What do you see in halo?
- Thread starter Cymbal Monkey
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The multiplayer is pretty fun. I was never a fan of the campaign just because the sucked. I mean. the idea of having a 3rd entity there (the flood) did add a certain dynamic to the story. but for the most part it was same. some bad ass space marine you have absolutely no connection too. But I played Halo mostly for the multiplayer
To answer the original question and to be a smartass mostly:
You see aliens. You see humans shooting the aliens. You see explosions, lens flares and all range of weird lighting effects. You see a naked chick. You see lot's of other things, but I've already been enough of a smartass
You see aliens. You see humans shooting the aliens. You see explosions, lens flares and all range of weird lighting effects. You see a naked chick. You see lot's of other things, but I've already been enough of a smartass
Fixed.zauxz said:
I played some halo at a friends house before and theredoesnt seem to be anything special about it to me. Its just another fps with multiplayer modes that were quite similar to the multiplayer modes in countless other pc shooters. I guess it just brought that formula out to the console market, and at the time perhaps the pickings for such players on a console were slim so they all went with it... or some such...
I was already getting rather bored with the whole 'multiplayer' fps aspect by the time this came out to be honest. You can only deathmatch/team deathmatch/capture the flag so many times (read: I can only do it so many times, I suppose).
Even TF2 didn't hook me as I've already seen the multiple character classes, and objectives style multiplayer before and did it to death then.
So if you want to know why a particular fps becomes popular I would say marketing, timing, and platform.
These threads are getting tedious, still I feel a need to reiterate things I've said before.
The original Halo pioneered quite a few gameplay innovations for FPS's which have been used ever since by most games in the 'shooter' genre (third and first person):
Regenerating Health
Melee attacks (integral as opposed to seperate weapon)
Weapon carrying limit
Vehicles (intergrated into level design as oppposed to on-rails sections)
Grenades (again, integrated into control scheme as opposed to seperate weapon)
Like or hate these things they have become genre staples. Beyond that the original looked incredible at the time, managed to pull off an FPS on consoles (apart from Goldeneye and Perfect Dark there weren't exactly many shining examples before) and was quite different from other shooters as it had a slightly more playful (?) colour pallette with purples and blues being prevalent as opposed to the usual gun metal grey. Plus it was actually quite fun. And multiplayer was excellently done. Im not a fanboy. Honest guv.
On the other hand the plot started badly and ended with its head firmly entrenched up its own arsehole, but nothings perfect.
The original Halo pioneered quite a few gameplay innovations for FPS's which have been used ever since by most games in the 'shooter' genre (third and first person):
Regenerating Health
Melee attacks (integral as opposed to seperate weapon)
Weapon carrying limit
Vehicles (intergrated into level design as oppposed to on-rails sections)
Grenades (again, integrated into control scheme as opposed to seperate weapon)
Like or hate these things they have become genre staples. Beyond that the original looked incredible at the time, managed to pull off an FPS on consoles (apart from Goldeneye and Perfect Dark there weren't exactly many shining examples before) and was quite different from other shooters as it had a slightly more playful (?) colour pallette with purples and blues being prevalent as opposed to the usual gun metal grey. Plus it was actually quite fun. And multiplayer was excellently done. Im not a fanboy. Honest guv.
On the other hand the plot started badly and ended with its head firmly entrenched up its own arsehole, but nothings perfect.
Halo 1: Good LAN gaming
Halo 2: Good Xbox Live gaming.
Halo 3: Good Xbox Live gaming.
Sure, TF2's better, but Halo's simpler to jump right into. No need to understand classes, or that a team doesn't need five snipers (*facepalm*), just grab your gun and get shooting.
Less downtime after death and more varied game modes too.
Halo 2: Good Xbox Live gaming.
Halo 3: Good Xbox Live gaming.
Sure, TF2's better, but Halo's simpler to jump right into. No need to understand classes, or that a team doesn't need five snipers (*facepalm*), just grab your gun and get shooting.
Less downtime after death and more varied game modes too.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Alot of people hate Halo BECAUSE of how popular it is. I shall now quote Yahtzee: "It's worth remembering that sometimes popular things are popular for a reason. Because they're good. Or because Will Smith is in it".
Actually I'd like to take the time out to note a few things about the story of Halo.
