Poll: possibility that halo was based on half-life

[Hamish Durie]

Please read entire post

So my friends and I were arguing(we argue alot about stupid and random subjects) about halo and half-life and the similrities they have in common then gun(friends name) said "what if halo was based on half-life" well it got me thinking.
1)gordans' power armour-the mark IIV power armour
2)alien invasion-alien invasion
3)half-lifes frindly NPC civilians-halo's frindly NPC marines
4)head crabs-the flood
5)both have linear levels going from encounter to encounter(obviously a joke)
there are more but i don't want to post more of them.
So i actually want answers not just"HOW DARE YOU COMPARE HALF-LIFE TO HALO" i actually want to know if it's possible that halo was based on half-life.
or if they where just games that came out around the same time and had similer ideas

 

[jackpipsam]

Apart from the flood/headcrabs thing... no there not the same

 

[Kiefer13]

Power armour, alien invasions and linear levels are hardly unique concepts. The headcrab/flood thing is debatable, but then, zombie-like enemies aren't exactly a rarity either. Half-Life was a very popular First Person Shooter, should it wouldn't surprise me if some elements were emulated, but I really doubt that Halo was actively based on Half-Life. There may be some similarities, but there are also many differences (regenerating health, limited weapons etc).

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

There are hundreds of games/films/books with some or all of these things...
You could say half life copied everything from somewhere else if you wanted

 

[Iron Mal]

Does Star Wars take pointers from Star Trek? Even the names are simmilar!

Seriously though, I think you'll find that most similarities between Halo and Half Life are probably the result of the fact that both happen to be Sci-Fi.

Also, Half Life's heacrabs are clearly rip-offs of the facehugger from Alien (while resembling a turkey and making zombies) whilst the Flood pretty much just rips off any film plot based on a virus mutating people and 'needing to be contained'.

 

[Biodeamon]

maybe...zero punctation did say that the flood were headcrabs in disguise

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Wait! Half-Life doesn't have regenerating shields..... But both games don't use iron sights so YES I think your right.

Jesus, I came here expecting some kind of actual well thought out comparisons, please give more explanation aside from "you can jump in both games"

 

[jackpipsam]

maybe...zero punctation did say that the flood were headcrabs in disguise

yes, but just because he said it doesn't make it true

 

[Jadak]

5)both have linear levels going from encounter to encounter

This just made me laugh, it's not like that applies to half the games in existence or anything. Oh wait...

 

[Treefingers]

No. Not even a little bit.

 

[Legion]

Please read entire post

So my friends and I were arguing(we argue alot about stupid and random subjects) about halo and half-life and the similrities they have in common then gun(friends name) said "what if halo was based on half-life" well it got me thinking.
1)gordans' power armour-the mark IIV power armour
2)alien invasion-alien invasion
3)half-lifes frindly NPC civilians-halo's frindly NPC marines
4)head crabs-the flood
5)both have linear levels going from encounter to encounter
there are more but i don't want to post more of them.
So i actually want answers not just"HOW DARE YOU COMPARE HALF-LIFE TO HALO" i actually want to know if it's possible that halo was based on half-life.

1 - Power Armour is not new, it exists in loads of things, Warhammer 40K for one example.
2 - Alien Invasions are nothing new either, and in Halo, most of it isn't on Earth anyway.
3 - NPC's exist in all games...
4 - The idea of a parasitic alien is nothing new either.
5 - Like almost every other game in existence?

Are we supposed to take this thread seriously?

 

[Woodsey]

No.

The devil's in the details, not the broad, generalised characteristics.

 

[Scabadus]

Well sure, they're going to base some bit of themselves off of each other. Here's something you can try yourself, quickly try to come up with a game concept that uses absolubtly NOTHING from Halo (since apparently Halo is seen as terrible around here, so you don't want any of it in your game). No seriously, take a second and do that, absolubtly nothing.

So done? No limited weapon slots? No regeneragting health? ....no jump button? No health bar? No HUD? No ammunition? I could go on.

I'm sure that if you really thought hard about it then you could make a game with zero aspects of Halo in it (I think a My Little Pony point & click adventure could work, but then that's an entirely differnt genre...) but my point is that every game's going to mix in some of the best points from the ones before it, and this is a good thing.

 

[Timmaaaah]

I think half life is a beacon of hope in the world of games, and halo is alright, but seriously, there arent many similarities. Ive played both series throuh quite a few times and the only similarity i can put my finger on is the head crabs and the flood, but a parasitic oranism controlling the body is just a typical zombie/action game concept, not stolen from half life. I have to disagree. Plenty of games have alien invasions, linear levels (most first person shooters ever) and friendly AI. Dont be silly. stories are totally different.

 

[Timmaaaah]

maybe...zero punctation did say that the flood were headcrabs in disguise

It's just yahtzee being funny. They're not really tat similar at all.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

With some parts being insane blasting action and some parts with brain teasing puzzles, half-life did two things at once. Half-life was more than a puzzle game and more than an FPS, but slightly lacking in both departments. Despite this, still an epic game.

Halo did things quite differently to half-life, focusing on the action rather than the puzzles.
This cut out the middle man and allowed Halo to shine.
Recycling time that could have been spent on puzzle making and using that time to flesh out the gun play, AI and general action experience.

Halo was a pure action FPS, taking the genre into a new generation, showing the world how FPS should be made.

Where as Half-life was a mix of two genres, showing the world that games don't have to be generic.

The only similarities between the two immense games was the cosmetic appearance of the in game entities. Beyond that, Halo and Half-life are in two different worlds.

 

[DEAD34345]

Of course it does, just like Half Life was based on the shooters before it, and just like any shooter ever (except maybe the first) was based on earlier games. This isn't surprising, and it isn't a bad thing either.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

The only thing they vaguely have in common behind the standard features of the genre are the parasitic Headcrabs vs. parasitic Flood. Even then there's some pretty significant differences; headcrab zombies aren't intelligent, the Flood are. Headcrab zombies can't use technology (except for the occasional accidental grenade), the Flood can and often do use guns, shields and even active camo that belonged to their victims. Headcrabs and their zombie creations are the weakest mobile enemies you face in Half Life, the Flood are the 'super bad guys' of the Halo series. Flood infection forms burrow into the chest cavity to kill their victim, Headcrabs do what their name implies. And so on.

I'm sure that if you really thought hard about it then you could make a game with zero aspects of Halo in it (I think a My Little Pony point & click adventure could work, but then that's an entirely differnt genre...)

Spoiler: What? Oh I'm sorry, I think I got the wrong idea entirely...

What? Oh I'm sorry, I think I got the wrong idea entirely...

 

[KefkaCultist]

I shouldn't be on forums in the early morning right as I wake up... I read the title as "possibility that halo was based on real life" and had a whole lot to say to dismissing your claim, but yeah... the answer is still no, Halo and Half Life are both based off of the scifi alien FPS genre though.