Ways that Halo Was Great

[Lil Frier]

Halo 1 was the best shooter of all time. It was just fun. Great controls and a lot of replay ability. Easy enough to where you can get good quickly but to become a true expert took hours upon hours of practice.

Halo 4 came close, the rest of the franchise is garbage comparably though. Hated 2 and 3. I wish it was still as popular as COD. I have enjoyed COD(Black Ops is my fav) but I never got the true fun factor like I did with halo.

I was playing Ghosts this weekend with my nephew and while it was fun, it did not give me an experience like Halo 4 or Halo 1. I think COD is becoming too complex with options and guns.

What do I know though... I think Minecraft is horrible and that is one of the biggest franchise of recent times.

I agree with you that Minecraft is terrible, I wasted $20 on a week of play, basically. I'm just not creative, so it doesn't appeal to my style of play.

However, I completely disagree with your assessment of the topic at-hand. I loved the first Halo, and I loved the multiplayer of the second game (to the extent that I never actually beat the campaign because I was too busy playing one-bomb Assault on Zanzibar). The third game was OK, though I wasn't a big fan of the multiplayer's addition of the pick-up stuff (except trolling Bubble Shield users with grenades was fun).

I skipped ODST and Wars, just because they didn't look enticing (and I have no faith in the ability to get a good RTS on the console). I really liked the campaign of Reach, and the multiplayer was still solid (even if the maps weren't great and the Armor Abilities were a bit grating). You get to Halo 4, and I am torn. On the one hand, I really like the campaign as a whole. On the other, I really hated the last part of the game, where you didn't even fight the Didact. You just had to get through some platforms of run-of-the mill Knights and Crawlers, then do some QTEs (the second time they ever really bothered me, the first being the end of MW3). The story was good, the ending was just lackluster.

The multiplayer of the newest game, it's again hit-and-miss. As a whole, I like the base maps. However, the community maps are a total joke, and they lag BADLY in multiplayer (I'm guessing the Forge code's just really inefficient). I don't buy DLC, but my cousin did, and I played the maps in it. I can truly say that the DLC maps are utter garbage, I hate them all.

The gameplay itself, it's pretty good. The main complaints I have are actually the things that were stolen from CoD. The Ordinance is annoying because it's so luck-based, and it can turn a match with one good drop. The Killcam is 100% broken, and you can't actually tell what happened because the enemy is never shooting at you (and I generally find the idea of a Killcam disgusting). All of the Perks and Armor Ability stuff is disappointing, with most of it being totally useless, in my opinion. It basically just takes away from the core gameplay of the franchise.

However, I really like some things. Like I said, the base maps are nice. I hate that they are split up by game size, meaning you only have about 6 maps in a game type, but Adrift is the only TERRIBLE map in the group (and it's one of the worst FPS maps ever, IMO). While I hate the extras in the Loadouts, I like the basics of it. Not forcing everyone into a single style of play is nice. Getting to take a DMR or BR instead of the Assault Rifle every time lets you get comfortable with the game, rather than running around with a gun you hate, playing a style you hate, and looking for a precision weapon the whole time.

As for CoD itself, I'm just of the mindset of ignoring Infinity Ward. They really only made 2 good games (2 and 4), with Black Ops both saving Treyarch and showing how horrid MW2 and later really is.

 

[exdeath]

False.

Unreal Tournament 2004 Directors Cut would get my vote for online team vs shooters.

Halo ties with Final Fantasy 7 as the most overhyped overrated game of all time.

 

[drbrock]

False.

Unreal Tournament 2004 Directors Cut would get my vote for online team vs shooters.

Halo ties with Final Fantasy 7 as the most overhyped overrated game of all time.

False: Last of Us is the most overhyped overrated game of all time. Followed closely by battletoads... lol

FF7 while I love it was great for its time but when I revisit it is no where near as good.

 

[smackababy]

False: Last of Us is the most overhyped overrated game of all time. Followed closely by battletoads... lol

FF7 while I love it was great for its time but when I revisit it is no where near as good.

