This review is written in memory of the brave men and women of UNSC marine squad Hacksaw, who boldly met their end this afternoon not far from Requiem landmark the Fortress, a giant pointless pile of silvery girders.
Gentlemen, ladies - I never had the chance to learn your names, but I can all too easily imagine your distress when I and my Spartan fellows came to your aid, waving Fuel Rod cannons around like those big foam hands you see at ice hockey matches. Spartans are capable of many things, but they are not capable of delicacy, and Fuel Rod cannons are capable of but the one thing, and that is blast radius. Still, at least we gave the Covenant what for, eh? Your deaths were almost certainly not in vain.
It's a shame that we aren't given the opportunity to defend the Infinity itself against Promethean assault, but then again I spent most of last Wednesday complaining that I wanted to see more of Requiem, so I should probably count my blessings. The most exciting mission is the first, The Gate, which is odd given that it's also the smallest and buggiest - at one point, a Promethean unit somehow teleported beneath the map and we spent five minutes alternately carpet-bombing and teabagging an innocent boulder. The combined effect of two commandeer-able turrets, three routes through a low-lying rock formation and some canny spawning creates a frag-fest of pleasant intensity.
Pelican Down is less good, mainly because it's basically Sniper Alley from Episode 1 in reverse - you climb a hill against stiffening resistance, then push a load of buttons at the top of it to trigger a crescendo of high-ranking Elites and Hunters. The Gate is, in fact, the only new map introduced by Episode 2 - the others merely show you familiar assets from different angles, with slight variations in the form of unlockable areas. The repackaging is cunning enough to be forgivable, and there's some zesty audio banter 'twixt indefatigable ball-buster Commander Sarah Palmer and her underlings. But as with Episode 1, it's hard not to miss Firefight Mode, where repetition was the point rather than a byproduct of limited resources.
Episode 2 is available now via the Spartan Ops lobby screen in-game.
6 comments so far...
fluffy321 on 12 Nov '12 said:
yay first comment
jimbosolo on 12 Nov '12 said:
Im confused, I see Sparton Ops as Firefight 3.0. Where in ODST and Reach their was not many people who played it and it was also very laggy with 4 players here we have no lag that ive noticed and its more story based to hide fighting endless waves and increasing difficulty. A number of people trolling complain that all you do is shoot, take cover, hold x to activate switches etc, yet its a fps theirs only so many things you can do. Yet when developers try something different they get slated for ruining an existing idea, but if they keep it the same more or less, people moan that its another year another COD, AC, etc etc offering exactly the same as the previous game.
Personally im enjoying it and like the high quality videos being a mixture of live action/cgi. I also like 343 taking a gamble with releasing SO over a period of time given the fact that Halo 4 will be competing against other titles (COD) and it actually encourages achievement hunters etc to take a break by restricting for a short time how many can be unlocked.
Its a never ending Paradox.
weldersbench on 12 Nov '12 said:
What is that blue Spartans helmet? It's looks awesome!
RHPSAUCE on 12 Nov '12 said:
Spartan Ops is a story over time, reviewing each one is like reviewing every level of the campaign. I'm disappointed that you gave this episode a low score, the story is just beginning and just like the campaign the climax isn't in the second level.
Alaric14 on 14 Nov '12 said:
Don't compare this to the primary campaign; it's not even close, though it's entertaining in its own sweet way. By the same token I have to wonder why OXM are reviewing it - wouldn't a series of feature articles be more appropriate? "Spartan Diaries: ", perhaps. That is assuming the content is going to be 'free' in future. The moment we start paying money for optional content I'd endorse a thorough review process.
OXM ETboy on 14 Nov '12 said:
I agree. We're going to do features in future - the idea was to scoop up "Spartan Ops review" on Google, but it just doesn't make sense from a critical perspective.