EDIT: My problem with the music seems to be occuring randomly. I played one of the mentioned parts a second time and the issues with the music was not present.
After the release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary i have had mixed feelings. Overall,343 Industries have done a great job with the new textures, sounds, music and all that stuff. So i’m not complaining. However, there is a few problems i’ve encountered so far:
Sound issues. At some points of the game the music is missing, after playing the orignal over and over something feels wrong. The music is often not playing at the right moment for example: On the last mission there was no music at all while driving through the Pillar of Autumn with the warthog. That completely ruined the atmosphere. And compared to the original there WAS music in that part.
This problem was encountered at several other occasions where there was supposed to be music. This was noticeable on the level “Halo” at the last part of the mission. There was no music at all. And there WAS supposed to be music there compared to the original. This was a constant problem through the entire campaign. As a true halo fan, this is dissapointing. Have anyone had the same experience? Or has the developers just been clumsy or lazy? Here is where you guys come in. Please answer if you have noticed the same problems as I have!
Apart from the questions, I have a complaint which is not an error. The lightning is constantly ruining the feeling when playing since it it is too bright in the new engine. There is no scary dark corridors anymore, no feeling of being alone because someone is holding the flashlight.
I’m not saying that this is a bade remake.I’ve seen ALOT worse remakes over the years. I want to thank 343 industries for doing this for the fans, but as stated above i’m a little dissapointed. Or, I may be wrong. Perhaps something wrong with my disc regarding the sounds but I can’t figure it out without help.
Excuse me for eventual bad explaining or spelling.
I did notice the music dropping out and stuck shooting stuff without any music in the background - even on main parts.
Overall, I stuck on the “Classic” music mode in the options and enjoyed it, but I couldn’t find a option to decrease weapon and enemy noises and make the music more dominant, thats my only quarrel.
while I do agree that the atmosphere of several levels were gone because it was much brighter, the lighting in CEA is the best there’s been in the whole series.
The lighting didn’t bug me much, as my interest in seeing how different the levels would look overrode my want of the original atmosphere.
However, the music was definitely a disappointment for me. I was only able to play up to a few minutes into Truth and Reconciliation, but so far, I dislike how different the music is. I thought it was just going to be cleaner and have more depth to it, but not have completely different takes on it at times. Also, hearing about missing music and such is further pushing that disappointment. I’m still curious as to how different the music will be, but I wasn’t expecting to be affected by that fact.
I don’t think it was lighting that was the true problem rather their attempts at creating an atmosphere.
The engine proved it was capable of good lighting, you only have to walk through a dark level such as “Keyes” where all the lights were shot out watching the light from your Asssault Rifle illuminate the corridor was quite impressive.
Halo CEA however just lacks that atmosphere. Not all the time, just in some missions. Halo 3 and Reach always seemed more realistic even for a Halo game. To me Halo CEA seemed a lot more cartoony than any other Halo game to date.
Watch this video for reference:
Hopefully you’ll understand what I’m talking about when you watch this video.
Those gripes aside however, the game is truly marvelous and I am impressed with 343’s talent thus far.
> I don’t think it was lighting that was the true problem rather their attempts at creating an atmosphere.
>
> The engine proved it was capable of good lighting, you only have to walk through a dark level such as “Keyes” where all the lights were shot out watching the light from your Asssault Rifle illuminate the corridor was quite impressive.
>
> Halo CEA however just lacks that atmosphere. Not all the time, just in some missions. Halo 3 and Reach always seemed more realistic even for a Halo game. To me Halo CEA seemed a lot more cartoony than any other Halo game to date.
>
> Watch this video for reference:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KB8gY1KCc8
>
> Hopefully you’ll understand what I’m talking about when you watch this video.
> Those gripes aside however, the game is truly marvelous and I am impressed with 343’s talent thus far.
I totaly agree with you that 343 industries did a marvelous job in remaking this old classic. They realy do have my thanks. Of course you can always wish that they did some things better. Now i see the “issues” in another perspective. But I get the feeling sometimes that the reach engine is’nt as good as they say. It all is about how well the developers know their graphics engine, I suppose. And about the lighning I also agree with you. Sadly, Halo CEA lacks the atmosphere compared to the original.
> The lighting didn’t bug me much, as my interest in seeing how different the levels would look overrode my want of the original atmosphere.
>
> However, the music was definitely a disappointment for me. I was only able to play up to a few minutes into Truth and Reconciliation, but so far, I dislike how different the music is. I thought it was just going to be cleaner and have more depth to it, but not have completely different takes on it at times. Also, hearing about missing music and such is further pushing that disappointment. I’m still curious as to how different the music will be, but I wasn’t expecting to be affected by that fact.
Yeah, it’s very interesting to compare the two games by switching between the graphics.
Even that the new graphics have MANY improvements it still has it’s weaknesses, can’t deny that.
On the other way, I understand that it is very hard create exact remake without doing any mistakes. One thing they could have done better is the music as you mentioned
I didn’t think anyone else would take issue with so many areas being “brightened up” too much. I go back to classic mode and it actually has more atmosphere. Fancy textures and lighting do not automatically make for good atmosphere.
CEA is great. But it usually just feels like another generic alien world. Nothing special. Nothing to spur the imagination. Just fancy visuals.