A few objective reasons why Halo rocks...

Well I see a lot of hate and love in equal measure for Halo. Some call it generic or whatever. But there a few things it does brilliantly, that can't really be argued:

1. Lot's of modes: Single player, 4 player co-op campaign(Single console, LAN, Internet, or combination), 4 player deathmatch(Single console, LAN, Internet, or combination), new Firefight mode in ODST, and online mode. Most FPS games don't have all of these, with Halo you can play any way you like.

2. Colourful: Self explanatory, while most shooters are grey/brown, Halo is bright greens, blues and purples. Maybe you don't like it but at least it's different!

3. Balance between shooting, melee and grenades: Well other FPS games obviously have these too but Halo has all three balanced perfectly, or so it seems to me! No cheap knife insta kills(unless you find a big ass energy sword :P), no super succesful grenade spamming, just legitimate different tactics.

4. Customisation: I'm sure PC people will yell "MODS!" at me but for consoles, Halo has great custom options, you can create super fast zombies, slow dudes who can jump 100 foot in the air, any weapons you like, infinite grenades and have paths of hanging crates thru the sky!

5. Community: Forge, screenshots, video theatre, Bungie's stat tracking and downloads etc. Very nice!

6. It has a story. All the religous references and civil war in the Covenent was pretty interesting to me. Fair enough, lot's of people say it's a crap story, but a noble attempt at a good story is surely better than "OMG Russians and Arabs again, kill them!" :)

Course none of these would matter a fig if you don't like the core gameplay of Halo, but I just wanted to show that Halo definately does a lot of good things, and really you can't call it 100% generic, even if you hate the gameplay :D

I am unable to ascertain why the game being colourful means it rocks :P

It certainly stands out, though I wouldn't say it adds to the "rock"yness.

I'm sure most people that view this are just going to write this off as some fanboy saying Halo is the second coming or whatever.SpiritOfFire117

No, I believe that was Halo thread #103,999,504,395,392,193,124,857,489. Either way, both sides should stop with the arguments.

I am unable to ascertain why the game being colourful means it rocks :P

It certainly stands out, though I wouldn't say it adds to the "rock"yness.

lundy86_4

[QUOTE="lundy86_4"]

I am unable to ascertain why the game being colourful means it rocks :P

It certainly stands out, though I wouldn't say it adds to the "rock"yness.

locopatho

Haha true enough... Too many games going for the grittiness feel, commonly attained from using a **** load of grey and brown.

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="lundy86_4"]

I am unable to ascertain why the game being colourful means it rocks :P

It certainly stands out, though I wouldn't say it adds to the "rock"yness.

lundy86_4

Haha true enough... Too many games going for the grittiness feel, commonly attained from using a **** load of grey and brown.

[QUOTE="lundy86_4"]

[QUOTE="locopatho"] Well anything new and different to the other 10 million FPS games is welcome to me :P Plus I didn't buy a HDTV to see a million shades of brown... Halo, Kameo and Viva Pinata, **** yeah!DarkLink77

Haha true enough... Too many games going for the grittiness feel, commonly attained from using a **** load of grey and brown.

My God, it's pretty brutal. Still good games, but.... My eyes!! :cry:

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.DarkLink77

I'm not talking about the BR, I'm talking about the assault rifle....

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="lundy86_4"]

Haha true enough... Too many games going for the grittiness feel, commonly attained from using a **** load of grey and brown.

lundy86_4

My God, it's pretty brutal. Still good games, but.... My eyes!! :cry:

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.DragonfireXZ95

Well I see a lot of hate and love in equal measure for Halo. Some call it generic or whatever. But there a few things it does brilliantly, that can't really be argued:

1. Lot's of modes: Single player, 4 player co-op campaign(Single console, LAN, Internet, or combination), 4 player deathmatch(Single console, LAN, Internet, or combination), new Firefight mode in ODST, and online mode. Most FPS games don't have all of these, with Halo you can play any way you like.

2. Colourful: Self explanatory, while most shooters are grey/brown, Halo is bright greens, blues and purples. Maybe you don't like it but at least it's different!

