# Why was Halo a great game? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 22, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052 "2009-09-22T05:29:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/41 "2009-09-23T01:19:53Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Pffft… I have all 6 novels, plus all the graphic novels and the comics. > > And I think that is one reason why the Halo series is as popular as it is today. It’s not just a bunch of video games but an entire fitional universe that doesn’t just rely on one protaganist to tell its story. This is what I don’t get. If there’s a good story buried in Halo, it’s told very poorly. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention, but I could barely figure out where I was and why I was supposed to be there. All I knew is I’m Master Chief who’s some sort of badass, there’s these ancient halo ring worlds, and we gotta go shoot some aliens, because they’re bad. But some of them are good. Or something. I never played the second game, but the third one was downright incoherent. ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/42 "2009-09-23T01:31:51Z")
> [@Translucent\_Daydream](#): > > Halo 1 (combat evolved, Xbox) was the first “modern” game I had ever played after a long hiatus away from games in general. My system was either the NES or Genesis. The controls were easy for me to get a hang of (controlling the camera view was why I couldn’t get into any more modern games), the music kicked ass, the story got you involved, the graphics at the time blew everyone else away from what I had seen, and if you died, the whole world didn’t fall apart you could keep trying. > > Thats why I thought it was a badass game. People always look back fondly on their first experience of a particular genre. I have a soft spot for Marathon because it was my first multiplayer FPS, even though it’s just an older, less polished Halo. Likewise, I’ll often cite Ultima Online as my favorite MMORPG because it was my first. Objectively I can see how it was a laggy, unbalanced, glitchy, unfinished mess. But it was my first MMORPG, and it got me enthralled with the genre. Nothing has ever lived up to it in my eyes, including the behemoth World of Warcraft. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/43 "2009-09-23T01:35:30Z")
This is my opinion, so don’t get too offended… Halo was great for some people. Namely people who were never PC gamers, and who had limited good FPS action before. I think for a lot of people it was their first exposure to proper multiplayer FPS goodness. So good for them. I don’t think Halo was a bad game. I just found it terribly average. It didn’t help that by the time it came out I had logged thousands of hours with CS, TFC and Quakes 1 through 3. If it had been my first proper exposure to good multiplayer FPS, I would have been blown away. It wasn’t, so I spent a lot of time wondering what the fuss was about. I did own it - enjoyed the co-op mode, but Halo never really grabbed me. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/44 "2009-09-23T02:06:19Z")
> [@Carnick](#): > > This is what I don’t get. If there’s a good story buried in Halo, it’s told very poorly. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention, but I could barely figure out where I was and why I was supposed to be there. All I knew is I’m Master Chief who’s some sort of badass, there’s these ancient halo ring worlds, and we gotta go shoot some aliens, because they’re bad. But some of them are good. Or something. I never played the second game, but the third one was downright incoherent. And that is the one weakness of the series, especially the third game. If I hadn’t read all the novels up to that point I think I would have been a bit lost too. Now, the novels are not great literature but they were fun to read. Like candy for the brain. I would suggest people give them a try. They may expand their enjoyment of the games. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/45 "2009-09-23T02:10:16Z")
> [@Carnick](#): > > Likewise, I’ll often cite Ultima Online as my favorite MMORPG because it was my first. Objectively I can see how it was a laggy, unbalanced, glitchy, unfinished mess. You forgot to add “Programmed almost entirely by interns.” Seriously. It came out my Senior year of college (Fall 1997). I had a friend two years below me who played it. Another friend of his had actually interned at Origin Systems and had worked on UO. His friend said that UO was one of the most ridiculously hacked together Pieces Of Software ever made. They used cheap/inexperienced labor to program it, and most of that labor was only short term, hence there wasn’t really much of a core group of experienced developers. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/46 "2009-09-23T02:30:16Z")
