I am a huge Halo fan, and I am pretty confident with the review scores that this modern “open worldish” Halo will be the most fun romp as Master Chief that I have ever had playing 
Of course there can never be a replacing of the nostalgia of me getting the original Xbox at launch at midnight and coming home to play the first Halo game.
2 Likes
Congrats to 343i! can’t wait to play the game! 
Also where is my pre-load MS? 
It’s tricky to compare different eras because nowadays for some reason FPS games can’t break the 90% barrier anymore. lol
1 Like
The stupid decision to have the MP be the base game and campaign as DLC won’t allow the preload, apparently unless you’ve pre-ordered (can’t confirm).
Great reviews. Seems like the extra year really paid off and only missing features like coop, forge and firefight prevented even better recognition. Its a more than solid base for longer (or infinite) life.
Can’t wait for Wednesday!
2 Likes
The most interesting thing I’m noticing in these reviews is yes, reviews are subjective and opinions often vary, but…holy shit are we getting some massively different takes on certain aspects of the game
One review I hear Esharum is a very boring big bad, who just yells really uninteresting dialogue, then in the next few I hear is an excellent villian who’s extremely well written and voice acted performance helps carry the story
I hear how the open world is very drab and there is no great discovery to be had. Only to then hear about the world is amazingly crafted fun where exploration’s quite rewarding with so many secrets to dicover. Though this could be a result of some reviewers doing a far better job of actually trying to find things than others. (I’m looking at you, Skill-Up)
I’m told the music is only okay, but really needed Marty O’Donnell. Then it’s how the music is incredible and really adds to the experience
The character trio of Chief, the Weapon and the pilot doesn’t work great as the latter two are just annoying and deliver far too much humor that detracts from the impact the narrative is going f…wait, what’s that? Oh actually turns out they are great together and add a lot emotion to the story and bring back some needed elements of humor from the old titles
The story is very meh and clearly is playing things safe. Wait no apparently it’s amazing and will shock you in certain moments and leave you on the verge of tears in others
It leaves me feeling more than ever that while reviews can be fun and interesting and sometime infuriating to consume, but the only way to really know is when you play it yourself. And yes, I know it’s always been like that, but I’m pointing it out this time because I can’t remember ever seeing so many intensly different takes on so many specific things as we are here
15 Likes
Looks like Staten’s upheaval of the campaign paid off.
Hats off 343.
1 Like
That largest appeal of reviews to me is that they can tell me if a game is not some broken pos on a technical and polish level.
On design, gameplay, music, and story I’m my own judge.
2 Likes
Leadership really makes the most difference. In my opinion it’s as or more important to invest in leadership and succession than technical and artistic positions.
It’s only great news that Staten will continue to be at 343. Seriously the dude besides being a very funny and good lad he clearly knows what makes Halo the series that we all loved.
The reviews are all over the place in terms of criticisms/praise (not scores obviously) and it is actually amazing that the game managed to still get a higher than 85% metascore. Shows how good the game must be to be honest.
3 Likes
I get there are explanations, and that people vote for what they vote for, but it’s funny to me that Xbox has (at least) two major, mainstream GOTY contenders this year… and neither of them are actually up for the award. 
5 Likes
Has anyone mentioned the skulls/LASO?
Are the skulls similar to the previous games or are they new?
Are they all over the place? The lowest score I’ve seen has been like 7.8
1 Like
I mean by definition they cannot be all over the place if the average is 87 lol.
In terms of criticisms/praise not of scores, the game obviously got great scores.
1 Like
I gotcha
1 Like
I even quoted @PoderickPayne’s post…I though it was clear what I was talking about. Apparently it wasn’t. lol
1 Like
Nice to see Xplay back