(This replay was done on Heroic)
Coming back to any game can be eye-opening, no less one that you haven't played for nearly a decade. If there's one thing I recognize more than ever about Halo, it's the absolutely pristine balance that every single facet of the gameplay lives in. And if there's one aspect of this balance that I would consider especially standout, it would be the game's approach to health, and how it balances its two different types of it.
A regenerating shield meter gives you enough leeway to take risks in combat, but a separate, non-regenerating health bar makes sure that you remain aware of the long-game. However, we could also flip this dichotomy around, and end up with another observation: whilst generous at full capacity, your health bar still doesn't last long under intense pressure, but that allows a regenerating shield to give you a consistent reserve of life that you can always fall back on. There's a consistent back-and-forth going on as you try to balance these two sides of the coin; even if your shield is topped off, you're going to approach an encounter ever-so-subtly different depending on how much health you've managed to keep.
Of course, there's more of these kinds of relationships at play. Human weapons are good for raw damage, Alien against shields, and individual weapons naturally have their own specific standout qualities, not to mention the grenade types. The two-weapon limit requires the player to juggle which qualities are most important at any given time, but there's still breathing room through being able to easily pick up weapons as they come along.
The radar gives you some valuable situational awareness, but doesn't account for enemy types, height positions in more vertical arenas, and there's some occasional stealthy enemies that further downplay its power.
When all of these systems are met with a main enemy roster that's nothing short of, bluntly, fucking perfection, it gets elevated even further. One particular concept I really appreciate about the Covenant races is the relationship between enemy danger, enemy abundance, and aiming demands. Grunts are weak and shield-less, but come in more numbers; clearing them out is easy, but it can take some time. Jackals come in slightly fewer numbers, and their shields give them good endurance, but a good aim can overcome that. Elites are the bulkiest, dodgiest against grenades, and are generally the most damaging, but come in even fewer numbers. They take the most effort to kill (outside of using power weapons), but are also still manageable on their own. Maybe it's good to clear out weaker mobs before taking them on…or you can kill them first, and watch as said mobs get disorganized, fleeing in terror. Even here, there's a balance in the way that you juggle which route to take. There's even ample opportunities to try your hand at stealth kills.
As individual enemies, Hunters are the odd one out, for me. Usually, they just become a simple case of "circle-strafe and hit the weak point in the back", only taking longer depending on the weapon you're using. When they do appear in larger fights, this strategy doesn't change much up-close, but the new difficulty in approaching them does give their powerful, single-shot blasts more time to shine.
Weapon types, weapon prioritization, health, movement, positional awareness, against these dynamic aliens…the interplay of it all is still truly sublime. To shamelessly insert the term into my own review, this strange ring-world really does become your sandbox: everything serves everything, and it's hard to say that anything is superfluous; the one mechanic I would give that label to is the flashlight's battery, which drains so slowly that it ends up never becoming a problem.
This is the force that allows the game to still remain strong in its second half, in spite of its flaws, but also gives me a gateway for commenting on the game's lowest point: objectively, The Library is on the shorter end when it comes to this game's levels, going off of the time to finish it, yet it can't help but feel like it takes forever. The repeated use of rooms, something this level is wholly guilty of, is a pervasive problem that crops up even before the halfway mark, but could be glossed over in light of good encounter variety. Considering the genuine perfection that is the enemy design of the Covenant races, I would even say that mostly rings true. Ultimately, what this is to say is that I don't find the Flood engaging enough to stay as the only focus for even two or three fights in a row. It's good that their general behavior is that of an enemy focused on rushing into your face, as a counter to the Covenant, but it doesn't give much room for encounters with them to evolve, especially when all three follow the same blueprint (though the ones with weapons are alright, the occasional Rocket wielder gives you a good "Oh shit" moment). Even Grunts try to dodge grenades. The Flood don't really do anything as close as interesting, when it comes to movement, at least.
Infighting with the Covenant is their saving grace, thankfully. It's certainly skewed when vehicles are involved, but there's still opportunities in Two Betrayals to use that brief chaos as an opening. Even so, being on smaller scales, the subsequent levels do show it more effectively.
The checkpoint system is also super wonky. I had too many instances of it not marking one down, only to have it do so after replaying an encounter due to dying. In the later stages, I'll admit that it was on me, usually for not killing the little Flood bugs, and it did end up becoming less severe...though I'm still giving myself room to complain.
Some unfortunate stumbling near the end (a trait shared by the story, due to some comical logic leaps, and, ironically, I'd say it starts at the exact same time as the gameplay's dip), but it's not like everything comes to a horrible halt. This game's first half is incredibly strong, and that momentum still stays strong, enough for it to end on a fun note, and for me to look at the credits and reflect on both how fun this replay was, and what it is that makes this game so remarkable. It turned out to be many a thing.
