Recent reviews by robot

I have no problem admitting that I am a Halo "fanboy". I played Halo when it was first released, and every subsequent Halo ever produced. With that being said, I'm no slouch and I won't sugar coat this games' flaws just because I love the franchise. Read on for a legitimate review from a player who was there from the very beginning.


This game is short; incredibly short in fact. It was designed around mobile devices that utilize the mobile version of the Windows 8 operating system, specifically tablets. People are going to tell you, "Incorrect, it was developed to serve as an interim game during the time between Halo 4's release, and Halo 5's release on the Xbox One". The sad fact is that this statement is just flat out untrue. This game was designed for the sole purpose of Microsoft attempting to secure their portion of the mobile app/game marketplace. They figured that if they released a "Halo" game for the mobile device world, the name alone would convert a giant percentage of gamers who would be new to Microsoft products, while at the same time getting existing Microsoft/Halo consumers to purchase and subsequently convert to the Windows 8 operating system. This is evident of the fact that Halo: Spartan Assault was initially released EXCLUSIVELY for Windows 8 and its mobile device distribution.

A few months later, once Microsoft realized their fiscal mistake in limiting the game only to Windows 8/Mobile users, they released the game for Xbox One and then the Xbox 360. Notice anything coincidental in the timeline of those releases?



And so all this background information converges nicely into the rest of my review:


Feel and Control:

Cons:
- The aim controls for a mouse and keyboard are weird at best. The crosshair feels like it's on this fixed dimensional grid and you can see that when you try to aim at enemies, it just snaps into the general vicinity of where you want to actually aim, and not directly on what you're aiming at. At least not without a couple attempts. If anyone reading this review is familiar with the aiming system in Alien Swarm, I'm certain you will agree that Halo's aim system falls incredibly short in comparison. Halos aim system transitioning feels incredibly forced when using a mouse and keyboard, and although it's not the absolute worst I've had to deal with, it just doesn't feel right.

- The crosshair and aiming should have been tied directly in to player movement instead of being what is essentially "free". You can have the Spartan looking in one direction and have the crosshair all the way in the opposite direction direction, while being unable to shoot at the target until you move the Spartan with WASD. This system destroys the flow of the game.

Pros:
- The gameplay in terms of graphical smoothness is perfectly fine. Because of its top down nature, there isn't much strain on the processor or graphics card, and so aside from the aiming system, the gameplay is smooth.

- There are only eight or nine(I forget how many exactly) keybinds, three of which can not be modified, which in turn means that the controls are simple and easy to get used to.

- The game offers both controller and mouse/keyboard support. Mouse/keyboard feels forced, but the fact that it supports these two input devices and not controllers exclusively, trumps any flaws that the aim system may have... in my opinion anyways.

- The loadout system definitely offers some variability and is sure to give you some new ways to complete the missions, subsequently raising the level of the games replayability. Not by enough though.


Maps/Graphics/Environments/Storyline:

Cons:
- One thing I noticed that really confused me was that the maps had elevated surfaces in certain spots. This game in particular lacks in the ability to portray depth of any kind, and because of the fact that the gameplay is TOP-DOWN, I can't for the life of me understand why the developers would create maps with any variation in elevation. In a top down video game, the maps should be completely flat otherwise the inevitable happens; because the game can't portray depth well, you find yourself in a situation where it appears as though you're shooting at an enemy but for whatever reason your bullets just stop short. In reality, because the map in that particular area is not flat like it should be, you're positioned at the bottom of the elevation and the target is positioned at the top. You unwittingly shoot at the floor while the bot shoots you dead. -- This situation in particular has happened to me quite often, and occured mostly in the first two missions.

- The game is painfully short, and apparently most of the other reviewers seem to either be in denial, or just hardcore, blind-faith, "drink the coolaide" type fanboys. There is virtually no replayability in this game unless you strive to waste a large portion of your life maintaining a spot on the global leaderboards. THERE IS NO CO-OP ON THIS VERSION. Co-op is offered exclusively for the Microsoft gaming consoles, which means you can't even play it with your friends. Thumbs down.

- The story isn't anything special.

- The game has some issues with multiple monitors. If you have multiple monitors you will see that other than the monitor you're playing the game on, the rest will be blacked out. And it's inconsistent as well; sometimes it does this, and other times the game won't black out your other monitors.

Pros:
- The graphics are smooth, and the environments/maps are also done pretty well with only a couple exceptions.

- The cut scenes are awesome, evident of the typical work from the Halo franchise.




So in the end, is it worth $4.99? Yeah, I would say go for it if you're a Halo fan like I am. One reason I bought it is because it's the only Halo game offered on Steam and I've been waiting for a Halo game to be released on Steam for a long time.

But here's the main reason I bought it: I'm hoping that if enough people buy the game and show interest in the idea of having Halo games released on and supported by Steam/Valve, then Microsoft will, eventually, go through with the decision to port the older games to the Steam platform.

A bit of a pipe-dream you say? Probably. Especially now that Microsoft has formed their own version of an app-store/gaming platform for PC users. I can hope though... I can hope.