Here lie my thoughts and feelings about Halo 3: ODST. I have attempted to keep this as spoiler free as possible, however my comments occasionally touch upon game features that while well publicised before the games launch may still be considered minor spoilers by some.

Anyone who knows me will be able to vouch for my love of the Halo universe. Halo: Combat Evolved dragged me back into the world of console gaming and Halo 2 was the first game whose development I paid attention to. Halo 3 was the first game I took annual leave for the release day. So you can imagine I was awaiting ODST with bated breath. However I had mail ordered ODST from the website of my usual store. This resulted in a full day of fretting and worrying in the office as to whether the game would arrive, followed by when I got home a brief moment of panic where the game wasn’t on the other side of the door waiting for me. Fortunately this was immediately relieved when I closed the door to find the package caught in the letter plate, and hanging from the back of the door. In future I will stick to going into town and collecting my preorder in person.

Now if Halo can be said to have one weakness in my eyes it would be how powerful the Master Chief feels in each successive instalment of the series; while the enemy AI is still a threat quite capable of defeating a player, the presence of regenerating health and the lack of a visible health meter left me feeling that I was nigh on unstoppable. By not having that feeling of desperation evoked by having a sliver of health and only your shields between you and death that could easily and frequently occur In Halo: CE some threats just did not seem as intimidating as they were in the past, no matter how capable a foe they really where.

In ODST however the health bar is back, and for me it makes all the difference in the world, when you hit the redline and the sound of your ODST gasping for breath is ringing in your ears making even the lowliest of Grunts appear to be an almost inevitably fatal threat to you, you have to hide, use cover and fight smart as well as hard in order to survive. On Legendary a Brute armed with a Plasma Rifle will kill you in mere moment if you don’t play smart and use cover. I very quickly established after dying three times during my first visit to New Mombasa’s Streets just how vulnerable I was as an ODST, stamina is not as hardy as the shields the Chief has and on higher difficulty they provide the merest impression of protection as a city full of aliens tries to take you out.

As I played I found that the game feels like the weapon damage has been altered to balance the available sandbox, with some of the weapons from the Halo Trilogy cut from the game this does give the feeling that pretty much every weapon in the game has a defined purpose and is good at the job it designed for. Vehicle handling has definitely improved, you can still roll a Warthog or a Mongoose if you aren’t careful but they feel nicer to drive, which makes the inevitable driving levels much more of a joy to play. Ghosts especially feel fantastic, and I’m told the Chopper has been improved though I still can’t control that beast.

Overall the campaign is shorter than Halo 3, playing in the evenings after work I managed to complete the Campaign on Legendary in about 4-5 hours, and some of those missions I died a lot on as I got a feel for the game. Firefight is fun, but is crippled by its networking problem. If you don’t live geographically close to your teammates lag will happen, the further away the worse the lag. I’m in England, one of my Live Friends is in America, and the lag was so bad it was like watching stop-motion being filmed. B.net Game Link. A great game mode let down by bad decisions on networking by Bungie, it could have been an online hit, for now I will save it for solo play and LAN parties.

As for the Halo 3 Mythic disc, the new maps are pretty to look at, and the gameplay on them is fun, worth getting if you enjoy playing Matchmaking as well as Campaign. However if you are not interested in playing ODST itself, then the three maps alone are not worth the cost of the game.

Overall: Worth the wait, I am very happy with this game and fully expect to be playing it for as long as I am still playing the Halo Trilogy.

I’ve spent a good chunk of my gaming time recently playing Call of Duty 4, and quite often a routine part of the postgame lobby has been muting players who are complaining about another player ‘camping’. Well I say complaining, what I actually mean in this context is that they were either hurling abuse, or having full blown temper tantrums. Now maybe I have had a bad run of gamers to play against, but it does appear to me that there are a fair few people out there that really get angry at this topic, so I thought I would put fingers to keyboard and try and put my thoughts on this subject down in a manner that hopefully will be easy to understand, and leave itself open to well reasoned debate.