See, this is a game I know as a computer game, so I’ve got a slightly different view. Halo had pretty darn good multiplayer maps. We played mostly in LAN parties in the basement, so I don’t have a bad experience with online players stomping on me. Good maps, fun vehicles, and a pretty good physics system and easy controls. The vehicles were better done in Unreal, maybe, but Halo’s were no slouch. And neither were vehicles a matter of life or death- I disliked using them, personal choice, and I got pretty good at nailing my friends in Banshees, tanks, and Warthogs. (People get so angry when they’ve spent ages trying to drive the stupid tank up to the top of Death Island and you just rocket or Fuel Rod Gun them as they come around a corner, or when you bait their Banshees into the ground, stick 'em, and run. Or when they get involved in a turning fight in a Banshee and you simply pick them out of the air with a pistol as they shout, “Who the fuck is shooting me?”) Grenades, in particular, I thought were pretty well done. And correct me if I’m wrong, but the pistol was better balanced on the PC version (maybe fixed in a patch?) and was still my weapon of choice, but not dominant. Three headshots for a kill, maybe. In singleplayer, the MC’s shields make for a much more enjoyable experience because it’s a plot-friendly way to never have to go into a fight with a half a hitpoint left. It doesn’t feel like it yanks you out of the world when you desperately have to run away from a single grunt because you need to find a medipak. Oh, and I hate, _hate_, HATE the warthog. There is no goddamn reason for that thing to steer with the mouse instead of the arrow keys. Fuck. Goddamn fishtailing piece of junk. I rode shotgun or on the turret every goddamn time. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/47 "2009-09-23T04:53:29Z")
> [@Carnick](#): > > This is what I don’t get. If there’s a good story buried in Halo, it’s told very poorly. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention, but I could barely figure out where I was and why I was supposed to be there. All I knew is I’m Master Chief who’s some sort of badass, there’s these ancient halo ring worlds, and we gotta go shoot some aliens, because they’re bad. But some of them are good. Or something. I never played the second game, but the third one was downright incoherent. The first game had an AWESOME story. The 2nd game was confusing. The 3rd was incomprehensible. I dunno wtf happened. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/48 "2009-09-23T13:24:50Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > See, this is a game I know as a computer game, so I’ve got a slightly different view. > > Halo had pretty darn good multiplayer maps. We played mostly in LAN parties in the basement, so I don’t have a bad experience with online players stomping on me. Good maps, fun vehicles, and a pretty good physics system and easy controls. The vehicles were better done in Unreal, maybe, but Halo’s were no slouch. And neither were vehicles a matter of life or death- I disliked using them, personal choice, and I got pretty good at nailing my friends in Banshees, tanks, and Warthogs. (People get so angry when they’ve spent ages trying to drive the stupid tank up to the top of Death Island and you just rocket or Fuel Rod Gun them as they come around a corner, or when you bait their Banshees into the ground, stick 'em, and run. Or when they get involved in a turning fight in a Banshee and you simply pick them out of the air with a pistol as they shout, “Who the fuck is shooting me?”) Grenades, in particular, I thought were pretty well done. And correct me if I’m wrong, but the pistol was better balanced on the PC version (maybe fixed in a patch?) and was still my weapon of choice, but not dominant. Three headshots for a kill, maybe. > > In singleplayer, the MC’s shields make for a much more enjoyable experience because it’s a plot-friendly way to never have to go into a fight with a half a hitpoint left. It doesn’t feel like it yanks you out of the world when you desperately have to run away from a single grunt because you need to find a medipak. > > Oh, and I hate, _hate_, HATE the warthog. There is no goddamn reason for that thing to steer with the mouse instead of the arrow keys. Fuck. Goddamn fishtailing piece of junk. I rode shotgun or on the turret every goddamn time. Handbrake? I suspect it may just have something to do with the inferior control scheme of the PC. Yes, that last part was just thrown in to rile folks up. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/49 "2009-09-23T14:02:09Z")
I never particularly cared for it (probably because I enjoy single-player games more than multiplayer ones, and the Halo single-player campaign seemed to be secondary). However, the weapons _were_ well-balanced and the vehicles were fun. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/50 "2009-09-23T16:39:39Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > inferior control scheme of the PC. Them’s fightin’ words! 😃 No, seriously, how does it work on the X-Box? Do you steer with a joystick? Because that would be a much better way to do it. Drove me nuts. The tank steers with the arrow keys, and the mouse controls the turret, so you can shoot behind you (if you’re willing to stop looking where you’re going.) Why they thought that the Warthog should have an entirely different control scheme is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/51 "2009-09-23T16:47:07Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > No, seriously, how does it work on the X-Box? Do you steer with a joystick? Because that would be a much better way to do it. Yep drive with left thumb. Sharp hardbrake turns with the left trigger. Drives very well with the controller. ---
