When an original game becomes a hit, it can be difficult to re-configure its secret sauce into an equally enjoyable sequel.
Amped 3 arrived 18 years ago as an Xbox 360 launch title. An enjoyable and unique snowboarding game, and sadly the final entry in the series.
In Halo 4, 5, and Infinite, Master Chief became a more nuanced, human character.
In spite of the Halo series’ struggles, 343 deserves praise for adding nuance and characterisation to the ever-beating heart of Halo - The Master Chief. Playing through Infinite, it's abundantly clear that the events of the current and previous trilogies have irrevocably changed the iconic hero. He’s no longer the ‘blank slate’ that was previously presented by Bungie. He’s a fatigued, damaged and fallible protagonist, and one who is meandering through currents of grief, while reveling in his newfound agency. Giving the Chief a compelling and meaningful voice was no small feat, and 343 should be proud of that victory.
This article completely misses part of the appeal of the original iteration of character in the original game trilogy. It was the Chief and Cortana vs an entire alien collective. The blank slate Bungie displayed in their games was genius, he was an mysterious hero a wide audience could identify with because he wasn't as clearly defined as most characters.
The books added a lot of lore and backstory but most Halo players just want a fun game with exposition that doesn't get in the way of gameplay, it's why the Cortana level in Halo 3 was derided.
Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty.
The 343i Master Chief has is based on the books. However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion.
Daily Video Game writes: "GameStop is running a new pre-owned game sale on over 1000 pre-owned games that offers four pre-owned ($9.99 or less) games for $20 across multiple gaming platforms right now, including PS3 and Xbox 360!"
Given the nature of backwards compatibility on new systems, this is a great sale in case you missed out on some gems from last gen.
Most of the games on Xbox are on game pass. The Switch games in this sale are trash c'mon farming simulator that's laughable. The PS4 games should be cheaper. I can't wait for the GameStop going out of business liquidation sale.
These sales, while potentially great, really struggle to be valuable given you can't easily parse what games are in stock. You can't just say "only show what is online & what are in my nearby stores". Probably 60-75% of these games in these massive lists are out of stock for shipping, and out of stock locally. It makes it a chore to find anything you'd want, much less 4 of them, much less enough if you wanted to get to a free shipping tier. It's a bummer.
So much hyperbole.
Not Halo 5. It had a bad story COMPARED to past games but it didn't have a bad story overall. The gameplay was top notch, and multiplayer is still one of the best on the market right now. Custom games browser is the single greatest thing 343 did which I'm grateful for.
And another article with 15 items from this website *shakes head*
Halo 5, FarCry 2, Dragon Age 2, Nuts and Bolts, and Gears of War: Judgement were all far from bad games. Hell, even Crackdown 2 was pretty fun.
There's a difference between a lesser sequel, and a bad game.
With a Title that says "horrible sequels", most of these are far from that. Better title should be disappointing sequels. But I'm sure they went with the former to get clicks and bring in the fanboys.