What makes Halo special. (An argument you have probably never heard)

[Skeleton Jelly]

You probably say that cause hes agreeing with you. When it comes down to it, Halos campaign is boring. Replay value? None except for finding skulls for achievements. Cause once you do a battle once, you're going to know where they're going to spawn, how many there are and what weapons you'll need. It also feels really less epic than CoD4 or MW2. And I know epciness (lol) can only get a game so far, cause once you see the epic part the first time, it loses its epicness the second time you see it. But I found myself going back and beating MW2 and CoD4 a lot more times than Halo 3. With Halo it was for the story the first time through, then achievements the second time. Also maybe it was just me, but Bungie is particularly terrible at character development. I played all 3 Halos and ODST and by the end of all games, I couldn't care less about which character died or which one lived. Both storyline were kinda weak, but MW2 made it feel more personal, if not less realistic. But we don't escape reality only to be brought back into reality. if you want the most realistic shooter out there, join the damned army. Reality is good, but don't overdue it. CoD4 was good at balancing the two, with more on the realistic side. MW2 created an alternate universe which was filled with cinematic events, pretty good storyline for a modern war game, and characters that were well developed (but less developed than in CoD4). Also with the dumb-shit marines, it dumbed down Halo 3 and made it feel like a one man army kind of game, even if you were surrounded by 50 soldiers. I mean by God the only time they were good was in turrets (arguable) and when given rockets and put in the passenger seat of a warthog. CoDs infantry isn't as stupid and useless as you make them think. They take out a lot of enemies actually, and i'd LOVE for you to show me some marines take out a Hunter. Or and damned Elite or Brute for that matter. Halos multiplayer is fun too, but the amount of things you can do is much more appealing than vehicles to me. And no MW2 is no a tactical shooter, but none really are.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

Arguement? I call it a debate! It sounds fancier, and friendlier.

I thought halo was special because it was nice and colourful, shiney and new. And no possible way to be jaded against it whatsoever. But now there's more, my excitement lessened. I still enjoy a occasional game though.

A well thought out answer you have put forwards. Well done.

 

[awsome117]

You probably say that cause hes agreeing with you. When it comes down to it, Halos campaign is boring. Replay value? None except for finding skulls for achievements. Cause once you do a battle once, you're going to know where they're going to spawn, how many there are and what weapons you'll need. It also feels really less epic than CoD4 or MW2. And I know epciness (lol) can only get a game so far, cause once you see the epic part the first time, it loses its epicness the second time you see it. But I found myself going back and beating MW2 and CoD4 a lot more times than Halo 3. With Halo it was for the story the first time through, then achievements the second time. Also maybe it was just me, but Bungie is particularly terrible at character development. I played all 3 Halos and ODST and by the end of all games, I couldn't care less about which character died or which one lived. Both storyline were kinda weak, but MW2 made it feel more personal, if not less realistic. But we don't escape reality only to be brought back into reality. if you want the most realistic shooter out there, join the damned army. Reality is good, but don't overdue it. CoD4 was good at balancing the two, with more on the realistic side. MW2 created an alternate universe which was filled with cinematic events, pretty good storyline for a modern war game, and characters that were well developed (but less developed than in CoD4). Also with the dumb-shit marines, it dumbed down Halo 3 and made it feel like a one man army kind of game, even if you were surrounded by 50 soldiers. I mean by God the only time they were good was in turrets (arguable) and when given rockets and put in the passenger seat of a warthog. CoDs infantry isn't as stupid and useless as you make them think. They take out a lot of enemies actually, and i'd LOVE for you to show me some marines take out a Hunter. Or and damned Elite or Brute for that matter. Halos multiplayer is fun too, but the amount of things you can do is much more appealing than vehicles to me. And no MW2 is no a tactical shooter, but none really are.

Giant Wall-o-text alert!

Anyway, from what I've gathered, you've said CoD 4 has more epic battles and is more personal. I would like to say that is false, but I am unsure if that is actually what you said...

