No Haters: If you love Halo so much tell me this. . .

[zahr]

But what does Halo possibly have that no other shooter has now?

Put it this way: find me a shooter that's similar to Halo.

 

[Toleeto]

Had to get an account to give an opinion on this.

My measure of a clone of another game would be a lack of effort. Some games are really, really obvious clones, because there appears to have been no real effort put into it's creation. While Halo has elements of other games in it, it also has story. There are still sites up, too, from their marketing campaigns, that didn't just involve a commercial full of explosions, but had hints and bits of story hidden around the internet, that were kind of fun to dig around for.

Halo 3 also had hidden rooms with bits of story hidden inside what I can only call big ol' metal archiving devices. (I still find the Legendary Difficulty message on the final level semi-creepy. I mean, a dark room, a confuzzling AI telling you he's been watching you, and total silence. Maybe it was just the atmosphere, but it creeped me out.) I remember combing through a wiki or two looking for information on some of the stuff the archives said, because it honestly sparked my curiousity. I also enjoyed how they tied in our world with the Halo universe, implying that Halo could very well have been real at one point. (I'm pretty sure someone started a cult over that. I just know there's someone out there, worshiping the Librarian.)

I'm not saying Halo is 100% original, nor am I saying it's blatantly ripping anything off. I'm just saying, it was a fun game, and it caught my interest a lot better than most FPS'. I can't claim that it's flawless, but there aren't many games that a majority can agree to being flawless. But it's not a clone in my eyes, simply because of how much effort was put into it. Most other main-stream games don't appear to have had as much attention put into it, and that definitely sets Halo apart from other games.

 

[zahr]

Also, people say Halo is generic a lot.

I wish it was generic, because I'd love it if there were more games like Halo, but there aren't. So it isn't generic.

 

[sharkinz]

Not every new game has to have some new feature, or innovation, or gimmick. Can't a game be a good game simply because it is fun? Take the uncharted series on the PS3. What new feature do those games have? Not many (if any at all). Uncharted borrows nearly all of its elements from other games that have already developed the features and concepts that it employs. But that doesn't make uncharted a bad game. Its still fun, exciting to play, and gets great reviews.


So what does it matter if the newer Halo games have the same premise and style of game-play it had when the series first started? The Halo games are still fun, have great online play, and are well made and polished. Do you want Bungie to include some stupid gimmick into the new Halo or try some new feature that could potentially ruin the game? If Halo remains fun and get you excited to play it then it can be as run of the mill as it wants, in my opinion.

 

[Daselthechaz]

Halo got a better story than most the other look-a-likes there have been made.

That's my argument in a nutshell. Here it is in an open-faced sandwich.

Prior to the original Halo, no matter how great the gaming elements of other shooters were--and mind you, those elements were varied and often exceptional--there was just no such thing as an interesting story in an FPS. Every FPS world was populated at best by cowboys and Indians, and that's if somebody really wanted to mix things up. For those of you unfamiliar with Doom, Quake, Unreal, Wolfenstein, and a cavalcade of others that either mirrored or attempted to add to these, "cowboys" equated to you and whatever monotonous but still quite human faction you represented, while "Indians" meant the unrelatable hordes of non-human aliens, demons, undead and nazis. That is, unless we're considering the Wolfenstein universe specifically, which took the time in the end to include demonic zombies of the nazi party who were granted lichdom with alien technology.

So then comes along Halo and from the first moment on, we're forced to deal with the fact that another group with language, culture and intelligence all their own have come upon us and called us Indians. We're not just an impediment to their crazy and pseudo magical scheme to take over the universe. Oh no. The Covenant is clearly comprised of several species that chose to cooperate one another for a higher purpose after it original members carefully considered the strengths and weaknesses of any new folks that they might incorporate into their fold. The Covenant observed us, and upon review...

...we're an abomination of all that is good...huh.

And if that's not enough for you, halfway through the first game the player gets to share in the grounding, further humanizing experience of walking through mortal terror at the discovery of the Flood along with your equally terrified enemy. By the end of any Halo game, it's well established that the character whose shoes you stand is perfectly capable of taking care of his/her self (Red Vs. Blue fans will know that I'm equally serious and humorous about the "her" business, and why) and that awareness gives you enough time to pause and consider the fundamental question behind all important works of fiction:

Why am I doing what I'm doing?

Sure, they'll kill you otherwise. It may be an easy question to answer under fire, but what about after that? When it's just you in a room by yourself, considering your near death, it's hard not to wonder how much smoother life would be if you had the cooperation and shared wisdom of those now beneath your heel. If they still had voices, you could speak to one another and find out how best to help further one another's goals. You could even find out when you're wrong. After that, who knows? You might even manage not to get all butthurt over it and consider how to improve your flaws. That would be a step in the right direction, eh?