To begin with the series as it stands brings a couple of new ideas in the story as well as a few tried and true themes in the genre that have always worked.
One thing that I always notice is the number of biblical (or indeed just religeous subtexts in general) references in game, case in point the reference to the flood and the ark but that's obvious. There is also a very heavy emphasis on ancient myth, hence the MJOLINOR (or however the hell you spell that) armour named after the hammer wielded by the Norse god Thor. In some retellings of the story you could give Masterchief the role of Aeneous or Heracles (that's the correct spelling by the way, not Hercules, look it up learn something) and of course Masterchief is a Spartan based on of course the Spartans from ancient Greece. Various other names like Cortana being a respelling of Curtana a weapon used by I think a greek god. The fact that Masterchief's number is 117 possibly a bible chapter and of course the overarching religious nature of the Covenant (I just realised Ark as in the Ark of the Covenant) suggests a heavy level of literature influence to look into.
The obvious standards in the genre that appear in story are the whole humans versus aliens. However the twist is revealed as early as Halo 1 that the aliens are interested in something other than genocide. That their whole relgion is based around the Halo rings and learning of the ancient gods the forerunners. In Halo 2 we then take control of one of these aliens and see the side of the aliens society thus humanizing them to a degree that most other shooters never do. Once again going back to religous and myth based texts all the aliens speak like with language found in more ancient civilisations (at least as far as movies are concerned) The whole Arbiter story is an almost textbook story of revenge, the struggle for power, delusion and the pursuit of the Truth. The names of the Prophets I always felt were intentionally ironic as each prophet does the opposite of what he is named after.
Anyway the discovery of the Truth and the subsequent betrayal of the elites by the brutes was a sort of referance to the barbarians in Rome and indeed any great government oppression thus giving more evidence to literary referances.
Next up comes the characterisation. I'll start with perhaps the most obvious one Masterchief. As I mentioned he is most likely heavily based upon several great epic heroes of past legends. But to me personally he feels more symbolic than a true character. We never see his face which is his major strength I feel because in some ways his strong lack of humanity is esential to his character. Being a symbol of mankind's strength and the effects of long term military exposure the Masterchief feels like a sort of pure arse kicking machine. Sometimes it may just be because the nature of his identity is left up to the player as a mystery. Some people might think that his tendancy not to speak is a bad thing, but put him next to wise cracking smug pricks like Dante and I think we can agree that maybe it's for the best.
Overall Masterchief is characterised as fearless, he knows what to do and what is right. He represents that sometimes when humanity needs a hero, he needs to be as inhuman as possible. But even so, the Chief shows some geniune human qualities, no weaknesses but nevertheless humanity. Read some of the books and you'll see. In game I notice the best examples are his interactions with Cortana because with her he talks like a normal person.
Going on to the topic of Cortana I can't help but feel reminded of Isaac Asimov a fair bit. Asimov is of ocurse famous for making novels always based on the idea of 'what if computer intelligence could be defined as a soul' and in all fairness I think that's Cortana in many respects. As an AI construct meant to be used for little more than getting the task done she actually expresses genuine emotion and has a real personality to go with it. Yes some people associate her with a sort of sexual reputation and in all fairness I can sed why but honestly her witty charming personality and the way she interacted with the Chief was one of the things that kept me going in the first Halo. She is in every Halo game and admittedly I think Halo 3 suffered by not having her back until the very end. Her relationship to the chief definetly interests me, there is definetly a kind of bond between them that is brought up quite a fair bit and to be honest the chemistry between them is quite amusing and interesting if nothing else.
Finally the Arbiter, now I reckon if they ever did a remake of Halo one then the Arbiter should be made into a major character in the story somehow because he's great. I said preiviously that Halo is among the few first person shooters to ever characterise it's aliens as being something other than genocidal (Half life 2 being the only other one I'm aware of... yay Vortigaunts!). In Halo 2 the Arbiter is a disgraced military leader who is forced to go on a mission to redeam himself and unlike the Chief who simply is unable to feel fear the Arbiter has no fear of death because he feels disgraced. However he slowly develops questions about his loyalty to the Covenant and eventually leads a schism that effectivley makes his race leave the Covenant and ally with the humans. The reason I like him is because he fit so perfectly into the trilogy as a noble honour bound warrior fighting for what he beleives is right. He just felt like he belonged next to the Mastercheif as they fought side by side. This is especially nice the way Halo 3 ends with the Arbiter attending the service for the dead humans to pay his respects when only a few years earlier he had been fighting for their extinction. It really speaks to the level of nobility in his character when he is that determined to overlook the past and side with former enemies. In fact he, like the rest of the elites seem based on every honour bound warrior culture that ever existed. Seriously, the Arbiter kicks arse. The one from Halo Wars does not however, he doesn't even count.
