> “Reach was a failure”,
I agree with that statement.
> “Reach ruined Halo”,
I disagree with that statement.
> “If Halo 4 is like Reach I’m not getting it”.
There can be a reasonable explanation for that.
> I understand that alot of people consider Halo 3 their favorite of the Halo games.
Nope, not me. I prefer CE.
> Ignoring, of course, the fact that Reach is considered by the majority to be the best since Combat Evolved.
>
> I mean, sure, it had its flaws, every game (including H3) does,
Since H2 actually.
No Halo game has come close to CE. H3 does have some semblance but gameplay is severely lacking which is why it goes unnoticed.
For example, H3 has (from CE):
-active AI in a cutscene, thanks to the resurrection ability and a certain cutscene not removing AI
-checkpoint fountains. On Halo, Silent Cartographer, and AotCR, there are places that will give you a checkpoint if you keep visiting them. In H3, there’s one spot on The Storm, at the area where the Brute pummels a worker and another spot on The Covenant, near the third tower entrance
-Hunter kill checkpoints. Killing Hunters in CE could yield a checkpoint. Killing Hunters in H3 also yields a checkpoint
-Flood buddies
-hog run
-a megabattle
Reach tried to be like CE but in the end it was more like a fusion of the trilogy. Anyone who has tried out Anniversary’s skulls has the capacity to understand that trying to implement CE in/with newer games will only result in corruption of that holy gameplay. This kind of thing should have been a 2-3 year endeavor, handled very carefully yet Reach was 1 year development. Sure it’s a feat to get the game completed by 2010 but let’s face it, it was a short campaign filled with thrills that rapidly became teases and the mp was a disappointment (the maps, the worsened mechanics).
Had Reach tried to be it’s own game or had been purely CE, then it wouldn’t have failed.
But no, it implemented things that only work well in CE. The vehicle rule was exchanging durability for power and vehicle health was thrown in yet CE’s mp did not have destroyable vehicles. That was campaign only.
Sure the plasma pistol is powerful again. But the plasma rifle and needler did not get the same treatment. Plus, they did not restore the plasma pistol overcharge’s range, only made it do damage, gave it better homing, and made it so that you could quickly charge it and there was less waiting time (meaning you could fire plasma pistol bolts after an overcharge). This only makes it useful for the enemy, which is spammed by them like crazy. Another weapon that was only useful for the enemy in combat was the concussion rifle, which is also spammed like crazy. And let’s not forget about the plasma repeater. In enemy hands, this does a lot of damage but in the player’s, also useless. Bottomless clip enemies has to go.
My point is, Reach’s difficulty emphasis was an insult to CE’s balance emphasis. Reach adopted H3’s ‘more health per rank’ and aggression and H2’s ‘player positioning affecting AI’ but did not restore the elements of stealth and immersion of CE. Firing your gun is just going to get the enemy’s attention. Waking up a sleeping Grunt will result in a Grunt that’s always alert.
> but everything else was so well done it buried the bad parts so deep only someone who’s actively LOOKING for flaws (i.e., all the Reach haters) would dig them up and stop playing because of them.
Nope.
I wasn’t looking for flaws when I did my LNoS setups. By LNoS setups, I mean in the Reach Demo (as I still haven’t purchased the full game), I spent time trying to find ways to gain control of the battlefield.
Sending Jorge up the cliffs due to his superior range as a distraction with a rocket launcher trooper stationed near the armor abilities case and a Wraith on the right made a deadly combo and allowed me to mobilize without worrying about getting shot down, moving crates scattered over the beach into a line then using UNSC shields to stop marines and grunts from climbing over them or leaving a little opening so I can only fight Elites.
I managed to gain 75% dominance over the area, assassinating Ultra Elites without being impeded by the lower ranking enemies. From various positions: cliff, underwater, out of the map. Of course, this was on Heroic or Legendary so I had to do it on Co-op so I could respawn.
I also encountered an interesting glitch that made Elites that did a big jump start crouching all the time. I still have the video of my first encounter which was on Legendary. However, it didn’t last long. And by that I mean, there was no way to save it and eventually, the Elite departed for the main beach battle and got killed. I spent 4 hours with him so don’t try to say that I’m being unreasonable. I’ve hated Halo’s checkpoint system for so long and the only Halo game that actually changed it was H2 with it’s unfortunately stupid ‘5 times revert to second last checkpoint’.
While in a Wraith, I got overcharged spam by Jackals. While in a Wraith, if I get boarded by an Elite, I have no way to defend myself. When I tried to stop friendly AI from boosting the Wraith into the enemies by getting them stuck over stairs all the way back from the beach, they ended up firing at enemies from an odd angle, even though they weren’t facing the enemy. And let’s not forget how the Wraith pilots have great eyesight and can hit you from long distances. Finally, the friendly AI Wraith pilots don’t give a -Yoink- about friendly fire. When I was on the top of the map, if I went to a certain location, almost always, I get hit by their mortar.
Another problem. Bobs. Easter eggs are ok when they don’t get in the way of gameplay. Bobs apparently have superior AI and are tougher than most Elites. But the problem is, they disappear so fast and you’re often feeling robbed of a kill. Not to mention their disappearance is instantaneous. There’s no initial cloaking to make the “transition” look smooth. Very, very immersion breaking.
I also got all the troopers dropped off by the Pelican armed with rocket launchers but they inevitably blow themselves up and they are pathetic in cqc as they don’t do melee damage and they don’t back away.
> Am I the only one here who thinks Reach was a step up from Halo 3?
It was mostly a downgrade. The only AI improvement I’ve seen is this animation where troopers toss a grenade while remaining in cover. Also, the menu no longer has switch lobby (or does it?).
So I’m not mindlessly hating Reach. I’m hating it because I spent many hours trying to find new ways to play it and got impeded. And because the conventional combat can be so dull (which is what drove me to seek out new ways to play it). Of course, I dislike H3 more…