What's so great about Halo?

Cafe Society
1

Halo seems to be everyone’s favorite Xbox game. I’ve heard it described as the best first-person shooter ever; even the best video game ever. But I’ve played it for several hours, I’ve played other FPS games, and I’ve played other video games, and I still don’t see what sets this one apart. I guess I’d buy it if I already had an Xbox, but I wouldn’t even think about buying an Xbox just for this game.

Graphics - The graphics are pretty, that’s for sure. Lots of bump mapping and nice lighting effects… but everything’s angular, with no rounded edges in sight, and the motion seems choppy. I can play Quake 3 on my PC at 100 fps, or on my PS2 at 60 fps, while Halo on the powerful Xbox seems to run at 30 fps.

Sound - Decent effects, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Level design - The outdoor areas are great, but a lot of the indoor areas seem like a maze of twisty passages, all alike.

Weapons - Machine gun, check. Sniper rifle, check. Rocket launcher, check. Shotgun, check. Charge-up pulse weapon, check. Ricochet shots, check. I liked this assortment of weapons the first time, when they were in Unreal Tournament… except in UT, you could carry more than two guns at a time!

Enemy AI - Some levels have Half-Life enemies, some have Serious Sam enemies. Bringing the two together was a nice touch, but not revolutionary.

Vehicles - Now here’s something the world hasn’t seen since… Grand Theft Auto. Or any number of Quake/Half-Life mods.

Control - I’ve heard people say this game is a perfect match for the Xbox controller, but it seems like it’d be just as easy to play with a PS2 controller. Two analog sticks, two triggers (L1, R1), and six action buttons (X, O, , /, L2, R2). I like that it defaults to motion on one stick and looking on the other, instead of the bizarre combination of motion and looking that some games use, but the same layout is available in other games.

So what am I missing? I do like first-person shooters, I promise, but Halo just seems “OK”. Is there some shocking new feature I haven’t discovered, or is my anti-MS bias just keeping me from seeing the light in the ones I’ve listed above?

2

You didn’t mention Presentation, which is the big selling point for me. Granted, it’s identical to Half-Life’s presentation, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s basically sci-fi Half-Life with console controls & vehicles, which is nice.

The control is a big point; it just feels natural. I’ve never heard it described as better than the PS2 controller, but it works at least as well as the mouse-and-keyboard on the PC. Getting FPS controls on a console, any console, to feel natural instead of like a dumbed-down PC game is half the battle.

I didn’t see the big appeal of the game when I first played it; I had a similar reaction to yours; nice but nothing spectacular. But after I bought an Xbox, I rented the game and got completely sucked in. I still wouldn’t have bought an Xbox just for that one game (I bought it for Jet Set Radio Future instead), but I’ve got to give it credit for being a very solid, well-polished, and well-presented game.

3

STORYLINE.

Unlike many first-person shooters who’s single player plot consists of “You’re in [Hell / L.A. / a Trailer Park], Kill things,” Bungie’s Halo, and the series that preceeded it, Marathon, are good games because they use the first person action as a vehicle for telling a kick-ass SF story.

In both Halo and Marathon, not only are you fighting aliens, you’re also discovering things about a seperate, long lost alien civilization. There’s also the side plots regarding the motives of the A.I.s who are assisting you.

For more information check out http://halo.bungie.org/Story/ and it’s older brother http://marathon.bungie.org/story/. Be warned though, the latter has several years of detailed analsys of every single detail of the storyline of the three Marathon games.

4

Definitely the multi-player. I maintain that you cannot have more multiplayer fun on a console then a good game of evenly matched, warthog based, capture the flag on blood gulch with teams of 3 to 8. Of course thats not the only great set-up. It just happens to be the best of many possiblities.
Seriously, don’t judge this game until you’ve linked up and played it with at least 6 people.

5

Multiplayer FPS games and CTF have been around for ages. What makes Halo multiplayer better than Quake 3 or UT?

6

Did you have it hooked up for Dolby Digital 5.1 surround?

By forcing you to carry a realistic number of weapons you need to make a few choices about what to carry and when, you know… think tactically and stuff. A good thing in my opinion.

7

No, I don’t know anyone with a surround system. But this is the year 2003… every game has surround sound.

Carrying a rocket launcher in your pocket while shooting a sniper rifle is realistic?

8

I’ve only played it once, and I’m hooked.
Imagine this…

2 52" Televisions, one upstairs, one down stairs.
2 Xbox consoles
2 Halo games
10 people, 8 playing against each other, each time lowest ranking players trading out each game

Friggin amazing!

