Yes.

Not to take anything away from Halo but if someone says vehicular combat, I still think of Battlefield. In my first session of 1942, I ran up the beach from my boat then almost got my head taken off by a jeep while two planes collided just in front of me.

Only because of the players tho.

I_R wrote:

They are a bit of an unbalanced mess though, with some awful game play (repair from inside a vehicle) and zero skill countermeasures. They do feel as if they're in primarily to meet expectations and to add spectacle.

Vehicle and infantry stuff can be great. But yeah, balance. Haven't played BF4 to comment, but I recall some things in BFBC2 being tricky if you weren't organsised.

halo CE did have vehicles, even in MP, but given it was only ever LAN, the imbalance didn't matter so much.

(The vehicles were literally indestructable, ffs.)

They were still good fun, and you could set up races and such as well.

In halo 2 and 3 it was much more of a mixed bag.

A lot of trouble balancing banshees, tanks, and the rockets and such. H2 had lock-on rockets, which negated a lot of vehicle action, H3 had a lot of levels where if you didn't sort out the banshee early, you were screwed. (And Reach had a forge map out of the box with the most imbalanced vehicle v infantry play in any of the games. Well done guys.)

And lets not forget the gaus hog. Jesus Fuck.

Still, on large maps with good counters and an objective, vehicles added a shedload of outstanding entertainment, and they could totally be used "properly" and tactically.

I'm not sure about how others feel, but I would say for me the FPS genre experience probably peaked with Metroid Prime 3. The reasons being that it felt like you had more than just shooty things to do - you could pilot your spaceship, interact with various panels and that made it feel like Voltron cartoons.

You could scan the environment and gain an understanding of the lore and history of the world. Sort of like how Halo used to tell its story by the environment and radio chatter before it became a series of religious sermons.

And the player had a lot of dexterity. Double jump, 180-degree rotation into lock-on + missile launch at flying enemies. In contrast, most FPSes feel sluggish and confined by comparison.

I single out MP3 as the example since it was built for motion + pointer controls, rather than the first two which are generally cited as better 'games', but the elements in MP3 that make it unique are particularly strong achievements.

It all adds up to give a more cohesive feeling of a living world. Unlike say, Halo 2 or Half Life 2 where if you go down some alleys or on top of the roof, you see behind the curtain and the illusion is shattered. Give me a confined space and an intricate world and that feeling remains far longer.

I enjoyed the Primes a lot more than any(?) FPS, but I've never really thought of them as such. I was just thinking the other day how I'd like to see a lock on in console FPS', though.

AJ wrote:

I enjoyed the Primes a lot more than any(?) FPS, but I've never really thought of them as such. I was just thinking the other day how I'd like to see a lock on in console FPS', though.

I dont think they were traditionally fps games when released, but in today's market the fps moniker seems to encompass a broader group today than it did in 2001 when Prime was dubbed a first person adventure.

I had Recon armour, the pinnacle of awesomeness. Until they unlocked it for everyone.

Reach's unlocks were shit, tbh. All looked the same.

Do wonder how long Metroid is going to be stuck in the IP limbo. That's probably for the best, frankly, but.

2002 was the last one, I think. Needs more love.

Nintendo say lots of things.
I think (hope) Smash Bros will open the flood gates for other IP.

Vela wrote:

It all adds up to give a more cohesive feeling of a living world. Unlike say, Halo 2 or Half Life 2 where if you go down some alleys or on top of the roof, you see behind the curtain and the illusion is shattered. Give me a confined space and an intricate world and that feeling remains far longer.

I think that may be a touch unfair on H2. Particularly early on, you could do some really creative stuff and find alternative routes that would add tactics, not unveil the edge of the map.

They definitely overstretched, and there are parts that fail on that front, but they are countered by some of the shortcuts, and easter eggs and silliness you can get up to.

The glitches in that game gave it some of it's best moments, even in SP.

Having said that, as a general point, I see what you're getting at.

Liveinadive wrote:

Nintendo say lots of things.
I think (hope) Smash Bros will open the flood gates for other IP.

More beat the beat please.

Facewon wrote:

@vela: But Prey was a piece of shit of a game, really.

That's what a 12 year development cycle gets you. It did have some great aspects to it but was rough around the edges, sure.

No, that was just a really detailed dream you had.