I haven’t read the book (nor shall I; God save me from novels written about video games), but the game itself makes it clear on several occasions that the Master Chief is cybernetic, not genetically modified.
A comment about the sound… like everything else about Halo, it’s all about the subtleties. Notice that when you whack a tree or a wall repeatedly with your assault rifle, the sound is slightly different every time, because the game has a physics model that controls echo and pitch-shift on the fly. Notice that the music is perfectly synced to your actions without doing the cheesy fade-outs and fade-ins of Lucasarts’ iMuse system. This occurs because the music is written in short sequences that are stitched together seamlessly as you play, so that battle music comes in just as you engage the enemy and ends with a massive flourish just as you whack the last Elite on the field.
I agree about playing it on at least heroic because then you really have to think and plan. I got about halfway through on Legendary so far and doubt I ever will finish it. And to whoever said the OP sounded like a ps2 fanboy troll - this ain’t an IGN forum and I don’t think he even remotely sounded trollish.
Yeah, the Grunts say “Crazy Cyborg,” but the Grunts are aliens and don’t know who you are.
You’re a Spartan, who wears the Mark V Moljnir powered armor.
Story, story, story. Best darned story line in a videogame- ever. At least IMHO.
I’ve never been interested in a videogame’s story until this game. Usually it’s some nonsense with crappy voice acting that I franticly mash the buttons during, hoping it’ll go away. The final level is the best wrap-up to any game I’ve played. More like the ending to a good action movie than a videogame.
Awesome music. One hell of an original score. As has been said, the music kicks in when you’re in deep doo-doo.
5.1 surround sound is less common than you’d imagine. And using it to good effect is even more rare.
The AI is probably the number one reason, though. Game guides are pretty impractical for this game because they say a lot of stuff like “You’ll meet a pack of bad guys in the next room, try not to die” This is because the NPCs react many different ways, largely dependant on what you do.
And I agree that while the game does get a little monotonous after a while a major curveball comes your way plot-wise about halfway through the game. This changes things up big-time.
My only major gripe with the game is that a lot of the indoor levels were too similar with little distinguishing differences to help you get your bearings.
I have actually heard from reliable people that the Halo books are very good, especially for a video game book.
There are also a few checkpoint “chapter headings” that refer to you as a cyborg.
However, according to the instruction book: “Genetically-engineered cyborg soldiers in state of the art battle suits were supposed to board a Covenant vessel and locate the Covenant homeworld.”
So looks like we’re both right.
I’m definitely a PS2 fan - not a “fanboy”, I don’t brag about my purchase or need to justify it to myself - but I started this thread because I was honestly wondering what made this game worth all the hype it got. The best explanation my friends could give was “Dude, it’s the best game ever. It’s just perfect. Everything comes together perfectly.”
I don’t own an Xbox myself, so I only play multiplayer games of Halo with my friends. I’ve come to agree with Miller - Halo is good because it’s second best in every category. There are other games with better graphics, sound, maps, AI, weapons, and so on, but you won’t find another game that competes with Halo on more than one or two of those aspects. It’s like the “greatest hits” collection of first person shooters.
That doesn’t make it realistic, it just makes it justified in the game world… much like fighting four-armed monsters in Mortal Kombat is “realistic” because according to the manual, you’re fighting the universe’s best warriors in an alternate dimension to save mankind.
And wasn’t John Spartan the unfrozen cop (Sly) from Demolition Man?
Quake III Revolution on PS2 has the same controller layout. Did Halo come out before or after it?
Of course, I still wish I could play Q3R with a keyboard and mouse - and I wish I could play Halo that way too. I like the controls better than most other console FPSes, but only because they’re closer to a keyboard and mouse: left hand is for moving, right hand is for looking, right index finger is for shooting.
Mr2001, methinks you’re looking too hard for things to criticize Halo about. It’s not “revolutionary”, but if you want to get down and dirty, neither was Half-Life (the best game ever, in my opinion, soon to be bested by its sequel). What made Halo unique is that it was really well POLISHED.