3. Balance between shooting, melee and grenades: Well other FPS games obviously have these too but Halo has all three balanced perfectly, or so it seems to me! No cheap knife insta kills(unless you find a big ass energy sword :P), no super succesful grenade spamming, just legitimate different tactics.

4. Customisation: I'm sure PC people will yell "MODS!" at me but for consoles, Halo has great custom options, you can create super fast zombies, slow dudes who can jump 100 foot in the air, any weapons you like, infinite grenades and have paths of hanging crates thru the sky!

5. Community: Forge, screenshots, video theatre, Bungie's stat tracking and downloads etc. Very nice!

6. It has a story. All the religous references and civil war in the Covenent was pretty interesting to me. Fair enough, lot's of people say it's a crap story, but a noble attempt at a good story is surely better than "OMG Russians and Arabs again, kill them!" :)

Course none of these would matter a fig if you don't like the core gameplay of Halo, but I just wanted to show that Halo definately does a lot of good things, and really you can't call it 100% generic, even if you hate the gameplay :D

locopatho

Perfect Dark and Goldeneye for the N64 had all those features and more before Halo. Halo just stole those features and now its taking credit for it.

Kids nowadays wont ever realise that.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"][QUOTE="DarkLink77"] Hardly. I have seen many good players with a BR beat many good players with a rocket launcher.DarkLink77

Exactly, so all the weapons aren't balanced, you just proved my point.

Or how about the magnum pistol? or the brute shot? or the mauler? plasma pistol? Plasma rifle? SMG? Spiker? These weapons pretty much all suck unless you are at a really close range, even then a few of them still suck.

And with the levels being so open usually, ending up with any of these weapons from long distance is basically considered suicide.

Perfect Dark and Goldeneye for the N64 had all those features and more before Halo. Halo just stole those features and now its taking credit for it.

Kids nowadays wont ever realise that.

Adamantium4k2

Played em when they were new 8)

Pretty sure they didn't have 4 player co op campaigns, online multiplayer, dedicated grenade and melee buttons, or Forge :P

[QUOTE="SpiritOfFire117"]I'm sure most people that view this are just going to write this off as some fanboy saying Halo is the second coming or whatever.Legendaryscmt

No, I believe that was Halo thread #103,999,504,395,392,193,124,857,489. Either way, both sides should stop with the arguments.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"] I'm not talking about the BR, I'm talking about the assault rifle.... DragonfireXZ95

Exactly, so all the weapons aren't balanced, you just proved my point.

Or how about the magnum pistol? or the brute shot? or the mauler? plasma pistol? Plasma rifle? SMG? Spiker? These weapons pretty much all suck unless you are at a really close range, even then a few of them suck.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"] I know, but the AR is basically useless in this debate. You almost always spawn with a BR now, so not using it... is just a bad idea.DarkLink77

Exactly, so all the weapons aren't balanced, you just proved my point.

Or how about the magnum pistol? or the brute shot? or the mauler? plasma pistol? Plasma rifle? SMG? Spiker? These weapons pretty much all suck unless you are at a really close range, even then a few of them suck.

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.DragonfireXZ95

It IS a race to get the best weapons. Its all part of tactics. "I'm at this side of the map so I need to get _________ but beware of someone with _________ because they are spawning over there"

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.DarkLink77

agreed, because I'm that guy with the rocket launcher. there's skill to this game.

at least if you've seen someone like me play MW2 right after Halo, there's obvious differences.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

Exactly, so all the weapons aren't balanced, you just proved my point.

Or how about the magnum pistol? or the brute shot? or the mauler? plasma pistol? Plasma rifle? SMG? Spiker? These weapons pretty much all suck unless you are at a really close range, even then a few of them suck.

DragonfireXZ95

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.Infinite_Access

It IS a race to get the best weapons. Its all part of tactics. "I'm at this side of the map so I need to get _________ but beware of someone with _________ because they are spawning over there"

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

Exactly, so all the weapons aren't balanced, you just proved my point.

