The Evolution of Halo Multiplayer

There seems to be little room behind the two juggernauts of first person shooters.  Call of Duty and Battlefield remain at the top of the Xbox Live charts week after week, month after month.  When I jumped onto Halo 4 even the most populated playlists sat around 7,000 active players.  Despite its attempt to stay relevant in the pro gaming circuit, I think Halo can embrace the more obscure game types and fit in a more arcade shooter archetype. 

I hadn’t played Halo 4 in probably two months.  When I jumped back into the Infinity I immediately checked out the action sack playlist.  I was taken aback by the tiny slayer gametype. I still don’t know how 343 Industries incorporated this (glitch?) into the game, but it’s awesome. From the oversized guns, to the fast movement speed, it brings back fond memories of Unreal Championship.  When Bungie created Forge it opened up a wealth of options to make Halo a completely different game.  343i implemented on Forge in great ways but dropped the ball on file share at launch.  It took so long to get the file share up and running that the community dropped off.  The best maps and gametypes are difficult to find and it’s even more difficult to find people to play these game modes with.  A custom games section, similar to that of Starcraft or League of Legends (just examples from games I’m currently playing) could give Halo new legs and a way to better highlight the Forge community. 

Have you heard about the weapons the 343 prototyped and subsequently cut from Halo 4? Guns like the stasis pistol that would freeze an enemy in place for a short time? Yet they settled for Promethean weapons mirrored current weapons. The needler is the only weapon that has any real character and it has been present since Halo: CE.  Almost every unique weapon has been phased out throughout the series.  While 343 isn’t solely responsible for this, they do have the opportunity to leave their own mark on the series.  While weapons like the statis gun may be hard to balance for the pro circuit, MLG die hards have always used Forge to alter the game and make it how they want anyways.  

343 needs to have fun with Halo. When Halo: CE launched on the Xbox there was little, if anything, like it.  343 needs to distance itself from other shooters on the market.  While I had no qualms with the load-outs, weapon drops, and kill rewards implemented in Halo 4 I certainly understand the adverse reaction to it.  There are also the fair share of fans that still dislike armor abilities, but I think that Halo can go in even more extreme directions.  With the Forerunner (and potentially Precursors) playing such a large role in the story now, there is huge opportunity for awesome technology to be implemented. Speaking of Forerunner and Precursors I have some thoughts on the direction of the Halo story so look for that in the near future.

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.E.R.I.E.S P.R.E.M.I.E.R.E.

Marvel hit the movie scene with an ambitious plan,  to create a series of movies in a shared universe that would ultimately culminate in one of the highest grossing movies of all time: The Avengers.  Following the success of the movies ABC has taken to the small screen to continue it’s vision.  While a show like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t fit the typical ABC formula, being owned by Disney, this isn’t something ABC could let go to any other network.  

With the pedigree behind this show, from Joss Whedon to the connected Marvel universe, to a wealth of source material to draw from, I came in optimistic but cautious.  Right away I was a little put off by the look of the show. Maybe it’s because we’re used to seeing S.H.I.E.L.D. on the movie screen and now we’re seeing a much smaller budget, but with shows like Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead having such a unique look it’s hard to give S.H.I.E.L.D. a pass on the “television” look of the show.  That’s not saying that they spared on the budget. There are plenty of special effects throughout the pilot as well as a few choreographed fight scenes.  Right away we are thrust into a mission as agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) is tracking down a piece of interesting tech.

*Spoilers ahead*

Speaking of tech, there are plenty of subtle nods to the Marvel universe at large.  The tech that Ward tracks down is a piece of Chitauri technology and that is just the beginning.  Extremis, gamma radiation, “unknown” organizations, as well as a few super heroes are all mentioned. Some are even a large part of this episode.  We can only hope that the Marvel universe will continue to be deeply tied into what is happening with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. 

Speaking of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) makes his triumphant return though there are almost immediately hints that not all is what it seems. Coulson however is still full of charm and provides plenty of laughs.  Cobie Smulders reprises her role as Maria Hill, though it’s unclear how often she will show up due to the final season of How I Met Your Mother.  Other agents include the mysterious Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), who gets picked out from behind a desk but gives us a glimpse of her ability to kick ass.  Leo Fitz (Lain De Caestecker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) fill the role of accent sporting, bantering, scientists. Finally Skye (Chloe Bennet) fills the attractive newly recruited hacker.

The pilot shows a lot of promise and with Joss Whedon behind the wheel there is great expectations.  The pilot already shows that S.H.I.E.L.D. knows it’s audience is filled with fans that know the deeper Marvel universe.  The series tease showed what looked like even more big budget moments to come.  The case of the week formula should keep Marvel, Avengers, and newcomers alike interested for the foreseeable future.

This is definitely a show to keep your eye on, anyone else watch the pilot? What were your thoughts? Sound off in the comments below!

Grand Theft Auto V: A Week Later

Almost a week has past since the biggest video game launch in history. It wasn’t clear if my initial impression was aligned with the rest of the world, but before you freak out, a single mission made all of difference and ultimately won me over.

