My Public Apology to Bungie

To start out (for those that haven't read my archives), I hate Halo 3's MP.  I have ripped it for many reasons, but one of the biggest is because it is really just Halo 2's MP with new maps.  Granted, Bungie added tons of bells and whistles to the MP portion of the game, but none of this affected the actual MP gameplay (ex., theater, customs).  There are few new weapons.  The only in-game customization is based entirely on what armor you can wear and is purely asthetic.  There are a number of new maps, but that is about the only thing that is significantly new in the MP game.  Considering the lack of innovations in gameplay and that I didn't like Halo 2's MP, it really isn't a shock that I don't enjoy H3's MP.  However, I also realize that there are a TON of people out there that absolutely loved Halo 2's MP.  After thinking this through more thoroughly and applying the logic to my personal all-time favorite game, I think that Bungie should be applauded for its decision to stay true to its MP formula rather than criticized for doing so. 

Earlier, I was reading Gatsu's blog in which he asked what is your concept of the ideal game that hasn't been made yet.  I left him a comment about how, for me, that game will be Gears of War 2.  Since then, I have been thinking about his question a lot, especially in terms of GoW's MP.  Even though I will be the first to acknowledge a couple of minor glitches, I can't conceive of a MP game that I could like more than the MP in GoW.  I love the dodgeball-like race to the more powerful weapons that are generally housed in the middle of the maps and the absolute killing fields that they create.  I love the viseral feel of the game.  I love that you can't respawn during the game, thus providing a major disincentive to the "fools rush in" tactics that are used in a lot of other games with the same sort of race to the weapon style.  So, it finally dawned on me that I don't want there to be any major changes to the MP in GoW 2.  Boatloads of new maps, a kill cam option, allowing MP achievements to be earned in player matches rather than only through ranked matches (like the DLC did), maybe one or two new weapons to take the place of the couple that are rarely ever used (ex., hammerburst), and fixes for some of the more glaring glitches (ex., being able to go off the map on Bullet Marsh) are about all I want to see in GoW 2's MP.  Trying to innovate with a proven formula in entertainment media generally leads to alienation of the fan base without attracting a lot of new fans that weren't fans before.

So, after finally putting this all together in my mind and applying it to "my" game, I would like to publicly apologize to Bungie for my disparaging "Halo 2.5" comments.  I should have been heaping praises on Halo 3's MP precisely because it is "Halo 2.5."  I beg Epic to take a long hard look at what Bungie DIDN'T do when it comes time to work on GoW 2's MP.