Halo(retail), quick impressions:
Grabbed this one at EB at lunch (damn they had a bunch of preorders!) and spent a bit of time with it at lunch. Just wanted to post my impressions.
System specs: P4 3.2, 1gb Cosair PC3500, WD SATA (10K rpm) drive, ATI 9500p OC'd to 9700p, latest drivers. After installing the game I installed the patch posted yesterday.
Note - I completed the xbox version when it first came out, and haven't touched it since.
Played through the escape off the ship, and through the planet surface to the cave so I think I got a good sense of framerate because several times there were lots of critters on the screen. I forgot how good the storyline of Halo is. Anyways, while I wouldn't say the game 'looks and plays horrible' as some around here have said, it definately has some slowdowns. Having said that, it doesn't bog down nearly as bad as the xbox version did when there was lots of action on the screen (and that's at 1024x768). Visually, again it isn't BAD, it's just not 'knock your socks off'. I guess I'd say it's showing it's age, that's all. It doesn't detract from the gameplay, it's just not up there with current titles.
Some gripes:
-This might have existed with the xbox version, but the shooting 'ring' feels loose. the ring turns red, and you pull the trigger. Doesn't mean everything in the ring gets hit, so I guess that's why I say it feels 'loose'.
-It's easier with the mouse/keyboard than the controller on the xbox. The SP version won't last long at normal difficulty. Yes you can play it at harder difficulties for sure. I'm just saying I only played about an hour and that would have taken me three hours or close to it on the xbox version. Maybe I just suck...
-Enemy AI seems a little 'dumber' in the PC version. That coupled with the mouse/keyboard again makes it play a little easier. I died once in the hour I played, and that was due to routing a corner and a big blue baddie was there with a plasma granade.
-Gearbox/Mickysoft should have done a better job visually with the port - no doubt. Years in the making, there's just not an excuse for this. Again, the game is perfectly playable, it just doesn't WOW you like the xbox version did.
-I was unable to get connected to gamespy for multiplayer. I don't know if they are overwhelmed or something else, but I tried several times and 'couldn't connect to gamespy server'. I launched a MP game of my own and waited but nobody joined.
Anyways, dunno, I'm still out on this one. I bought it for multiplayer and other mods, but am playing it through the campaign again to see how they did with it. It plays fine, it's just not 'all that' for those of us used to quality FPS on the PC. I'm hoping MP is 'da bomb', else that's another 44.95 I could have saved.
Grabbed this one at EB at lunch (damn they had a bunch of preorders!) and spent a bit of time with it at lunch. Just wanted to post my impressions.
System specs: P4 3.2, 1gb Cosair PC3500, WD SATA (10K rpm) drive, ATI 9500p OC'd to 9700p, latest drivers. After installing the game I installed the patch posted yesterday.
Note - I completed the xbox version when it first came out, and haven't touched it since.
Played through the escape off the ship, and through the planet surface to the cave so I think I got a good sense of framerate because several times there were lots of critters on the screen. I forgot how good the storyline of Halo is. Anyways, while I wouldn't say the game 'looks and plays horrible' as some around here have said, it definately has some slowdowns. Having said that, it doesn't bog down nearly as bad as the xbox version did when there was lots of action on the screen (and that's at 1024x768). Visually, again it isn't BAD, it's just not 'knock your socks off'. I guess I'd say it's showing it's age, that's all. It doesn't detract from the gameplay, it's just not up there with current titles.
Some gripes:
-This might have existed with the xbox version, but the shooting 'ring' feels loose. the ring turns red, and you pull the trigger. Doesn't mean everything in the ring gets hit, so I guess that's why I say it feels 'loose'.
-It's easier with the mouse/keyboard than the controller on the xbox. The SP version won't last long at normal difficulty. Yes you can play it at harder difficulties for sure. I'm just saying I only played about an hour and that would have taken me three hours or close to it on the xbox version. Maybe I just suck...
-Enemy AI seems a little 'dumber' in the PC version. That coupled with the mouse/keyboard again makes it play a little easier. I died once in the hour I played, and that was due to routing a corner and a big blue baddie was there with a plasma granade.
-Gearbox/Mickysoft should have done a better job visually with the port - no doubt. Years in the making, there's just not an excuse for this. Again, the game is perfectly playable, it just doesn't WOW you like the xbox version did.
-I was unable to get connected to gamespy for multiplayer. I don't know if they are overwhelmed or something else, but I tried several times and 'couldn't connect to gamespy server'. I launched a MP game of my own and waited but nobody joined.
Anyways, dunno, I'm still out on this one. I bought it for multiplayer and other mods, but am playing it through the campaign again to see how they did with it. It plays fine, it's just not 'all that' for those of us used to quality FPS on the PC. I'm hoping MP is 'da bomb', else that's another 44.95 I could have saved.
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