It's been mentioned before in this very thread, but it's worth mentioning again Halo 2 takes all of this and turns it up to the Nth degree, making a point at the very opening cut scene to draw sympathy for the general assigned to dust you in the previous title. Everything that happens from there further cements the notion that the war humans fight at the time doesn't just have one side, but several, and as frightening as it may be to confess it, each one has more than its fair share of sound logic.

If you grew up on Quake arena and UT, I'm sorry that Bungie hasn't found a way to inject meth into their game engine. I know that it would make the experience more fun for you. Those of us with our feet on the ground and reaction times that aren't fast enough to rouse suspicions of precognition can still shoot interesting weapons though, and I do hope one of these days we can all stop bitching about it.

 

[Kenko]

*sigh* It seems the "no haters" comment has had the opposite effect to what it was intended for. Yes, I'm looking at you, The_root_of_all_evil.

He's not hating, he's simply making a point. Stop trolling.

OT: Anyways Halo didnt add much to the FPS genre in my opinion. The first one was good fun and not that it was innovative it just did all the basic formulas right and worked well. Nothing new though.

 

[me and my dog]

I don't think you should make a thread like this just before Halo reach comes out. You might want to take the words you said back.

 

[sharkinz]

*sigh* It seems the "no haters" comment has had the opposite effect to what it was intended for. Yes, I'm looking at you, The_root_of_all_evil.

He's not hating, he's simply making a point. Stop trolling.

OT: Anyways Halo didnt add much to the FPS genre in my opinion. The first one was good fun and not that it was innovative it just did all the basic formulas right and worked well. Nothing new though.

The original Halo was the first game to utilize weapon management, rebounding health, and maybe even space marines.

 

[LitleWaffle]

It can't be argued that Halo's success changed the mainstream FPS formula. Before, it was generally a health bar and a list of like 10 different weapons that you found throughout the game. After Halo, everybody started using a rechargable health system, two weapons, and a melee button. They might not have been the first to dream up all these features, but they combined them in a fashion that not only made people want to play them, but in a fashion that sold so well that most every popular (or unpopular) FPS since has copied that formula, either directly or indirectly.

Regenerating health: Faceball 2000 and Wolverine: Adamantium Rage
Two Weapons+Melee Button: Ever play Counter strike? You poor soul.

Halo just based it off of the classic FPS style with a real old fashioned feature, which was first added in Halo 2 while Halo 1 only had regenerating shields which has been done before. Call of Duty 2 had regenerating health which had been planned before Halo 2 came out, which I know because I followed that game through its development. Which thought of it first in actuality I have no idea but I know that Call of duty 2 had announced that near the beginning of its creation from an old GamePro magazine I think in 2003. So hah! I argued.

Edit: The whole 10 weapon thing? That's Unreal Tournament. Only one who does that as far as I know.
Edit 2: Mr person above me? Halo 1 had regenerating shields, not health. Much like an option in unreal tournament.

 

[oplinger]

Technically in Rainbow Six, you had weapon management. Almost 3 years before Halo.

 

[LitleWaffle]

Halo got a better story than most the other look-a-likes there have been made.

That's my argument in a nutshell. Here it is in an open-faced sandwich.

Prior to the original Halo, no matter how great the gaming elements of other shooters were--and mind you, those elements were varied and often exceptional--there was just no such thing as an interesting story in an FPS.

I stopped reading here. Codename Eagle, Battlefield 1942. I thought they were good stories personally.

And this is off topic to my point, but I never really was that interested in a story of a shooter. Sure some are pretty fun to play through and some are pretty good, but I really just like the multiplayer.

 

[maturin]

Have you played a Halo CE level recently? Some of them are repetitive and uninspired in the extreme. Then why do I love the damn Legendary SP so much? I'd never touch the Halo 2 or 3 equivalent.

 

[bluedragon117]

Halo was, at the time (what, 2000? 2001?) the new standard for FPS'. not just FPS', but also how a game should be. a game that should be fun, challenging, new (again, at the time) and had some of the best graphics at the time (still pretty good graphics). halo 2 being released, they figure they should just make a few unneeded changes to experiment a little bit, and release basically the same game, with the introduction to multiplayer into the franchise. Halo 3 added a few new features, and released a similar game with a few improvements. but, with Halo:Reach, Bungie says they want to release the game they always wanted to. yeah, weve heard that one before. but when we look at how the game has changed from single player to more squad based combat, that opens up a whole new ball game. the game will again add some features and improve on their old ones some more, but what made the franchise great, is how well everything worked together. with Reach, i think we'll see more finesse in the game than more other games. not the need for finesse, but the game working well and flowing and being well oiled. Reach may not live up to the hype (how could it?), but i think people will start to judge FPS' in a new way.

