of attack and spooky atmophere keeps the player focused and active. Pop-ups during the first level are highly distracting, but for the rest of the game respawns are very quick and the player can keep in the game even after suffering humiliating defeat.
Cameras:
Mostly first person, so no issues there. Third person cameras ride surfaces, which gets annoying in tight spots.
Controls:
Very good! This is the first console FPS I played to balance the gameplay and the joystick-look limitations, instead of expecting players to have mouse-look reflexes on a joystick that always seemed to not quite make it or just barely over-shoot.
Ideas:
Rechargable shields for health? HOO-RAH INDEED. This lets the player be a lot more adventurous, even after a tough scrape. Having only two weapons on the player at a time solves the problem of carrying and switching between many many different weapons without a keyboard. And the game seems made with joystick-bound players in mind, which is great considering the relative failure of PC FPS ports on consoles.
Memory:
A fun FPS on a console? Finally, a shooter I don't need to get a graphics card for! High Concept with a winding story gives the game the same impact many action films have, with the explosive and visually pleasing action everyone craves. And of course, giving players the ability to smoothly control the Master Chief would be wasted without some multiplayer goodness to sink one's teeth into after the single player game is through.