I agree with ex on FF7. It is mediocre at best, yet is the beloved crowned achievement of Square for most of the "FF7 was my first JRPG" crowd.

I disagree that UT2k4 was the best, it wasn't. 2k3 was much better IMO.

 

[Lil Frier]

False.

Unreal Tournament 2004 Directors Cut would get my vote for online team vs shooters.

Halo ties with Final Fantasy 7 as the most overhyped overrated game of all time.

Unreal Championship was the first LIVE game I had, and I loved it. I miss Unreal in general.

If I was going to call ANYTHING overrated and overhyped, it would be the GTA franchise. I still consider that joke way too easy and stupid.

 

[exdeath]

False: Last of Us is the most overhyped overrated game of all time. Followed closely by battletoads... lol

FF7 while I love it was great for its time but when I revisit it is no where near as good.

The difference is The Last of Us is actually really good, at least justifying the hype train.

 

[cmdrdredd]

False: Last of Us is the most overhyped overrated game of all time. Followed closely by battletoads... lol

FF7 while I love it was great for its time but when I revisit it is no where near as good.

Except last of us did well and received numerous awards. It wasn't all talk and no show.

 

[drbrock]

I would take Halo all day over last of us.

I seriously don't remember was FF7 not critally acclaimed and win a ton of awards? For its time I think it was an incredible feat. I don't remember anything else to that level of gameplay for the period. I think Last of Us will go that way. Great now but won't age well. If you guys listen to Game Scoop or Podcast Beyond they were talking about it a few weeks ago.

 

[exdeath]

If you were still high on the experience of FF6 and picked up 7, it was a huge disappointment.

Pretty sure the only people who love FF7 were new to gaming and RPG stories when PS1 came out.

The Advent Children movie has a better story than the game. They were more interested in showing off their new SGI boxes at the time, the story was in 7 was an afterthought.

Halo was basically the same thing: console gamers who hadn't had access to PC gaming in 15 years prior getting a giant boner off of their first real PC quality FPS experience on their $300 toy... 15 years late lol.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I would take Halo all day over last of us.

I seriously don't remember was FF7 not critally acclaimed and win a ton of awards? For its time I think it was an incredible feat. I don't remember anything else to that level of gameplay for the period. I think Last of Us will go that way. Great now but won't age well. If you guys listen to Game Scoop or Podcast Beyond they were talking about it a few weeks ago.

Age well? A good story never changes.

 

[smackababy]

The problem with The Last of Us is the gameplay just isn't fun. I don't care how good the story is, if the gameplay isn't engaging, it is a chore to wade through it for the story. I'd much rather just read a book.

Halo wasn't just console gamers first FPS. It did a lot of things UT99 didn't, and did everything well for an arena shooter. It also helped that the story was good and the environments and universe were phenomenal.

 

[drbrock]

I thought the story was great for FF7. Never played 6 so I cant compare but I liked it better than any of Final Fantasy games on SNES. It did not compare to Secret of Mana though.

smackababy basically summed up my experience for LOU and Halo. I played Unreal/quake for a while and did not think they were as good as Halo.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I dont understand what was wrong with the game play. Course I dont know what individual people were looking for or expect from it. I liked uncharted a lot too and people say similar things. I dont know what is wrong with it.

 

[Tweak155]

I thought the story was great for FF7. Never played 6 so I cant compare but I liked it better than any of Final Fantasy games on SNES. It did not compare to Secret of Mana though.

smackababy basically summed up my experience for LOU and Halo. I played Unreal/quake for a while and did not think they were as good as Halo.

I still need to play through SOM.

 

[smackababy]

I just wasn't a fan of the gameplay in TLoU, and the same goes for the first Uncharted (never played the others, because I didn't like the first). I also thought the story in Uncharted was similar to what a few drunken guys would come up with after a Indiana Jones marathon. "What if he is a super cool archaeologist and then Nazis!!!!" "Yeah dude! Totally awesome!"