 

[D_987]

Poorly written, says the guy who started two paragraphs with "First of all," and failing to put a comma afterward, both times. Also, saying that something could have been said in a single line, followed up by stating that the argument could be half the length, is redundant, no?

If I'm writing an OP I'll give a shit about the spelling and grammar, if not, I won't - simple really.

Oh, yeah, and yes, the enemies do respawn in the same places, many times. I remember the level where you escort War Pig in particular. There's that bus sitting there, with about three enemies inside it. Pop them all, and three more will immediately respawn by moving into the bus and taking the exact same positions. This can go on for as long as you have bullets. The only way past this is to go where the developers wanted you to go, that is, the buildings on the right side. At least in Halo, I can approach it my own way.

(In this case, it'd be throwing a grenade inside the bus, then hijacking War Pig and driving through the terrain like an asshole. )

And this has to do with....what exactly? Nothing. The main point still stands, the fact you can point to one example to the contrary means nothing when my point is correct for the majority of the game, besides - the core mechanics of CoD and Halo are so different that trying to replicate the Halo in CoD wouldn't work.

The rules change in each area, but in that particular area, the enemies spawn in the same places every time. So, yes, you can memorize where everything will happen and adjust accordingly. May not have been Pimppeter's argument, but I still find something clearly wrong with how each set piece works in CoD4.

Not true, the enemies may spawn in vague areas but they do not spawn in the exact same spot every time.

I think there's something wrong if I have to restart a sequence because I died right before getting on a helicopter out of a city, and then, after doing it successfully, die anyway as part of the fucking cutscene.

Spoiler: Call of Duty 4: Shock and Awe

It's not like getting the wounded pilot onto that chopper saved her from the inevitable nuke, anyway. In fact, the entire mission amounts to nothing. Anyone you saved, any enemies you spared, and any information you gathered is all lost anyway in the explosion. Yet I have to make it to the specific point to see the nuclear blast from a specific angle to progress the game.

Good for you, I see nothing wrong with it, because it's part of the story - if the character had died before the explosion would it have made the same impact on the player - not seeing the explosion? No.

There are sniper rifles in the game. Given this, if I want to hang back and use a sniper rifle the way it's supposed to be used, I should be allowed the option, damn it.

But the Call of Duty games are not like that - the gameplay isn't built around hiding in a corner sniping, it's about unrealistic action - you can use the sniper to pick people off and advance, as the enemies will spawn in different places, but the game would be far to easy if your method was used (hell, look how easy Modern Warfare 2 on veteran was - the easiest game in the CoD series by a long way)

I still like the Call of Duty games that I've played, but the campaign, particularly in Call of Duty 4, is soured for me on account of being so heavily railroaded that I feel like there's crack shot snipers waiting for the exact moment I step off the tracks.

Which seems to be the feeling the game is meant to be giving you...the claustrophobic areas and spawning system wanted you to feel confined.

Take all that as you will, but this is my opinion and I'm not changing it. Quote if you wish, but any attempt to drag me back into this will be done with a Needler pointed at your skull. You have been warned.

Nice, so at the beginning your all "Here we go... Time to pick apart an entire argument, again." but you don't want me to argue back against your flawed points? Nice, real classy - next time don't bother quoting me at all if you don't want a reply - what kind of attitude is that to take in a debate thread?

 

[Chris^^]

this is one resounding point in Halos favour, i am not the biggest fan of the franchise, but the campaign is very good on this at least.. in CoD it is absolutely rediculous that you cannot, for example, play the campaign as a sniper, because for every one you kill, another will simply take his place.. added to the fact that you are expected (as a private in most games) to lead a squad of your superiors into battle with limited or no orders against wave upon wave of enemies you are presented with an utterly rediculous game.

 

[Dark Knifer]

I also liked halo for this reason. I went into cod4 thinking "okay you start their and the snipers are there..." But when I died, they had all changed spots, I don't call that too realistic. Don't get me wrong I love both halo and cod4 but I think halo is a bit better when it comes to this topic.

Also the spartan laser and the energy sword were so much fun!

