Halo, what is the big deal?

[mpompey]

I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes here, but what is the big deal about Halo?

I just finished the first Halo over the weekend. I previously was a PC gamer only, and had nothing but disdain for console games. I recently purchased an Xbox 360 to play some of the newer titles like Gears of War, Bioshock, etc. without having to go through the constant cycle of swapping video cards, ram, cpu, & motherboard, every other year.

As a noob to the world of consoles, I completely have bought into the hype and have purchased both Halo 2 and Halo 3 from Amazon. I had a copy of Halo: CE for the PC but never played it. Everyone talks about Halo being this revolutionary 1st person shooter, best game of its genre, etc. I just don't see it.

I do realize the version I just finished was 7 years old but parts of the game were just repetiive and unnecessary. The story seemed to be told in jerky steps, it didn't seem fluid at all. After awhile maps just seemed boring and repetitive. The section where you are following the mechanical orb come to mind as one of the most aggravating sections of the entire game. However, the section where you are driving the tank, and the end piece driving the warthog through the ship were fun.

Granted Halo is a seven year video game, but it nowhere deserves the praise its getting. On the other hand, Half-Life was an experience! That was a game that drew you into its story line. And you actually were wanting to find out what was going on. Finishing Halo just seemed like a chore I needed to complete.

Did this stuff get fixed in Halo 2? Was Halo 2 an improvement? I'm really curious as to why so many people rave about this game. Or is it because of its multi-player?

 

[GlocksRock]

It's one of the best mulitplayer games ever in my opinion.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Halo is simple, it doesn't bring anything new to the genre. It doesn't need to do anything new.

But...

Everything that it does do, it does so well. It is one of the best multiplayer games out there.

There really isn't anything new that anyone can do with the fps genre. They just need to concentrate on polishing the basic principals of FPS.

Bioshock was junk btw.

 

[j_garcia]

Never really been a fan of it myself. The FPS genre is littered with far too many games, most of them too similar for my liking. The fan base is what Halo has going for it really, since the game doesn't really redefine anything as Wafflesomd said.

Metal Gear Solid, now that at least is interesting and will be playable in first OR third person on the fly

 

[mpompey]

Maybe I should check out the multi-player. CounterStrike has usually been my platform of choice for multi-player.

True the FPS genre is a little aged, but not so much as there aren't improvements.

Besides the increase in graphics and CPU processing power, some of the best achievements can be in presentation and storyline. I've read some interesting posts about Bioshock and its story; and the moral decisions it presents. True, the game looks a little too much "Run and Gun" and "circle strafe" but I'll probably pick it up.

Gears of War though, has been an impressive ride so far. I just started Act 5, but through the entire game, I've been excited to play every level.

We'll see what Halo 2 & 3 brings me.

 

[abboudc]

The single player campaigns are ok, but multiplayer is where it shines. It has great balance of weapons, and several very good maps. It's a "shooter done right on a console", which may not sound like such an accomplishment, until you look at it's competition.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Besides the increase in graphics and CPU processing power, some of the best achievements can be in presentation and storyline. I've read some interesting posts about Bioshock and its story; and the moral decisions it presents. True, the game looks a little too much "Run and Gun" and "circle strafe" but I'll probably pick it up.

Rent Bioshock, don't buy it.

 

[nick1000000]

Halo 1 was a better game than Halo 2. Halo 2 was too short and the story kinda sucked. Halo 1 had a good variety of maps and the game was long. Not the typical 4 to 6 hour FPS that are out there today. As for Halo 2 multiplayer; it is really fun and has a different experience each time you play. There is a problem with it though. There are way too many little kids that are on that ruin the fun of the game. Also the learning curve for the game is way too steap online. If you are just playing the game for the first time, prepare to get killed a lot. People play this game all day and it gets frustrating sometimes.

 

[dem beats]

I was just gonna make a thread

Well Halo 3

Put it on the big screan.... I hate co op on over under letterbox... nothign pisses me off more when get an ultra wive view but can't see the bullits from the sky mowing me down. I was also suprised at the new art and style. Nothing like the previous, it's much more "gritty" or you could even say refined, or detailed. It was quite dark, I had to step the projector up 2 levels of brightness and up the in game brightness. I would call it a Gears of War style make over. The other halo games are so fast twitch at times, it was odd at how much the pace was slowed down... so far.

