Is Halo becoming generic?

[Geo Da Sponge]

Saying that Halo is generic is like saying that Cake is good. Both statements are 100% true. Halo has become a mash up of run here kill this, as opposed to presenting the story in a good way. Personally, I believe that the Modern Warfare games present a much better tactical experience, because if you just run into a room like a retard like you do in Halo all the time, you'll die. Not to mention it actually has a story that is followable.

You've never played Halo on anything above normal, have you? Heck, I'm not even sure you've played it all. Because if you just run into a room "like a retard" on heroic or legendary, you will die. Fast. And Modern Warfare as an example of tactical gameplay is a really bad idea. The campaign it mostly consisted of hiding behind a wall and occasionally popping out to shoot someone. That's not tactical, that's just being cautious.

And the story in MW2 isn't exactly followable, is it?

The story in MW2 was incredibly easy to follow if you played the first game. And yeah, I have played Halo. Thing is, I shouldn't have to go on Legendary to experience any sort of challenge. If I am playing on Normal and I can Rambo into a room and kill everything while only losing 40% of my shields, there's something wrong.

I would point out that heroic is supposed to be the standard difficulty if you want a challenge. It does say it's the way 'Halo is meant to be played' in the difficulty selection screen.

 

[Judgement101]

I just want to clear this up, I bet most people think I hate Halo since I made this thread. I actually enjoyed Halo: CE and Halo 2 a lot but it seems that Halo 3 has been done before. It has the multiplayer of Old School CoD4, a control system of its own, and a story that is very solid. Which is good but a lot of games seem to do the same thing. (minus the story thing, FPSs normally have very weak stories)

 

[Pinkros]

1.is Halo is generic? 2.is the sky blue? 3.do you fart?

1.yes
2.no the atmosphere filters all but the blue spectrum
3.no, i've never farted once

Alright...
2. Well, then grass isn't green, because it just reflects the green wavelength, and the same can be applied to most of the colours.
3. How can you tell that you don't do it in your sleep?

because this is my father
image
does that ansewer your question
well punk deos it

ouch... But wait!

...and what do you say now?

 

[Judgement101]

I'm starting to think that some people might not know the definition of "generic"

 

[TheTurtleMan]

Halo 1 and Halo 2 revolutionize FPS gaming. Halo 3 kinda just... rode their curtails.

Well there isn't that much more to revolutionize in that game type. I mean every game does'nt have to be revolutionary to be awesome. Although I do hear that the next halo game will revolutionize vacuum cleaners.

 

[DSK-]

I never liked Halo, but then again I've almost always been a proponent of PC gaming, and did play Halo 1 for a few levels before uninstalling and never playing it again. It wasn't a bad game, but it simply didn't interest me a great deal.

Then when I got my Xbox 360 I had a choice of a few games, and I chose Halo 3. The controls were hard as hell at first (console nub for the most part back then) and didn't really like it a great deal. Again, I didn't really get into it and only played it in co-op with my brother because he absolutely loved it. I guess I was spoiled on the PC :/

Overall I think it's definitely a good game for a console, but I just think games like Halo were already out for the PC is what makes me somewhat apathetic to the Halo series.

 

[Wicky_42]

Is Halo becoming generic?

Dude, you can't 'become' generic - you are as you were made. If Halo appears generic to you, then that's because the games you play copy it.

 

[PopeJewish]

No, other games are being Halo clones, which make Halo look generic by comparison. Don't forget that it was Halo: Combat Evolved that revolutionized Fist Person Shooters forever.

Actually, that award goes to DooM and Quake, in my opinion. I believe Halo made it more accessible for console people. But I don't see any evidence that states it revolutionized the genre when everything it's done has basically been done before it even came out, you know?

^This. It seems young people these days are forgetting that no, it wasn't halo that revolutionised the FPS, but doom and quake and other golden titles of the age gone by.

That's exactly what I'm hoping. I'd like to see them branch away from the FPS genre (I was tempted to write "stock FPS" there, but I guess that's what this whole thread is debating about, anyway) and see them do something as ambitious as they were attempting to do with Halo before scaling it back to work for the original Xbox hardware.

 

[PopeJewish]

... Using autoaim, limited inventory, and regenerating health to cover up the crippling limitations of thumbstick controls isn't a revolution. Its a dumbing down. A Devolution.

Halo started the trend of "accessibility" over all other concerns, a concept that is killing gaming one day at a time.

What game were you playing? Halo: CE didn't have autoaim (No idea where that came from...) and while it had regenerating shields (which fit), your health didn't regenerate, you still needed to find health kits.
As for the limited inventory, I would like to point out how damn difficult it is to switch between a dozen weapons while playing on the console. It may be easy on the PC, but it isn't on consoles.
And you seemed to forget the introduction of vehicles, a large mutliplayer mode that surpassed those before it, and its kick-ass single player mode with Co-op.

As for your Devolution comment, you do know that every shooter for the past... what, 8 years has followed that trend, with the exception of the Valve games, but then, they've always been ones for taking the path less traveled.

Regenerating shields were actually taken from Tribes, if I remember correctly.