 

[Vrex360]

I'm in agreement with Pimpeteer on a lot of the points made, I too prefer Halo's style of play to Call of Duty's style of play. While there is a little room for improvement, I still think this is a good essay/speech on the subject matter.... well done.
But still there isn't really much I need to say here, I think by this point I've said enough stuff on why I like love adore Halo. In my own opinion, great series. Probably not the greatest of all time, but still damn good.

 

[Kud]

Halo is god.

 

[Connosaurus Rex]

I like both games but I have to say I like the COD story better.
It MAY be because I like being part of a larger thing rather than a Super Awesome MONDO muscle Man who beast all, thats why I want MAG so BAaaaaaD. Also I like the fact that since the soliders in COD are a little unpredictable and you actually need to move up to stop enemies form flanking you is very fun.
Also COD's AI seem to be very smart since they take cover and actually attempt to act differently each play through, at least in my experience.
My two cents please don't kill me

 

[MR T3D]

-self-snip-

So, wait, if in COD4, you were say....a lower ranking official, say a squad leader, suddenly everything would be fine, because your allies are SUPPOSED to suck?

That is a horrid reasoning process I might add.
Marines and such are trained for a long time to do their job, and yet the ones we get can't drive vehicles worth a damn. How is that any better than the micromanaging that COD4 implies?

It isn't. The AI issues in both are unacceptable, and that rationalization is simply silly.

no, because we know humans are roughly equal, therefore there shouldn't be an imbalance in AI from friend to foe. if i were some sort of advisor for a hasty-trained force, then there's something to excuse friendly AI being worse than the hostile.
yeah, halo's AI suck at driving, but whatever, i like to drive anyway. and i'd rather there be a rationalization, albeit silly, over a wall-banger.

That is a pretty bad rationalization. Halo AI's also love to throw themselves at enemies, shoot in ways that can't possibly hit, etc etc. They are basically all retarded to a degree that no human being with a gun should be.

but a rationalization nonetheless. i have no delusions that its bad, but at least its THERE.
something>nothing.

Really? -1 is "something", where as 0 is "nothing". would you argue that -1 > 0?
A bad rationalization is worse than none at all.

sorry, i consider rationalizations as absolute values; |something|>nothing.
I enjoyed halo, it WORKS as far as i'm considered, challenge(s) are clearly presented to me, and i can try assorted things to complete them, while often in later CoD games i found myself in the predicament of trying to get enough of them dead long enough to sprint to magically stop them from respawning. often i'd get through with luck, and that cheapens the experience for me. I enjoy the former, not so much with the later, ergo, i enjoy halo.

 

[HentMas]

I liked memorizing the spots of my enemy and creating a path that would push me to my objective.

thats funny, the first thing that came into mind is my dad, he loves FPS´s that require those kind of skills, he usually memorizes every enemy in every level and the best way of killing them by trial and error

thats how he pwned Turok 3, he got in, played for a few hours, errased his saves and turned it off, only to start again the next day, once he knew exactly where the enemies where in that part of the game, he made a save and started from there, after halfway trough the game he erased his saves again and started over.

untill he got to the point where he beated it in one sitting without dying...

and then he played it with the other character in the exact same way

i guess the problem here is that you are not playing the game, you are playing the map or the position of enemies or whatever, but never really the game (in my opinion)

 

[Scikosomatic]

Nothing. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just NOT special. It's an amalgam of the best things in shooters. But that's why it's enjoyable.

 

[team star pug]

oh well okay man. soz :'(

 

[101194]

Very well Ol' Chap, Swell review. I say it really brings out the toss in what I consider a well-standing Review for a parcel of game Dear boy?

 

[mendokusai]

I was expecting a unique defense of Halo or even just living up to what the thread title suggested. All I got was a rant (though a well-reasoned one) about how you don't like Call of Duty 4.

So I'm still waiting to know what makes Halo special as compared to every other FPS out there.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

It was my first Xbox game also it was damned hard to get my parents to agree to it, i have always treasured the things I could never have and after a long struggle i managed to save up enough to buy it.... and it was so so so sweet.