Online gaming has come on leaps and bounds over the years, and it has many guises. My first online experience is born from when I jumped into a multiplayer game of Halo 2 in 2006, and I was impressed. Gone were the days of my boredom taking over as each AI-controlled enemy followed a predictable and predetermined course of action. If they were designed to be a difficult opponent, they simply fired more frequently and with improved accuracy.
It’s quite a strong title, isn’t it? The subject of whether a computer game can drive someone to murder is a contentious issue, one that can cause powerful statements to be released like the one above. Those on both sides of the argument will put forward their case with great commitment, especially those that have lost people as a result of shootings or stabbings that are said to mirror those in a computer game or a film. But I, for one, don’t believe a word of it.
As I'm sure most of you will know, unless you've spent the last year living under a rock, Bungie is set to release its last ever Halo game sometime in September, and as promised, it looks like it'll be their best yet. The graphics, overall, will be sharper, cleaner and presented with a more realistic and gritty overtone. The AI will be twice as capable as Halo 3 and above all else, it'll feature a team of Spartans, armed to the teeth with a host of newly designed weapons.
But with all of this in mind, there is one burning question, a question that every avid Halo fan will be asking when the dust settles after Reach: "what now?" It's a valid point, and one worthy of close attention and intense scrutiny.
This subject has been discussed, almost exhaustively, before, usually because the end result is about as pleasant as a lump of buffalo excrement, served between two slices of bread. It just doesn't work. Or does it?
In the past, many of us have been subjected to a flood of substandard games, most of which accompany their big screen siblings, and usually they all end up being absolutely awful. Now, of course, the majority of these adaptations are aimed purely at children. My own son loves to play them, with Shrek 3, Cars and WALL-E among his favourites. And, being his dad and the owner of the only Xbox in the house, I thought I'd give them a try as well. This, it turns out, was a serious error on my part.
BNG Crew