As for a larger multiplayer mode that surpassed those before it, on consoles that's in a sense true. However on PCs it's not, not even close (in fact before Bungie was bought by MS, when Halo was going to be a Mac exclusive, they were aiming for 40v40 online multiplayer). But the fact remains it hasn't grown up past that point. it's still the same numbers in an online match as it was in Halo 2, and it's just not impressive anymore when other games do it bigger and better (imo, of course)

Before M$ bought bungie Halo was going to be a RTS game, which they eventually made in the form of halo wars. Regen shields/health are not a regression (i think that's what you meant), they are simply a change from instant kills, which discourages camping (a good thing) and allows a player to go on extended kill streaks (also a good thing). Accessibility is in no way killing gaming, it has helped gaming reach the current zenith of popularity it enjoys at the moment. Without that population growth of gamers (casual,hardcore and all between) current AAA titles would not have 1/5 of the budget that devs get to spend, pushing the tech to it's limits and creating games that consistantly raise the bar in interactive entertainment. So i guess hopeless bastard, that's all thanks to halo....according to you.

First off, The original Halo was going to be an RTS for a little while, then switched over to tactical 3PS, than finally FPS, then they scaled it back to work on the xbox hardware. Also, Halo Wars wasn't made by Bungie, it was made by Ensemble Studios (the "Age of " series guys)

Second, extended kill streaks were made popular (I would think) by Unreal Tournament if not Quake 3 Arena, both of which launched in 1999.

Finally I would argue that Halo, while being very popular, is not responsible for the growth in games or the huge jumps in budget devs get to spend on them. Sure it probably played its part, I won't deny that, but I'd say the biggest contributer to that have been World of Warcraft, the most popular game basically ever. Halo and, perhaps even more particularly the Modern Warfare series definitely played their parts, but when you look at big budget games they tend to be MMOs (look no further than KOTOR Online)

 

[Judgement101]

Is Halo becoming generic?

Dude, you can't 'become' generic - you are as you were made. If Halo appears generic to you, then that's because the games you play copy it.

Actually you can, it becomes uniform among other FPSs.

 

[khaimera]

I would have said no until I played the reach beta and now have little interest in the game anymore. Its just becoming bland for me.

 

[Sh0ckFyre]

Halo is certainly a good game. The games tell an incredible story, but it's just their multiplayer that needs work. The net-coding is inherently shit.

 

[RadioactiveMicrobe]

Okay guys, sometimes it's okay to just have a little fun. Halo online is just that, good, hilarious fun. Halo 1: Flat out amazing, add the fact that, "Hey, let me just put 30 weapons in my packpack" dosn't work. Great story, and most likely saved the Xbox Original.

Halo 2: While the Campain wasn't as good, it was still better than most Xbox original titles, and revolutionized online play.

Halo 3: Wrapped up the story in epic ways, fixed the balence a but, made the game just in general, larger, added an even deeper online stats system that still has yet to be beaten by any console game, or most PC games.

Halo Wars: wasn't made by Bungie, so it's not their fault. good beginner RTS, nothing too special.

Halo ODST: Added a fresh perspective on Campaign that nodded it's head to a lot of Halo 1 values, and shifted to the more desolate viewpoint.

Halo: Reach: Well, you guys wanted change....

 

[Wicky_42]

Is Halo becoming generic?

Dude, you can't 'become' generic - you are as you were made. If Halo appears generic to you, then that's because the games you play copy it.

Actually you can, it becomes uniform among other FPSs.

Its originality is what sets Halo CE apart from the others. Those that copied it are generic. CE was there before it was cool. It MADE it cool. Games can't change, it deserves credit for trail-blazing.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Others are shamelessly stealing all ideas from Halo (limited weapons, space marines, etc.) so that it looks generic since it is one of the defining games of the modern age.

 

[Uncanny Doom]

No, other games are being Halo clones, which make Halo look generic by comparison. Don't forget that it was Halo: Combat Evolved that revolutionized Fist Person Shooters forever.

Exactly.

Coming up with games similar to Halo doesn't make Halo generic. On the contrary, it shows just how much Halo has paved the way and established the tone for most FPS games this generation.

So you're saying there was no such thing as a good FPS before Halo? FPS games have been around longer then the Halo franchise and there have been some awesome ones before then.

You have to assume he's talking about console FPS games, to which there was Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and Doom, though they didn't come near the scale or quality Halo was if you compare each game during their own launch period. Halo did revolutionize the console FPS.

 

[bobknowsall]

No, other games are being Halo clones, which make Halo look generic by comparison. Don't forget that it was Halo: Combat Evolved that revolutionized Fist Person Shooters forever.

Okay, that's going a bit far. Doom revolutionised FPS's, Halo just gave us a few new features. It's not the best or most influential game of all time.

OT: Well, all the games on that list were released after Halo, so maybe that's why Halo seems generic by comparison? It was always a wee bit generic in its themes, though. Not that that means it's a bad game, though.

 

[Sark]

Halo is the definition of generic. It can still be fun, but its not really breaking new ground. I suppose that Halo was the game that popularised FPS on consoles. That counts for something.

 

[unoleian]

I might get crucified for this, but....What, exactly, did DOOM add to the FPS formula besides non-uniform geometry in level design? (and did it even do that first?)
Not saying it wasn't fun, but, really? The more I've thought on it, the less I can think of. Shoot, even Ultima Underworld beat them to the punch in "true" 3D spatial elements...
DOOM's fun, but in retrospect, to me, it's nothing more than the gameplay from Wolfenstein 3D with prettier walls...

Halo, if nothing else, defined the console FPS experience. Damn near every console FPS since has aped one or more of the gameplay and control concepts from that game.

The Halo games are also quite fun. There. I said it.

 

[bobknowsall]

The Halo games are also quite fun. There. I said it.

Yeah, heretic, blasphemer and all that jazz. The Halo games aren't bad, they've just got an awfully vocal fanbase, one that drags the games down with it.