Another Halo 100% Completed. Even though I enjoyed a lot of the game I can't praise them for remaking a game that already had all it's core elements mapped out like story, weapons, enemies etc.
They did a great job in remaking Halo CE, and I loved that they allowed players to use things that you couldn't in the original like using the wraith and energy sword. Implementing new weapons from other Halo games and a load of new and interesting skulls made for a refreshing experience. I also have to commend them for reworking the infamous Library level. They knew it was a slug fest and very repetitive and wouldn't hold up in a modern game. The change to the level while also keeping the integral parts of the mission intact was very good.
My gripe with the game is mostly the price, new missions and some glitches that were not present in the original.
- Firstly, price. Asking for $90 AUD is crazy when all it is is a campaign game. If you're gonna ask for $90 you better do more than remake a story that's already been told, add 3 new missions with a new unique story and some skulls/modifiers/gameplay features.
- Secondly, the new missions are boring and uninteresting. A lot of the rooms and parts of the missions feel so similar. The gameplay loop was exactly the same. Run to room, shoot enemies, run to next room, shoot enemies. At least at the end they put together a space fighting segment. Too many times enemies spawn behind closed doors and won't move with the enemy randomizer skull, Johnson taking ages to press buttons for us. It was just not very interesting. People were way to harsh on Williams but man, the ending where Williams is sitting on a pile of brutes with her squad was so hilariously cringe and hard to watch. It just feels like it was written by a millennial that snuck into the office.
Thirdly, glitches. It was pretty depressing to see some of the prominent glitches be removed like bridge fall on Control Room and door skip on Silent Cartographer but there's some new glitches like if you die right after getting off any elevator the checkpoint you got on the elevator doesn't work. Twice me and my friends had to restart our LASO run on 343 Guilty Spark and Control Room because it would spawn 2 people dead outside the map. It's almost like the game can't handle restarting 3 people onto a moving elevator. We've had people spawn inside walls (at least they didnt die and restart us), random disconnects and crashes. Too many times we had to restart our runs.
and my favourite glitch that I just want to document... Me and my friend were running remix and we completed Pillar of Autumn. Then when the next mission Halo booted up we were both stuck in a void. Complete darkness. We could barely move like we were stuck inside a box and in the distance we could see 2 covenant portable shields, a door that you would see on the Pillar of Autumn and 2 sentinels flying pass us. Probably the most odd experience I've had in Halo and we had to double check "What the hell, what mission are we on, what did it try to load?" and we were on mission Halo. One restart and we were back on track. These glitches I like.
It annoys me because I know Halo Studios can create a good campaign experience but the bonus missions don't have me in high hopes. At this rate I'd prefer remakes of older Halos (apparently it's confirmed Halo 2 and 3 are in development). As it currently stands, my favourite Halo campaign experince from 343/Halo Studios would have to be Infinite even though I'd likely not play it a second time but it wasn't the worse experince. The missions were quite unique and different from one another. At least better than these bonus missions.