To set the scene my playing style is not that of your typical camper, I tend not to have the patience to stay in one spot during a match; I like to run and gun with an SMG or Assault Rifle, if I find a good perch I may try some ‘sniping’ with an M4 or M16 but I generally find that I’m not consistently accurate enough for this to be a reliable strategy for me, so I tend to hoof it and pray while I spray. However this does not mean I disapprove of camping as a multiplayer strategy. I personally have to go with the Rooster Teeth definition of camping “it’s a legitimate strategy”, though it has become apparent that not everyone agrees with me on this, and some even consider it cheating.

To me Call of Duty 4 is essentially a military simulation, in multiplayer you take on the role of a soldier in the British SAS, US Marine Corp, Russian Spetznaz or the Opposing Force taking part in a variety of combat scenarios. The game’s major selling point is the realism of gameplay; as such real military tactics are very effective when used in game. For example two soldiers fighting side by side as a fire team can take down lone opponents quicker than if they were playing solo; another example would be someone acting as a spotter and using the team talk feature to call out targets for their team’s sniper to take out. By using simple military tactics, you can be more effective in game, and camping is one of these tactics that can be used.

Indeed in some cases the classes in the game seem designed to camp. Take the sniper for example. Even the semi-automatic rifles like the Dragunov are not well suited for a head to head confrontation against most of the other main weapons in the game. If you get close to someone playing with a P90 or MP5 chances are they will unload into you and kill you before you can even line up the scope. Sniper’s in the real world of modern warfare are usually a highly trained marksman that shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel.

Other forms of ‘legitimate military’ camping include holding a thoroughfare for a tactical advantage; this is the most common form of camping I run into while playing. I will be moving through buildings only to find that someone has hunkered down with the intention of cutting off that route for me and my team. I usually get a face full of FMJ as a reward for my discovery.
This however raises the issue, when faced with an opponent in a superior position, with the capability to take you out in a rapid manner, how do you counter that? It seems like an untenable position to be in, what’s the secret?

Keep Calm! As infuriating as it is, if you foolishly charge in you’ll only get killed again, and again, and again! I speak from personal experience; my abilities as a player are inversely proportional to my blood pressure. There are a few things you can do to deal with a determined camper:

1. Take advantage of the kill camera to get an idea as to where he is, it seems simple but if you wait those few seconds rather than furiously mashing the X button you can get a very good ideas as to where they are;
2. Use the map’s terrain to keep yourself in cover as you approach them;
3. Let your teammates know where he is, they might be better placed to get the drop on them;
4. Make use of your grenades, a well placed smoke grenade can provide cover for moving closer, and a fragmentation grenade can outright kill or injure the camper enough for you to finish them off with gunfire;
5. Switch class. Before hitting X to re-spawn, go to the start menu and pick a class more suited to the situation. Try a spot of counter-sniping, or utilize the shotgun for some close-quarters combat if you can;
6. Avoid the camper.

Often overlooked is that final tip which is easiest done on larger maps. It sounds ludicrous at first, and smacks of cowardice to some. However if you can stay away from the field of fire of the camper and work your way around via another part of the map; deprived of kills the camper may well be forced to up sticks and move elsewhere. Though even more satisfyingly, you may also find yourself approaching the camper from the rear. Shoot them in the back of the head or give that sniper a taste of your knife, I assure you either way it will be quite satisfying to have gotten one up on them.

There is however a form of camping that cannot be defended by the proponents of legitimate camping; I am of course referring to the act of spawn-killing. While legitimate camping tactics can be countered this reprehensible ‘tactic’ is where an opposing player sets themselves up in a position where they can kill players as they spawn into the match.

This usually results in the targeted player dying before they even have any chance to move, shoot or defend themselves in any manner. With all other forms of camping, the opposing player can, through using their head, counter the camper’s tactics; however in these circumstances the limitations of the games spawning system are used to deny the player any chance of having of fighting back.

