I picked up Halo: Reach the other day as your "standard" Halo fan; I think they're fun games, but nothing amazing. Following Reach before its launch there had been many, many sources saying "If you've played Halo before, play on heroic." I have played Halo before. I also don't suck at video games. I know better than to play on hard my first time through a game, but I figured what the hell.
 
As I type this I have just finished playing the level "The Package" and I feel like the game is dragging on. And on. And on. AND ON. AND ON. I roll my eyes every time the game throws yet ANOTHER wave of three or four high ranking elites, jackals and brutes at me, or a pair of hunters, sometimes two pairs at a time, while providing me with nothing but a very, very hefty stash of assault rifles and half ammo plasma weapons. Arguably the worst weapon in the game, and limited resources for inaccurate weapons that take forever to do anything to the friends of their previous owners. Some of these enemy combinations with the equipment they provide have taken me a half hour(!) or more(!!?)to defeat, often culminating in bullshit death after bullshit death. I have died more times in this campaign than any other game this year. Not once have I thought "Oh, I could have avoided that if I hadn't been a dumbass."
 
I am not one averse to challenge; I think a challenging game is often more rewarding when you can finally overcome it. Some of my favorite games are known for being suicide inducingly difficult; God Hand on Hard, Shinobi, the higher difficulty levels in the Devil May Cry games, Ninja Gaiden, etc. While most of these might be action games, I have completed my fair share of shooters on their higher or highest settings, such as Modern Warfare and its sequel, Halo 3, and so on. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I finally fought through and overcame whatever the game had thrown my way.
 
But playing Reach, I do not feel this. I feel nothing but irritation knowing I'm just going to have to do it AGAIN because the game continues to throw waves of overpowerng enemies without the proper tools to finish it quickly and efficiently in repeated bouts of artificial difficulty. 
 
Fuck it, I'm playing on normal.

I picked up Halo: Reach the other day as your "standard" Halo fan; I think they're fun games, but nothing amazing. Following Reach before its launch there had been many, many sources saying "If you've played Halo before, play on heroic." I have played Halo before. I also don't suck at video games. I know better than to play on hard my first time through a game, but I figured what the hell.
 
As I type this I have just finished playing the level "The Package" and I feel like the game is dragging on. And on. And on. AND ON. AND ON. I roll my eyes every time the game throws yet ANOTHER wave of three or four high ranking elites, jackals and brutes at me, or a pair of hunters, sometimes two pairs at a time, while providing me with nothing but a very, very hefty stash of assault rifles and half ammo plasma weapons. Arguably the worst weapon in the game, and limited resources for inaccurate weapons that take forever to do anything to the friends of their previous owners. Some of these enemy combinations with the equipment they provide have taken me a half hour(!) or more(!!?)to defeat, often culminating in bullshit death after bullshit death. I have died more times in this campaign than any other game this year. Not once have I thought "Oh, I could have avoided that if I hadn't been a dumbass."
 
I am not one averse to challenge; I think a challenging game is often more rewarding when you can finally overcome it. Some of my favorite games are known for being suicide inducingly difficult; God Hand on Hard, Shinobi, the higher difficulty levels in the Devil May Cry games, Ninja Gaiden, etc. While most of these might be action games, I have completed my fair share of shooters on their higher or highest settings, such as Modern Warfare and its sequel, Halo 3, and so on. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I finally fought through and overcame whatever the game had thrown my way.
 
But playing Reach, I do not feel this. I feel nothing but irritation knowing I'm just going to have to do it AGAIN because the game continues to throw waves of overpowerng enemies without the proper tools to finish it quickly and efficiently in repeated bouts of artificial difficulty. 
 
Fuck it, I'm playing on normal.

Thanks for the heads up.

Yeah, Heroic is pretty hard. I almost turned it down to Normal after the last part of Exodus, where there's a ghost attacking you from the side, a shit load of brutes, jackals, and grunts; two brutes with a gravity hammer and one with a rail gun, which are both instant kill. I died at least 15 times and had the urge to throw something. 

