Poll: How do you view the Halo series?

[SonicKoala]

To be honest, I haven't played it that much - the times I have played it were with friends, and I found the multiplayer to be pretty fun, but nothing out of the ordinary. I personally prefer CoD's multiplayer.

 

[LordBag]

S'alright I suppose. I always prefer my action set more in the "real world" though, I can't relate to all this pew pew and aliens etc etc. Got to admit it's a pretty solid shooter though.

 

[QuickDEMOL1SHER]

I regard them as the masterpieces that they truly are.
Personally, I think that after Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, I Bungie employee went up next to collect the Halo design documents.

And to anyone who decides to flame me for this, understand that to view the series as I do, you need to take in the whole universe. Read the books, get the encyclopedia and watch every Halo video you can find.

P.S. I also regard ODST as any sane person regards Indiana Jones 4.

 

[WendelI]

this poll needs a Like pokemon final fantasy and mario option.

Seriously the first game took me by storm but now it feels like mario metroid final fantasy and soo on. >.> buying the same game with better grafix and a few changes in game play.

IN THE OTHER HAND

The game is not good enough to be selling books having an anime and an RTS spin off... no game is that GOOD.

Edit#1

Seriously Halo story Good? what? Lets see Military men taking children ad making super solders out of them Seen A BILLION TIMES. Aliens Vs human im not even gonna try. One rambo like protagonist that just owns everything. Hey read back on that sentence. do you see the word rambo, exactly he was first. My GAWD the story that halo creates is only game material i cant believe that they actually have a book and people say that is even readable. I read it my self it seems like something you would give someone that just finished middle school to read. simplistic language hardly any atmosphere or deep character archetypes. I mean What the hell, its almost as bad as twilight. ALMOST...

 

[Shock and Awe]

With the exception of Halo Wars which was just okay, all of the Halo games were great if you ask me, the books are also great too.

 

[achilleas.k]

But I am. Ok, I cite other examples, so it isn't totally unique, but the fact that it was a console FPS which worked well, in those days, was unique. Beyond that, it was the closest that console FPSs had, at that time, gotten to PC FPSs, which makes it unique even from the other examples. Do you want me to cite statistics? To my knowledge, there are none for this sort of thing. I'm just saying how I see it (incidentally, don't think I'm taking the "it's my opinion" cop-out, feel free to continue challenging me).

As I said above, if it had been a PC FPS first and foremost, it would not have been unique, but that's the heart of it: it wasn't a PC FPS, and the mere fact that a PC FPS could be called "average" by PC standards was quite unusual at the time.

But that's basically where Sacman's argument started, only you're giving it a positive spin. We all agree that it was a good FPS for a console, but that's the problem. The main argument against Halo here is that it basically broke the FPS genre into two sub-genres, console and PC. As a console FPS it's a great, you say, but why not compare it to the others? Why lower the bar? The developers took advantage of this and aimed for the bar set by Halo (and still do) which, in effect, kept the whole genre down. It may have revolutionized console FPS gaming, but it affected PC FPS gaming as well.

So in very simple terms, it went sort of like this:
-- FPS games born and evolve up to point X (let's say X is the point where the first console FPS games were made.
-- Console FPS games are born and revolve slightly around X. Not too much better, not too much worse, but comparable at the time. For instance, Goldeneye came in 1997, where PC FPS games were Quake (1996), Quake II (1997), Half Life (1998), Unreal (1998). These are classic FPS titles which were each fighting for it's own small contributions, be it graphics (this is where they started becoming full 3D), setting/story, the way the story is presented (e.g., Half Life's unique contribution) and multiplayer focus. Had Goldeneye been a PC FPS, it would probably find the same kind of success it did on the N64.
-- Now we're nearing 2000 and we have things like Deus Ex (2000) experimenting with great story depth, plot twists all over the place, optional side-quests, choice of game-play style and an RPG leveling system welded on to the FPS recipe. Similarly, System Shock 2 (1999) had also done the FPS/RPG hybrid with it's own contributions such as the hacking mini-games and the extremely scary atmosphere. We have Soldier of Fortune (2000) experimenting with body dismemberment and precise hit detection, a gory direction, admittedly and one which was experimented on in Sin (1998), though Sin pretty much failed commercially mostly due to Half Life's success. Medal of Honor (1999) is released on the Playstation and started the whole WWII thing. We have Halo (2001) which brings in regenerating shields, two-weapon limit and fast action in a space marine setting.

Of all these in the last part, near 2000, Halo CE was undoubtedly the biggest commercial success, even though it was an XBOX exclusive at the time. I wont speculate on the reasons, though I can think of a few besides "it really was THAT good" (whether it was or wasn't, let's carry on with the effect it had). After the success of Halo CE, it seemed like all the work put into exploring other directions (the success of Half-Life's storytelling technique, the FPS/RPG hybrids, the branching storylines and freedom of game-play style) just disappeared under a thousand FPS games copying the Halo formula. This is where Sacman and I come to blame this game. Developers saw it and said "Why bother with a story worthy of a best-selling novel? Why bother with plot choices? Why bother with choice of stealth VS guns-blazing? We can just make a generic shooter with the Halo formula and cash in."... and they did.

Don't think I'm turning this into a PC vs Console war. You clearly stated that it was unique when seen solely as a console FPS while as a PC FPS it wouldn't be.

 

[TransMando]

I feel like the franchise is being milked a bit.

For me the Halo series ended with 3 and everything after doesn't count.

The first Halo was awesome because it more or less defined FPS for that console generation.

 

[ChaoticLegion]

Without going into a long drawn out essay on my choice, I chose "ok".

For me halo is a fun game to play, it has a fun story line and plays quite well and the multiplayer can also be fun... meaning it has to be an ok game... but there are also games out there with much better gameplay mechanics, better storylines, and provide a better multiplayer experience... so personaly I wouldn't consider halo one of the great all time classics.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Halo CE: Great
Halo 2: Great
Halo 3: Good
Halo Wars: Alright, not that good but not bad either
Halo ODST: Fucking Awesome, bit short though

So yeah, I put down as great.

 

[stika]

Where's the option of "Xbox fags"?
Because that's all i see.
Nobody would play it on PC. its a console game. AN XBOX GAME.

then how do you explain that the number 3 most played PC game of 2007 was Halo: CE?

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56580

 

[Layz92]

Nothing is really deal breaking but nothing is really interesting or enjoyable either. So I give it a "bad" and hope people just let the series go.

 

[Sebenko]

A series of FPS games that were reasonable, but now considered shit because all the fanboys whine about it being the best game ever.

So, fanboys, STFU and I might play the games for what they are (have played the original Halo though. The one that wasn't on Xbox. Remember that?).

 

[The Last Parade]

Halo CE, 2, and 3 were good to mediocre, halo wars was annoying, and ODST was god awful

 

[phoenix352]

tell you the truth? i think of the series as a pain in the gaming industries ass ...
as single games? i thought halo 1 was very awesome i still own a copy of it. halo 2 was meh . halo 3 collapsed under its own hype. halo wars.... . odst good but should have been for like 30$ ...

that's what i think of it..

 

[Amarok]

It's pretty good and the music is awesome.

 

[TelHybrid]

I liked the series a fair bit, until I was exposed to the fanbase.

 

[Beartrucci]

To me, the Halo series is fun online, and offline is only fun if you are playing split screen with friends.