Halo series on PC

Technology and Gaming
#21

Halo is the series that pretty much proved that first person shooters, and later, online shooter multiplayer, could work well on consoles to the point where it becomes “the” popular game. As a result, many games started to borrow elements from Halo, including things that nowadays seem quite standard for a “modern” shooter but was not very usual or even somewhat absurd just a decade or so ago.

Regenerating health is just one example. I think the two-weapon-only-including-sidearm thing is another, and so is the designated grenade throw button. Correct me if I’m wrong.

I know CoD didn’t do any of those things until CoD 2, which I vividly remember thinking “wow they really want to be like Halo” while first playing it.

#22

Halo made a lot of things popular that went on to be aped by other devs and run into the ground, yeah. They were done with discretion Halo though. Heal Regen works in Halo because all the other high level enemies have it too. The two weapon limit works because all your enemies and allies are using various weapons and you always have a nearly full arsenal available to you despite your limited inventory.

When COD took health regen, it didn’t take the healing enemies…or the smart ones for that matter… or the class separated ones.

When Bioshock Infinite took the two weapon limit, they didn’t take the enemies-having-varied-subclasses-with-their-own-arsenal aspect and you ended up with a room full of the same SMG after every fight.

#23

the 2 weapon limit was probally popularized with counterstrike (if u exclude the other slots of guns that occupy the knife and grenades and other stuff like c4 bomb etc.)

its pretty surprising halo still hasnt given into the “Ironsights” mechanic (scopes dont count) considering they have basically taken alot of CoD mechanics in recent titles (like loadouts, leveling, gun camos, sprinting)

#24

CS has a two weapon limit because it seeks to drive tradeoffs and scarcity that are part of the competitive drive of the game. Games these days use the two weapon limit because controllers aren’t well suited to switching between a wide array of weapons. The reasoning behind the mechanic and thus it’s effect is completely different so I really don’t think that’s where the mainstream drew its inspiration.

Probably was Halo, which was heavily targeting the Xbox (seeing as Bungie was already whoring out to M$). Like Xalenar said though, they handled the limitation well. Other games haven’t.

#25

Weapon wheels, bro. They work perfectly on controllers.

The two weapon limit was just really a trend related to making shooters more realistic and whatnot, not controller limitations.

#26

I’m sure realism was a big part of it too, but weapon wheels have always seemed clunky to me. Nowhere near a replacement for 1-9/mouse wheel.

#27

Yes, they’re slower obviously but they work and it’s usually compensated by either the game getting paused or slowed down while you’re choosing your weapon. Rockstar pretty much nailed the weapon wheel starting with Red Dead Redemption.

It’s funny, Rockstar set the open world standard that everyone else copied but they won’t try to copy their amazing gameplay mechanics for some reason.

#28

I like the two-weapon system because finding a really choice piece of equipment is more than just coming across it in a pre-determined spot and then waiting the res tof the game to find ammunition.

In halo you’ll be feeling tight browsin around with your trusty handgun/needler combo but suddenly some fucker drops a sword or a full shotgun you may or may not need. The choice is present and adds a smidge of tension and interactivity you just don’t get when there’s 20 guns in your backpack that all do the same old slugthrowing bullshit

#29

In Halo 1 at least, I really hated the Covenant weapons. They pretty much all sucked.

#30

Yeah, there’s totally a place for the two weapon system, and it really really fit the Halo series. But there’s other places that adopted the limited weapons system where the retro gun arsenal was sorely needed coughDNFcough. Depends a lot on the style of the game.

#31

I really didn’t like how any of them looked in Halo 1, except for the needler - and the needler’s bash was amazing.

I hated the plasma rifle though, which I loved Halo 2 onwards

#32

Idk. The plasma pistol’s overcharge in halo 1 was pretty fucking OP.

#33

Marty O’Donnell fired from Bungie “without a reason”

Didn’t want to make a new thread for this, so I’ll just post this here.

What a shame, his work on Halo was god-tier and apparently the real reason for his firing was related to him asking for a raise.

Most likely he’ll get picked up by 343i but otherwise he won’t stay out of a job for long.

#34

In CS, I don’t consider that a two-weapon limit in the style of Halo. In CS, you have one very clear primary and one very clear sidearm, with one melee weapon and some grenades. The original CoD was similar, except you had two primary slots, plus one secondary (pistol) slot, and grenades.

In Halo, you have two weapons, period. That can mean a primary and a sidearm, two primaries, or two sidearms. In a way, it’s a bit less realistic than the CS weapon system but it also encourages some loadout creativity, which isn’t as real, but fits the “rock paper scissors” weapon balance of Halo quite well.

I never understood why CoD took the two-weapon limit starting from CoD 2. It doesn’t make sense for a game that at least attempts to have some semblance of reality, and furthermore doesn’t have any RPS weapon balance.

EDIT: As for Maxey’s post above… WHAT?! No way…

Hopefully he gets to work for 343i. As much as Davidge’s music was actually pretty nice, I felt like it wasn’t as seamlessly integrated into the game like Marty’s music always was.

#35

Well yeah, particularly as part of the “noob combo.”

#36

It’s perfectly feasible, and in fact I kind of recommend this, to go through Halo 1 Legendary without using anything but the plasma pistol (other than Hunter battles and Flood battles).

There are a few reasons for this. First, the plasma pistol can fire much faster than the plasma rifle just by pulling the trigger really fast, so there’s hardly any reason to choose the PR over it since it dishes out more damage quicker. Second, at least in Halo 1, plasma has a “stun” effect which means if you pepper an enemy with it, they become unable to fight back as long as you keep shooting them (which, combined with the fact that the PP fires as fast as you can pull the trigger, makes it deadly). Third, it’s probably the most common gun in the game, so ammo is almost never an issue. Fourth, the overcharge makes Gold Elites as easy to fight as blue elites since it renders their shields useless.

#37

hes most certainly back at Halo series now, but for now lets mourn

wonder when Bungie will release their “reasons”

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