Thoughts on E3 (Part I)

Now that E3 is over and my wasn’t-able-to-get-there ass has had ample time to go over all the news about it I could find, I wanted to share some of my favorite things from the show.

First off, I’ll just get the Bungie announcements out of the way. Everyone knows I’m a huge HALO freak, so I was stoked on hearing all the new info about Bungie’s upcoming game, Halo 3: ODST (click on that link to go to the project page). The gameplay they showed was awesome, seeming to perfectly blend new elements into the traditional HALO gameplay – since you don’t play a “super soldier” in this game, you don’t have regenerating shields, the big enemies are now much larger than you, and there is a greater emphasis on “stealth” over running and gunning. The best looking part of the game, however, was the new co-op mode – Firefight. Think of it like Horde mode for Gears of War 2, but longer and more extensive. Players jump into levels where they face off cooperatively against wave after increasingly difficult wave of enemies. This just sounds awesome, especially since it will be over Xbox Live, and with split screen (so my brother and I can play together on my set up!).

What really came as a surprise – and I mean REALLY – was Bungie’s announcement of a whole separate game, due out next year! It’s called Halo: Reach, and unlike ODST, it has you playing as Spartans (the super soldiers akin to the main character in the HALO trilogy). Not much is known about the gameplay for this game, except that a code that will allow access into the beta testing for its multiplayer will be included on the disc for ODST. As for the story of the game, it is based on the novel The Fall of Reach, by Eric Nylund. It is a pretty darn cool book, and it tells the story that leads directly up to the events of the first HALO game. Here’s a link to the project page where you can watch the announce trailer!

It’s a good time to be a HALO fan …

- Goodchild

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Blomkamp (Part III)

www.d-9.com

(continued from part II)

And while we’re on the subject, is the idea of a HALO movie even a good one? To be honest, fan of the series though I may be, I don’t believe that it is a smart move. Counting only the 3 original Bungie-made HALO games (HALO: Combat Evolved, HALO 2, and HALO 3), which all follow the same central characters and story, there is a wealth of plot there that could not possibly be transferred to a 2 or 2.5 hour movie. Wouldn’t a better idea be something along the lines of a mature animated series on HBO? Think back to HBO’s SPAWN animated series and you’ll see where I’m going with this.

With an animated series, all the original voice talent could reprise their roles in order to keep the “authenticity” fans would be looking for. It would also keep costs down from a huge budget film, and more of the story could be left intact – for example, a single movie probably wouldn’t “humanize” our alien enemy as the story in HALO 2 did, taking time to show the fall of a once proud warrior, his one chance at redemption, and or the way his entire race was betrayed and excommunicated from their religion. An animated series, on the other hand, would be able to go into these details.

Of course, another question still remains: Do people really want to watch something that they’ve already watched AND played through? Video game movies don’t always do so well at the box office – sure, one of the main reasons is because they’re never any good, but maybe there’s more to it …

In any case, District 9 and its odd marketing has me interested as hell, and I can’t wait to get more information on it. And if anyone figures out everything on the website, drop a line and let me know! goodchild@highlark.com

Next Big Viral: Neil Blomkamp's District 9 [FirstShowing.net]

- Goodchild

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Obsession is a Dangerous Thing (Part III)

photo by VGBoxArt.com

(continued from Part II)

On March 3rd, 2009, Microsoft Game Studios will release the final Ensemble Studios game – HALO WARS. After making a huge name for themselves with the AGE OF EMPIRES and AGE OF MYTHOLOGY games, Ensemble Studios (ES) was purchased by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) and tasked with the first farmed out game in the HALO universe. As Bungie LLC, creators and makers of all things HALO related, had previously been owned by MGS, MGS owns the HALO name outright. With Bungie’s blessing, Ensemble was brought on to make a real time strategy game (what they were excellent at) with the HALO brand. I say “were” excellent at because MGS has recently decided to close ES after the release of HALO WARS, claiming that ES doesn’t fit in with their plans for the future. This is not too surprising if one notices that Microsoft has recently announced it will soon lay off thousands of employees (no one is safe in this economy), and that some will certainly be coming out of the entertainment division.

As I stated earlier, I am a huge fan of the HALO series. I thoroughly enjoy a good first person shooter, I extremely liked the story and campaign modes in the 3 games by Bungie, and the multiplayer is obviously incredible. But what I love even more is how the games were lovingly and artistically engineered by Bungie. The art direction, the level design, a flat out awesome physics engine, the music … everything about the games screams “professional grade”.

What I’m NOT a big fan of is RTS games. I’ve tried a few of them; ones that I’ve heard are accessible to the general public. Still, I’ve never found one that I’ve been able to get my head around and enjoy the way I know I should – not even the bare bones joke of an RTS in SOUL CALIBUR 3. I understand that many, many other people flat out love these games – I see that the joy is there. I just can’t seem to find it.

But still … it says HALO on the box.

I will be pre-ordering the special edition of HALO WARS, and picking it up the day it comes out. Am I excited for it? Kind of, I suppose. It is going to be a really big deal, and it looks really good – Ensemble, before being disbanded by MGS, did what appears to be an amazing job. They got the HALO feel down perfect – from the squeal of the engines as the warthog fishtails, to the sounds of the plasma pistols firing wildly as grunts gasp their last breaths. From some of the footage I’ve seen on the how the game works, it even looks as though the control scheme will be very intuitive and possible for someone of my RTS skills (re: anyone at all) to use.


But do I really need it the day it comes out? And do I really need to spend extra money on something that is in a genre I inherently dislike, meaning there is a large possibility that I may be disappointed that I spent all the money on something I don’t enjoy playing? Damn right I do.

The special edition of the game is the only way to get the Mythic Map Pack of 3 new HALO 3 multiplayer maps, made by Bungie, early. And gods damn it, I’m obsessed.

[official Halo Wars Community site]
Halo Wars [IGN]

- Goodchild

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Halo 3: ODST Preview

On the Xbox 360, great titles like Alan Wake (by the team that made Max Payne) look extra interesting, but the most intriguing exclusive is also a "small" title, that is not up to full retail size - Halo 3: ODST.

Bungie, creators of nothing but the most fun to be had with a gun in your hand and an awesome physics engine to propel innovation, have revelaed their next "game" to be an add-on to the Halo universe, taking place between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3. The twist? You DON'T play as Master Chief. Instead, you're an ODST soldier, scouting out for lost comrades. Not being a super soldier, gameplay - though promising to be familiar - will be different than us Halo freaks are used to - and personally, I can't wait to see how it's going to work.

+ Check out IGN for more information on Halo 3: ODST

[official site]

- Goodchild

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