Or how about the magnum pistol? or the brute shot? or the mauler? plasma pistol? Plasma rifle? SMG? Spiker? These weapons pretty much all suck unless you are at a really close range, even then a few of them suck.

DragonfireXZ95

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

Yes, i am a BEAST at Halo :D

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"] They're all good guns in certain situations (save the magnums). But you aren't meant so go against a rocket launcher with a AR. It's not the right weapon for the situation.DarkLink77

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

Yes, very specific instances, so in other words, they are useless for 90% of the time.

[QUOTE="Infinite_Access"]

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.DragonfireXZ95

It IS a race to get the best weapons. Its all part of tactics. "I'm at this side of the map so I need to get _________ but beware of someone with _________ because they are spawning over there"

[QUOTE="Infinite_Access"]

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]The weapons aren't very balanced. Usually it's a race to see who can get the best weapons first. If you have 2 good people, one is using an assault rifle and the other is using a rocket launcher, the person with the rocket launcher will win, almost every time.DragonfireXZ95

It IS a race to get the best weapons. Its all part of tactics. "I'm at this side of the map so I need to get _________ but beware of someone with _________ because they are spawning over there"

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

DragonfireXZ95

Yes, very specific instances, so in other words, they are useless for 90% of the time.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"] They're all good guns in certain situations (save the magnums). But you aren't meant so go against a rocket launcher with a AR. It's not the right weapon for the situation.lafiro93

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

Yes, i am a BEAST at Halo :D

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"][QUOTE="Infinite_Access"]

It IS a race to get the best weapons. Its all part of tactics. "I'm at this side of the map so I need to get _________ but beware of someone with _________ because they are spawning over there"

locopatho

[QUOTE="lafiro93"]

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

Yes, but what if that's all you have? That and a pistol?

And yes, even if you are at a medium distance, most of them are absolutely useless except for maybe the brute shot.

DragonfireXZ95

Yes, i am a BEAST at Halo :D

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"] That's just stupid... What if I don't know the maps? What if it spawns someone closer to a weapon than someone else? It's just unbalanced. Because it doesn't give all the players the same tools as everyone else, that's called unbalanced. Especially when half the guns are complete garbage.DragonfireXZ95

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"] That's just stupid... What if I don't know the maps? What if it spawns someone closer to a weapon than someone else? It's just unbalanced. Because it doesn't give all the players the same tools as everyone else, that's called unbalanced. Especially when half the guns are complete garbage.DragonfireXZ95

[QUOTE="locopatho"][QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"] That's just stupid... What if I don't know the maps? What if it spawns someone closer to a weapon than someone else? It's just unbalanced. Because it doesn't give all the players the same tools as everyone else, that's called unbalanced. Especially when half the guns are complete garbage.DragonfireXZ95

So what do you want?? They have both symetrical and asymetrical maps. Symetrical meaning that one side mirrors the other, and everyone has a fair chance of getting each weapon. And if you don't know certain maps... that is your own fault. After about a week of playing you can learn the maps. Bungie does consider some weapons "power weapons", like the rockets.. you normally get only 2 or 4 shots with them. then you can't get them gain for the next few minutes.

Also different weapons are for different needs, or different playstyles. Say I'm low on health and no that the mauler is around the corner.. I can flee my enemy, run around the corner, he chases (most of the time). Then I shoot him with something much more powerful than my AR.

the reasons why i still have Halo 3 but i've sold off Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2:

