Halo Anniversary in 3D - initial impressions
Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 5:08 pm
I had a chance to play through the first two levels of this last night, and my initial thoughts are... It's not bad.
After some initial frustrations with not being able to switch the game into 3D mode (if you're having troubles, goto the system settings and make sure the new 3D option is enabled and select auto configure then RESTART THE XBOX, even though it doesn't say you need to), I got into the game, enabled the 3d and put the slider all the way to the maximum as I do with any console 3D game.
So I jump into the game and, this is not news for anyone who played the original, you start out with the giant ship flying past. I can immediately see the 3D effect and it's pretty good. But... those stars that you would assume to be way out in the distance look like they are about 3 inches behind the screen.
The game starts and there is the introductory animation, conversation between the captain and ships AI. When I played this originally, 10 years ago, it was amazing; now it's ok, even with the new graphics, the animation is not nearly as fluid as most modern games. But I'm still loving it since it's one of my favorite games IN 3D! The 3d seems to work well for the animation, and the depth isn't too bad as you don't notice the lack of depth behind the screen so much for the closer characters.
Now for the fun part. Once you become master chief as he is thawed from cryostasis, you finally get the first person view. This got me all excited since it works really well. Then I continue with the control calibration and... the suits armor ability test. The armor ability test is quite visually stunning in 3D, with the 'sparkles' of the test machine seeming to float in front of you at a distance you could touch... this is certainly a WOW moment.
Running through the corridors of the pillar of autumn ship, I really enjoyed, and felt the 3D, along with the updated graphics, worked really well. There is a good amount of pop out and reasonable depth. When I get the gun I have a lot of fun not using the bullets, but going for the melee since this gives a nice closeup view of the enemies and a good feeling of 3D. The explosions also work well, with depth and leave you with a smile.
The second level starts out on the halo ring world. If anyone played the original 10 years ago, you would remember the feeling when you leave the escape pod and venture out into the vast landscape. This is still one of my favorite moments in a game, and this updated graphics and 3D just make it even more stunning. However, it is also a reminder that this is using 'console 3D' which seems designed to make sure no-one can possibly get sick from the 3D effect. The close up objects are fantastic, but looking out into the distance is disappointing because the distance really is only just behind the screen. I really wish they had given me the option to increase it since that would just make this awesome! Playing the rest of the level is fun (as it was 10 years ago) and the 3D does add to the experience. There are occasionally frame rate issues, but I don't know if this is from 3D or not, since I didn't try without 3D enabled.
All up, the 3D does add to the experience, and if you are a fan of the series, I recommend giving the game another run through. I am just disappointed that they didn't increase the depth into the screen enough.
I attempted to get some video of the game, which is difficult since there is no side-by-side mode, so I had to take it with my 3D camera looking through the glasses, but it didn't turn out so well. I will try to get my friend to film while I play so you can at least see it.
P.S. One thought I had regards to the in-screen depth issue is that this could be fixed by changing the parallax of the two images. This would decrease the pop-out slightly, but increase the in-screen depth greatly. I wonder if a smart company could create a simple HDMI device that could do this conversion for us.
After some initial frustrations with not being able to switch the game into 3D mode (if you're having troubles, goto the system settings and make sure the new 3D option is enabled and select auto configure then RESTART THE XBOX, even though it doesn't say you need to), I got into the game, enabled the 3d and put the slider all the way to the maximum as I do with any console 3D game.
So I jump into the game and, this is not news for anyone who played the original, you start out with the giant ship flying past. I can immediately see the 3D effect and it's pretty good. But... those stars that you would assume to be way out in the distance look like they are about 3 inches behind the screen.
The game starts and there is the introductory animation, conversation between the captain and ships AI. When I played this originally, 10 years ago, it was amazing; now it's ok, even with the new graphics, the animation is not nearly as fluid as most modern games. But I'm still loving it since it's one of my favorite games IN 3D! The 3d seems to work well for the animation, and the depth isn't too bad as you don't notice the lack of depth behind the screen so much for the closer characters.
Now for the fun part. Once you become master chief as he is thawed from cryostasis, you finally get the first person view. This got me all excited since it works really well. Then I continue with the control calibration and... the suits armor ability test. The armor ability test is quite visually stunning in 3D, with the 'sparkles' of the test machine seeming to float in front of you at a distance you could touch... this is certainly a WOW moment.
Running through the corridors of the pillar of autumn ship, I really enjoyed, and felt the 3D, along with the updated graphics, worked really well. There is a good amount of pop out and reasonable depth. When I get the gun I have a lot of fun not using the bullets, but going for the melee since this gives a nice closeup view of the enemies and a good feeling of 3D. The explosions also work well, with depth and leave you with a smile.
The second level starts out on the halo ring world. If anyone played the original 10 years ago, you would remember the feeling when you leave the escape pod and venture out into the vast landscape. This is still one of my favorite moments in a game, and this updated graphics and 3D just make it even more stunning. However, it is also a reminder that this is using 'console 3D' which seems designed to make sure no-one can possibly get sick from the 3D effect. The close up objects are fantastic, but looking out into the distance is disappointing because the distance really is only just behind the screen. I really wish they had given me the option to increase it since that would just make this awesome! Playing the rest of the level is fun (as it was 10 years ago) and the 3D does add to the experience. There are occasionally frame rate issues, but I don't know if this is from 3D or not, since I didn't try without 3D enabled.
All up, the 3D does add to the experience, and if you are a fan of the series, I recommend giving the game another run through. I am just disappointed that they didn't increase the depth into the screen enough.
I attempted to get some video of the game, which is difficult since there is no side-by-side mode, so I had to take it with my 3D camera looking through the glasses, but it didn't turn out so well. I will try to get my friend to film while I play so you can at least see it.
P.S. One thought I had regards to the in-screen depth issue is that this could be fixed by changing the parallax of the two images. This would decrease the pop-out slightly, but increase the in-screen depth greatly. I wonder if a smart company could create a simple HDMI device that could do this conversion for us.