Pemalite said:
The online is pretty much dead because the servers have been shut down for almost a decade for Halo 1 and 2. Of course you have things like Xlink that allows you to play via other means, but the games are no more or less popular than other titles really.
https://www.teamxlink.co.uk/
Visually they look like a dogs breakfast. Blurry low-res textures, over-bright bloom effects, simplistic geometry, simple lighting, floaty controls... But back in the day the game was leading the pack in the visual department... But that came at the cost of sub 30fps on original xbox hardware.
The remakes overhauled the titles visually and brought the games forward in regards to multiplayer and the MCC throws them into a semi-decent package, but that wasn't how the games were for years after release, lets not fool ourselves here.
I don't doubt that people play MCC today and will continue to play the games going forward, never argued the contrary.
I am stating it's a far cry from the giant populations that older games had, the length of time to find a match is a testament to that... Doesn't help that Microsoft has hidden away the population counter.
Hoping for a Scarlett enhanced version. Ray Traced Halo 3? I could get behind that.
Gears of War 1 was a good game that laid the foundations of the franchise, that's the point I am trying to convey. - But when you look backwards at the game and compare it to modern titles like Gears of War 5, it's hard not to look at the game with Rose tinted glasses, Gears 5 is a significant improvement over Gears of War 1 in almost every single regard... And so it should be, that's how progression of a franchise should happen.
That doesn't mean Gears of War 1 is a bad game, it's just not an amazing game when compared to it's modern contemporaries.
The main improvement that Anniversary brought with it was improved lighting and shadowing thanks to their use of the Unreal Engine, which is an engine that is really well suited to the Xbox 360's hardware... Sadly the improved shadowing techniques was also more demanding on hardware so there was a hit to shadowing resolution.
On PC though many of Fables anniversary's visual shortcomings was resolved on the much more capable PC as it's able to drive up the visuals higher... But Fable 1 on the OG Xbox was a very pretty game, it used it's polygon budget extremely smartly that lent itself to the art style... And probably had one of the best lighting, particle and shadowing effects of that entire console generation... Arguably even better than Halo 1 on the OG Xbox in many aspects. (Although Halo 1 on the PC using Shader Model 2 shaders is a step up again IMHO.)
Halo Wars sold well. For an RTS. An RTS on a console.
I am not saying it's bad, it's just not a game that has lasted the test of time... And when compared against newer RTS titles, ultimately falls short as it should.
Remember, games are supposed to improve.
And as such should be judged within an appropriate context, hence my entire argument to start with.
I can name a really really long list of 8-bit and 16-bit games that are amazing even in 2019... From a gameplay perspective or an artistic perspective, but not from a technical perspective.
I disagree, I couldn't really get into the Xbox 360 or Xbox One ports of the game as the gameplay hadn't aged well. - The lack of jump for instance... Not exactly a modern feature, but a feature of the time the games released in.
And that is before I touch on the visual or audio representation of the titles... In saying that, they are good games when placed against games of the era they released in, not against games of 2019.
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