9

I’ve only played it for a few hours, but I’m not impressed at all either. The graphics are good, but not overwhelming by any means. The framerate slows down more often than I’d like.

And the controls are good, though not near as good as the ol’ standard mouse/keyboard combination. They’re working on the PC version now, which they had to make harder so PC gamers don’t breeze through it.

Check out Timesplitters for a cool console FPS. And of course, Halo 2 should be interesting when it comes out sometime in the future.

10

Yes, if they’re on the Xbox (don’t know about the gamecube).
Carrying a rocket launcher in your pocket while shooting a sniper rifle is realistic? **
[/QUOTE]

Well it’s more realistic than carrying a rocket launcher, a sniper rifle, a pistol, an assault rifle, a needle gun, shotgun, a plasma gun, and a plasma rifle eh?

11

I thought it was supposed to be hot cause you could play it on a HDTV monitor at really hot resolution?

12

Just like I saw Blair Witch Project knowing the twist/backstory, you Mr2001 have come to the party too late.
Even if Jesus himself jumped out of a Covenant dropship and fought you with a Needler, Halo would not live up to your expectations. Its been out too long and had too much hype. The game can’t be played objectively by new players anymore.

But what I love(d) about it is the storyline, and the interaction with the Marines. I felt lonely on the levels where you left them behind. The world of Halo is presented so solidly that I was sucked in. I didn’t just play the game, I lived it for two months straight.

You have not played the game until you defeat it on Legendary.

13

I think what makles Halo work is that it gets everything right. There are games with better graphics, but the story isn’t as good. More weapons, but the sound sucks. Great controls, but looks like it’s two years old. In any one area, it’s going to be second best to something out there. But it’s second best in every category, which really makes it stand out.

Does that make any sense?

14

Carrying a rocket launcher in your pocket while shooting a sniper rifle is realistic?

If you know the story line, and read the book you would know it is realistic. The main charater (Master Chief- John- Spartan 117) is a genetically engineered superhuman 500 years in the future. He has been phsyically augmented with superstrength, and his mjolnir armor give him the power and ability to carry to large guns at one time.

15

Not evey game on Xboc has Surround Soud. Dead or Alive 3 didn’t.

16

*Xbox

17

Firstly, the original post feels a bit like a PS2 famboy troll - but I’ll take the bait anyway…

Untrue - well implemented surround sound isn’t a common as you’d think - and 5.1 is (almost) unique to XBOX games…

PS2 and Gamecube games tend to offer DPLII which isn’t quite as nice - but again, it’s the implementation which matters, not the tech itself.

To understand what makes Halo great you need to do a few things

  1. Play it on a level above Normal - you don’t have to try Legendary but something tougher is MANDATORY

  2. Try playing each scenario in different ways and watch the AI adapt to offer a challenge in each case.

  3. Race Warthogs :slight_smile:

FPSes before Halo (and many since - including TimeSplitters 2) were nothing more than a walk down an ‘invisible trench’ with a memory-test element to remembering where the enemies would appear. Halo rewrote the book on that alone…

Halo also made the FPS work with a controller - a couple of games had ‘almost’ done this before - but with Halo you never even consider using an alternate control system.

Another high-point is it’s autosave system - which only triggers in ‘sensible’ places and only if you’ve not ‘cheated’. Just running at the enemy won’t trigger an autosave - carefully picking your way past them will - and so on.

Just picking up Halo and playing it won’t reveal ‘the greatest game ever made’ - but those who’ve experienced a wide range of games and who put a bit of time into Halo will be rewarded in spades IMHO

There aren’t 10 other games out there which are as well designed, implemented, presented and supported as Halo…

TTFN

JP

18

2 XBoxes in the living room, each hooked to a TV.
Those XBoxes, in turn, linked to the other 2 XBoxes in the den, also each hooked to their own TV.

Me, my 2 then roomies, and my brother. in the living room.

6 other guys in the den.

Us a team, them a team.

Boarding action… oh yeah. You haven’t done HALO until you’ve done some serious multi-player action.

And for the record, we stomped them good.

19

I’m looking forward to Halo 2, cause I heard they’re going to do XBox live multiplayer and I LIVE for multiplayer.

20

I’m a pc gamer and Xbox was my first console since atari 2600. I got Halo at release and was surprised; I thought it was really overrated. The weird thing is, I’ve finished the game 3 times and I NEVER do that. Like most people said, it didn’t do any one thing great but it didn’t skimp anywhere either. I think the choice to limit to two guns was a great decision. Really makes you have to think. Of course you can juggle guns by continuing hitting x while running. If you have heard all the hype before playing it I can definately imagine wondering what all the fuss was about. It’s very standard but well done.