Shooters on the gamepad. Once this was considered something out of the ordinary, and now most copies of the most popular representative of this Call of Duty genre are sold on consoles. But as it would seem, under an uncomfortable control device, they began to release and optimize games. All thanks to the master chief. Today we will talk about how Halo was born from the strategy, what elements of this genre were preserved in it, and as a result, she was able to popularize the shooters on consoles.
For the time being, until the time in the games everywhere began to appear, the Crossbreeds that allow users of consoles and the PC to jointly participate in multiplayer zarubes, each community was in its cozy world, chuckling at the adherents of alternative input devices. As soon as they faced face to face, instead of jokes, accusations rained down. One side was charged with the other that it was easier to flip with the mouse, that is, to sharply and quickly led to the enemy’s carcass, but the bakers were parrying that with the help of a joystick and Aim, it is easier to keep this enemy in the sight. And there is no end and edge of this war. But how did it all start?
And it all started with Apple. Why not with Microsoft, but because in its early years the Bungie studio developed projects exclusively for the Mac operating system. They gained their popularity thanks to the Marathon shooter, who was confident enough in comparison with Mastodont in the face of Doom. I am glad that they have not forgotten about this franchise and are going to develop it, though in the person of Escape from Tarkov, which is somewhat frustrated, but the trailer looks very stylish. I want to look at the purely because of the visual, and the master will clearly not fail with the shooting. In addition, the developers’ portfolio has, which, released in 1997, has a real time strategy, which also gained recognition and prompted Bungie to develop further in this genre.
The new game was supposed to be in the science fiction setting, and the main guideline, in addition to the previous work, was Starcraft, only without fuss with resources. At about that time, Peter Tamte joined the studio, who previously worked at Apple and he saw him so much that he personally went to his former boss Steve Jobs to impregnate this project and demonstrate it at the Macworld 1999 conference. The head of the company also granted the shown and he agreed to present the future Halo public. Then this name was not even considered, and all sorts of proposals from a specially hired team of marketers did not fit her spirit until one of the developers gave out Halo. Clearly, capaciously, completely describes the essence of the world of the game and has some mystery. Somehow made on time, with non-working sound and hastily recorded on a separate disk with an accompanying sound, which also broke down, but fortunately was a spare, the demo made a splash with open levels without reconciliations, the interaction of the flora, fauna, weather and the leading of partisan military operations in the hostile world of the ring. But what was shown is all that was at that time from the game.
Moreover, Bungie experienced certain problems with finances, since their previous project Myth 2 was in a disgusting technical condition, for which they had to return funds to the players. A meeting was held, which was attended by the then head of Microsoft Game Studio Ed Fix, who was instructed to create a portfolio of games for the original Xbox. During it, it was decided that Microsoft was buying a studio and Halo they developed so that they would prepare it for the start of a new console.
This very start was already looming on the horizon and the developers had to rush to release the game on time. The sticks in the wheels were inserted by small -laws themselves, who detained the technical documentation of the new device. Also, almost 80 percent of the game had to be redone for the sake of a new perspective. In the course of all these events, the strategy turned into a third -person shooter, and later from the first. Layout of buttons, ease of control and aiming are now felt as standard things for shooters, but then it looked just revolutionary. Despite all the difficulties in November 2001, Halo with the Sombat Evolved subtitle and turned over the idea of shooters on consoles. Yes, even now the old woman is felt quite worthy of what will be discussed later.
As for me, the main advantage https://casinomidnite.co.uk/login/ in comparison with competitors were and remain opponents. Considering the dumb AI in the modern representatives of this genre, you involuntarily remember how Bungie realized it. It is funny that the patterns of behavior of the boobs opposing you is exactly what remains in the inheritance from the original concept of strategy.
There are not many types of enemies, only five, but each of them has its own peculiarity and brings adjustments to the situation on the battlefield. The most obvious is the interaction of boars and elites, which is a small combat group. Hryaks or, as they are called by Laura Unggoi are the weakest and most cowardly race of the Covenant, which obey the more warlike Sangheili and here the interesting thing begins. When the commander is alive, small bastards run into battle and strive to crush you, throw grenades, in general, eliminate, but as soon as you kill a leader, they just scatter in fear from the awareness of the inevitable death in the person of a two -meter Spartan. Feel a certain Fleur strategies where morality falls from the death of the commander and they retreat.
It is sometimes more profitable here to deal with the elite, and then with the rest, so as not to get damage from all the trunks participating in the confrontation. Although this is not so simple, because in addition to the same as the protagonist of the energy armor that remains to be shot down from him, this bastard is quite swivel and very often dodges the queue released into it. He forever manses somewhere, tries to take shelter, and remaining without protection and can completely leave to sit up until it recovers. Maybe in words it is simple, but in the dynamics of the battle it is felt cool when this unfolds in front of you, forcing to somehow adapt to the current situation. What works, because this system was used and showed itself well and in the following iterations of the series.
Other opponents intervene in all this turmoil, making their own adjustments to the familiar formula. Thyroidists beat you from a distance, and healthy packed with a good hit and completely demolish you all the CPs. No matter how trite it sounds, but for a good shooter in the order of things is that each opponent needs its own approach. Here it is just the same. It is enough to cut the jackal with a butt, but first you need to get to it. It’s enough to get around and make a shot in the back, but this is also not easy, because for the most part they are quite inconvenient, and also usually stand in pairs and cover each other’s rear.
