HALO 2 VS HALO 3 Flooding Internet forums as of late has been the inevitable discussion about what requires more skill. Halo 2 or Halo 3? Throw in a bit of Halo: CE and...

After browsing many, many different Halo forums. There seems to be alot of people criticising the game for being "dumbed down" and a "noobs game" compared to Halo 2. At first, I could not QUITE understand the logic or reasoning behind this. Upon reading further (Which is something I should do more often) I realised people were complaining about.. (And these are all quotes from forums)

A) What made the game *Clutch* .. BxB BxR ...
B) The general Speed of the game
C) As of now we play this slow paced game that Envolves no skill what so ever..
D) No point in strafing the Crosshairs so big on it it hits you everytime
E) Whats the fun in every battle you Run sparying at eachother for a split second then *Beatdown* dead
F) No clutch what so ever atleast before you could actually BxB and win half the time..
G) The assualt rifle, Even if you have a perfect *Five SHot* a kid mid distance from you can basically drain your whole shield if not actually killing you.
H) It was made for the Lower skill leveled range people who played halo
I) Bungie needs to tone down a few weapons and listen to the asking of the actually good kids
J) also unlike a SMG, you cant straff your way around bullets,whoever shoots first nearly gets the kill. i def. agree. this amongst a list of things made this game for noobS.
K) I hope they change the way this game plays in future updates, because it sucks right now. Melee especially.

Let me try respond to most of these quotes in as little as I can.
Yes, BxR, BxB etc are gone. As an avid Halo: CE competitive player and a fan of the franchise, I can safely say that if you take the button glitches out of the equation, Halo 3 does take slightly more skill than Halo 2.

This does not mean I don't approve of the glitches being used in Halo 2. They were great for the competitive community and MLG, they added depth to Halo 2's multiplayer. God knows Halo 2 needed it.

The question is, does Halo 3 need it? Right now, im inclined to think that no - it doesn't. Bungie have taken a few steps to making the multiplayer aspect of the game better than Halo 2. I don't understand certain arguments like - "no need to strafe because the crosshair is too big" or "it was made for the lower skill leveled range people".

The facts are, Halo 3's strafe is far better than Halo 2's. The autoaim and magnetism has significantly been reduced and yes, the game "appears" to be slower. The Assault Rifle is indeed overpowered upclose and should be tweaked in some way. There is less lunge on the melees, although something does feel wrong with them.

You're probably saying to yourself "What's the point in this update Chris? We know all this already." Well. What's happening here is no different to what happened when Halo 2 was released.

The Hardcore Halo: CE fans were complaining about -
1) Too much autoaim and magnetism
2) Strafing is pointless
3) Map design is rubbish
4) Ladders > Ramps
5) Two Powerups on each map is essential for control
6) Dual Wielding SUCKS
7) Plasma should FREEZE
and finally
8) Where the hell is my M6D Pistol?

To put it simply, they were saying Halo 2 takes "far less skill than Halo: CE".

Here's the problem - No longer will there be "Halo: CE vs Halo 2" arguments. Why is this a problem? Instead, we have to put up with "Halo 2 vs Halo 3" arguments when really, when it comes down to it, there is very little seperating the two. Button glitches being the biggest difference.

For all those who are now feeling that "Halo 2 takes more skill than Halo 3". You now know how the hardcore Halo: CE players felt years ago. Two years of promise and hype from Bungie, only to be let down and thoroughly disappointed.

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