Overrated?

Well, the saga of the broken XBox continues. Never fear, it all ends happily.

I know I did a brief review of Halo 3 last week. Now I'd like to spend a little time talking about how other people have reviewed it. More than a few magazines and professional websites gave Halo 3 their highest possible rating, which (for me at least) calls into doubt the standards by which they review a product.

I mean honestly, is Halo 3 one of the best videogames ever? Better than Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Tempest? Here's my standard for making inducting a game into the hall of fame:

ONE: ACCESSIBILITY - To be one of the best games ever, a game has to be one that anyone can enjoy. It's obvious that Halo 3 is going to be a hit with folks who have followed the franchise, and stands a good chance of winning over folks who are familiar with the FPS genre. But to be the best, a game has to win over folks who may never have picked up a joystick. It's got to transcend its genre and (dare I say it) become a cultural phenomenon. Pac man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders all did it. Halo 3 has a devoted following, but it also (perhaps unintentionally) errects huge walls to keep out those who may not have been following the trend that closely.

TWO: REPLAYABILITY - A great game withstands the test of time. You not only have a good time playing it the first time, but when you decide to dust it off and play it again, you know it will deliver. Time and time again. Like most games with a scripted single player element, Halo 3 undoubtedly has the odds stacked against it. Clearly, you are likely to enjoy playing it the first time, but after you have finally beaten a particular level after dying countless times, you most likely will (a) be glad that you are finally able to save your game and move on and (b) never, ever want to slog through that particular level again. It's a delicate balance that plagues designers of games these days - the player has to have a sense of accomplishment, but not be so frustrated that they give up in disgust. In the process, replayability often gets thrown out the window.

THREE: IMPACT - Actually, this catagory could just as easily have been called "legs" or "gaming zen." A great game has an impact on the player, and after playing the game, the player actually feels like they've done something truly memorable and different. They actually had fun while playing, not caring whether they won or lost. It's undeniable that Halo 3 has had an impact on its fans. But when you strip away the flashy graphics and code, just how different is Halo 3 from other games in its genre? Will its success last one minute past the next offering from Microsoft and Bungie Studios?

Oh well, those are my standards. I'll be interested in hearing from you folks and what your standards might be.

Pretty

Halo 3 is...pretty. That's the best way to sum it up. The game takes full advantage of the XBox 360 hardware to make the graphics really stand out. As far as the game goes, to my unpracticed eye (as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not a big FPS player) it looks about the same as the previous incarnations of the product. But it sure looks nice. Check out this video from gamespot comparing the three versions of the game:



Of course, good graphics alone do not (in my opinion) make a great game. You should be able to ignore the graphics and have fun, even if the graphics are the most simple and crude things around. I haven't experienced enough of Halo 3 to render a verdict on the quality of the gameplay. But judging by the sales, I'm guessing it doesn't really matter.

Withdrawl

The story continues. What happens when you take away GC's game machine? The result isn't pretty.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that the much anticipated Halo 3 is coming out this week. To be honest, I've never played the halo series, and really have no desire to do so. I think the last FPS (first person shooter) I played was Star Wars Jedi Knight II. Halo seems to appeal to a demographic younger than myself. However, if anyone's interested, I'll bite the bullet and tell you what I've learned about the game. Let me know.



Personally, I'm interested in the latest Zelda game, the Phantom Hourglass, due out next week for the Nintendo DS. I know I didn't start out liking the Zelda games, but then I started playing them and really liked the orderly way the world was laid out - the puzzles were logical, an you knew that any obstacle you encountered was only temporary and you would eventually make your way past it. The same went for the creatures you encountered. Even the toughest monsters had some chink in their armor you could exploit. Winning a major battle was an accomplishment. By the time Minnish Cap came out, I was hooked on Zelda. The Phantom Hourglass promises to take advantage of the DS touchscreen interface, adding a new level to the popular series.

One of the things I like about handheld games is that you should be able to pick them up and play them or leave them at any time. Picross is one of those games - you can save a game in progress at any time and come back to it later. The perfect diversion for those long commercial breaks. I've solved over 300 of the avialable puzzles in the game and there's only a few more to go. By then I hope there will be some decent puzzles available for download via the internet.