Halo and CoD are fun

[Vrach]

Dunno about Halo, PC user here and I think it's mostly been a console exclusive. I do remember a Halo game a while back (Halo 2 by the looks of it on wikipedia), but it didn't really hold my interest at all.

Now CoD... CoD 4, the initial Modern Warfare is brilliant. I don't think I need to put the why's here, the singleplayer is awesome enough to speak for itself through most if not all the missions.

World at War I wasn't much of a fan of due to how depressing the playthrough felt (but that's pretty good considering it's what the game was going for). The game itself was pretty good, I loved the sniper mission and liked most of them (the tank part sucked arse but hey). It also got me researching a bit into WW2 (mainly the capturing of Berlin and Soviet war crimes, but thanks to wikipedia I ended up reading loads of articles via cross-linking), so was somewhat of an educational boost too.

Modern Warfare 2 had a pretty fun singleplayer despite the weaker story. The co-op stuff was loads, and I mean LOADS of fun, both on my own and with a mate.

I was never much of a fan of CoD's multiplayer though all around. Played a bit of it at a cybercafe with a mate and then another time with a bunch of people. It was alright but... I much prefer Battlefield-style multiplayer, for a plethora of reasons.

 

[Flames66]

I haven't played any CoD games, but I enjoyed Halo and the little I have played of the later games in the series.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Back in the days of O-Xbox live. Little annoying kids ran untamed through out the online experience. Ruining the reputation of great games like Halo 2.
But now, in the era of 360 live and PSN. The brats of old have since grown up and shut up.
Yet their previous atrocities filtered through to the current generation of games, also tainting their reputation.
I heard many a man whisper that Halo 3 and CoD4 be rife with young potty mouths.
Clearly many men have not played such games, as their lobbys be silent and their game uninterrupted.

 

[Spartan448]

. -snip

Whilst there will always be a large, overly furnished penthouse (complete with Warthogs and Magnums that kill in three shots) in my heart for Halo: Combat Evolved, I have to say that, in my opinion, Halo 2 is the worst of the series, due to the confusing plotline. (Go here! Now you're an alien! Go there! Whoops, back to being Human! Now you've jumped into a lake aannndddd.... You're an alien again!)

Also, Regarding Reach, I do agree that the plotline was a bit lackluster, but I don't think they could've done anything to change it. When Reach was first announced, I don't think I would be alone in saying that Reach would be a game that reflected the book of similar name. I was pretty excited that we might be able to explore a bit of Cheif's past, so the actual plot of the game was quite the letdown for me.

 

[Spartan448]

-snip-

If you want to try Halo and you're a PC user, they released Halo: Combat Evolved for PC back in '03. I found a copy in a local Gamestop about a year ago. It ran pretty good, and there's actually quite a large multiplayer base for the game's Custom Edition, which you can download for free off the interwebs, as long as you have a product key for the vanilla game. CE also allows for custom maps, and there's a whole website dedicated to distributing them. Might want to try that.

 

[Saviordd1]

-snip-

Im a halo fan to the core, love the gameplay, back story, etc. Except for the fact that bungie crapped all over fall of reach to make money with halo reach

But honestly COD4 was fun and the storyline, while cliche was enjoyable, all COD's before and after have sucked

Halo 2

Unfortunately, you have picked what is quite possibly the WORST of the Halo games as an example. Halo Wars was better. And I've played all the Halo games, so I think I would know about that.

Right, so because you've played all the games your opinion is wayyyyy more valid then anyone elses.

Ive played all games, read all books, watched the anime (shudder) etc.
Guess what, halo 2 is still my favorite.
Seriously think your comments through before saying them, just because you played all the games and have a halo based avatar doesn't make you god on the subject

 

[webby]

Didn't you know that it's cool to hate popular things and only stuff from the indie sector or with some deep artistic merit is worth playing?? Why do you think Mojang is kicking ass in the popularity contest thing?

The Escapist is kind of the hipster community of the gaming world, once something goes mainstream it automatically sucks (apparently).