I think Halo did so well because it gave you so many options, and really simplified and diversified the FPS marklet that was getting to the point where all FPS in either missions or multiplayer was decided who got the big daddy BFG weapon first would always win. Every weapon coudl be utilized, and the sheild was a bit revolutionary in how it worked.

It has been said already though Halo shines due to multiplayer. It changed the way people can kill each other and still have fun. The learning curve is steep, that was said, but the curve to Counter strike is even worse. You might actualy get of one kill in halo if only by accident. Stickey grenades work for even the noobest of the noobs

 

[Audioholics]

I do realize the version I just finished was 7 years old

Bingo. You can't possibly go back in time and relive how you would have felt playing that game 7 years ago. It's impossible to "get" the original Halo now, just like it would be impossible to "get" how cool pong was when it came out... or Raiders of the Lost Ark on Atari...

No biggie, but Gears of War would be your modern-day comparison in my opinion.

 

[Audioholics]

I hate co op on over under letterbox... nothign pisses me off more when get an ultra wive view but can't see the bullits from the sky mowing me down.

You guys ARE talking about local co-op, right? They didn't do Internet (up to 4-player) Co-op that way did they? (would make no sense)

 

[mikeyj92]

Bingo. You can't possibly go back in time and relive how you would have felt playing that game 7 years ago. It's impossible to "get" the original Halo now, just like it would be impossible to "get" how cool pong was when it came out... or Raiders of the Lost Ark on Atari...

No biggie, but Gears of War would be your modern-day comparison in my opinion.

My game was Adventure.

 

[mpompey]

Maybe that's it.

I remember going into a CompUSA store (Do they still have those?) when the Xbox first came out. They had a demo of Halo: CE on it. I remember playing the campaign on it, it was pretty early in the game when you first landed on Halo, and the little grunts were running around.

I remember saying to a friend of mine at the time, "This game looks stupid, this'll never last."

Needless to say I was wrong, I was playing Halo3 Multiplayer yesterday evening (Thanks to Amazon shipping goof that got the game to me Monday afternoon) until 0-Dark:30 in the morning; can't wait to get into the campaign and see the graphics along with the story.

 

[Fred333]

I thought the same when Halo first came out, but then after the second one came out I knew it was going to be around for a long time.

 

[naisphoo]

I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes here, but what is the big deal about Halo?

I just finished the first Halo over the weekend. I previously was a PC gamer only, and had nothing but disdain for console games. I recently purchased an Xbox 360 to play some of the newer titles like Gears of War, Bioshock, etc. without having to go through the constant cycle of swapping video cards, ram, cpu, & motherboard, every other year.

As a noob to the world of consoles, I completely have bought into the hype and have purchased both Halo 2 and Halo 3 from Amazon. I had a copy of Halo: CE for the PC but never played it. Everyone talks about Halo being this revolutionary 1st person shooter, best game of its genre, etc. I just don't see it.

I do realize the version I just finished was 7 years old but parts of the game were just repetiive and unnecessary. The story seemed to be told in jerky steps, it didn't seem fluid at all. After awhile maps just seemed boring and repetitive. The section where you are following the mechanical orb come to mind as one of the most aggravating sections of the entire game. However, the section where you are driving the tank, and the end piece driving the warthog through the ship were fun.

Granted Halo is a seven year video game, but it nowhere deserves the praise its getting. On the other hand, Half-Life was an experience! That was a game that drew you into its story line. And you actually were wanting to find out what was going on. Finishing Halo just seemed like a chore I needed to complete.

Did this stuff get fixed in Halo 2? Was Halo 2 an improvement? I'm really curious as to why so many people rave about this game. Or is it because of its multi-player?

Halo be it 1, 2 or 3 is junk just like anything Micro*** puts outhere. But I doubt that all the people who buy halo3 wil be able to play the game because their 360 box are in the shop for repair.

 

[mpompey]

I just started Halo 2 last night. Kinda weird trying to play a FPS with a controller versus mouse and keyboard. I had a Nostromo Gamepad for my PC, I wonder if anyone makes a keyboard control pad for Xbox 360?