Is Halo slowly losing its steam?

[Vykrel]

you really think second most popular shooter on the 360 = losing its steam?

just because CoD is becoming more and more popular with jocks and little kids that dont really play anything else (other than sports games), doesnt mean the rest of us are losing interest in Halo.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I think it's been going down since Halo 2. The promise of having to visit 9 other Halos could have made the franchise more interesting, by having the players explore more than just on Halo per game and having each of the future Halos have a different topography (and not the generic forest one's that it continues to spit out).

Halo has been all about multiplayer fun and didn't take itself too seriously. After other series like CoD, GoW, and Battlefield started to rake interest, Halo apparently needed to grow up. Halo Wars was released, Reach started going backwards and using quick kills, and Halo 4 is taking the X-Men Origins approach with promise of exploring Master Cheif's character.

I've since lost interest in the series and have yet to come across something that will get my spirits back up for this franchise.

 

[surg3n]

No, not nearly, not since Halo3. I would say that the descent started on the 360, HaloCE and Halo2 on the XBox were a cut above, truly 2 of the best games ever for the original XBox. But then Halo3 came out for 360, and IMHO it lost it's mojo. I think the main problem was the co-op. The original XBox games had both players as master chief - you both had the same mission, you both looked out for each other. But with Halo3, one player has to be an irritating alien, so that connection is lost. I think that HaloCE was a little long winded, but besides that, the perfect co-op game. It felt epic... I mean some parts of HaloCE made my jaw drop, and it hasn't really dropped since then.

The xbox went from ''No idea how it can handle all that'', to ''No reason why it can't handle all that''. Halo3 is not impressive. HaloCE sold the Xbox to me, the first day I played HaloCE I went out and bought myself a controller so I could join in, then the following weekend I bought an Xbox. Sad for me to say but as good as the Xbox360 is, it has never stirred my loins like the original xbox did... it grabbed the PS2 from it's pedestal, and booted it right in the ovaries, and I love it for that.

Even with the addition of online mode - hell I used to get 3 friends together to play Halo, on team deathmatch, on one of only 2 maps that we played, and to me that was much more fun than anything I've done in a Halo game since. I played Halo deathmatch with people who haven't played a shooter since Quake2. HaloCE is a game that people wanted to play, wanted to be involved in all that action unfolding in front of them - people who hadn't held a controller before wanted to rip them from the hands of noobs and show them how easy it is to snipe. Really the only game that I can compare it with for split screen shooting fun, is Timesplitters.

I find that I just don't play co-op games online, I'd much rather play over LAN in the same room, even if that means I have to buy extra copies.

 

[Terminate421]

What make halo amazing is its consistent inconsistency. One minute i am hijacking a banshee, the next, I am running from the enemies base with the flag while sniper fire is thrown at them.

I don't get the hate that glows around it, people want a colorful fps, yet halo for some reason doesn't count.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Still one of my most played games.

I have to say I'm glad that some of crazy has died down. I like just being able to play Halo, occasionally with a few mates who are in the same room, instead of having to deal with all the 'GREATEST GAME EVER' and NO IT SUCKS AND DESTROYED FPSS' on either side.

Finally I can just enjoy it.

 

[GaltarDude1138]

Sorry, what? I can't hear you over the fact that I'm playing Skyrim.

OT: When I first bought it, the fact that it was exclusive seemed like a major draw, as if Microsoft was saying, "AHA! Buy our system, THEN you can play our game!", the smug bastards...
Now, it seems that that tactic has backfired, and now more people are playing CoD because it isn't console exclusive.

Although I'm surprised Black Ops is still the top 2nd most-played game on Xbox Live. Didn't the Internet vehemently hate that game? I didn't but it sure seemed like it(getting off topic)

However it's a pity Microsoft never released 3, ODST, or Reach to PC. It may have combated CoD more effectively in the sales department if it had just released the sequels on PC as well...

 

[Jegsimmons]

people do know the sales for reach were higher than halo 3 right?

and no, i dont think it's loseing its steam.

 

[Batou667]

Halo is slowly loosing it's steam? I'd say halo has lost it's steam, dried up, decomposed, became one with the calcium laden cave floor on which it died, crystallized, fossilized, Other things died upon it's eon year old remains, and is only being noticed because the tectonic plates on which it once stood have moved several times around the Earth enough for it's remains to be cracked slightly, so that- not steam, but powdery fragments of calcium can spurt out that may faintly resemble steam.

Come on now, don't sit on the fence, tell us what you really think!

 

[DarqueMage]

I had something more to say on the topic but I totally lost my train of thought once I read all the replies from people who think a critically acclaimed multimillion dollar franchise (with Halo Reach being the third game in the console generation to sell over 3 million copies within a month of its launch) is somehow on the decline despite Halo Reach still being in the top 10 games on Xbox Live. Oh and look there, Halo 3, a game that came out in 2007 is in the top 20 games played along with the remake of the first game.

Is it slowly losing its steam? If it is, it's VERY slowly. Heck, Halo 2 was still in either first or second place on the original Xbox's Live statistics up until (and even after by some reports) Microsoft pulled the plug on those servers. Call of Duty might have the upper hand in dominating the charts, but it's a bit early for you doom forecasters, don't you think?

But what do I know? I'm just a crazy lady with sources.

 

[Patrick Buck]

I never though it as "The shit" which some people always acted like it was. It was good. Better than good. But not perfect. I think it's got better (Gameplay wise, not storywise), but i never knew why it had such a large following in the first place.

