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Can someone please explain to me what so special about halo?

B

BD2003

Lifer
I feel like this series and all the hoopla about it is like some big joke that I'm just not in on.

I never really got into the first game, at the time I was a big PC gamer and it seemed like FPS for babies to me. I still went through most of the single player, but turned it off at the flood level. Played a good deal of the multi, but wasnt too good with the sticks back then.

Beat the second one as well, but again, the level design was so atrocious and bland I had to struggle to get through it. All the while I'm still wondering why this series is so special.

And now that I'm pretty much a fully converted console FPS player, I figure I'll finally give the third a try. Maybe this time I'll get it. But the story was incomprehensible. Why is this super soldier apparently in love with an AI? the level design still gets me lost (and bored). There was hardly a single memorable moment throughout the entire game, except for the flood level where I nearly almost stopped...again. The ending was an outrage...the last boss is a fucking orb? And then I have to drive (with the worst vehicle controls on the planet) through this never ending sequence that I swear was cut and paste three times, only to make it in the nick of time. And then to find out I died? Wtf? The orb was anticlimactic enough...but seriously, wtf? Not to mention the graphics look like a last gen game in 720p.

It cant just be the multiplayer, which seems merely ok to me. This many millions of people cant be wrong about something, and I love pretty much every other huge 360 franchise, so I'm not just a hater....so what am I missing here?
 
i never played halo or halo 2 but really liked halo 3 (apart from the flood level. hated them, and i agree about that drive part). i felt there was something quite cinematic about it that brought it up a level or 2 for me. not sure what. i had to look up cortana etc, and read wiki a lot to find out just who the hell some of these people were.

last i heard they are making a movie and peter jackson is directing. could be a good movie
 
You know I have similar feelings about the Half Life series...

I think you're right... millions of people aren't wrong, just you! 😉
 
I've always enjoyed the co-op in the Halo series. It's more common these days, but even now it's all too ignored.
 
I also loathe the flood levels. And I also posted here a couple of years ago about hating the vehicle controls... I hate that you can't turn the camera without turning the vehicle. I'm pretty good with the driving controls now, but I'm not convinced that they're better than traditional vehicle controls.
 
I want you to go back to the time Halo 1 came out and pick out several shooters that were out on consoles. You probably won't get many, and that was the initial draw... it was one of the first decent shooters for the growing console crowd. Once you have a following then the sequels are always looked forward to. It also was also pretty much the only console shooter since Goldeneye that had a huge multiplayer draw.

By today's standards it's not great but back then it was pretty new and exciting for those w/out a PC. It's still the only console shooter that allows split screen play WHILE playing online as well, which is great when you have real friends. If CoD4 had the same thing, I would never have gotten Halo 3.
 
i only play halo 3 when people are over because it's the only FPS i have that allows split-screen xboxlive
if only cod4 allowed it...
 
Originally posted by: Xylitol
i only play halo 3 when people are over because it's the only FPS i have that allows split-screen xboxlive
if only cod4 allowed it...
Click to expand...

Yeah WTF it's so inexcusably easy to add split screen... I loathe most games that don't include it at this point.
 
Dunno. I didn't finish the singleplayer, I thought it was boring.

Multiplayer wasn't very fun either. I also hated how a match lasted 5 minutes and then it was back to the lobby/game search. I preferred how in the Halo PC demo, where once a server was hosted players could drop in and out, and matches lasted a while. If it were up to me I would just play CTF on Blood Gulch all the time.
 
Originally posted by: Dari
Marketing + Herd mentality = Goldmine.
Click to expand...

This. And it was the first multiplayer game to do what it did for the consoles. The 1st was a good multiplayer game... the second two are meh. The 3rd one is verges on a "bad" game, yet still sold very well.

They say they're done with Halo, yet keep on making new Halo games. *sigh*
 
Why is Halo special?

1) It's defined console FPSs for the last two generations. Everything from regenerative health and shields to controls to customizeable multiplayer games where you can not just edit levels but create whole new multiplayer games with the available options (Griff Ball, Rocket Race, etc).
2) Back story - The universe is well-defined (if not wholly original) and filled with interesting characters. Halo 3 wasn't the greatest single-player game but I thought the story rounded out the trilogy nicely. Which is why they can do games like Halo Wars and Halo: ODST. I'm interested in Halo: ODST more for the story more than the gameplay at this point. I read Halo: The Fall of Reach prior to playing the original Halo and it really setup the game nicely and added greatly to the experience.
3) Multiplayer - It's not perfect but Bungie has made a stand out multi-player game in all three iterations with features that have become expected now for the genre.
4) Iconic main character - Master Chief just stands out. Sure he's mostly mute but I can't think of another FPS main character that stands out in a series more than he does. That's why ODST is seen as such a risk. Not only does it not have Master Chief, it doesn't have a Spartan in it at all.
5) Hype - Yeah, lot and lots of hype too. MS quickly realized they had a hit with the first Halo and capitalizd on it.

