Last time, on Grant Rambling...
Back to Halo 3.
I find that I can't really put the game down, and when I have the choice of Team Fortress 2 with friends or Halo 3 with friends, I take Halo 3 every time. Sitting on the couch in front of an HDTV is part of the appeal, but I'm not ashamed to say that I really love ranking up in FPS games. On that note, I expect Call of Duty 4, with its deep ranking and unlockables, to be like crack cocaine.
I love the Halo 3 weapon's balance. The return to rifles is done so well, everything is tuned perfectly and equipment is a great edition. I did give the campaign a little bit of time (trying to find skulls) and it isn't nearly as fun in single player. Also, I find normal difficulty to be stupid easy, but Heroic is frustrating. I'm not sure why the designers start players off on a map with so many snipers and they don't give you a long range rifle. Whatever.
I started Portal and it's really slick so far. Really cool puzzles and hilarious characters. Ultimately, I want the next Portal to be in the real world. Cities, office buildings, homes, woods -- I think the puzzle opportunities are insane. I want two Portals actually -- one that is just puzzles, and one that is like Half Life 2...but designed around using the grav gun and portal gun. It'd be delicious.
I don't like playing as a girl character in Portal, but I sympathize with all the female gamers that always get cast as a dude. I really think developers should give players the choice in the beginning -- not full character customization, but Guy or Girl.
(posted by grant at 10/22/2007)