Grand Theft Auto IV was released five years ago, but a sequel to GTA IV this is not. While GTA IV focused on a gritty Liberty City and Niko Bellik looking to get out of the game, GTA V shows a vibrant Los Santos and a group of shady characters looking to get back in it. Based on location and gameplay this is more of a sequel to 2004’s San Andreas, with more to do and greater freedom to do it.

As I jumped into the newest GTA I was greeted with familiarity.  Yes the graphics look good for a console at the end of it’s generation. Yes the driving and the shooting has been refined to an acceptable level.  Everything I expected to be improved is, but it really just felt like the GTA games of old.  Don’t get me wrong, Los Santos is an incredible city in both the way it looks and the way characters react to situations.  You can see buildings for an unbelievable distance. Characters fight back when you steal their car, and run you over instead of stopping when you aim your weapon at them.  Little touches like these kept me hooked.

There are only a few minor annoyances I have with the game.  The change in physics has resulted in slightly less entertaining moments when getting hit by a car for example.  It’s a little more realistic yes, but less “Meet Joe Black” and far less fun. Also just jumping as Mike or Franklin seems to result in falling over.  You can’t jump off of a ledge without falling like an awkward sack of potatoes.  Finally, while the shooting has been improved and locking on is great, trying to shoot freely is still behind other third-person shooters.  But as I said these issues are minor and pretty easily overlooked.

It wasn’t until I gained access to the third playable character that I truly understood how amazing this game is.  When you are thrust into the shoes of Trevor you find yourself in the mountainous region of the game.  This is when I realized how visually stunning and how huge the world really is.  Without getting into spoilers this is where you fly a plane for the first time (unless you go steal one yourself that is).  While you may not be getting the graphical quality of linear games like Last of Us or Halo, the shadows, reflections, number of objects on screen, and distance at which you can see is clearly putting the console through it’s paces.  You can see where the 265 million dollar budget went to.  

Open world games often have trouble with mission variety.  GTA V’s missions are not only varied, but also seem to go in completely different directions than expected.  The most popular mission of GTA IV was the heist and GTA V expands on this.  I’ve only completed one heist, but it was definitely one of the best missions I’ve played.  During the planning phases of the heist you get to choose your crew.  The skill level of the crew can affect the outcome of the heist.  In my jewelry store robbery my “gunman” apparently didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle and crashed during the escape. Thankfully I had the opportunity to stop and grab his jewels on my way by, saving the money and actually increasing my cut.  There are also pre-heist missions depending on how you choose to complete the heist.  I chose the smart way vs guns blazing which meant I had to steal some gas to knock out the people inside, and a van to disguise my team as pest control employees.

As it stands GTA V is worth every penny.  $800 Million in the first 24 hours and $1 billion dollars in three days shows that everyone else seems to agree. The ability to replay missions with extra goals at anytime gives the game an enormous amount of replayability.

The story is engaging and the characters are dynamic. Trevor is a functioning psychopath on the 

same level as Kreig from Borderlands 2, yet somehow comes off as extremely likeable when he’s 

not flying off the rails. All of this and  I haven’t even gotten to what excites me most about GTA V -- 

GTA Online. I’m looking forward to collecting cars and buying properties, but the potential of the 

online experience is what excites me most.  This 16-player online multiplayer mode releases on 

October 1 as a free download to those that have purchased the game.  Sporting a custom race and 

deathmatch editor, fully voiced story missions that take place before the single-player campaign,

and the same open world experience. Create your own character, form a crew with it’s own 

hierarchy, watch your friends on a television from the comfort of your own apartment. This is truly 

the most complete Grand Theft Auto experience to date.

The Rise and Fall of Internet Comment Culture

I grew up in rural Missouri.  I can’t really tell you the first time I used the internet, but I do know that I had dial up for a very long time.  I spent my fair share of time in the AOL chat rooms.  Heck I remember even writing letters to a few people that I met. The Internet was great.  I never really got into deep discussions boards or comment threads, heck I didn’t really surf the internet regularly until I moved to college.  To me, the internet was awesome and people were nice.  I did a little online gaming starting with Phantasy Star Online on my Nintendo Gamecube. That’s right, I was one of the 100 people that bought the dial up modem that attached to the bottom of the little purple lunch box.  Sure people talked trash in Halo 2, but I played sports, that’s what it’s all about.  

Now that the vast majority of the U.S. has internet it’s become a breeding ground for hate and people bashing. What started as a great way for people to express their opinions was quickly taken over by the trolls spitting profanity and boldfaced lies. An opinion that goes against what someone else believes is quickly followed by name calling and straight up bullying.  There is hope though.

IGN is where I experience most of my comment threads (and Yahoo, but that place is dominated by religious fanatics). Recently IGN has started cracking down on personal attacks against other users and encouraging people to “not feed the trolls”. Surprisingly this seems to really be having an effect.  Attacks, racism, sexism, and profanity are being removed very quickly and all we are left with is good discussion and the (frequent) troll looking to get a rise out of someone. A host of another podcast brought up a good point, why do people always have to hate things and make it their personal goal to make other people hate them.  Stating your opinion is fine, encouraged in fact, but just because something isn’t for you doesn’t mean it won’t appeal to someone. State your opinion, have a nice discussion about it, and move on. If someone else enjoys something, let them enjoy it.  Something to think about as we begin the journey here at Six Socket Media.

@TheTimWelsh