Next up I'm pretty sure someone will have remembered to mention the truly AMAZING musical score that the game provides you. It's just beautiful and some of the best music I ever heard in a game in my whole life.
Finally as some people have already mentioned the game is nice and colourful and presents itself with a nice sence of humour especially number three. That no matter how serious the overlining story is (aliens and humans duking it out over control of a series of Ringworlds that will brin about the destruction of all life in the galaxy, structures made to suppress an all consuming parasite called the flood) it still has a nice charming sense of humour about itself, from the scampering grunts to the quips by marines and the dialouge of some elites (... is there something in my teeth?) just help keep me entertained. That and of course the abscense of over the top gritty depressing realism is just generally better. How the graphics are boring I have no idea Halo 3 had some of the best displays I ever saw, realistic shadow effects, motion blurs, water effects and even sunlight effect like changing of light levels. These are all subtle so try to pay attention.
Tack onto all this with a brilliant multiplayer and there you have it, my reason why Halo as a series is truly great.
The fact that all this can exist subtley to my mind is a welcome relief from Metal Gear Solid's approach.
p.s if you disagree and feel the need to oppress my beleifs for they are different to yours please show me valid points don't just say "Dude Halo sux dik u shud pla cod4 instead" let's try to be mature.
Oh by the way I take back that comment I made about metal gear solid 4, it isn't a crock of shit but it sure is boring, self absorbed and pretentious.
To begin with the series as it stands brings a couple of new ideas in the story as well as a few tried and true themes in the genre that have always worked.
One thing that I always notice is the number of biblical (or indeed just religeous subtexts in general) references in game, case in point the reference to the flood and the ark but that's obvious. There is also a very heavy emphasis on ancient myth, hence the MJOLINOR (or however the hell you spell that) armour named after the hammer wielded by the Norse god Thor. In some retellings of the story you could give Masterchief the role of Aeneous or Heracles (that's the correct spelling by the way, not Hercules, look it up learn something) and of course Masterchief is a Spartan based on of course the Spartans from ancient Greece. Various other names like Cortana being a respelling of Curtana a weapon used by I think a greek god. The fact that Masterchief's number is 117 possibly a bible chapter and of course the overarching religious nature of the Covenant (I just realised Ark as in the Ark of the Covenant) suggests a heavy level of literature influence to look into.
The obvious standards in the genre that appear in story are the whole humans versus aliens. However the twist is revealed as early as Halo 1 that the aliens are interested in something other than genocide. That their whole relgion is based around the Halo rings and learning of the ancient gods the forerunners. In Halo 2 we then take control of one of these aliens and see the side of the aliens society thus humanizing them to a degree that most other shooters never do. Once again going back to religous and myth based texts all the aliens speak like with language found in more ancient civilisations (at least as far as movies are concerned) The whole Arbiter story is an almost textbook story of revenge, the struggle for power, delusion and the pursuit of the Truth. The names of the Prophets I always felt were intentionally ironic as each prophet does the opposite of what he is named after.
Anyway the discovery of the Truth and the subsequent betrayal of the elites by the brutes was a sort of referance to the barbarians in Rome and indeed any great government oppression thus giving more evidence to literary referances.
Next up comes the characterisation. I'll start with perhaps the most obvious one Masterchief. As I mentioned he is most likely heavily based upon several great epic heroes of past legends. But to me personally he feels more symbolic than a true character. We never see his face which is his major strength I feel because in some ways his strong lack of humanity is esential to his character. Being a symbol of mankind's strength and the effects of long term military exposure the Masterchief feels like a sort of pure arse kicking machine. Sometimes it may just be because the nature of his identity is left up to the player as a mystery. Some people might think that his tendancy not to speak is a bad thing, but put him next to wise cracking smug pricks like Dante and I think we can agree that maybe it's for the best.