I also thought Dues Ex: HR was pretty poor as well. Just for comparison.

 

[Lil Frier]

I dont understand what was wrong with the game play. Course I dont know what individual people were looking for or expect from it. I liked uncharted a lot too and people say similar things. I dont know what is wrong with it.

Having not played either of those Sony titles, I'll just say that third-person as a whole is often a turn-off to me. It usually feels/is more clunky than a first-person game. Gears of War, I really liked the first. I didn't play much of the second online, and I never played the third online whatsoever. The reason for that is that it always felt slow. Assassin's Creed, it was always clunky. You'd get stuck on walls and have your character trying to run up the wrong ledge (which wasn't climbable, meaning you had to wait a few seconds for him to fail his climbing attempt). I really like the Gears and AC stories, but the gameplay's just too clunky. Mass Effect probably ruled the clunky roost for me, though. I tried it once, and it just felt like I was playing Gears of War's clunkiness, but while in a swamp. It was too much.

 

[Lil Frier]

Halo was basically the same thing: console gamers who hadn't had access to PC gaming in 15 years prior getting a giant boner off of their first real PC quality FPS experience on their $300 toy... 15 years late lol.

I disagree with this SO HARD. I didn't play a lot of shooters when I was a kid. However, I watched my dad play a LOT of Quake and Unreal on PC. I played some Urban Terror (Quake III: Team Arena mod) on his account myself as well.

However, it wasn't that I wanted Halo as something to play on my Xbox. The sole reason I wanted an Xbox was for Halo. What I mean is that the game sold the console, not the other way around.

As I said before, Unreal Championship was the first LIVE game I ever had. I was extremely annoyed and disappointed in LIVE when both Quake 4 and UT3 were essentially dead on the 360, because I wanted to play them online. I am still dying for new Quake and Unreal games. However, I simply don't buy that people wanted Halo because they needed a console shooter. I think that it helped that it was an Xbox exclusive, in terms of building the Xbox brand, but I think that it would have been successful if it launched on PC at the same time as well (though probably to a lesser extent).

 

[drbrock]

I still need to play through SOM.

DO IT! Haven't played it in years so I don't know how it has aged but I played through it a few times and never got bored.

As far as LOU is concerned I think there is a common theme about people who don't like Uncharted don't care for the Last of Us. Both LOS and Uncharted are wildly popular games but there is something about them that some people(very much in the minority) don't like. Tomb Raider was a third person game and it was among my favorites last year. Can't put my finger on what makes them different that much different from a gameplay perspective. They had similar environments but Tomb Raider was much more fun for me.

 

[purbeast0]

DO IT! Haven't played it in years so I don't know how it has aged but I played through it a few times and never got bored.

As far as LOU is concerned I think there is a common theme about people who don't like Uncharted don't care for the Last of Us. Both LOS and Uncharted are wildly popular games but there is something about them that some people(very much in the minority) don't like. Tomb Raider was a third person game and it was among my favorites last year. Can't put my finger on what makes them different that much different from a gameplay perspective. They had similar environments but Tomb Raider was much more fun for me.

did you play tomb raider on 360 or ps3?

because imo, playing 3rd person games on 360 is MUCH better than ps3 simply due to the controller.

that said, the uncharted franchise and the last of us are definitely at the top of the top games on ps3 to me. i have no problems with the controls or gameplay and they are incredibly smooth to me. the only thing i hated was the jetski part in the first uncharted.

 

[Geosurface]

I'd been playing FPS since the shareware Wolfenstein 3D back on the family 386. I still loved Halo.

Same here, I also had been looking forward to Halo since the original announcements and trailer when it was going to be for Mac/PC. I was pretty upset it got diverted to a console.

Halo was a great game because of all the little things it did right.