But the same Goes for things like COD.

 

[ResonanceGames]

I didn't play Halo Reach (I hear good things), but I thought series started losing its steam with Halo 2 and continued to do so with each subsequent game.

I think there's only so much you can do with that formula and they were afraid to really shake it up as much as it needed.

 

[Awexsome]

It's still one the best series out there and the best FPS on the market, IMO, and still is popular, but at one point it was THE most popular. Quite frankly I'm much happier with it sitting around the #2 spot behind CoD since now CoD attracts all the people who hate on whats popular and Halo can just be quietly enjoyed for the excellence it is.

We'll have to see what the next Halo brings though, Bungie no longer being on board is a huge loss in my eyes as this new 343i team will have a heck of a lot to prove in thinking they can keep producing Halo like Bungie never moved on.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I freaking loved Halo when I was in high school. I had a blast with the single player, 'cause it was a nice blend of simple gameplay, Aliens-inspired visuals, and SciFi B-movie story that all worked well together. Then I played big system link games with my friends pretty much every week. I remember standing third in line for the big midnight release of Halo 2, which was MUCH bigger of an event than any of the Call of Duty midnight releases (I worked at an electronics store for the releases of CoD4, WAW, MW2, and BO). The single player experience was a bit of a letdown compared to the first, but the multiplayer was as fun as ever, and my friends and I continued playing it pretty much every week.

But that was the last Halo to come out before I graduated and moved on to university life, far away from all of my high school friends. I bought Halo 3 to play with my roommates... and we did legitimately have a lot of fun with the co-op, and we played multiplayer quite a bit for a few weeks... but then we just kinda moved on. Started playing other games.

I probably would have stuck with the series had Halo Wars not been the next release. As much as I loved the series, I hate playing RTS games on a console. So I passed on it. Played other games. By the time Halo: ODST rolled around, it had been too long, and I just didn't really care anymore (sorry Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk! I still love you guys!).

I told myself I'd play Halo: Reach because back in the day I had read the first three or so Halo novels, and I remember really liking the first one (which was a prequel to the game series). But my X-Box 360 had red-ringed before the game was released, and I never really felt like paying the money to have it shipped out and fixed since I barely ever used it anymore. So I never played that one either.

At this point the series is probably dead to me. At least I have fond memories of the originals.

 

[PleasantKenobi]

Halo is slowly loosing it's steam? I'd say halo has lost it's steam, dried up, decomposed, became one with the calcium laden cave floor on which it died, crystallized, fossilized, Other things died upon it's eon year old remains, and is only being noticed because the tectonic plates on which it once stood have moved several times around the Earth enough for it's remains to be cracked slightly, so that- not steam, but powdery fragments of calcium can spurt out that may faintly resemble steam.

At what point in the series did this happen?

Halo wasn't any good to begin with, really. That it got a huge console following as a franchise is mostly a testament to the lack of good alternatives and actually decent FPS games/controls on those gaming platforms. Is it losing it's steam? I damn well hope so. Maybe the devs will start thinking forwards to something new and actually decent for a change.

The first Halo was bad then? EDIT, re-read, and understood.

As quite a fan of the series, I have to say that this thread will no doubt bring out the avid defenders, and the flamers one and the same. But to an extent I would say yes, the series is losing steam. Although I would say ODST had the best campaign since the original due to the noir aesthetic and differing narrative perspectives, the series has lost its magic in many ways. Reach was a massive dissapointment from the singleplayer side of things, and I wish Master Chief had died in Halo 3. I am sick of game developers keeping protagonists alive for no reason but to milk the cash cow.

As for multiplayer, the envirnment is alot more competative now than when Halo 3 was released. Gears is an established franchise and Call of Duty has carved a strong niche in the console multiplayer market, when it (and games like it) were strictly confined to the PC. Reach still sold well and played well, but it doesn't dominate due to the variety. Also, game styles trend, and the 'realistic shooter' like CoD is the current hot gameplay style.

And as for inovation? 'The Theatre', which was added in Halo 3, was has only been adopted by the CoD series in Black Ops. I love being able to watch my games back, see amazing kills and skills, and learn where things went wrong for competitive play, just like in RTS's. Things like this need to become a standard in the big hitters.

 

[cryogeist]

i think halo should have ended with reach

 

[Chesamo]

None of the Halo games past Halo 2 have been ported to the PC. It'd be nice if I could actually finish the damn original trilogy.

 

[Stilkon]

Hasn't Bungie games said several times that it would end the Halo series, only to bring out another new game?

Yeah, that's why.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Halo wasn't any good to begin with, really. That it got a huge console following as a franchise is mostly a testament to the lack of good alternatives and actually decent FPS games/controls on those gaming platforms. Is it losing it's steam? I damn well hope so. Maybe the devs will start thinking forwards to something new and actually decent for a change.

Finally someone who agrees with me ^^
The only reason it did get popular is that it was one of, if not the only, shooter at launch. And the ammount of marketing that accompanied it, like we see with all A titles. CoD, Skyrom, WoW etc. etc. more marketing does not mean better game!

 

[Jaeke]

There was a time that Halo was "THE SHIT", it dominated the top of XBL activity for months and very few games if any could top it, it was a MUST BUY for any 360 owner, it sold better than any shooter before etc etc etc.

But I've noticed that Reach and ODST haven't had the same SHAZAM!

My friend, that ship sailed along time ago, then got sucked into a tropical storm, slammed into a cliff, and sucked in by a maelstrom where it was eaten by a sea monster.