 

[Digitaldreamer7]

ForensicYOYO:
When Halo came out it set a new standard for FPS on consoles, and almot every shooter has taken after it since..

Bullshit, There were other FPS before it that set the standard in FPS. Namely Goldeneye. Goldeneye was a far far far better shooter then halo ever was. I can speculate that if it had online play, people (including me) would still be playing it today.

Halo:CE was mediocre, 2 and 3 and ODST were bad.

 

[Digitaldreamer7]

Grr double post

 

[zahr]

Have you played a Halo CE level recently? Some of them are repetitive and uninspired in the extreme. Then why do I love the damn Legendary SP so much? I'd never touch the Halo 2 or 3 equivalent.

I actually did play through the campaign a couple weeks ago and I never felt the levels were repetitive - unless you mean in terms of materials used in which case yes, I find it quite acceptable that the interior of a ship is going to be much the same throughout - and inspired is a very subjective term.

 

[CJ1145]

You seem to forget this is the Escapist, OP. It's a rather objective statement that these folks LOVE Half Life, and LOATHE Halo. If you think differently you're going to be fucked royal like the mods. Five bucks says I will be ;D

Halo hasn't done much innovative, but it's perfected a lot of things too. Really, it's WoW of FPS games in the sense that what other games did first, it did right.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

a lot of shooters focus on realistic combat, Halo is still the one and only fun above realism shooter

You're kidding, right?

...

Seriously, you're kidding, right?

Did you seriously say it was a new standard of FPS?

Them be fightin words you know. You're insulting every FPS made before Halo.

Standards can be set more than once; that's why he specified "new" standard. Wolfenstein 3D set the standard for FPS games when it came out, only for it be immediately overturned by Doom. Then Quake set the new standard, followed by Goldeneye, Half-Life and so on and so on. Maybe Halo set a new standard for its time too. I think the issue with Halo is that, although OTHER games have set new standards after it (like Half-Life 2) too many developers are still taking their cues from Halo, causing a lot of people to think Halo is bad for the industry.

 

[Miles Tormani]

But quite honestly, it seems like you constantly make an effort to say how mediocre you think it is. I've seen heaps of posts from you since I joined, in Half-Life threads and other unrelated threads where you always seem to whoosh in for no other reason than to insult Half-Life.

I don't mean to be a dick to you in particular, especially since your post was most definitely not directed to me, but I would like to point out that it seems like every Halo thread has someone else that does the exact same thing as what you say here. The only difference is that they're jumping in to bash Halo as opposed to Half-Life.

For a perfect example, read the very first reply to this thread.

I don't know; I just want more people to do what you say here:

I mean, there are plenty of games I hate that plenty of people here love, but I don't feel the need to shoehorn in a sentence about how much I hate it; even in topics where it is actually relevant to the subject I generally just avoid them.

Wishful thinking I suppose.

EDIT: Well, shit, that was off topic, wasn't it? Better state my opinion.

Most of what I'd have to say has already been said, but for me, the main reason I like Halo is that everything just works well together, without the use of outside influences. I saw someone bring up mods for certain PC games, but there's a distinct difference between reprogramming parts of the game and just making a map in an extremely clever way. I would use the same argument to say why LBP's "Create" mode is more noteworthy in my eyes than, for example, Garry's Mod.

I'm not saying that mods aren't impressive here, mind. All I'm trying to say, in a rather roundabout way, is that being able to work with the tools the developers give you says more about the game itself than a modder "fixing" the game.

There's also that whole "weapon and vehicle balance" thing that, in my opinion, a lot of FPS games miss the mark on. Warhawk did it fairly well, but the fact that you can't have the gunships, APCs, and jetpacks all in one match kinda says something about their individual balance issues to me.

EDIT 2: Having the campaign and multiplayer modes not feel as divided as they are in, say, Call of Duty is another plus. When I switched from single player to matchmaking in Modern Warfare 2, it may as well have been a completely different game with the same skin.

 

[technoted]

So Halo isn't in fact Doom with better graphics and a few more guns and vehicals with just a bit of a better aiming system? If you type in Doom Guy and even look at him you'll see an uncanny resemblence to MC.