Umm, no bots in Halo? I can't do deathmatches on the multiplayer levels with bots? Perfect Dark had bots. Harumph.

-Tom

Although what the game offers seems very good, I do see places(like the absence of bots), where the condensed devlopment to meet the Xbix launch time affected the game. Remember they ditched the whole engine just a year ago to redo it for the Xbox system.

Complaints like that are like complaining that the original Civilization had no multiplayer. Don't let it stop you from enjoying a great game.


* Yes, I know that some intrepid individuals actually hacked the original Civ to support multiplayer, by editing save files on the fly. But that doesn't really count. :)

"Don't let it stop you from enjoying a great game."

Not at all, but your analogy is pretty forced, Mr. Dee. Civ doesn't lend itself to multiplayer like Halo lends itself to botmatches.

I'm enjoying Halo just fine, but I really miss being able to sit down and play the cool multiplayer stuff on my own. It was one of my favorite things about Perfect Dark, so I was a little taken aback to see it missing from Halo. Particularly since they have some really entertaining AI stuff in there. Shame I can't enjoy it outside the campaign.

-Tom

I mostly agree with Tom. It's not like they don't have really great friendly AI in the game, and I don't think it would take a whole lot to teach them to play the different multiplayer game modes.

The breadth of game types and options for multiplayer probably makes that a little tricky. I'm sure it's not like two weeks of programming - doing it "right" is probably a solid month of work or more, which might be time they just didn't have.

It would also be nice to just play split-screen two-player games in the multiplayer modes with bots filling out the rest of the teams.

Halo without bots?! No thank you, sir. I'll be going back to Unreal Tournament...

Don't listen to Tom; he's never given a positive review to a Bungie game, a Microsoft game, a console game, or a game without bots.

Does EVERYONE HAVE AN XBOX AROUND HERE!?!?!? GEESH!!!

I don't. At least, not at home.

"It was one of my favorite things about Perfect Dark"

The pseudo-multiplayer bot campaign in Perfect Dark was ridiculously, comically difficult. I got to about level 18 and had to give up. Of course the lack of mouse/keyboard, but combined with the "bot-like aim" in the higher levels.. frustration supreme.

So I'm not convinced that bots are all that. It's a complicated balancing act.. the bots have to be smart enough to be tough but not so smart that they headshot you the minute you enter their FOV.

Even UT failed at this. Try playing UT with auto-adjust bot for skill. I always ended up on Godlike (hit ESC out to the menus and it'll show you the current level the bots are at), which was erm.. impossible.

"The breadth of game types and options for multiplayer probably makes that a little tricky. I'm sure it's not like two weeks of programming - doing it "right" is probably a solid month of work or more, which might be time they just didn't have."

Maybe they can release a patch with this functionality later. (cue uproarious laughter)

It's possible, I suppose.

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Quote:

Not at all, but your analogy is pretty forced, Mr. Dee. Civ doesn't lend itself to multiplayer like Halo lends itself to botmatches.

I'm enjoying Halo just fine, but I really miss being able to sit down and play the cool multiplayer stuff on my own. It was one of my favorite things about Perfect Dark, so I was a little taken aback to see it missing from Halo. Particularly since they have some really entertaining AI stuff in there. Shame I can't enjoy it outside the campaign.

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> Halo doesn't seem to have enough variety in weapons/play styles -- if I want to play an entertaining multiplayer FPS, I'll go play UT, Tribes 2, or Flashpoint.

Uh, then what was the point of getting Halo on the Xbox if you have better functionality shooters on the PC? The argument that I should play Game X because it's on Platform Y when I have Platform Z instead doesn't really mean a hill of pinto beans. I play Halo on the Xbox because I like it, and I shouldn't have to go looking to another system (and game) just because it should have something it doesn't.

Halo should have bots, pure and simple.. there's not enough multi-TV/xbox/4 controller people out there to justify having a dirth of multiplayer modes and maps if you can't play in them by yourself every once in awhile.

--- Alan

The point of getting Halo is because it's not a multiplayer game. It's a single-player game, and all that multiplayer stuff is total gravy. Or hell, play through the campaign co-op.

If someone is buying Halo looking for "an entertaining multiplayer FPS" then they're definitely looking at the wrong game. It's like saying that Half-Life (upon release, not the current iteration) or NOLF weren't that great because they weren't great multiplayer FPSes. The "multiplayer FPS" for Xbox is coming later in the form of Unreal Championship, when they start up the online stuff next summer.

I agree that Halo should have bots, but the lack of bots is a semi-major setback to what is, in my opinion, about 2% of the reason to own the game.

Just time. You can only do one style well anymore. Either you go all the way in MP(UT,Tribes 2) or SP(HL in initial release, or Halo). Then at least in the PC's case maybe you can get more content in the other areas from mods(i.e. TFC and Counter-Strike)

"It's a single-player game, and all that multiplayer stuff is total gravy."

We've been playing HALO here for the last couple of days and

1. Tycho over at Penny-Arcade is right. It IS better than chocolate covered chocolate.

2. We enjoy the deathmatch games against each other far more than the multiplayer co-op. And I have craved console co-op ever since Contra for the NES.

Just one bone to pick: NOLF multi-player is great!

It wasn't when the game was released. It took a patch or two.

Ah, I see. Thanks.