Sure, all the indoor areas “looked” the same (only because they were designed by the same beings for the same purposes). But you know what? Each individual area gives you a different challenge and different setup that requires different tactics, each and every time. And when you replay the game, you’re going to need even different tactics, because the enemies always react different to what you’re going to do.
I’ve gone through the whole game at least twenty times. Still hasn’t gotten boring. That’s a feat that few games can duplicate.
I’ll hop back in and say Halo’s one of the few almost-cerebral shooters I’ve played. It actually requires some decision-making and strategizing. Though I hate those invisible-energy-sword MoFos.
It’s nothing to do with the layout and everything to do with the fact that the game just ‘works’ with the layout.
In Halo I never felt I couldn’t turn fast enough - target accurately enough - be nimble enough - be stealthy enough etc.
I honestly don’t think Halo will be 1 iota better with a keyboard and mouse - and I LOVE the Warthog control system 
I don’t thing Halo is great because it’s second-best at everything but then I don’t measure games as a sum of their graphics, level design etc. - I measure them ‘as a whole’ - and Halo is definately more than the sum of it’s parts.
Half Life and Deus Ex were similarly lauded in their day - and neither was ‘bleeding edge’ in it’s looks etc. - which again reinforces the idea that the great games are those which are more than the sum of their parts. Whether any of the sequels will match-up remains to be seen tho.
Halo2 has one ‘trump card’ tho - the omission of proper online play in the original
TTFN
JP
I always feel like I can’t target accurately enough. Sure, when I’m zoomed in on someone halfway across the arena, I have plenty of time to make fine adjustments… but when he’s right next to me, the analog stick just gets in the way. The only consolation is that he’s using an analog stick too, so he can’t aim any faster than I can.
Let me tell you, if Halo 2 comes out for PC, the people playing with a keyboard and mouse are going to mop the floor with the Xbox players in online matches. When was the last time you heard of anyone kicking ass at Quake, UT, or Counter-Strike using a gamepad?
I agree about the vehicle controls, though.
I think those beings are called game designers, and the purpose is to give players a context in which to kill aliens. 
I mean, it’s great that it makes sense in the game world, and it’s great that the game has a good storyline, but the storyline shouldn’t be a crutch. You can explain why it makes sense that the interior areas are all dim and angular, but that doesn’t change the fact that, well, they’re all dim and angular and look the same. Games like Metal Gear Solid 2 have no trouble incorporating a good storyline and visually interesting areas.
Not that it’s a bad game, though. I just don’t think it deserved all the hype it got. I wouldn’t buy a CD player just for a Greatest Hits collection if I already have that band’s other albums on tape, and I wouldn’t buy an Xbox just for this game when I already have several other first-person shooters.
well just putting my 2 cents in. i think it is hard to define exactly what it is that makes a game come together and be fun. with halo you hear great a.i. which is true i have yet to play a game that has been the same. every time is frigging different even if i do the exact same thing. that is part of it. another is characters you care for not some cookie cutter types, Brute Force i’m talking to you. i really liked the master chief and cortana the same way i liked gordon freeman. there are so many games that just don’t grab me . i recently reinstalled aliens versus predator 2 and realized why i never finished. it is boring as hell. the guns suck they don’t feel right. who am i playing , what is my goal , do i even care. what is the point of what i am doing. it is too many things that make a great game and you can’t pinpoint just one or two because it is the sum of it all that is greater than the parts. with that said halo is just fun even better in co-op. brute force sucks, enter the matrix sucks, why cuz they seem like a chore to play. and no one likes chores.
That’s cool, don’t buy an Xbox for Halo then.
A lot of people like the game and feel it deserves its hype, you obviously don’t feel the same way, it’s all a matter of opinion anyway.
I guess that’s how we see things differently. I felt that Halo incorporating a good storyline and visually interesting areas FAR better than MGS2 did. I get sick of games that treat you to a new “pattern” on the wall every ten feet just 'cuz they can.
Well, that’s not fair. GTA 3 was only released a few weeks before Halo. And the other GTA’s weren’t first person.