Trey

God dammit THQ, I just bought these pants.

I figure this is as good as any post to exult my love for this franchise, and in particular, this game. It's been a long time coming, and I can't hold it down any longer.

I'm sure it's no secret I'm a huge Halo fan. I don't hide this fact. I would even go so far as to say that the philosophy of Halo, down to the pixel--down to the most obscure design choice--identifies me as a gamer. The first time I played Halo: CE on Christmas 2002 ranks quite easily in my top three greatest entertainment or media expierences ever in my young life. There's really no compare.

I laugh now at how I disliked the game because I could not figure out how to get passed the half opened blast door in the very beginning of the game. Ducking occured to me, but Halo was the first Xbox game I ever played, and my experiences with shooters comprised exclusively of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark before then. Clicking in the stick just wasn't dawning upon me. After a brief consultation with the game manual, the greatest game I would ever play to this day laid bare before me. Everything was phenomenal.

CE set the precedent of what games were to me. This very game made me want to become a physicist, almost single-handedly. It's what I'm in college for now. The intrigue and mystery combined with the action and visuals made that deep of an impression on me. I put every game I play, regardless of genre, against those feelings I had during Halo's campaign. And nothing can match it. The highest praise I can afford any game is being a cheap derivative of what Halo meant to me while excelling in that particular game's own, unique way.

CE stands apart in my gaming collection, and in my heart. I'll be making this HD remake the first midnight get of my gaming life. Because, I just need that weapon.

@Zertoss: Oh snap.

@Liquidfingers: I agree mostly with this. It would take a much more historical spin with new characters and motivations to make the movie stand apart fro mthe games in an interesting way.

You owuld have to convince us that the movie offers a level of storytelling and immersion we wouldn't be able to get from the games, and I'm not too confident Ubisoft and Sony could pull that off.

Why not include the kitchen sink? I would enjoy beating people with kitchen sinks.

@Faceless Troll: Or it could be that their biggest must have games outside of the EASports division come out Q4. BF3, ME3, TOR...

Also, the growth of the mobile gaming industry is starting to cut into the mainstay's bottom line. Total revenue of the industry is going up but OGs like EA and Nintendo are reporting losses. They gotta take the platform more seriously.

@eat it: Then I must enact my emergency contingency plan Project Not Buying Their Shit.

@lowlife121: The fact is that people are buying things like expensive cars and houses, but can't afford them. That's largely why we're in this problem today.

@Mahapralaya: Scoring standard? Multiple people write multiple reviews and have variable opinions that are not static. You should take reviews at face value, at the moment the review is read. This sounds good game by the review: the 4.5/5 indicates that. It's not misleading whatsoever.

@pickupdoctor: I didn't check, but they could have been reviewed by different people. Ergo, different opinions. Furthermore, sequels are said to be "better" all the time but get a lesser score because it's not as fresh an experience. This isn't an objective situation whereupon being "better" automatically equates to a better score. The written portion of this review matches up well with the score.