Halo PC Demo

[Summo]

Microsoft have released a playable Halo demo weighing in at 134MB. Some blurb:

In the trial version, you can experience both single and multiplayer gameplay, including limited vehicle combat. In the single player campaign level The Silent Cartographer, you assume the role of super-soldier Master Chief as you take on the fierce alien faction known as the Covenant. In the multiplayer map Blood Gulch, up to 16 human opponents can light each other up with devastating weaponry and combat vehicles, including the new Rocket Warthog and the Banshee, either online or via LAN connection.

Enjoy!

 

[~Mobius~]

Nice, the best single player level and the best multiplayer map.

 

[Xavier]

Pity their netcode seems to both suck and blow simultaneously on anything below a direct LAN connection

patch the game damnit microsoft....

 

[doh_boy]

Originally posted by Xavier
Pity their netcode seems to both suck and blow simultaneously on anything below a direct LAN connection

Get it right in the first fucking place microsoft....

Fixed.

 

[Xavier]

hahahahahahah

you don't mean just microsoft do you? every sodding online game I've played for any period has had tenfold improvements made to its netcode with patches - why on earth isn't as much care and attention taken to networking as say, sound or visuals?

The answer is simple, they hope early buyers will be kept busy with single player gaming... and that kind of mindset STINKS

 

[throdgrain]

I wish Id known about this game earlier, it would have stopped me buying it , hopefully.

 

[Ono]

The demo level is the Silent Cartographer level - the one with the dramatic dropship landing on a beach.

Probably the best level in the game. It all goes downhill from there.


Ran only acceptably at 640x480 on my shitty PC (Athy 900 + GF4 4200 Ti) and did slow down quite a bit when it got busy.

 

[bigbb]

Such a shame this game has come so late *Stare at MS*.

Now this game looks dated, feels dated and has the resounding sense of 'sloppy seconds'. Though I did still find the demo entertaining, it's not what I want it to be, now.

 

[Embattle]

The game just looks all wrong, some nice effects and the scenery looks good in places. The gameplay is nothing special and most probably would of been better if it had come out on the PC originally....just seems less so after the long wait.

 

[throdgrain]

I think the scenery looks cak
And the comedy bad guys ! Euggh !

 

[Mr.Monkey]

And should you entertain the thought of buying it, let me warn you of the kiddy cannon that resides in the full game, multiplayer.

The sniper.
Instagib anyone?

 

[Ch3tan]

It refuses to load on my pc. Says hardware acceleration is disabled -it isnt, dxdiag reports everything fine. MS = teh suck :/

 

[throdgrain]

Its maybe because you're running xp at a refresh rate other than 60hz. It dont like that.

 

[.Cask]

Can't believe there isn't a co-op mode, way to ruin a decent game.

 

[Ch3tan]

Finally got it running. Its a bit shit really.

 

[Wij]

pfft - I like it. I haven't enjoyed a SP FPS so much in years and I'll tell you why...

You have no reason to go back and quick-load (not that you can anyway.) The way you can only carry 2 weapons but you can pick up new ones all over the place and the way you have a regenerating shield changes the whole fps mindset. Normally with fps' these days you quick-save when you do well and quick-load when you don't because :-

A.) You lost more health than you think you needed to. You could have done it better.

B.) You lost more ammo than you think you needed to. You could have done it better.

C.) You think you missed the latest uber-weapon.

None of these apply in Halo and you just concentrate on the combat. It actually makes the game FUN ! Respec' Bungee.

 

[Ch3tan]

Having swalled the bitter pill, I tried it again. Your points are valid Wij, but I am still strangly let down by the game -it may purely be because of the way it runs on my system rather than the gameplay. Untill I get a new graphics card I guess I wont know.

 

[WPKenny]

It runs great on my system. 1024 max everything on a athlon 2400+ and ti4600.

I enjoy the game. I'm only really playing it cos I'm really really bored lately. I'd much rather be playing HL2 (the full version!).

I kind of agree with wij, although I'd never thought about it like that before. I do like the way you can mess about with stuff and don't have to try and kill the same baddy 10 times over cos you want to do it with more health left at the end.

I like trying to get vehicles into places that you're not meant to. I got a Ghost right inside the base once. You have to jump off to get the door to open and then jump on and fly right right through before he door closes. But you get infinite ammo and the protection of the craft.

 

[Wij]

I AER CLEVAR !!!1

 

[throdgrain]

I took my copy back this morning to game, who kindly gave me my money back.
Just didnt do it for me Im afriad

 

[Summo]

I love Halo a lot. There's a lot of 'wow' moments with impressive 'stuff' going on and the whole thing plays well.

I'm pretty pissed off at the moment. I've reached the level where you fly the Banshee for the first time and have to enter a door on a high ledge. I do that and move forward through some corridors. The game then tries to load the next bit of the level and then crashes to desktop with a 'Gathering exception data' error.

This happens every single time - the game just won't load that next level. I've uninstalled, defragged, reinstalled, used beta nVidia drivers. The problem even occurs when running in game safe mode.

I've nothing left to do except wait for a patch which may or may not resolve the issue.

 

[Wij]

Bad luck

I'm finding it quite difficult to find the Captain inside the Truth and Reconcilliation. There's a big fight that's really hard on the difficulty level I'm playing on. Most of the game isn't this hard and I'm not wimping out now

Still want a new gfx card though :/

 

[Will]

Demo was pretty good fun once I got used to the regenerating shield style of gameplay. Melee attack for teh win and all that. I'm tempted, I have to say.

*ponders*

 

[SoWat]

Not much lag or stuttering here, which is weird as peeps with higher spec stuff do experience it (XP2400+, 1Gb Ram, Ti4800).

It's not a great game, but nor is it dire. It's a competent release (when it runs it seems).

Graphics are good, and the plot is ok. It gets a bit repetitive as there's not a great variety of baddies, but that aside it's a reasonably enjoyable game.

I almost felt sorry for the wee baddies. They seem to be shit-scared all the time and crying out in fear... some of their dialogue is pretty funny.

The end bit, where you have to drive the Warthog down that long passage to escape was easier than I would have liked.

Rating 7/10

I haven't tried multiplayer, so have no comments on that.

One tip for Banshee pilots... remember it has a nice secondary fire. Hover and destroy is the key

 

[Neural Network]

Now I've tried the demo too and find it rather ok. I like the "only two weapons"-thing alot. Also shooting enemies over clifts or throwing a grenade in their general direction is quite fun. Not as fun as Serious Sam though.

 

[Tom]

Big and boring. Not much to do, and the stupid advert at the end was incredibly annoying (because I couldn't stop it).

I won't be buying it.

 

[dysfunction]

I'm going to download the demo tonight and see if its worth it.

I have my doubts. I think Max Payne 2 will be getting my money...

 

[Scouse]

Just played it. Works fine at 1024x768 on mine with 4xAA and 8xAniso....

.....but it looks so dated and tbh doesn't really offer much.




But if I'm totally honest I was more annoyed by that damn unstoppable ad at the end than anything else - enough to make me go "fuck this - planetside's more fun!"

 

[Moving Target]

What pisses me off about this game are that there are no kick arse weapons, like the Egon gun in Half-Life, or BFG in Quake. Now I wouldn't complain if it was rare to get etc, but it just isn't there. Just average rifles and plasma rifles.

 

[FatBusinessman]

Rocket launcher?