Before There Was Halo

[Shamus Young]

Before There Was Halo

Love it or hate it, Halo re-invented the shooter genre for the better.

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Halo's shield was ground breaking. You could go a long way on one health bar, whereas with other shooters before then you'd have to just give up.

 

[Vicarious Vangaurd]

I wouldn't say regenerating shields/health were/are a good thing. But the HALO: CE did bring console shooters into the mainstream and made the Xbox a good investment.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Love it or hate it, Halo re-invented the shooter genre for the better.

Sorry Shamus, but that's not what you seem to say. Your point is about how

Bungie made the right game for the right hardware at the right time.

The word I'd use was re-invigorate.

Re-Invention seems to pre-suppose that it was the progenitor of shooters from that day on, but there was still life in the old twitch-fire mechanics.

Halo brought in a new way to play shooters, but it didn't change every shooter from then. Some of the things Halo does/did aren't great. Some are.

It changed the game to suit the people it was being sold to, as you say, but was that for the better? I'd be hard pressed to come down on either side of that argument.

Re-invigorated, not re-invented. (IMHO)

 

[Brotherofwill]

I don't mean to bash you but I can't recall how many times I've read a "Halo re-invented yada yada" article and they all say the same.

Why the article now? Reach is around the corner, is it because of it?

Sorry I think we all get the point already. Halo was influential, no denying it.

The word 're-invented' is pushing it though. 'Re-invigorated' fits more nicely.

 

[Shamus Young]

Love it or hate it, Halo re-invented the shooter genre for the better.

Sorry Shamus, but that's not what you seem to say. Your point is about how

Bungie made the right game for the right hardware at the right time.

To be clear, that little splash of text on the front page is by the editor, not the article author. That's probably what the editor took away from the piece. (It's normally Susan, but she's at PAX right now so I don't know who wrote it this time.

So if the article and the teaser have a slightly different gist, that's why.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

To be clear, that little splash of text on the front page is by the editor, not the article author. That's probably what the editor took away from the piece. (It's normally Susan, but she's at PAX right now so I don't know who wrote it this time.

So if the article and the teaser have a slightly different gist, that's why.

Ah gotcha. It did seem a little odd.

 

[DiscoAtThePanic]

The only good thing Halo brought was Red Vs Blue. The FPS genre was evolving anyway and it has swung way too far to the "Brown Realistic Multiplayer First" side of things. if that was because of Halo, it certainly did not change shooters for the better. Its just the case of the biggest thing at the time taking credit for the overall evolution of a genre that had begun before it came out.

 

[Jared]

I will agree, from HALO nearly every iother system of play seems to have been established - I remember the days before that, they were alot less---grandiose, I think may be the word I am looking for it.

Despite what I may feel at times, I think Halo really has pused the boundaries with its gameplay and has helped to create much better games in the process - For all sorts of genres!

 

[Abe Robinson]

I want my console platformers back and the FPS's to die. Die, Halo. Die, and never come back!

 

[Irridium]

The only good thing Halo brought was Red Vs Blue. The FPS genre was evolving anyway and it has swung way too far to the "Brown Realistic Multiplayer First" side of things. if that was because of Halo, it certainly did not change shooters for the better. Its just the case of the biggest thing at the time taking credit for the overall evolution of a genre that had begun before it came out.

All the brown and realism wasn't Halo. Halo actually has some pretty colorful environments. Yes there's some browns but not much by today's standards.

And besides, it'd be kind of silly for a game about fighting aliens set 500 years in the future to be a basis for realism.

 

[Vestsao]

At page one I was very skeptical about this.. I was thinking I'd be able to bring up some archaic argument and just blow it all away..

But then you mentioned the differentiation of timing and precision. Well those two paragraphs surrounding that subject matter have given me a shitload of material to use whenever I'm arguing against a PC elitist and whenever I'm advocating console shooters..

I wish I'd seen this before.. Great little dissertation!

 

[DiscoAtThePanic]

The only good thing Halo brought was Red Vs Blue. The FPS genre was evolving anyway and it has swung way too far to the "Brown Realistic Multiplayer First" side of things. if that was because of Halo, it certainly did not change shooters for the better. Its just the case of the biggest thing at the time taking credit for the overall evolution of a genre that had begun before it came out.

All the brown and realism wasn't Halo. Halo actually has some pretty colorful environments. Yes there's some browns but not much by today's standards.

And besides, it'd be kind of silly for a game about fighting aliens set 500 years in the future to be a basis for realism.

but the article said that Halo got us to where we are today with shooters. Well, not everyone likes where we are today with shooters, so maybe Halo did not change thinsg for the better, as Shamus asserts.

 

[Irridium]

The only good thing Halo brought was Red Vs Blue. The FPS genre was evolving anyway and it has swung way too far to the "Brown Realistic Multiplayer First" side of things. if that was because of Halo, it certainly did not change shooters for the better. Its just the case of the biggest thing at the time taking credit for the overall evolution of a genre that had begun before it came out.

All the brown and realism wasn't Halo. Halo actually has some pretty colorful environments. Yes there's some browns but not much by today's standards.

And besides, it'd be kind of silly for a game about fighting aliens set 500 years in the future to be a basis for realism.

but the article said that Halo got us to where we are today with shooters. Well, not everyone likes where we are today with shooters, so maybe Halo did not change thinsg for the betetr, as Shamus asserts.

It changed things in terms of gameplay, not art style.

Whether thats good or bad is up for debate.

 

[DiscoAtThePanic]

The only good thing Halo brought was Red Vs Blue. The FPS genre was evolving anyway and it has swung way too far to the "Brown Realistic Multiplayer First" side of things. if that was because of Halo, it certainly did not change shooters for the better. Its just the case of the biggest thing at the time taking credit for the overall evolution of a genre that had begun before it came out.

All the brown and realism wasn't Halo. Halo actually has some pretty colorful environments. Yes there's some browns but not much by today's standards.

And besides, it'd be kind of silly for a game about fighting aliens set 500 years in the future to be a basis for realism.

but the article said that Halo got us to where we are today with shooters. Well, not everyone likes where we are today with shooters, so maybe Halo did not change thinsg for the betetr, as Shamus asserts.

It changed things in terms of gameplay, not art style.

Whether thats good or bad is up for debate.

But I was using Yahtzee's term for the modern Realistic shooter.

 

[The Bandit]

The only good thing Halo brought was Red Vs Blue. The FPS genre was evolving anyway and it has swung way too far to the "Brown Realistic Multiplayer First" side of things. if that was because of Halo, it certainly did not change shooters for the better. Its just the case of the biggest thing at the time taking credit for the overall evolution of a genre that had begun before it came out.

By your own admission, you've never even played Halo. How can you comment on it?

 

[Roboto]

Halo's shield was ground breaking. You could go a long way on one health bar, whereas with other shooters before then you'd have to just give up.

Tribes has the health kit and shield pack, to be fair. I say has since it is still played!

 

[LockeDown]

It's nice to see someone who's not necessarily a die-hard fan of the series approach it with something other than rabid animosity, and I agree with the overall analysis. From the simple changes made to the game's handling to adapt it to the controller, to the game's mechanics themselves (the advent of the "regenerating health bar", for instance.), Halo changed the way the FPS market has evolved.

 

[Kavonde]

Wow, Shamus, thank you. I've never been able to put my finger on what makes Halo different than a PC shooter, but the whole "timing vs. aiming" thing finally clarified it