Overall Masterchief is characterised as fearless, he knows what to do and what is right. He represents that sometimes when humanity needs a hero, he needs to be as inhuman as possible. But even so, the Chief shows some geniune human qualities, no weaknesses but nevertheless humanity. Read some of the books and you'll see. In game I notice the best examples are his interactions with Cortana because with her he talks like a normal person.
Going on to the topic of Cortana I can't help but feel reminded of Isaac Asimov a fair bit. Asimov is of ocurse famous for making novels always based on the idea of 'what if computer intelligence could be defined as a soul' and in all fairness I think that's Cortana in many respects. As an AI construct meant to be used for little more than getting the task done she actually expresses genuine emotion and has a real personality to go with it. Yes some people associate her with a sort of sexual reputation and in all fairness I can sed why but honestly her witty charming personality and the way she interacted with the Chief was one of the things that kept me going in the first Halo. She is in every Halo game and admittedly I think Halo 3 suffered by not having her back until the very end. Her relationship to the chief definetly interests me, there is definetly a kind of bond between them that is brought up quite a fair bit and to be honest the chemistry between them is quite amusing and interesting if nothing else.
Finally the Arbiter, now I reckon if they ever did a remake of Halo one then the Arbiter should be made into a major character in the story somehow because he's great. I said preiviously that Halo is among the few first person shooters to ever characterise it's aliens as being something other than genocidal (Half life 2 being the only other one I'm aware of... yay Vortigaunts!). In Halo 2 the Arbiter is a disgraced military leader who is forced to go on a mission to redeam himself and unlike the Chief who simply is unable to feel fear the Arbiter has no fear of death because he feels disgraced. However he slowly develops questions about his loyalty to the Covenant and eventually leads a schism that effectivley makes his race leave the Covenant and ally with the humans. The reason I like him is because he fit so perfectly into the trilogy as a noble honour bound warrior fighting for what he beleives is right. He just felt like he belonged next to the Mastercheif as they fought side by side. This is especially nice the way Halo 3 ends with the Arbiter attending the service for the dead humans to pay his respects when only a few years earlier he had been fighting for their extinction. It really speaks to the level of nobility in his character when he is that determined to overlook the past and side with former enemies. In fact he, like the rest of the elites seem based on every honour bound warrior culture that ever existed. Seriously, the Arbiter kicks arse. The one from Halo Wars does not however, he doesn't even count.
Next up I'm pretty sure someone will have remembered to mention the truly AMAZING musical score that the game provides you. It's just beautiful and some of the best music I ever heard in a game in my whole life.
Finally as some people have already mentioned the game is nice and colourful and presents itself with a nice sence of humour especially number three. That no matter how serious the overlining story is (aliens and humans duking it out over control of a series of Ringworlds that will brin about the destruction of all life in the galaxy, structures made to suppress an all consuming parasite called the flood) it still has a nice charming sense of humour about itself, from the scampering grunts to the quips by marines and the dialouge of some elites (... is there something in my teeth?) just help keep me entertained. That and of course the abscense of over the top gritty depressing realism is just generally better. How the graphics are boring I have no idea Halo 3 had some of the best displays I ever saw, realistic shadow effects, motion blurs, water effects and even sunlight effect like changing of light levels. These are all subtle so try to pay attention.
Tack onto all this with a brilliant multiplayer and there you have it, my reason why Halo as a series is truly great.
The fact that all this can exist subtley to my mind is a welcome relief from Metal Gear Solid's approach.
p.s if you disagree and feel the need to oppress my beleifs for they are different to yours please show me valid points don't just say "Dude Halo sux dik u shud pla cod4 instead" let's try to be mature.
Oh by the way I take back that comment I made about metal gear solid 4, it isn't a crock of shit but it sure is boring, self absorbed and pretentious.
That is what has killed a lot of new FPS's for me, it's like, 'im almost dead, i better hurry and get in the cover of that drywall which for some reason is invulnerable to everything (not true for all games, i know) and twiddle my thumbs till my body heals.'Vanilla Gorilla said:
I just miss the old days where you could juuuust see that health pack behind the horde of whatever and very carefully plan exactly how you were gonna take them out and get to that pack without loseing that last 5 points of health you have.