Eh... If you've finished playing that level then you've finished the game?

I agree with everything you just said. Hell, I think you wrote my blog for me. 
 
I HATED my Heroic Reach experience. I too just ran past all enemies on the later enemies because I just wanted it to end. The campaign wasn't fair at all. Majority of my deaths felt cheated and unfair. My first death was on the first mission after first contact with the Covenant. I didn't die from them, I died by a exploding tank barrel with full shields.... twice. I didn't once feel like a spartan, nor did I feel like I was in the company of spartans. Anything story made me just roll my eyes. (You know what I'm talking about, with Cat. Seriously, what kind of spartan goes out like that) 
  
I don't get why people are saying Reach's campaign is amazing. Maybe they got a different version than me xP. The multiplayer is amazing I'm sure, but the single player just didn't do it for me. To be honest, I'm enjoying the Halsey's Diary more than the campaign. That thing is rad, because I LOVE the Halo universe. Not so much the games I guess. 
 
I love a challenge, but Reach was just ridiculous.

Then it should cheer you up to learn that Pillar of Autumn is the final level.

Oh, derp. The one before that. I'm on the Pillar of Autumn now.  Maybe I should pay more attention.

Beat it on normal the other day, now I'm almost done with Heroic. It is pretty frustrating, but I see it as practice.

I've always played Halo games on normal because usually difficulty doesn't equal satisfaction for me. But since heroic "is the way Halo is meant to be played" I figured I'd man up and give it a go. There were certainly a few hellish parts like the ending of Exodus and parts of Nightfall etc. Then, a while after finishing it on heroic, I figured I'd give legendary a go (I hadn't even tried legendary in any Halo game before). And it was surprisingly painless since I had already learned to take the enemies (especially elites and brutes) 1 on 1 on heroic. In fact I found the legendary run to be less painful than the heroic one just because of that. Although the ending of Exodus... man. That was tough with 2 wraiths, 2-3 ghosts and tons of brutes, jackals, skirmishers and grunts. Plasma pistol/headshot is the key to success as usual.
 
EDIT: About the "fatigue" of Halo combat, I had that happen when I played through Halo 2 for the first time. I didn't play it until when I bought a 360 in 2007 and I had just replayed the first Halo before that. By the end of Halo 2 I wasn't really into it anymore and I was just trying to rush from checkpoint to checkpoint. Didn't get that with Reach though. Might've been because I enjoyed the story more and because the combat actually felt more satisfying than usual when I had to take things slow to survive.

I think it's a mass effect 2 situation, for those who have played that on the harder difficulties. The difficulty one up from normal is a HUGE jump, and can be very frustrating.. but then you try the hardest difficulty after and it is a much smaller difference. I played Reach through on heroic and died about as many times as I did on legendary on ODST or Halo 3, but then when I moved on to Legendary the caution I'd learned from the other made it far less strenuous than previous games.

When I was playing the 9th mission on Legendary, the hologram was incredibly useful. 
I found that mission to be one of the easier ones.

The Pillar of Autumn is the last actual level.   You beat the game on Heroic and are going to finish it on normal?  That doesn't make any sense.  
 
I just played through a level on normal and it was too easy.  It was fun to dick around, but I literally drove over a suicide grunt on purpose, got hit by both of the plasma grenades, and didn't die.  They say "Halo is supposed to be played on Heroic" because it isn't just a damage modifier like most games. 

Good thread.  This is my first Halo game.   Well, to be specific, the first Halo campaign game.  I started the Halo 3 campaign, but then tried online (and was annihilated.) 
I am playing on Heroic, not just because Bungie suggest it, but  because I always played games on Normal, and think that is the reason I suck at games. 
 