Coming back to any game can be eye-opening, no less one that you haven't played for nearly a decade. If there's one thing I recognize more than ever about Halo, it's the absolutely pristine balance that every single facet of the gameplay lives in. And if there's one aspect of this balance that I would consider especially standout, it would be the game's approach to health, and how it balances its two different types of it.
A regenerating shield meter gives you enough leeway to take risks in combat, but a separate, non-regenerating health bar makes sure that you remain aware of the long-game. However, we could also flip this dichotomy around, and end up with another observation: whilst generous at full capacity, your health bar still doesn't last long under intense pressure, but that allows a regenerating shield to give you a consistent reserve of life that you can always fall back on. There's a consistent back-and-forth going on as you try to balance these two sides of the coin; even if your shield is topped off, you're going to approach an encounter ever-so-subtly different depending on how much health you've managed to keep.
Of course, there's more of these kinds of relationships at play. Human weapons are good for raw damage, Alien against shields, and individual weapons naturally have their own specific standout qualities, not to mention the grenade types. The two-weapon limit requires the player to juggle which qualities are most important at any given time, but there's still breathing room through being able to easily pick up weapons as they come along.
The radar gives you some valuable situational awareness, but doesn't account for enemy types, height positions in more vertical arenas, and there's some occasional stealthy enemies that further downplay its power.
When all of these systems are met with a main enemy roster that's nothing short of, bluntly, fucking perfection, it gets elevated even further. One particular concept I really appreciate about the Covenant races is the relationship between enemy danger, enemy abundance, and aiming demands. Grunts are weak and shield-less, but come in more numbers; clearing them out is easy, but it can take some time. Jackals come in slightly fewer numbers, and their shields give them good endurance, but a good aim can overcome that. Elites are the bulkiest, dodgiest against grenades, and are generally the most damaging, but come in even fewer numbers. They take the most effort to kill (outside of using power weapons), but are also still manageable on their own. Maybe it's good to clear out weaker mobs before taking them on…or you can kill them first, and watch as said mobs get disorganized, fleeing in terror. Even here, there's a balance in the way that you juggle which route to take. There's even ample opportunities to try your hand at stealth kills.
As individual enemies, Hunters are the odd one out, for me. Usually, they just become a simple case of "circle-strafe and hit the weak point in the back", only taking longer depending on the weapon you're using. When they do appear in larger fights, this strategy doesn't change much up-close, but the new difficulty in approaching them does give their powerful, single-shot blasts more time to shine.
Weapon types, weapon prioritization, health, movement, positional awareness, against these dynamic aliens…the interplay of it all is still truly sublime. To shamelessly insert the term into my own review, this strange ring-world really does become your sandbox: everything serves everything, and it's hard to say that anything is superfluous; the one mechanic I would give that label to is the flashlight's battery, which drains so slowly that it ends up never becoming a problem.
This is the force that allows the game to still remain strong in its second half, in spite of its flaws, but also gives me a gateway for commenting on the game's lowest point: objectively, The Library is on the shorter end when it comes to this game's levels, going off of the time to finish it, yet it can't help but feel like it takes forever. The repeated use of rooms, something this level is wholly guilty of, is a pervasive problem that crops up even before the halfway mark, but could be glossed over in light of good encounter variety. Considering the genuine perfection that is the enemy design of the Covenant races, I would even say that mostly rings true. Ultimately, what this is to say is that I don't find the Flood engaging enough to stay as the only focus for even two or three fights in a row. It's good that their general behavior is that of an enemy focused on rushing into your face, as a counter to the Covenant, but it doesn't give much room for encounters with them to evolve, especially when all three follow the same blueprint (though the ones with weapons are alright, the occasional Rocket wielder gives you a good "Oh shit" moment). Even Grunts try to dodge grenades. The Flood don't really do anything as close as interesting, when it comes to movement, at least.
Infighting with the Covenant is their saving grace, thankfully. It's certainly skewed when vehicles are involved, but there's still opportunities in Two Betrayals to use that brief chaos as an opening. Even so, being on smaller scales, the subsequent levels do show it more effectively.
The checkpoint system is also super wonky. I had too many instances of it not marking one down, only to have it do so after replaying an encounter due to dying. In the later stages, I'll admit that it was on me, usually for not killing the little Flood bugs, and it did end up becoming less severe...though I'm still giving myself room to complain.
Some unfortunate stumbling near the end (a trait shared by the story, due to some comical logic leaps, and, ironically, I'd say it starts at the exact same time as the gameplay's dip), but it's not like everything comes to a horrible halt. This game's first half is incredibly strong, and that momentum still stays strong, enough for it to end on a fun note, and for me to look at the credits and reflect on both how fun this replay was, and what it is that makes this game so remarkable. It turned out to be many a thing.
Scamsley
1 year ago