By playing the game in this manner you remove the possibility of having any kind of game played in the spirit of friendly competition. Instead you have moved into the realms of malicious griefing, and nobody wants to play with people like that. Hold back and let them spawn. Yes your final score may be lower, but you will have so much more fun if you play the game as Infinity Ward intended. After all as Sir Winston Churchill once said; “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”

My Lancer rumbles,
Blood is on the floor,
The Locust is dead.

Gears of War has had a strong grip upon my gaming time since it was released. I had passed the first Gears game by in favour of Halo 2 and only played it because of Rob’s overwhelming enthusiasm a few months before Gears 2 was due.
Oh how I wish I had listened to him earlier, it was such an enjoyable game, and while the writing is not going to win any awards I found myself genuinely caring about the characters of Marcus Fenix and his merry band of miscreants as they threw themselves into danger again and again.
By the time I had finished the single player story of Gears of War on I was hooked, I had to know what happened next. fortunately for me, though less so for my wallet, I pass a video game store on the way to and from work every day and I was able to pre-order Gears of War 2 the next day.

Five days pass and release day is upon me and bright and early I pick up my copy as the store opens, for a brief moment all is good, then the reality that I have eight hours of work followed by an hour and a half commute to go before I can play hit me. Next time a big release is coming I will book a couple of days off work, like I did for Halo 3, and make an event out of it.
Still over the next two evenings I was able to sit back and enjoy the game on casual mode. Yeah I know what a wuss my excuse is the same as ever first off I want to enjoy the story, then if I enjoyed the game I will then go back for the challenge of the harder difficulties.

At the present moment I am on Act 2 Chapter 5 on Insane mode, and boy they weren’t joking with that descriptor. I have not played a game that has left me feeling such extremes of emotion.
My mind is filled with an inense feeling of disappointment in myself when I die after doing something stupid, furthermore when I hear that riff in the soundtrack signifying that the battle is over and I have emerged victorious, I actually feel proud of my accomplishment. I haven’t felt proud of myself for beating a game ever, I have felt satisfaction yes but pride, never.

It’s an amazing challenge I am loving the fact that not only am I pushing forward on Insane mode, but more importantly I am doing it solo. It’s even more fun because I am not really a hardcore gamer, I only got through Hardcore on Gears of War playing coop with Rob. He thought I wouldn’t be able to get through Gears of War 2 on Insane mode and was genuinely surprised when I told him how well I was doing, though to be fair I am surprised how well I am doing. Here’s to me continuing this streak all the way to the end of the game.

I finally got round to playing Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 this weekend. Admittedly the two sessions I spent playing only totalled up to four hours or so of gameplay.

For those of you who are unaware of what the team in Rainbow Six are all about, then I could be mean and direct you to the Novel ‘Rainbow Six’ by Tom Clancy. However that is a little mean so I will briefly explain it for you. By ‘I’ I really mean wikipedia, who have an excellent write up of the team available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_6.

So RAINBOW are a NATO counter terrorist special forces unit, and in this title you are playing as the leader of a four man squad, as you infiltrate and assault terrorist held positions in the casinos of Las Vegas.

While playing this I had the good fortune to be in Co-op mode, where I was squad leader, and my friend Idle Han was playing as one of my squad. This led to my first complaint about this game. Only I could give orders to the two AI controlled squad members, more realistic maybe having a clearly defined chain of command, but when I am pinned down and stuck returning fire, Han while in a better position to direct the troops could not give orders to the AI troops to assist.

However that little problem aside for the most part this game is very, very good to play! The AI squad is easy to control, with the A button acting as a contextual button, and the back and down buttons switching between actions (hold, regroup) and behaviour (assault, infiltrate).

It is a fantastic feeling you get as you watch your troops get into position and then storm a room, watching as they drop smoke grenades to hide their positions and execute a quick clean takedown of a room full of terrorists. All as per the orders you gave them with few clicks of your controller.

However the AI were very happy to hold position everytime you ordered them up against a doorway, and then entered yourself. If you didn’t remember to order them to regroup they would stay there indefinatly. They also on one occasion glitched as they both tried to enter a doorway at the same time and got stuck running into each other, rather than one letting another through first.