Anyway, I am playing on the Nightfall level, and am getting my ass handed to me.  Took me forever to beat those two Hunters, and now it seems I am pinned down on the part after that.  
 
I will keep trying though, hoping this will make me a better online player.  Probably not though!!

Yea it is considerably harder than prior games in the series. But for me this is where Halo excels. If you get stuck somewhere there is almost always another better way to get through the encounter. "The Combat Puzzle" if you will is only noticeable on harder difficulties.

I have played all the other halos, and there has always been a method to the madness. There are lots of dudes, you could pull off a few headshots from distance, 2/3 for shield then 1 more for kill. Halo: Reach says no to this. Having to use about 6-7 bullets for every single elite is amazingly annoying. Really, why so much? 
 
I've went up to an elite and hit them 4 times dodging their counter melee for them NOT to die. Why? I know some of you are going to say oh, well it takes skill, etc. It's boring poking your head out from behind a rock to get 2-3 shots while getting absolutely peppered with plasma. So, once again I hide and let my shield build. Oh wait, their shield has went up too. Exciting. 
 
I mean, sure it's a good game, but it's also incredibly dull. I completed the game once already but thinking about going through at least two more times to get legendary solo and co-op just seems so... ugh. I actually cringe thinking about it. 
 
I love Halo: CE, Halo 3 and ODST. Well done Reach. You've made your campaign as bad as Halo 2.

Just carry the drop shield whenever it's available. You don't have to worry about searching for health packs.

I played on Heroic too and I felt the same way. I finally completed yesterday (when I say finally I mean after 3 sessions) and it felt like it went on forever. I tried going onto normal for a mission to get an achievement but it seemed way too easy where as heroic seemed to be too hard due to all the high ranking enemies with explosives that get thrown at you.

" @Axxol: Drop Shield is useless in campaign. I've dropped it so many times in a hiding position and it always gets destroyed really quickly as the enemies are hawkeyeing a pixel of either me or the shield itself. "

" @Axxol: If you read what I said then it's obvious that I don't run and gun. I thought I was a Spartan though? They should just call it Baillie vs Covenant. The spartans are useless. Why are they wearing armour? It's just annoying feeling so weak. I've not felt like this is a game for years. "

 I had to take things slow to survive. "

I would imagine that playing the campaign in co-op would make it much more enjoyable in your case

" @Baillie said:

" @Axxol: If you read what I said then it's obvious that I don't run and gun. I thought I was a Spartan though? They should just call it Baillie vs Covenant. The spartans are useless. Why are they wearing armour? It's just annoying feeling so weak. I've not felt like this is a game for years. "

Chill out, guy. I was trying to give you tips, not start an argument,  I just finished it on Heroic. Use better tactics, take more cover.    The Spartans were clearly outnumbered (and out-gunned); did you expect to reach God mode and rape everything that points a weapon at you? "

What I did was I first took out most of the grunts, jackals and skirmishers with a DMR or a needle rifle so that I'd only have the elites left. Then I just tried to look for a situation where I could shoot him with a plasma pistol and a "headshot weapon" without getting shot by all of them. That tactic worked so well that I actually didn't find the elites that hard, it was the brutes that were more annoying because they needed more ammo to down.
 
Also, I found the drop shield to be really useful because if you drop it in a good spot, you get your health back to full without having to look for a health pack. The shield itself I didn't find to be all that useful.

I started on legendary and got to mission 6(?) after the space fight when you land on the ship. After I got passed that the game crashed and put me back to the start of the mission so I had to restart on Heroic to save my sanity. I totally agree with you, fighting enemies for 30 minutes makes the story take a back seat and when you have allied NPC's shouting at you to move or do something with immediacy, only to realise you have to take out 4 more elites that takes an age.  
 
I liked it though, heroic compared to legendary definitely made it easier for me but this game doesn't feel like it belongs in the post COD4 world with this type of combat.

