Halo 3 rant

Thought I'd do something with this blog, I don't write much in it so I'll just start sharing some thoughts on various things here. So here are some thoughts on Halo 3. Don't expect it to be well thought out or edited, I'm just typing what comes to mind.

The gameplay hasn't changed much since Halo 2, the control ramps are very well calibrated, the slightly sticky camera that helps you aim better is still there and still feels just right. The vehicles still control well enough, with the Ghost being the highlight as always, it just plain kicks ass. Unless you're in a Scorpion tank, you'll want to jump out of whatever vehicle you're in and switch to the Ghost as soon as you see one.

So where's the problem? It looks great apart from the character models and it controls really well. Indeed, Halo 3 would be the best FPS on any console if you just went by those criteria. However, it's really badly balanced. Some battles right at the beginning of the game will kick your ass six ways till Sunday, and as Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame put it, the closest thing to a final boss battle is you with a BFG9000 against a cross-eyed hobbit in a wheelchair.

The level design isn't just a bit dodgy, some levels have you navigating a maze while under attack from an endless stream of enemies, and it takes several minutes of running around without a clue before the game decides to point you in the general direction you need to go. Unfortunately that rarely helps in the more maze-like levels of the game as the path TO the guide arrow is often anything but straightforward. I didn't really have much problems surviving at this point or actually finishing the levels, but it felt like a chore and it just wasn't fun to play.

Now the worst part of the game is the AI. It is without a doubt the most annoying friendly AI in any recent game that I've played. Two of the times when I was manning the turret of a Warthog (because space marines can't aim for shit), the AI drove me right off a cliff just when I got to a checkpoint, forcing me into an endless loop of watching Master Chief plummet to his death.
This isn't just a minor flaw, when the AI doesn't drive you off cliffs, it will drive into walls or rocks and then just stay there and not even try to go anywhere. The "friendly" AI kills you almost as often as the enemy AI, and that's not a good thing.

The AI is not a problem if you play co-op, obviously, but I really don't think that's a good excuse. It shouldn't drive off cliffs, and if it does do that all the time, don't make 90% of the driving levels take place on the edge of a damn cliff. I mean what the hell kind of game design is that?
I hate to rag on people who work hard to do their job, I really do, but in this case I can't help myself. They allegedly spent millions of dollars play-testing and balancing this game, so what gives? I realize how hard it is to write good AI, but if you can't manage to do it well enough in time, why the hell the constant cliff edges you can drive off?

I guess that's my rant for the day. Halo 3 is a pretty good game, but it has some major flaws that make it a lot less enjoyable than it should have been.