The actual manner in which you play the campaign is quite different from Halo 3, my usual frame of reference when playing an FPS on the Xbox. For starters like Call of Duty 4 the game features a more realistic damage system, you can only take so much damage before you are killed. Switching between weapons is slower, again more realisticly portraying a soldier pulling out his backup weapon out from his webbing, before being able to open fire.

I never got a chance to play the online multiplayer aspect of this game myself, which is a shame considering the high quality of the single player campaign. I would have loved to take advantage of the online cooperative play to get four of us in versus the single player campaign.

If you liked Halo I would definatly say Rent this title, as I feel you might not enjoy the game-play transition. However if you are a COD4 fan and if you can put up with the few minor flaws in what is otherwise an excellent game then I would happily recommend that you Buy this title. I will be to.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with the Call of Duty 4 campaign this week. Between the Xbox Live downtime, and some problems with my ISP I have been unable to join multiplayer matches without lagging out mid-game, so I have returned to single player campaigns to keep me entertained.

I am a Bungie fan, and I loved the Halo series. After playing the campaign of all three games to death, the first thing that I noticed about Call of Duty 4 was how ‘gritty’ everything looked in comparison to the shinier more cartoonish look of the Halo 3 single player campaign. It immediately sent back to eight years ago when I was playing an entertaining FPS called ‘Delta Force 2′.

This game was introduced to me by two guys that I was on an IT course with, after listening to them talk about how great this game was they slipped me a CD-R and a slip of paper with a CD key. That night I had my first experience of Software Piracy and of Online FPS Multiplayer. For those of you wondering I went out and bought my own copy of the game that weekend; it still gets used on the odd nostalgic occasion, along with my copies of Dark Forces and Tie Fighter.

As I played the first few missions, I became amazed at the almost dual nature of the game. While playing as the SAS you have to play the game more like a stealth game like Splinter Cell than say a game like Halo where you can just charge in and let your shields take a pounding. Then you switch to the US Marine Corps, and the game changes slightly. You are now in pitched battles with insurgents. The usual tactics of sneaking up and knifing the opposition will not work. They know you are there and they want you dead.

This tonal change in gameplay threw me at first. I had done the SAS missions on Veteran difficulty without to many problems, but playing as a Marine was kicking my arse so hard it had turned me into a hunchback. I had to drop down to Normal to progress through the storyline. It amazed me how difficult more ‘realistic’ games could be compared to the typical sci-fi shooter I was used to playing. Grenades could, and routinely did take my legs out from underneath me. Death came on swift wings for me on more than one occasion, I was left staring at the screen wondering how I died.

For the first time in ages I actually found myself stopping to think before I acted. Even on Legendary in Halo 3 you could get away with infrequent acts of stupidity, but in COD4 stepping into a doorway without checking first could and would leave you face down in a pool of your own blood. After the initial confusion and frustration wore off I found myself quite fond of this game and cannot wait to get on to my ISP so I can jump into the multiplayer as well.

Greetings and Salutations one and all. I am Rob 077, 028’s wingman and friend, a friendly and capable H3 player and a very modest fellow and I will tell you all about how I obtained a copy of Halo 4, well Halo 3 but to me recently it has seemed like a brand new game.

I had the eventual luxury of purchasing a new HD TV earlier today. Of late, I had become somewhat bored/fed-up of halo 3’s bright happy-go-lucky atmosphere and environment (obviously sans live clientèle in this respect), instead opting for the dark and gritty Gears of War (ironically, a very mature and friendly populous in the vast majority of cases). I have come to a realisation of at least one of the likely suspects responsible for this deference and it is not, in this instance, the game’s fault.

You see, I spent my 4 years of student life with an ancient 26″ CRT TV, with a maximum refresh rate of “maybe”. I believe the make/model/artefact was a “Matsui”.. whatever that is, some kind of oriental dish? anyways.. This TV has followed me through the years, from Halo 2 to Gears of War, Halo 3 etc. and I’ve always enjoyed it, even assuming it was a 32″ screen!

