2009
Halo : Combat Evolved?
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: Combat Evolved, Halo, PC
OVER THE CENTURIES of Human history, there have been issues that have divided us. Matters of such great importance that even the possibility of meeting someone with an opinion different than your own will cause anything and everything to grind to a complete halt until the argument can be resolved. And just when you think you have considered every possible permutation, every facet and diverse angle, along comes someone else that can say “yes! But what if?”
Questions such as which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do aliens exist? Empire or Jedi? (I say neither personally. A new hope is the best by far). But none have divided so many people so rapidly, as the choice between Halo and Half-Life. Having now taken the time to play through both of them, I find myself in the unenviable position of putting forward my own opinions on the matter. Though, as this is a review for Halo, the Half-Life references will cease here. We’ve had enough of the endless back and forth bickering between those two factions thank you very much.
So this brings us to the nitty gritty. Is Halo really any good?
Sadly, my opinion is that it is nothing more than mediocre. Whilst I can see why some people would like the game, especially if it was their first foray into the FPS genre, I personally found very little to keep me entertained. The choice of weaponry available is almost criminally tiny and I found the aiming reticules to be, well, odd to say the least. And speaking of weapons, I find it highly dubious that the Chief somehow managed to procure an assault rifle from…somewhere during the few seconds between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next. Of course, picking up a new one whilst taking a ride on a Pelican is one thing, but to just…acquire one out in the middle of a swamp is…makes you wonder where he gets them from.
Of course, that’s only a minor issue. But it’s the kind of thing that actually rather bugs me simple because it’s so minor. After all, surely being such a simple issue it should have been the matter of only a couple of seconds to implement. It’s like how on other games (no names) you have to fiddle with your weapons and what not to get it back to what you had when you last played the game rather than the necessary information being stored as part of your save game.
Halo, does, however, have some points in its favour. The mythology behind it all is rich and intruiging, and the fact that it is actually the “noble” Humans being portrayed as the savage, bigotted destroyers was a nice touch. After all, Halo is a holy place for the Covenant, the fact that it also happens to be a weapon designed to wipe out all organic life in existence had nothing to do with them. Of course, when it comes to a choice between destroying a holy site and genocide, the Chief probably made the right choice. But that doesn’t make his motivation any less suspect.
Long story short, I was far from impressed with Halo, and really cannot fathom why some people are so rabidly profuse about how great it is. The level design was uninspired, the scripting was awful (especially Cortana’s incessant bitching) and the game was just too damned easy. Plus, well, it has to be said, but if I wanted to play Half-Life again then I’d just play Half-Life. So there’s one more reference, so sue me.
Graphics: 6/10
Gameplay: 5/10
Audio/Music: 7/10
Plot/Scripting: 5/10
Overall: 5.5/10
Final note : This game does, however, earn the Bobfish Almighty award for being the best bluffer of the recent gaming years
2009
Another month, another excuse for not posting any reviews
By: The Almighty Bobfish Category: News, PC, PS2, PS3, Star Wars, Wii, xBox360
Unfortunately, whilst the Reaper and I were expecting that the post New Year period would bring with it the opportunity to kick back a little and come back to some more important thins (like playing games, writing reviews, watching 80s TV shows and eating cake) we have actually found ourselves more distracted than ever. However, fear not, for we have not been idle. All of those reviews, and more, that werepromised way back when in the middle of December will soon be upon us.
We have also now requistioned a reliable X-Box 360 spokesperson. My fabulous new girlfriend Lissa, who is one of the primary reasons I personally have been so…distracted of late. So, thankfully, the rather weighted bias towards the Wii and Playstation 3 will be gradually offset as we move to a more balanced approach to review publication. Hopefully, we should soon be in a position to get one from each of the current primary platforms each week. That being Playstation 3, Wii, X-Box 360 and PC. As well as a spattering of others here and there such as downloaded games and the odd retro classic.
And, finally, the Reaper, my amazing new girlfriend and I have been working on a seperate internet venture that will see distribution, hopefully, some time before the end of next week. A twelve part Star Wars audio comedy/drama that we believe many of our loyal readers (hoping that we actually have some) will find to be at least moderately entertaining. Also, next week should hopefully see a return to posting as I have both a Wii and PC title to air my views on. The PC game I have choen should prove to be most interesting as it is something which has devided a great many gamers for a number of years now.
Keep your eyes peeled everyone. There are good things to come very soon.
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