I am not a Halo-3-is-perfect-and-every-future-game-should-be-exactly-like-it type of person but, there really has not been anything like these battles since it. Being able to board a dynamic AI-controlled craft is so damn cool. The various ways to take them out and the sandbox provided to us to take them out were all so fun. You can take out the legs, take out the back, or – if you are like me – attempt to board it from the top while it is still walking.
I especially liked how the environment of each encounter allowed the player to board the scarabs. The Storm had those lifts you could ride up and above it (preferably in a mongoose with a rocket marine in the back). The Ark had a ramp-shaped structure with deployable grav-lifts next to a bunch of hijack-able choppers. And, of course, there was nothing stopping you from simply jumping out of your hornet in the iconic “Two Scarabs!” fight. I love it; I feel like swash-buckling pirate whenever I board one of these things.
Unfortunately, attempts to recapture this moment in 343’s games feel to be missing the point. They are linear and scripted rather than being dynamic, AI-driven and something that allows the players to find unique solutions. The Kraken, while having a fun-ish aerial fight beforehand, might as well be a static building. Same goes for the Harvester. (Anyone remember that?) The closest thing 343 has done might be the Lich on the Reclaimer mission in Halo 4, but only thing interesting about that is the fact it moves while you are aboard it. I really like the mammoth, but it is all so scripted. Boarding dynamic, moving Lich while on a moving Mammoth sounds so much more fun.
I know there is not much point in me bringing this up now because if there is something like that, then it is likely being developed now and if there isn’t, then chances are there won’t be. And it is not like 343 will drastically change directions of the game from this one post anyway. But I am writing this just to see if other people agree. I missed the feelings I got when playing in these fights and I hope to see something like it in the future.
Agreed, the scarab battles were great in Halo 3, and haven’t been surpassed yet in Halo campaigns. H5 brought in the Kraken which was reminiscent of scarab battles.
Very true, there is something really unique about those encounters in H3. Fighting them really added to that sandbox feeling. I would like to see a reintroduction of scarabs in Infinite in some capacity. Maybe a cool moment in the campaign, but if not, definitely in multiplayer. What would be sick if 343 enables people to play as elites again, and in BTB matches maybe there can be a mode where you can drive a scarab. Maybe implement this idea into a large scale “Invasion” game type that involves the vehicle in a cool way.
I would like 343 to draw heavily from the Scarab battles and The Battle of The Two Betrayals for their blue print on how to create HI’s big moments.
I’d be heavily against it. Cinematically they used to look awesome, gameplay-wise those “boss fights” were boring.
Scarabs weren’t challenging, they were simply bigger bullet sponges which simply required an excessive
amout of dodging their legs to survive.
I’d rather have 343i leaving boss fights completely out of the game, they simply don’t work well enough in FPS games IMO.
I do agree that the Scarab battles in Halo 3 was quite unique and a true masterpiece. You had few alternatives to destroy by different boarding procedures or by destroying it from the outside. It’s also interesting to see that Bungie did also intentionally add ramps in The Ark and The Covenant in order to make it possible to drive a vehicle on top of the Scarab.
However like stated above, 343 (or Bungie) hasn’t really managed to recapture the Scarab battle experience for the later Halo games. The attempts made have been true restrictive when it comes to freedom as the Lich in Halo 4 can only be destroyed from the inside and it do only exist 1 intended path to the inside and the same thing can also be stated with the Kraken in Halo 5.
honestly halo has been missing that in its games as of late. scarabs allowed for campaign replay ability the fight was always different i reckon especially with friends, it was so much fun.
I agree. More vehicle centred combat is needed. Scarabs were great but there have been very few "tank beats everything" scenarios in general imo. I would like more of that on a big scale.
Maybe wishful thinking on my part, but I anticipate scarabs (or something similar) to feature prominently in whatever the new PvPvE mode is.
Scarabs were OK to battle. I wouldn’t mind seeing them or the Unggoys in Goblins return. Anyrhing is better than fighting Warden Eternal 100 times.
> 2533274814550076;1:
> I am not a Halo-3-is-perfect-and-every-future-game-should-be-exactly-like-it type of person but, there really has not been anything like these battles since it. Being able to board a dynamic AI-controlled craft is so damn cool. The various ways to take them out and the sandbox provided to us to take them out were all so fun. You can take out the legs, take out the back, or – if you are like me – attempt to board it from the top while it is still walking.