With all the recent games being very HD by nature, reading text and seeing the finer details on this TV would be more or less impossible. Why, only very recently I realised that the nav markers in Assassins’ Creed actually had distinguishable features and I am able finally to read the contents of my game menus. How the HELL I managed to perform to level 43 in Halo 3 is beyond me and it’s no small wonder I need to go for an eye appointment.

So now I am the proud owner of a Samsung 1080p (37″) and a brand new copy of the new halo game, Halo 4, that is, Halo 3 the way it is meant to be played!

I LOVE the sound. I LOVE the visuals. The screen size is superb.. It’s.. It’s frankly, unbelievable. Finally a worthwhile expense in the gaming world. It has truly reimbursed my faith for the franchise and invigorated me further towards my own game development goals. I shall be on halo most of this weekend I imagine and tonight once I get off work if anyone is interested, add me or page me online!

~Rob (Gamertag addy: Rob 077)

There is a debate on Bungie.net about the morality of Bungie making certain playlists on Halo 3 require Legendary DLC.

Before I begin to elaborate upon my thoughts and feelings on this practice I will try to summarise the facts as I am aware of them.

Now before I continue I want to make it very clear that this is not intended to be considered an attack on anyone. It is not my intent to insult or ridicule someone for their opinion on this matter. I am merely trying to put across my own view upon this debate, and hopefully fuel further meaningful discussion on this matter.

So let me begin.

As I type this, today is the first anniversary of Halo 3 retail release; I have owned it since day one. A quick perusal of my Service Record will show that I am not considered amongst the Hard Core, nor am I one of the Elite. I have yet to pass the thousand games mark, and my highest ranking is a 30 in Lone Wolves. (5) So it is safe to say I am an average, middle of the road, pedestrian gamer. I would like to think therefore that I have an average, middle of the road, pedestrian view of this gaming service provided by Microsoft, a pompous proclamation maybe but it is from this viewpoint that I intend to frame my remarks.

The first thing I feel I should clarify in regards to this debate is this. It doesn’t matter how much your console cost. The cost of Xbox Live isn’t an issue either. Why do I believe this, it’s simple they are not related in anyway shape or form to the cost of Halo 3.

Consider this, my Xbox cost me £225 ($418.18)(6) second hand. When it died I bought an Arcade for £160 (£297.37) and placed my old HDD in it. So the cost of my console totals £385 ($715.55). Then you add in my annual Xbox Live subscription for the last twelve months £39.99 ($74.33). Halo 3 cost me £39.99 ($74.33) plus the two sets of premium DLC which at a total 1600 Microsoft points cost me £13.33 ($24.78)(7). It all adds up to a whopping £478.31 ($888.99) to play Halo 3.

Except it doesn’t; I use my Xbox for far more than just playing Halo 3, and I am sure that many gamers are like this as well, so when talking about the cost of playing Halo 3 with DLC it is not really appropriate to consider the cost of the ancillary things aside from the purchase of the game itself if they are not used for the sole purpose of playing Halo 3.

So in actuality the cost for me to play Halo 3 is the cost of the game and the DLC, £53.32 ($99.11) and I believe that the equivalent sum is the only one relevant to this discussion.

Now onto the playlists. To this day a consumer can still play Halo 3 without any DLC. Indeed only this weekend just gone, my Brother bought his first Xbox 360 and got a copy of Halo 3. I set up my Brothers console and gamertag for him and left him playing Halo 3 as it comes from the box. He has exhibited no displeasure at any restrictions imposed upon him by the current playlist options; he will download the free maps as needed, and will purchase the Legendary DLC when he wants to enter these playlists. The fact that some playlists are restricted has not impinged upon his ability to play this game online and enjoy the experience.

However many have shown great displeasure at the double team playlist becoming Legendary DLC required, arguing that they believe it to be morally wrong for Bungie to restrict access to certain playlists to those that have paid for premium content. I respectfully disagree.

There is no moral argument to be answered. Halo 3, as with all video games, is a luxury item, we are not talking about necessary essentials here, food, clothing and shelter. Playing a video game on Xbox Live is not an inherent right or man but is instead a privilege that living in the developed western world allows us to do, therefore it is not immoral to offer premium content and restrict access to parts of the service. It can be argued that it is unfair, however as Video Games are a luxury item and not a necessity; morality really doesn’t play any part in this discussion.