I didn't enjoy halo but thats only because it's just not my prefered style of FPS and personally i didn't like the story (but thats just me) as others have said you can only judge a game on what YOU as a person like, so coming out and saying "i think it is complete shit therefore everyone else should think the same!" just makes you look a tard....
Although one thing i do loathe about some of the more fanboy fans of Halo is calling it a space opera it just makes the game sound up itself when there is no need.
You like story and you like Metal Gear Solid, well, that's a bit of an oxymoron.Cymbal Monkey said:
Stop judging a 2002 game by 2008-2009 standards.
The graphics in Halo CE were cutting edge at the time. Being a release game for the most powerful console in its generation. It was very impressive graphically speaking, running at a solid 30 fps it had Cubic mapping, Bump mapping, high polygon characters, facial animation, glow effects, special effects, animated weapon textures that showed ammo states, water textures. It was the best looking console games at the time by far.
Halo 2, implemented Normal maps and higher polygon characters as well as more advanced lighting.
Halo 3 implemented high resolution Normal Maps, parallax mapping, High Dynamic Range lighting, motion blur, depth of field and fur shaders.
So when yu talk about graphics you should really know what you're talking about before criticising.
ooo i agree. Halo 1 was great though, really interesting newish breed of combat and aliens. The flood was quite creepy at the time. Halo 2 was o..k...halo three was just bloom to the extreme, it hurt my eyes and was booooring. Halo 2 was fun to play as the arbiter. Its a shame because if the story was better written, and the graphics werent so urgh and well, ugly and bland, it couldve made for a fantastic game. The storyline had so much potential...and yes...MGS...mother of all storylines. When showing a mate the final boss fight (no spoilers here) after beating the boss, the cutscenes ensued, we WENT OUT and got a coffee and came back and they were STILL GOING. it was a great moment. hahaCymbal Monkey said:
I'm not trying to counter your argument that the graphics were good, but you completely misunderstood what he said and got angry about something that you're implying he said that he really didn't actually say.beddo said:
Read this part again please (comprehension test time!):
Okay so he's saying the graphics are good, but sometimes even if you make the graphics as good as you possibly can they're still not appealing because of what in particular you are rendering. I see this more of an argument of maybe boring environments, or something samey within the game. I wouldn't know I havent played halo enough, but he isnt saying the graphics are bad, so don't tell him to know what he's talking about before criticizing when its clearly you who needs to understand what you're countering before you tell someone they don't know what they're talking about.The Part You Misunderstood said:
So now you know, and knowing is half the battle! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjcDW7zIY8&feature=channel_page]
I see nothing.
I never have and never will, because there's better multiplayer from many other outlets, and better single player from many other outlets.
The Halo 2-weapon system is not original. This can be proven. Is it fun? I don't think so, but that's opinion.
The Halo AI is not that good. This can be proven. Is it functional? Yeah, I think so, but I don't expect much from AI most of the time.
Etc, etc.
I never have and never will, because there's better multiplayer from many other outlets, and better single player from many other outlets.
Some things are not debatable. The Halo story is not original. This can be proven. Is it good? That's opinion.gunluva said:
The Halo 2-weapon system is not original. This can be proven. Is it fun? I don't think so, but that's opinion.
The Halo AI is not that good. This can be proven. Is it functional? Yeah, I think so, but I don't expect much from AI most of the time.
Etc, etc.
I agree with that to an extent, but equally health packs can destroy a game experience if placed incorrectly or when a game is saved at the wrong point etc. I remember all too often with older PC titles quick saving at the wrong point and having to slog through an hour or 2 with no health. I personally feel the first halo had it right with the combo shield/health system but thats just my opinion. Actually, the checkpoints in Halo were pretty much perfectly placed as well.Lurchibald said:
Actually, I got into a debate with someone on this forum about the story being unoriginal. He was unable to show me at least one movie, game, or book with a story like Halo's. Sure, you can break down bits of the story, and say they're like others, but you can do that with practically any game, book, or movie.Valiance said:
Halo 2's weapon system isn't really original, because it's just that: a weapons system. You have guns, you can shoot them. What do you expect? The ability to eat them?
Halo AI was very good for it's time. The enemy retreated at low health, or charged at you in a berserker rage depending on what you were fighting. Each enemy really had it's own behavior.