• splitscreen co-op, is this really so hard? who decided that fps had to be the ultimate graphix machines? on consoles it just hurts the product
• vehicles, why do so many modern games treat vehicles as taboo? i guess in the case of games like Uncharted 2, not scripting out a sequence could potentially hurt graphics or hurt the pacing of your so-so sequence, but what about fps games like Killzone 2 or MW2 where there's really no real pacing to be worried about? i can stand around in both of those games and go take a dump without the game getting fussy about it, let me dick around in a vehicle once in a while for variety's sake (with friends in splitscreen co-op of course)
• the PC (player character) is actually fun to play as, do i care who Ramirez is? nope, do i care who Sev is? nope, do i care who Nathan Hale is? not really, do any of those characters have any special traits other than the ability to carry 2 weapons and jump 6 inches? nope, that's the problem with those games... the game designers decided that to be more immersive, you should play as a unremarkable dupe, who just happens to have the luck to kill 500 people and slay whole armies and nations of aliens... (oh yeah that's sooooooooo realistic)
• the campaign is actually sorta fun, in Resistance 2 you spend most of your time fighting random scenarios where enemies simply ambush you in waves... in Killzone 2 you spent most of your time fighting random scenarioes where enemies simply ambush you in waves... in Modern Warfare 2 you spend most of your time fighting random scenarios where enemies simply ambush you in waves... see a recurring trend?
• the online is actually fun, Killzone 2 i thought was very well made online but always suffered from easy frustration... why? 'nade spam, shottie noobs, and constant balance issues made some DLC maps unplayable and turrets too overpowered or spawn points pointless or overpowered or bazookas/shotguns either useless or easy kills or defending impossible or etc.... i can't recall any time when the game was ever balanced right... MW2 is a glitchy mess that rewards unbalanced games (i mean why bother making a good game when you can just steal a cod4 modder's work and say it was supposed to be an unbalanced mess?)... and Resistance 2, while lots of fun online, is also the same thing no matter what mode you're playing (re: spray & pray for an hour, no variety)... also sometimes i don't want to play against teams full of godly players, which is why i no longer play games like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2 online because only the die-hards play those games
• the music is good, seriously whats up with the soundtracks in Killzone 2, Resistance 2 or MW2? they all suck

'course there are better fps out there, but they're all on PC (apart from the Metroid Prime Trilogy)

The customization is what puts Halo 3 heads and shoulders above other shooters in the market imo.

Halo is all about map and gun control. People need to stop complaining about crappy guns. most times people spawn with BR's or have one to pick up very close to them, and the BR is the best all around gun to have.

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"][QUOTE="lafiro93"]Use the weapons to your advantage. Most weapons are equal and it depends how you use them. I find myself facing a Rocket launcher guy a lot of the time and if i have a BR, then its 50/50 me killing him and him killing me but if i have lets say a AR i should burst fire so i accuracy stays on the target and i kill him 30 out of 100.

Yes, i am a BEAST at Halo :D

lafiro93

exactly. don't complain about getting killed by the rocket launcher because everyone has an equal oppurtunity to get to the gun before everyone else. Its part of what makes the game so fun because you don't get to spawn with a better gun then someone else, you all spawn with the same guns and fight for the power weapons. that's a lot more fair than having someone have access to 2-3 times more weapons just becasue theyre a higher rank.

the reasons why i still have Halo 3 but i've sold off Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2:

• splitscreen co-op, is this really so hard? who decided that fps had to be the ultimate graphix machines? on consoles it just hurts the product
• vehicles, why do so many modern games treat vehicles as taboo? i guess in the case of games like Uncharted 2, not scripting out a sequence could potentially hurt graphics or hurt the pacing of your so-so sequence, but what about fps games like Killzone 2 or MW2 where there's really no real pacing to be worried about? i can stand around in both of those games and go take a dump without the game getting fussy about it, let me dick around in a vehicle once in a while for variety's sake (with friends in splitscreen co-op of course)
• the PC (player character) is actually fun to play as, do i care who Ramirez is? nope, do i care who Sev is? nope, do i care who Nathan Hale is? not really, do any of those characters have any special traits other than the ability to carry 2 weapons and jump 6 inches? nope, that's the problem with those games... the game designers decided that to be more immersive, you should play as a unremarkable dupe, who just happens to have the luck to kill 500 people and slay whole armies and nations of aliens... (oh yeah that's sooooooooo realistic)
• the campaign is actually sorta fun, in Resistance 2 you spend most of your time fighting random scenarios where enemies simply ambush you in waves... in Killzone 2 you spent most of your time fighting random scenarioes where enemies simply ambush you in waves... in Modern Warfare 2 you spend most of your time fighting random scenarios where enemies simply ambush you in waves... see a recurring trend?
• the online is actually fun, Killzone 2 i thought was very well made online but always suffered from easy frustration... why? 'nade spam, shottie noobs, and constant balance issues made some DLC maps unplayable and turrets too overpowered or spawn points pointless or overpowered or bazookas/shotguns either useless or easy kills or defending impossible or etc.... i can't recall any time when the game was ever balanced right... MW2 is a glitchy mess that rewards unbalanced games (i mean why bother making a good game when you can just steal a cod4 modder's work and say it was supposed to be an unbalanced mess?)... and Resistance 2, while lots of fun online, is also the same thing no matter what mode you're playing (re: spray & pray for an hour, no variety)... also sometimes i don't want to play against teams full of godly players, which is why i no longer play games like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2 online because only the die-hards play those games
• the music is good, seriously whats up with the soundtracks in Killzone 2, Resistance 2 or MW2? they all suck