I played the first mission last night and basically had enough of the campaign after 15-20 minutes. I'm sure it's more fun when you play it in co-op but man, that was boring.

I agree with the OP. I was fine with the difficulty but the last couple of missions were just tedious with all the elites and brutes. I think it would have been more fun if I could have played at another difficulty somewhere between normal and heroic.

I had trouble in a few spots, but it was mostly my fault, and if you think the little plasma gun is useless then you don't know much about halo's gameplay. I beat heroic in like 8 hours or so, you guys seem pretty butthurt about nothing. This campaign was most certainly my favorite.

I am playing my first time on legendary, and ya it's hard, but it's fun an challenging. Yes I have almost broken my controller from frustration, but I still like it. Next play through will be on heroic to enjoy the story more.

I feel your pain. I went through on Legendary the first time and the beginning levels were fun because they were short, but the last few levels really dragged on far too long.  
 
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy long levels, but not when the formula going through them all is exactly the same: Go into a big area, kill the baddies there, kill the reinforcements coming from a dropship, push a button, kill more reinforcements, move through an empty area, get to another area full of enemies, repeat.  Boring.

i've been playing it on legendary and i can deffinately see where you're coming from.

I agree with some things said above. Heroic is too hard (I've played first 8 mission on Heroic and then said 'fuck it' and switched to normal). I haven't had major problems with finishing the rest of the halo games (minus Halo Wars, but that doesn't really count) but with this one, well, it wasn't fun dying time and time again. Normal is sometimes too easy though. Sometime i don't even have to stop, i can run'n'gun to my heart's content. I R disappoint.

Ok. Just finished it on heroic. And I have no intent of doing so on legendary. I played throug Halo 2,3 and ODST. But only on normal to check out the stroy. Also because of the "this is how halo is meant to be played" buzz I choose that. It was really hard. But the campaign is great. Because of the "directing", and I have to admit: when I died, almost all the time a different approach lead to victory, and not more precision or twitchy shooting.

I was just exploding with rage today. I'm on the package (heroic) as well and just can't move on. No checkpoints, no weapons or ammo and a ton of brutes just rushing me with hammers. Sucks. After I beat the campaign I probably will not go back for a long  long time.

I loved it on Heroic.  I would recommend it on Heroic if you want the best intense experience.  If you want a tiny chance to feel what it must feel to be in Noble 6's boots.  Totally out numbered and out gunned.  Intense firefights, live or die split second choices..... thats what I felt and I thought it was simply AWESOME.
 
Yes, there were parts I had to redo a few times and come up with new tactics which I thought was just cool as hell.  And when I finally beat that area, I felt great about it.  But yeah, if you are looking for your typical gaming experience then play on Normal.

the worst part for me was at the end where you have to defend yourself until Keyes shows up to get Cortana. Game drops wave after wave of Brute at you. shit is redonk. There's a wave that includes a lot of Brutes and an elite Brute with a hammer and you think "Finally!"
 
 
then another wave drops with even MORE Brutes. Took me a half hour to beat it.

Finally beat it. Went much faster than I expected and was far more enjoyable after I began approaching it with a different mindset. Instead of playing it like a normal Halo game and going YEAH IM GONNA SHOOT DUDES IN THE FACE I started playing a bit more methodically at a much slower pace.
 
Then the game didn't give me the challenge/achievement for beating it on Heroic because I took a break and played a different level on normal then came back to the last rally point, so apparently I have to do the whole level again. Motherfucker.

i liked the cutscenes. and i liked the ending. but i kept feeling like i wanted it to end. it was DRAAAAAAAAAGING on forever.

just finished it on heroic yesterday... man what a challange. There were times where i shouted at my tv "you must be joking", because sometimes they throw sooo much at you at once, you just want to crawl in a dark, warm hole and forget the game. But somehow you manage to succeed and go on and on ;-)
 
LOVED it, because of the challange. Nice change after so many games are MUCH too easy nowadays (my personal opinion).