> I especially liked how the environment of each encounter allowed the player to board the scarabs. The Storm had those lifts you could ride up and above it (preferably in a mongoose with a rocket marine in the back). The Ark had a ramp-shaped structure with deployable grav-lifts next to a bunch of hijack-able choppers. And, of course, there was nothing stopping you from simply jumping out of your hornet in the iconic “Two Scarabs!” fight. I love it; I feel like swash-buckling pirate whenever I board one of these things.
> Unfortunately, attempts to recapture this moment in 343’s games feel to be missing the point. They are linear and scripted rather than being dynamic, AI-driven and something that allows the players to find unique solutions. The Kraken, while having a fun-ish aerial fight beforehand, might as well be a static building. Same goes for the Harvester. (Anyone remember that?) The closest thing 343 has done might be the Lich on the Reclaimer mission in Halo 4, but only thing interesting about that is the fact it moves while you are aboard it. I really like the mammoth, but it is all so scripted. Boarding dynamic, moving Lich while on a moving Mammoth sounds so much more fun.
> I know there is not much point in me bringing this up now because if there is something like that, then it is likely being developed now and if there isn’t, then chances are there won’t be. And it is not like 343 will drastically change directions of the game from this one post anyway. But I am writing this just to see if other people agree. I missed the feelings I got when playing in these fights and I hope to see something like it in the future.
Couldn’t have been said better in any other way! I totally agree, the scarab battles in Halo 3 were so fun and would also bring out your own play style when playing with your friends showing off how you take out the scarabs.
> 2533274886490718;5:
> I’d be heavily against it. Cinematically they used to look awesome, gameplay-wise those “boss fights” were boring.
> Scarabs weren’t challenging, they were simply bigger bullet sponges which simply required an excessive
> amout of dodging their legs to survive.
> I’d rather have 343i leaving boss fights completely out of the game, they simply don’t work well enough in FPS games IMO.
When’s the last time you solo’d the two scarab battle on legendary in H3? I did it for the first time in a while last month, and it was harder than I’d remembered.
> 2614366390849210;12:
> > 2533274886490718;5:
> > I’d be heavily against it. Cinematically they used to look awesome, gameplay-wise those “boss fights” were boring.
> > Scarabs weren’t challenging, they were simply bigger bullet sponges which simply required an excessive
> > amout of dodging their legs to survive.
> > I’d rather have 343i leaving boss fights completely out of the game, they simply don’t work well enough in FPS games IMO.
>
> When’s the last time you solo’d the two scarab battle on legendary in H3? I did it for the first time in a while last month, and it was harder than I’d remembered.
It does have some decent difficulty, especially on Legendary difficulty.
> 2533274866906624;13:
> > 2614366390849210;12:
> > > 2533274886490718;5:
> > > I’d be heavily against it. Cinematically they used to look awesome, gameplay-wise those “boss fights” were boring.
> > > Scarabs weren’t challenging, they were simply bigger bullet sponges which simply required an excessive
> > > amout of dodging their legs to survive.
> > > I’d rather have 343i leaving boss fights completely out of the game, they simply don’t work well enough in FPS games IMO.
> >
> > When’s the last time you solo’d the two scarab battle on legendary in H3? I did it for the first time in a while last month, and it was harder than I’d remembered.
>
> It does have some decent difficulty, especially on Legendary difficulty.
To quote both you, I’d rather say it is more time-consuming than on other difficulties,
but they weren’t fun nor entertaining to fight in any case, at least not in the way
what makes a fight truly challenging to me personally, hence I stand by my opinion
that I’d rather had fights which require more creativity in their approach,
completely unrelated to the difficulty I’m playing on.
> 2533274886490718;14:
> > 2533274866906624;13:
> > > 2614366390849210;12:
> > > > 2533274886490718;5:
> > > > I’d be heavily against it. Cinematically they used to look awesome, gameplay-wise those “boss fights” were boring.
> > > > Scarabs weren’t challenging, they were simply bigger bullet sponges which simply required an excessive
> > > > amout of dodging their legs to survive.
> > > > I’d rather have 343i leaving boss fights completely out of the game, they simply don’t work well enough in FPS games IMO.