The flood is generally a separate topic. The first meeting with them is so impressive that in my coordinate system it is one of the best episodes of the game. Initially, you are shown the consequences of the events and you begin to fantasize for yourself what happened here, and then you come across their reason.
The moment when they tell you that there were many opponents around the goosebumps at the first passage, and after you came across a flat face to face. They also significantly changed the gameplay, turning Halo into a certain analogue of the steep Sam, where you need to retreat with the opponents with your back, shooting along the way. Rush Zerg – was their only tactic to get to the ass of the protagonist, and in this cocktail you were forced to maneuver. When it happened that all of the listed figures were on the same board, Combat Evolved was fully revealed. The truth is not always and not everywhere, because the processing of a huge part of the game in a short time could not but do without the consequences, which was reflected at the levels.
From praise, we will move on to the dose of stuffiness, both from me and from the game. Most of the places in which we will fight is a copy -paste of the same corridors in which where I will go to pursue you constantly. The game had to be filled with something before the start of the console release, so such a cheap and quick way was chosen.
Basically, you are locked in a pipe with a bunch of opponents, through which you are forced to break through and which are the only landmark in this monotonous mess from the walls and ceilings, because if there are no enemies here, then you were already here. And how much the memory does not change me in the original version of the arrow indicating the direction, in contrast to the remasted version. Sometimes developers allow themselves to put someone in a narrow passage with a grenade launcher, which for a minute is wans. In such moments you have to rely solely on luck and, as in the verge of the future, go through the same episode again and again, while you are not lucky.
They are still trying to entertain us with endless crowds constantly spinning at you all in the same catacombs, so that standing in one place you can observe how, from because of one corner, pieces of eighteen infected are released in turn. As one of the elements of the world, it works correctly, because it is not without reason that they are called the flood, but as a player it just infuriates you. The apogee of this approach is the level of the library. Here you find yourself in a space where it is almost impossible to maneuver, while all types of Flate run over you from all sides. And so for, probably for about twenty minutes you have to tear your ass in order to somehow survive in this fucking hell.
The benefit is open levels where all the mechanics work well, but they do not particularly delight us with such often. The space for maneuver appears, allowing you not only to suppress all with fire power, but to somehow bypass and select the most profitable route and the battle style in a particular situation. It is beneficial somewhere to work with sniper, somewhere to come from the rear and shoot in close combat, and somewhere more appropriate to use the equipment.
Spaces allow us to steer jeeps, tanks, enemy banshees and ghosts, which makes the process of advancement to the goal is disproportionately easier, because the Kovenant uses everything very willingly, which can be bored with nerves when you find yourself with an automaton against this infection. All that flies a buzz, but a boar is my separate pain, because my brain breaks when trying to look around or direct the car where you need to do all this with the same stick. And its implementation itself, as a vehicle, is quite cool. He has a pendant and a rather tangible inertia, but it is simply uncomfortable for them to control. All this was also in the early prototypes of the strategy that looking at these locations is very noticeable. In them you interact with your detachments against the enemy army, which was originally conceived as a partisan war, who found themselves in the world-ring of the forces of mankind. And in my opinion, these episodes are best worked out.
Well, maybe with the exception of shooting. Yes, so much time has passed, and we only started talking about the main thing that should be in the shooters. I do not know how they achieved it, but in Halo the notorious Aim the assistant is felt softer, or more than in other representatives of this genre. In some column, at the entrance to the sight, he sharply shows the enemy, here it sticks straight. Here you yourself are combining the crosshair, which is a huge circle to the floor of the screen, with an enemy carcass, and the game is smoothly helping you lead to him. How cool the shooting is felt from the gamepad when you can leave in a chair and shoot and relax with a high when you are not choked with gameplay shoals. Here, when shooting from your hip, you do not feel like a krivoruki, but you are in full confidence that you can defeat your opponent.
Even a little weapons, but this conciseness is beneficial for the game. Who, but I don’t really like it when a whole bunch of trunks are poured on you, from which you will use two. In truth, only two can be dragged and you can, but absolutely everything will be used. There is no useless something here, there are times when another model of weapons would look more preferable now, especially when you find one on one with a tank, while holding a machine gun in your hands. Let you mainly use a standard assault rifle, but as soon as the cartridges end in it, you have to choose the cannon guns and here you understand and reveal their charm. Each has its own highlight, which in a particular situation can be turned to your benefit. In the spirit of knocking out the elite shields energy, which is much more effective, and to finish already with ballistic. True, there is no particular need for standard complexity, and you don’t really want to do your passage even more stuffy.
Let the game possess a simple, but good plot, a cool, really cool shooting mechanics that does not become obsolete to this day, and is the founder of everything that we are used to seeing in modern shooters, but the game design that tried to connect the finished levels with copying corridors and hordes of constantly spinning enemies who strangle you all the second half of the game, killing absolutely all the desire to go through it. This was the last time I touched this masterpiece, born from a strategy that popularized the shooters on consoles and gave us one of the most memorable heroes from the video game.