From Halo to Fortress via an Italian Restaurant
I want to like Halo 3. I really do. I mean, technically there’s not a damn thing “wrong” with it. In principal I should enjoy it. It’s just so generic and safe. Sort of like going to a fancy Italian restaurant and ordering spaghetti. Sure, it’s probably good spaghetti with really nice seasonings and a spectacular presentation, but let’s admit that it’s still about the same as something you could cook at home.
Now, I loved the original Halo. I spent a lot of time with the game beating it on normal, heroic and legendary (including one co-op completion on heroic) and also played many hours of local multi-player. When Halo 2 was ramping up for release it seemed unnecessary to me: I already had done just about everything with Halo I ever wanted to do. The whole ilovebees.com ARG campaign got me mildly interested in it, but it was still a bit too… nonsensical for me I guess. It was probably because I didn’t know enough about the game’s back story.
The point of all that is that I never played Halo 2. Not really anyways, I have been forced to play multi-player at a friends house a couple times. The thing is that every time I try to play I’m at the bottom of the list, and frequently annihilated by the opposition. It’s frustrating and irritating to play with people who have been playing this for three years like it’s a part-time job. Playing against people that much better than you is like running into a brick wall over and over again hoping to make a crack in it before your skull splits open.
So, I’ve enjoyed Halo before (single and multi), and I know that other people can enjoy this game for years, so something had to be missing on my side right? I know that part of the fun is in having the game right when it comes out, right when the hype and excitement of the community is at a fevered pitch. Right when you’ve convinced yourself that “yeah, this could be fun again.” Perhaps enough time has passed now since I gorged myself on Halo last. Possibly I can get in on an even playing field with everyone else so that I’m not instantly outclassed. Maybe I can eek some enjoyment out of it before the game is broken over some unemployed college kid's knee and cheats flow out from his 360 like water. For some reason I thought that the combination of all these things could add up to me having a great time with Halo again.
I was half right. It’s enjoyable at best and tolerable at worst, but still no where near as enjoyable a game mechanically as Shadowrun is. Sure, there’s a lot of people who can’t enjoy Shadowrun for one reason or another, but much like food each person has their own unique tastes. Going back to the Italian Restaurant example Shadowrun is the Veal Marsala which is something that requires quite a bit of preparation and finess to cook properly. Not only does it have veal (a meat many people don’t like) it also has mushrooms (another item many people don’t like): I love it though and it fits my taste perfectly, and it’s not something you can get just anywhere. From my side of the table I can see why people don’t like the game, but the people who do enjoy it will get much more out of it than eating playing something safe like spaghetti Halo 3.
And yes, Halo 3 can come with meat sauce single/co-op, Italian sausage single player online, or meat balls team based online, but at it’s core it’s still spaghetti the same game with different trimmings. Going into each game you know what it is, you know mostly how it will play out, and it will mostly be quite similar the next time around.
I honestly prefer games that are more custom tailored for team play. I know I’m not the best person at aiming, but that’s not all a game should be about to me. I have excellent tactic for winning and when I’m on top of my performance and the people who outclass me in skill go with my plans we will dominate. (or at least squeak through with a victoly) On top of that I’m willing to play support roles even though I can put up a fight if needed. Support roles don’t really exist in Halo 3. Tactics mostly involve skill. Balanced teams mean that all the players are of the same skill level. Sure I’ve been lectured to about high level teams win based on tactics and plans and choke points, but honestly it all boils down to being able to point and shoot at the guy's head quickest, frequently while jumping.
So I’m looking forward to Team Fortress 2 in the Orange Box next Tuesday like it’s nobody’s business. Well, actually, I hope it’s everybody’s business because I would love to get some really great teams going. TF2 seems like it will be able to fit into different player’s strengths and weaknesses while also providing a tactical element not found in many multiplayer FPS perspective games. Like I said, even though there are team based modes in H3, it’s still not focused enough on balance and compensation.
Halo 3 is only a week old and I’m already looking to drop it for my next new bad habit. I just hope that TF2 performs well on the 360. If not, I’m seriously going back to Shadowrun.