I stand before you. Accused of the infinite sin of ensuring indomitable replay value. Of attempting to save us from this wretched stagnation where we are forced to… reside… and recede.
343 Industries stands as the greatest threat in the gaming world.
Or so I presumed. You didn’t disappoint 343, ya did’t disappoint.
Let me just type up a little summary so you all know what I’m talking about…
> AI collecting was one of my favorite hobbies in CE. This is the pinnacle of collection work. This is the pinnacle of cutscene glitching. No Halo game has come close to these and probably never will.
>
> In Halo: Reach, the friendly AI were nonexistent. There wasn’t much to do with them. Their performance was probably the worst in any Halo game.
>
> In Halo 3, I was inconvenienced and often driven insane by reckless and persistent talkative allies who just couldn’t stay still and by enemy AI drivers constantly driving off cliffs, betraying their allies, and hindering me.
>
> In Halo 2, my setups were likewise frustrated. It’s no easy task hauling 4 Hunters, one at a time, on a slow moving Banshee while being pressured by what was at stake… nor is it easy getting a bunch of Banshees and Spectres into the control room without making one mistake and falling to my death/losing one of them and having to start all over again.
>
> Not to mention how I had to walk great distances back and forth and spend much of my time pushing unseemly sturdy allies up hills and ramps. I had to haul vehicles around too and there was not one handy checkpoint to work with in either H2 or H3.
These “successors” all had potential but bias (bs such as killing them off in the spot, deloading them, keeping them territorial, etc.) constrained the last vestiges of replayability in this category.
They were not worthy. This seemed to be the case with Halo 4 as well.
But to my pleasant surprise, I found the allies were more manageable, the enemies weren’t as frustrating as I had expected, and the weapons and vehicles were easily seized. In fact, I accomplished the collection on my very first try today!! Not once was I frustrated. Sprint was simply great. Checkpoints, though scarce, were much less punishing. Also, there was no need to push the Spartans around because they ended up stuck behind or were attached to a vehicle. The fact that they had shields which made them resilient to accidental collisions really made my day.
The collections of eons past (excluding CE) cost me precious hours, a huge chunk of my sanity, and left me with sleepless nights as I contemplated my solemn task in vain. Whereas this collection only took me 52 minutes! I could care less about the challenge, if any, I’m being presented. It’s the result that I’m interested in and Halo 4 delivered. Just like CE.
So…
Thanks 343 Industries! I have truly underestimated the worth of Halo 4. I had long believed AI collecting was dead in Halo, but this has given me hope (despite the insufficient enemy numbers) and renewal.
Think of my words as you will.
But do not doubt the reality.
This collector… has already begun.
And we are hopeless to stop him. :3