All three games do have various gameplay problems from vehicle controls to repetitive levels but for better or worse, it still garners lots of attention.
 
Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
Originally posted by: Xylitol
i only play halo 3 when people are over because it's the only FPS i have that allows split-screen xboxlive
if only cod4 allowed it...
Click to expand...

Yeah WTF it's so inexcusably easy to add split screen... I loathe most games that don't include it at this point.
Click to expand...

Especially when they have splitscreen local multiplayer. Who even wants to play Call of Duty with 4 players? 😕 Not sure if CoD4 has splitscreen systemlink, but Call of Duty 2 did. If two people can play on the same system over a network, why not over Xbox Live? 😕
 
halo1 was a good game for its time.

then bungie gave us the same game two more times. and they'll do it again, and people will eat it up. i mean, for cryout out loud halo3 didn't even look like a 360 game, it looks like halo2.5 (or maybe 'halo source').

never understood the popularity of the multiplayer, either. as far as an arena-based shooter, it's basically like a less advanced UT2k4. heck, excluding the vehicles, quake3 offers way more.
 
Originally posted by: Ackmed

This. And it was the first multiplayer game to do what it did for the consoles. The 1st was a good multiplayer game... the second two are meh. The 3rd one is verges on a "bad" game, yet still sold very well.

They say they're done with Halo, yet keep on making new Halo games. *sigh*
Click to expand...

If you think Halo 3 verges on "bad," you haven't experienced bad games.
 
Halo was the first breakthrough FPS to come out on that generation of consoles (Xbox/PS2), somewhat comparable to what Goldeneye did for the N64. As others have said, it brought even more meaning to co-op gameplay and multiplayer to consoles as a whole. I loved the first Halo, hell I even liked Halo 2 and how it took dual weapons to a whole new level. Halo 3, on the other hand, was complete garbage compared to what it's predecessors brought to the table. Nothing about Halo 3 was revolutionary, they just barely updated the graphics, tacked on the ending to their rather cliche storyline, and nothing great was introduced for multiplayer, except for a level editor. Now they milk the franchise with Halo Wars and ODST, oh well...
 
Originally posted by: gorcorps
It's still the only console shooter that allows split screen play WHILE playing online as well, which is great when you have real friends. If CoD4 had the same thing, I would never have gotten Halo 3.
Click to expand...

Well, it's not actually the only one. Warhawk on the PS3 does this too. Still, it's a great feature that is seldom seen.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: Ackmed

This. And it was the first multiplayer game to do what it did for the consoles. The 1st was a good multiplayer game... the second two are meh. The 3rd one is verges on a "bad" game, yet still sold very well.

They say they're done with Halo, yet keep on making new Halo games. *sigh*
Click to expand...

If you think Halo 3 verges on "bad," you haven't experienced bad games.
Click to expand...

Sure I have. I bought E.T. I should have said the single player aspect of it. Dont let your 360 feathers get ruffled.
 
Originally posted by: gorcorps
I want you to go back to the time Halo 1 came out and pick out several shooters that were out on consoles. You probably won't get many, and that was the initial draw... it was one of the first decent shooters for the growing console crowd. Once you have a following then the sequels are always looked forward to. It also was also pretty much the only console shooter since Goldeneye that had a huge multiplayer draw.

By today's standards it's not great but back then it was pretty new and exciting for those w/out a PC. It's still the only console shooter that allows split screen play WHILE playing online as well, which is great when you have real friends. If CoD4 had the same thing, I would never have gotten Halo 3.
Click to expand...

I guess it does make sense. I did get how the multiplayer was a big deal back then, but it still feels like I'm the only one that ever noticed that the single player was just...bad. Back when Halo 2 came out, I had some console-only friends that told me I was just being a hater, and after they finally played it, they admitted so begrudgingly that they couldnt make it through the campaign cause it was so boring.

It might be all about the multiplayer, but the campaign is just so bad its hard to ignore, and I cant imagine the series would ever have gotten off the ground if it's timing wasnt so perfect. It's funny how much of a pass it gets for having a terrible campaign by the critics, something theyd never do for any other game. It's as if no one is allowed to admit that it's poor by virtually any standard. It doesnt deserve a pass.

But whether or not you like something is always subjective I suppose...I did rather like Doom 3 and Quake 4, and I seem to be fairly alone on those...



 
Halo is quite possibly the most unimaginative/overhyped series I've ever seen. I'm not sure what Bungie put in the kool aid to get everyone so worked up about it but the game has always been mediocre in my mind. Every once in a while I'll play MP but it's rare.
 
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