'course there are better fps out there, but they're all on PC (apart from the Metroid Prime Trilogy)

88mphSlayer

Amen brutha ! (although i cant exactly agree about the downsides of UC2, KZ2 or R2 as i havent played em, but the Halo upsides are darn tootin :D)

Objective, huh?Marcster1994

[QUOTE="88mphSlayer"]

the reasons why i still have Halo 3 but i've sold off Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 and Modern Warfare 2:

• splitscreen co-op, is this really so hard? who decided that fps had to be the ultimate graphix machines? on consoles it just hurts the product
• vehicles, why do so many modern games treat vehicles as taboo? i guess in the case of games like Uncharted 2, not scripting out a sequence could potentially hurt graphics or hurt the pacing of your so-so sequence, but what about fps games like Killzone 2 or MW2 where there's really no real pacing to be worried about? i can stand around in both of those games and go take a dump without the game getting fussy about it, let me dick around in a vehicle once in a while for variety's sake (with friends in splitscreen co-op of course)
• the PC (player character) is actually fun to play as, do i care who Ramirez is? nope, do i care who Sev is? nope, do i care who Nathan Hale is? not really, do any of those characters have any special traits other than the ability to carry 2 weapons and jump 6 inches? nope, that's the problem with those games... the game designers decided that to be more immersive, you should play as a unremarkable dupe, who just happens to have the luck to kill 500 people and slay whole armies and nations of aliens... (oh yeah that's sooooooooo realistic)
• the campaign is actually sorta fun, in Resistance 2 you spend most of your time fighting random scenarios where enemies simply ambush you in waves... in Killzone 2 you spent most of your time fighting random scenarioes where enemies simply ambush you in waves... in Modern Warfare 2 you spend most of your time fighting random scenarios where enemies simply ambush you in waves... see a recurring trend?
• the online is actually fun, Killzone 2 i thought was very well made online but always suffered from easy frustration... why? 'nade spam, shottie noobs, and constant balance issues made some DLC maps unplayable and turrets too overpowered or spawn points pointless or overpowered or bazookas/shotguns either useless or easy kills or defending impossible or etc.... i can't recall any time when the game was ever balanced right... MW2 is a glitchy mess that rewards unbalanced games (i mean why bother making a good game when you can just steal a cod4 modder's work and say it was supposed to be an unbalanced mess?)... and Resistance 2, while lots of fun online, is also the same thing no matter what mode you're playing (re: spray & pray for an hour, no variety)... also sometimes i don't want to play against teams full of godly players, which is why i no longer play games like Killzone 2 or Uncharted 2 online because only the die-hards play those games
• the music is good, seriously whats up with the soundtracks in Killzone 2, Resistance 2 or MW2? they all suck

'course there are better fps out there, but they're all on PC (apart from the Metroid Prime Trilogy)

Snugenz

Amen brutha ! (although i cant exactly agree about the downsides of UC2, KZ2 or R2 as i havent played em, but the Halo upsides are darn tootin :D)

they aren't necessarily BAD games at all, i had fun with Resistance 2 especially the online co-op mode, and i had fun with Killzone 2's MP until the balance issues (that were always being tweaked but never perfected) frustrated me too much, it's just that they don't really stand out or age very well for reasons i listed