> > >
> > > When’s the last time you solo’d the two scarab battle on legendary in H3? I did it for the first time in a while last month, and it was harder than I’d remembered.
> >
> > It does have some decent difficulty, especially on Legendary difficulty.
>
> To quote both you, I’d rather say it is more time-consuming than on other difficulties,
> but they weren’t fun nor entertaining to fight in any case, at least not in the way
> what makes a fight truly challenging to me personally, hence I stand by my opinion
> that I’d rather had fights which require more creativity in their approach,
> completely unrelated to the difficulty I’m playing on.
I appreciate your opinion. Everyone is different and find value differently. I love the Scarab battle because to me it is a chance to show just how awesome the Chief is, as he takes down multiple Scarabs throughout the campaign with potentially different ways to take it down each time.
Agree completely and I hope with this new Slipspace engine, 343 can recreate some grand scale Scarab battles.
H3 scarab battles are to this day unmatched in dynamic boss battles in an FPS. Built of the sandbox nature of Halo’s combat encounters… Can’t fault them at all.
If scarabs came back I’d like more variations too.
The only Scarab battle that stood out was the double-scarab battles, and only because of the open field and lot of stuff going on. I didn’t really peg the Scarabs themselves as being the reason I enjoyed it, but rather the… Well, the large scale combat going on. It didn’t feel “dynamic” to me since they were just large weapons platforms that stood there circling about in place while they and their turrets shot at you. The real action was getting there (With all the ground forces trying to stop you) and then the fighting to the core. The rest? Kinda mundane really.
The first scarab battle was just awful since it literally just sat there and got shot at until it finally collapsed for you to hop on board to shoot a few guards then blow it up. Which is really all the Scarab battles are on their own: Take away the wide battlefield, and take away their air and ground support, and they’re not all that interesting individually.
What I’d really like to see is more of those large-scale battles. Not just a few groups of elites and their hapless grunt fodder vs you and a handful of marines, but truly large scale battles. Like what you’d see in the background of Tip of the Spear or the first level of Halo 5. Big yoinking battles that I want to be in the thick of. The stuff you’d otherwise only really get to see in Halo Wars.
Second to that, I’d also like some more fighter piloting, like in Reach and that brief bit of trench-running in 4.
Signed in just to like this. Can’t tell ya how many hours I spent resetting at that checkpoint where the two scarabs drop on the covenant. There hasn’t been a moment like it in Halo since.
> 2533274809073993;18:
> Signed in just to like this. Can’t tell ya how many hours I spent resetting at that checkpoint where the two scarabs drop on the covenant. There hasn’t been a moment like it in Halo since.
Facts Bro!!
> 2533274850869596;17:
> The only Scarab battle that stood out was the double-scarab battles, and only because of the open field and lot of stuff going on. I didn’t really peg the Scarabs themselves as being the reason I enjoyed it, but rather the… Well, the large scale combat going on. It didn’t feel “dynamic” to me since they were just large weapons platforms that stood there circling about in place while they and their turrets shot at you. The real action was getting there (With all the ground forces trying to stop you) and then the fighting to the core. The rest? Kinda mundane really.
>
> The first scarab battle was just awful since it literally just sat there and got shot at until it finally collapsed for you to hop on board to shoot a few guards then blow it up. Which is really all the Scarab battles are on their own: Take away the wide battlefield, and take away their air and ground support, and they’re not all that interesting individually.
>
> What I’d really like to see is more of those large-scale battles. Not just a few groups of elites and their hapless grunt fodder vs you and a handful of marines, but truly large scale battles. Like what you’d see in the background of Tip of the Spear or the first level of Halo 5. Big yoinking battles that I want to be in the thick of. The stuff you’d otherwise only really get to see in Halo Wars.
>
> Second to that, I’d also like some more fighter piloting, like in Reach and that brief bit of trench-running in 4.
I did find the scarab battles in halo 3 to be awesome, Though I also agree with your points. If they were to bring it back I’d want it to be in a space where it’s not just a platform rotating in place or as part of a huge tip of the spear inspired battle like you suggested. More space combat and/or air combat missions would also be amazing. The long night of solace is probably my favorite halo mission, the dog fights and crippling and boarding an enemy vessel was so much fun to play.