**Author:** ![Lunchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Lunchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunchy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/52 "2009-09-24T05:58:09Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > People aren’t acting in groups when they buy a game. For something to last as long as Halo has it must have something that they like and keep coming back for. Same with Rap, its beyond ridiculous, but people still buy into it! Halo to me is just too noob friendly! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/53 "2009-09-24T12:26:52Z")
> [@Lunchy](#): > > Same with Rap, its beyond ridiculous, but people still buy into it! Halo to me is just too noob friendly! It amazes me when people turn their noses up at video games. I can see disliking something because it’s not as good, has worse graphics, etc., but to just denounce something as “noob” friendly" without, you know, knowing what they’re talking about, is crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Roulette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8dc957/32.png) [@Roulette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roulette)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/54 "2009-09-24T12:57:04Z")
How do you know he doesn’t know what he’s talking about? It’s entirely possible to play a game and make the determination that it’s overly friendly to casual players or newbies. In fact, I touched on that particular facet of Halo once or twice when I commented on the relatively easy learning curve. Is noob friendly a bad thing? Depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re like myself, it’s not something I prefer. I appreciate why many many people do, but if you’re really seeking games that are significantly harder to master, then noob friendly is bad. If you just want to play a couple hours here and there in order to have a good time, noob friendly is good. Most people fall somewhere in between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Lunchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Lunchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunchy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/55 "2009-09-24T13:24:19Z")
Well, i would say that 10 years of UT and Quake on PC and 2 years of UT on the ps3 pretty well qualifies to judge! Unreal takes a great amout of skill to get good at! If any1 has played UT3 will understan this comparison! Halo is basically a slowed down, dumbed down version of Unreal! It would be like taking Unreal and having just Enforcer and Minigun and throw in grenades! To play Halo, u get guns with low damage with high syclic rate and its basically a spray and pray! Maybe im just biased due to the fact that the baddest most intense game on PS3 an XBOX is dying, and mediocracy is thriving! ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/56 "2009-09-24T14:09:46Z")
Playing Halo3 online means you can dodge all the “noobs” and play against equally skilled people. You just played ranked games where truskill scores are used to match you against equal skill levels. If you’re talking about the single player then you just play on Legendary or turn on a few skulls and you’ve got a very hard game. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/57 "2009-09-24T14:34:11Z")
> [@Lunchy](#): > > Well, i would say that 10 years of UT and Quake on PC and 2 years of UT on the ps3 pretty well qualifies to judge! Unreal takes a great amout of skill to get good at! If any1 has played UT3 will understan this comparison! Halo is basically a slowed down, dumbed down version of Unreal! It would be like taking Unreal and having just Enforcer and Minigun and throw in grenades! To play Halo, u get guns with low damage with high syclic rate and its basically a spray and pray! Maybe im just biased due to the fact that the baddest most intense game on PS3 an XBOX is dying, and mediocracy is thriving! It’s pretty clear that you don’t/haven’t played Halo online at any level, other than “Social”. ---
**Author:** ![Lunchy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Lunchy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunchy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/58 "2009-09-24T14:44:46Z")
Your right, im talking out my ass! You ever Duel or CTF in UT3? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/59 "2009-09-24T15:00:44Z")
I disapeared into CS and UT3 for quite a while. Enjoyed it a lot. I also disapeared in Halo 3. Each different and their have their own dynamics. It’s all subjective. You on the other hand don’t seem to be saying that. You are saying that your opinion is right. It is for you obviously. When you say “noob” friendly what excatly do you mean? Ease of playing, lets lots of assholes play or something else? It has ease of playing but that only goes so far. A noob would have a very unsatisfying game playing against me as I’d wipe the floor with them. I rarely play noobs(except in big team games and that’s my decision) though as i play with friends or ranked games where people are taking the game and the tactics seriously. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052/60 "2009-09-24T15:06:29Z")
If you think that Halo is just about “spray and pray” then you’ve never played it seriously as the only way to get good and go up in the rankings is to master the battle-rifle and hitting the head all the time. Paint and spray people don’t get very far in ranked games, unless they are on a team of Brigadiers or Generals who are carrying them through. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-halo-a-great-game/511052.md?page=4)