+ An excellent orchestral score
+ Wide open areas and varied environments,
+A compelling story with likable characters (in an FPS!)
+The best console FPS controls to date
+Very good AI
+Stellar graphics and visuals with a consistent framerate
+Satisfying weapons
+Previously unheard of vehicle driving/flying possibilities in a story-driven FPS
+Excellent, unscripted AI companions that actually made you feel a part of a larger war
+One of the best co-op experiences to that point, of any genre, period
+Fun Deathmatch and competitive multiplayer

Agreed. I still love to listen to the music and will always consider Halo 1 one of the best games ever. I've enjoyed all the sequels quite a bit too.

 

[drbrock]

did you play tomb raider on 360 or ps3?

because imo, playing 3rd person games on 360 is MUCH better than ps3 simply due to the controller.

that said, the uncharted franchise and the last of us are definitely at the top of the top games on ps3 to me. i have no problems with the controls or gameplay and they are incredibly smooth to me. the only thing i hated was the jetski part in the first uncharted.

I played Tomb Raider on the PC with a 360 controller. I had PS3 for the majority of the last generation. I got bored with it and gave it to my nephew. Then I bought a 7850 for my PC. It came with Tomb Raider, Bioshock, Far Cry, and Blood Dragon. Might have to try and borrow it back. I have been hearing so many great things about Ni No Kuni that I might go and pick up the game.

Has anyone played the PC Port of Halo 1? All this talk of Halo 1 has me thinking I want to give it another go around. Play some co op with my nephew.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I played Tomb Raider on the PC with a 360 controller. I had PS3 for the majority of the last generation. I got bored with it and gave it to my nephew. Then I bought a 7850 for my PC. It came with Tomb Raider, Bioshock, Far Cry, and Blood Dragon. Might have to try and borrow it back. I have been hearing so many great things about Ni No Kuni that I might go and pick up the game.

Has anyone played the PC Port of Halo 1? All this talk of Halo 1 has me thinking I want to give it another go around. Play some co op with my nephew.

I own all the pc versions of halo. It is alright but almost everything is a straight port and it shows.

The best halo 1 experience is halo anniversary on 360.

 

[Zargon]

Halo was basically the same thing: console gamers who hadn't had access to PC gaming in 15 years prior getting a giant boner off of their first real PC quality FPS experience on their $300 toy... 15 years late lol.

except that many console games are also PC gamers


there was no better platform at the time than an xbox or 360 and halo to get friends together and play a shooter against eachother

considering 8 of you could play on 2 300 dollar consoles back when a decent GPU was 300 bucks

 

[desura]

Halo ODST stunk.

It was too silly, tried to be too smart alecky, and it was too easy for a regular ODST soldier to take out...dozens of covenant.

 

[exdeath]

DO IT! Haven't played it in years so I don't know how it has aged but I played through it a few times and never got bored.

As far as LOU is concerned I think there is a common theme about people who don't like Uncharted don't care for the Last of Us. Both LOS and Uncharted are wildly popular games but there is something about them that some people(very much in the minority) don't like. Tomb Raider was a third person game and it was among my favorites last year. Can't put my finger on what makes them different that much different from a gameplay perspective. They had similar environments but Tomb Raider was much more fun for me.

If you like SOM that much you'll love NNK. It has a similar level of cuteness and equally similar style of warm hearted simple story. And the music and scenery are just.. how many times can you say omg wow back to back lol.

If youre an RPG player its one of those games that will generate goosebumps when you insert the disc for the first time and the theme song starts playing on the PS3 menu. Seriously epic sound track that sums up why I love RPGs in a single musical piece.

The NNK intro track sums up the old school RPG emotional gamut; the beginning aspiring adventurer and innocent curiosity, the long road ahead, the build up and tragic climax, yearning for the impossible and clinging to a thread of hope, the tension of that final future deciding battle, the bittersweet conclusion, the whole intro track is like a jrpg journey all by itself just listening to it. One of those moving inspirational soul searching musical tracks you could make 100 trailers to and never get tired if it.

And that's before playing. Its 10x more powerful and meaningful after you finish the game.