Hey Dragon, You Can Have Her: Halo - Combat Evolved

[Uncompetative]

A search for console shooters released prior to 2002 can be found at:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3x5kj3e

This returns a list of shooters rated highest to lowest by Metacritic reviews:

1. N64: Perfect Dark (2000) 97

2. Xbox: Halo: CE (2001) 97

3. N64: GoldenEye 007 96

4. PC: Half-Life (1998) 96

5. PC: Quake (1998) 94

6. Dreamcast: Quake III Arena (2000) 93

7: PC: Thief: The Dark Project (1998) 92

8: PC: Unreal Tournament (1999) 92

9. PC: No One Lives Forever (2000) 91

10. PC: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997) 91

So, even if you do compare Halo: CE against PC shooters that all benefit from mouse-look it comes out joint 1st. It would appear that your opinion of it is out of sync with the general consensus. For that reason I would prefer if you weren't so harsh on it, even if it doesn't suit your particular tastes and you find some of its design decisions to be unfathomably eccentric. It is different. It works on its own terms.

On the subject of it being inappropriate to compare gamepad-driven shooters to those controlled with mouse and keyboard, Metacritic has on the next page:

11. Dreamcast: Unreal Tournament (2001) 90

I found this comparison video of the same level of the same game being played first on Dreamcast, then on PC:


The reason why this player does so much better on the PC is because of the mouse. It has a clear advantage over a gamepad. Not only are multiple head-shots possible with the Sniper Rifle in rapid succession, but the player seems to have to confidence to get into the thick of it and be almost surrounded by multiple targets and turns to face each of them in turn with sharp sweeping movements of the mouse. No such risks are taken when playing with the Dreamcast gamepad, they take out enemies singly, from a greater distance, with cover nearby. As a result their score is far lower. You are free to disagree, but this was why I felt your case would have been stronger if you had ignored games that required a mouse and just listed a bunch of console FPS games you thought were better than Halo: CE.

Obviously, you can play PC games with gamepads... but why would you want to?

 

[SavingPrincess]

It would appear that your opinion of it is out of sync with the general consensus.

Gotta admit, I "lol'd." Welcome to the story of my life, bub.

For that reason I would prefer if you weren't so harsh on it, even if it doesn't suit your particular tastes and you find some of its design decisions to be unfathomably eccentric. It is different. It works on its own terms.

I guess you might be missing the point. When I first played the game, I wasn't being "harsh" on it, nor was I really affected by the hype of the game. I just thought what I thought. The hard part for people reading a negative review of a game they liked, is reading a negative review of a game they liked.

I realize a lot of people would "prefer" if I were nicer to the games I am not nice to, but them's the breaks I suppose. I don't see why people ask me to be more balanced all the time, it makes me giggle. I guess it's my failure as a writer that people aren't getting "what I'm going for," and ironically enough, I write far more positive reviews which get about 10-20% of the views/comments as my negative reviews do. If anything, in the gaming world at large, I'm far more positive than negative, yet no one asks me on my positive reviews to be "more critical."

Sometimes I wonder why I am and why I do. /philosophic