Lack of options,Glitches bad coding hurt it the most its still fun but makes the game barely above average.
After playing it with a max shooter I up the score a point,all in all above average but far far from the fanboy 9...halo is to the US gamer like star craft is to the Korean gamer.....sad eh?
Perhaps I do not get it,its a solid game but the controls or lack there of leave me cold and the visual glitches give me a headache.
I miss the 0.1 increments for the old score system. ------------------------------------------------
Graphics
Looks are great in cut scenes....... when they fully load up....otherwise average for the Xbox at the time
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Sound
Sound level is ok but voice is a bit weak sometimes,wish I could up the voice volume and have subtitles to all voice.
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Music
To loud and no sound volume options cant hear what the others are saying half the time,its nice to see music being non ambiance for once but they need to let the user decide what level it runs at.
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Voice acting
Not bad not great, decent banter.
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Script
Not bad,ok pacing, crappy ending.
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Gameplay/Game mechanics
Only game pad elitists do not have issues playing this game,between the lack of any real control options and no options outside the cookie cuter configurations it just hurts the game the most,if I could button map and turn off auto aim I would have enjoyed the game more.
Grenade jumping takes some use to getting use to , the secrets are rather meek really...(implement a normal cheat system already....all games need this badly on the Xbox a few cheats can add life to a game and theres no working game enhancer on the dam system...)
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Level design
A medium level of detail in level design,much like you would find in games like Half Life 2 and Prey,stashes are well thought out most of the time,levels are well built for a gun and run game type,I would like better level design so I can find my way threw a level using 2 or 4 paths not just one.
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Glitchs,rants
Particles go wild when moving, grenade physics are poor when move, most physic's are poor when moving, the elevator level is just bad the codeing needs to be overhauled....
Weapon and vehicle balances are a mess,Energy tank lacks the short range guns, the AI can use it,the AI seems to be a bit iffy or gets stuck or lost WTH happened become a MS dev and lose all quality control?
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Wish
I wish you could keep your dual wield when change weapons and melee attacking,if he can load 2 clips at a time he can lower one weapon and toss a grenade ,I wish you have inventory control and could keep hold of 2 of the same weapon if you wanted to in order to double your ammo.
Dual wield is more a glitch than anything else,I wish they would take the restraints off and let you carry up to 4 of any dual wiled weapon in any config you care to make,2 of any non dual wiled weapon or 2 dual wiled and 1 non dual wiled any configuration is ok,to drop weapon simply pick up a new one, grenade toss might need its own button or button combo tho.
Something thats in all worth while FPS's is missing.....and its so simple...a lot of newer games are missing it....take a guess...go on...its called FULL BUTTON MAPPING.....this is why Time splitters is more fun than halo.....get over yourselves and start making games with the basic options of sound/music/voice volume control and button mapping already.... while your at it give more saving options.
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OVERALL
Its a ok FPS but not worth the time to learn to play and or getting a Xbox and such its a far cry from the 7-8 Halo 1 PC is....I have a feeling Halo 2 PC(Vista only) will be nice...but in the end not worth the wait....in all its on the high side of "Ok" theres better theres worse out there...
I just got Halo 2 PC for XP non the less,will be reviewing it soon ^^