It is also important to note that 66% of the playlists, representing a wide diversity of gametypes are available to play with all the free maps. Bungie are not preventing you from playing the game, they are merely offering a bonus to those who have paid for premium content. If you pay extra, you get extra.

One person in this discussion stated that they refuse to buy these maps as a point of principle. To a certain point I do agree with his statement. My father once closed all his accounts at a bank and transferred everything to a separate institution. A full day of work, and wages, were lost as a result, not to mention the inconvenience of contacting all of our utility companies to switch direct debits (I believe the US equivalent of this is the Automated Clearing House)(8). The reason for this was a £0.50 ($0.93) charge to withdraw money from over the tellers counter.

I agree wholeheartedly that you should stand up for your principles when dealing as a consumer, because if no one stands up for your consumer rights you will get walked over by big business trying to cut corners and save money. It doesn’t matter if it’s £0.50 ($0.93) or if it is the cost of the DLC, £13.33 ($24.78), with matters of principle cost doesn’t factor into it. So to the gentleman who refuses to purchase on a matter of principle, you have my admiration. It has been my experience that few people would quibble over a small sum, whether it is against their principles or not.

However I purchased the DLC as a matter of principle. That’s the problem with principles they are so personal that they can vary greatly from person to person on the same issue. So while I agree with the sentiment behind my fellow gamer’s statement, I personally disagree with the content.

Paying the £39.99 ($74.33) for the game as I did on September 24th (9) gave me access to the game, and all the maps that shipped. I was happy knowing that I was playing a game I had been looking forward to since I cried WTF as the credit screen rolled on Halo 2. I was content knowing that my money would in some way shape and form help Bungie with funding for their next project.

Then, as in Halo 2, Bungie released DLC. I happily forked over the money for the Microsoft Points to purchase the Heroic Map Pack knowing from experience with the Halo 2 map packs that it would eventually be released for free. Despite this I handed over my money with a smile on my face. Why you ask, simple. The DLC had development costs on top of the costs of developing the game that shipped in September 2007, for this reason I was happy to pay extra because I knew some part of that money would see its ways to the coffers of Bungie and help support them during the development of their next title.

I end this with a question or two to you all. If Content costs money and the revenue from DLC helps pay for new content. Is charging for extra content inherently wrong? In light of the extra costs of DLC, what right do we, the consumers, have to demand this content for free?

Thanks for reading; I look forward to your responses.

__________________
References
1-Xbox Live Marketplace page for Halo 3
2-Halo 3 Matchmaking Lobby
3-http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=15519 Playlist Reminders
4-Bungie Day Podcast
5-http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/Default.aspx?player=Jim+028
6-Based on the conversion rate 1 GBP = 1.85845 USD http://www.xe.com/ucc 24/09/2008
7-£17.50 ($32.52) for a 2100 point card equals £13.33 for the 1600 points.
8-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Debit
9-I managed to get my copy a day early.

With my Xbox dead I have been turning to other games to sate my desire to play, recently however these distractions were not working as well as they used to. I was missing playing Halo.

Respite has been found though, while moving stuff into the loft for my Mother I found an old Christmas present I had forgotten about, Halo PC. I wasted no time bringing this downstairs and firing up my dads PC, my Macintosh sadly not having the video specs to run this game smoothly.

It was surprisingly cathartic that first time I head the opening to the game, and as I jumped into the single player campaign I felt a degree of enjoyment I just wasn’t getting out of my other games. Right now I am about to start Truth and Reconciliation, so if you will excuse me Captain Keyes needs rescuing and I am the seven foot Spartan II to do it.

It’s Bungie Day, go play a Bungie game or visit Bungie.net to celebrate.

Click for full size version.

Halo 3 screenshot by BigToe67
Lyrics from Here’s to the Heroes sung by Mario Frangoulis from the album Follow Your Heart