Riding the Coat-tails of FPS Success: Halo Reach

Yeah. It's definitely not Call of Duty by any means.

After watching the Halo Reach multiplayer reveal trailer, I noticed that it seemed like the newer Call of Duty games. Don't get me wrong, it's still has more of the same gameplay mechanics, but the evident changes seen in the trailer really stick out and say "hey, this is an unoriginal new feature but we're putting it in and labeling it as another title so that no one notices that it isn't original at all."

Could have fooled the hardcore players of Halo that do nothing but play Halo, but you won't fool me, Bungie.

Loadouts

Loadouts? Oh, you mean classes. You can sprint now with a custom "loadout"? That's so innovative! Bungie's creative director must be so proud of himself. In the ViDoc it was stated that the developers are doing some things in the game that fans wouldn't expect from the Halo series. Was this what they were talking about? Being able to run faster for a short period of time and getting player classes?

After Halo: ODST and Halo Wars, the whole Halo phenomenon had begun to feel stale and less satisfying. I don't think it will help much to acquire characteristics from other FPS games that were equally if not more successful than Halo was.

Added Realism

From the gameplay trailer, it seemed every time the player fired his/her weapon, the classic closed and set crosshairs that provided pinpoint accuracy we relied upon now move apart after each shot. This screams Call of Duty, with realistic aiming that deteriorates depending on how wildly you're shooting. Did this supersoldier FPS really need that? This is one addition I definitely can't welcome.

Headhunter

This is the only uninspired addition to the next Halo game that I can approve of. From what I could tell from the trailer, scoring a headshot kill will result in skulls flying out of the dead player's head. Not only does that look pretty awesome, but I can infer that it leads to addictive scoring systems, ranks, unlocks, and possibly more.

The Rest

Then the rest of the trailer makes it look amazing. Despite my distaste in new gameplay additions that seem stolen from other games, I'm still really excited for the release of Halo Reach. The footage from the trailer almost completely overshadows its flaws by showing new weapons, slick animations (how about those assassinations?), graphics, jetpacks and highly populated firefights.

Tags: FPS, Call of Duty, Team Fortress 2, Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Problem? Report this post

Lance Darnell

March 07, 2010

I completely agree with you that Halo is becoming a little stale. Gears took a bite out of it and then Call of Duty took a big chomp. After seeing the trailer I am still sitting on the fence. After playing Halo 2 with the Bitmob team on Friday I realized that what made the first couple Halo games so good was their simplicity. The more Bungie adds, the more they are turning Halo into Unreal.

And the assassinations looked really good!

Report | Reply

Bryan Glynn

But, seriously, is anyone surprised that EVERY shooter is taking multiple pages out of Call of Duty? It's inevitable at this point, and I welcome the changes. I don't have nearly as much fun playing Halo online as I used too: It's too slow, a little too clunky, and I'm sick of starting with the crappy assault rifle every time.

Ultimately, they're just base gameplay and customization mechanics that work well. Bungie is still going to put their own flare into it for an original experience. Look at BioShock 2: That game's multi-player is the biggest rip-off of Call of Duty's multi-player to date, but it plays so much different than CoD, what with plasmids and tonics.

Brian Shirk

I grew tired of the series after Halo 3, but Reach surprisingly has my interest. I think you're on to something that it borrows from CoD. I hope it won't to too great an extent; I'd rather see more stuff that suits Halo's chaotic gameplay like the jetpack and more vehicles.

Jeffrey Sandlin

Speaking as someone who played plenty of halo over his life and follows the bungie scene regularly I think you are misreading things a bit.

Firstly the loadouts look to be the replacement for the equipment in halo 3. People never used it because they were always saving it so now it's a rechargeable and re useable thing that you equip instead. Their is currently no confirmation of a leveling or unlock system. Even if their was one it would hardly be a dishonest thing for bungie to include. Call of Duty changed what people want out of a multiplayer shooter. It's only natural for the competition to try and COMPETE!...duh.

Plenty of halo guns have always had varying accuracy as you fired them. I've been burst firing the SMG and AR to increase their accuracy since halo 2. I imagine they just eventually decided that so many of their guns rely on this mechanic in the new game now that their battle rifle replacement does that they should probably just show a visual representation of it to make it easier to understand. Not many people know that the plasma rifle is best fired in two round bursts. Now maybe some people will pay attention to the nuances of the guns more with a little visual aid.

And headhunter looks to me more like a game mode then an unlock system. I've seen plenty of games where damaging or killing an enemy created random pick ups to scamper for to gain points for your team. "Headhunter' Just screams 'name of a multiplayer mode' as well.

I'm fine with whatever they try to do with halo reach until I play it. Anything they change could add new spice to the series and anything they keep the same is tested and fun.

Random speculation and getting all rage-y over crap you don't even know anything about is pointless.