Kind of ironic is it not that a lot of dudes around here love minecraft and that it is world renowned at this point?I think its more to the people you hear more from with games for association can kill anything.

MineCraft is well known but it was made by one guy so that guy is clearly a genius beyond measure and MineCraft is clearly the most indie thing to come out of any entertainment medium ever!!!! It is literally the best thing to ever happen to this universe, I'd even go as far as to say it's more important than Facebook!!!

In my opinion like every medium that has ever existed the less artistic stuff can be just as entertaining as the works of searing genius. Books have their trashy thrillers (The Da Vinci Code etc), movies have their mindless action flicks (Rambo etc) and games have their own take on that. For me, CoD is kind of like Die Hard. Sure, the plot isn't that deep and despite allusions to realism both are miles away from anything resembling reality, but both do a damn fine job of killing a few hours.

People complain about these things but the fact remains that they sell well and pretty much always will. Also, as much as many people hate to admit it, they sell well because a lot of the time they're fun. I'm not a huge Halo fan, I've never actually paid for one of their games, same goes for CoD, I get by borrowing them because they're so short and I have no interest in multiplayer. When playing them though I am entertained, perhaps in a different way to Baldurs Gate, FIFA or even other FPS'es like Bioshock but I am still entertained.

Wait, I need to quickly save face.... I meant that CoD is only played by 12 year old douches and is the worst thing to ever happen to gaming!!! Yeah... that ought to do it.

 

[jak_of_bees]

The Halo series has been my favourite game series ever since the original came out on Xbox. For an FPS the story was really good and immersive and with more games, novels and other media expanding the universe it has become really good. Every level amazed me and drew me further into the world. I don't think any other game has such an affect on me that Halo has had. Bungie are also one of the friendliest developers these days in my opinion.

As CoD4 well I got hooked on that game and MW2 before the community ruined it for me and those games were pretty amazing, 'spically CoD4. Well balanced multiplayer with good level design and fast paced gameplay. No wonder those games sell like hotcakes.

 

[A Raging Emo]

I do like Halo a lot; I feel reach is lacking something Halo 3 had, but that's down to the fact that I have invested far more time into 3 than I did into Reach; 3 was just better, in my opinion, more fun.

I haven't really liked a CoD since CoD4, but again, that's down to my preference; W@W was alright, but not as good as CoD4. They just seemed to have declined in quality since MW1, in my humble opinion.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Didn't you know that it's cool to hate popular things and only stuff from the indie sector or with some deep artistic merit is worth playing?? Why do you think Mojang is kicking ass in the popularity contest thing?

The Escapist is kind of the hipster community of the gaming world, once something goes mainstream it automatically sucks (apparently).

Kind of ironic is it not that a lot of dudes around here love minecraft and that it is world renowned at this point?I think its more to the people you hear more from with games for association can kill anything.

MineCraft is well known but it was made by one guy so that guy is clearly a genius beyond measure and MineCraft is clearly the most indie thing to come out of any entertainment medium ever!!!! It is literally the best thing to ever happen to this universe, I'd even go as far as to say it's more important than Facebook!!!

In my opinion like every medium that has ever existed the less artistic stuff can be just as entertaining as the works of searing genius. Books have their trashy thrillers (The Da Vinci Code etc), movies have their mindless action flicks (Rambo etc) and games have their own take on that. For me, CoD is kind of like Die Hard. Sure, the plot isn't that deep and despite allusions to realism both are miles away from anything resembling reality, but both do a damn fine job of killing a few hours.

People complain about these things but the fact remains that they sell well and pretty much always will. Also, as much as many people hate to admit it, they sell well because a lot of the time they're fun. I'm not a huge Halo fan, I've never actually paid for one of their games, same goes for CoD, I get by borrowing them because they're so short and I have no interest in multiplayer. When playing them though I am entertained, perhaps in a different way to Baldurs Gate, FIFA or even other FPS'es like Bioshock but I am still entertained.

Wait, I need to quickly save face.... I meant that CoD is only played by 12 year old douches and is the worst thing to ever happen to gaming!!! Yeah... that ought to do it.

Yeah,I do love the occasional Terminator or such,and there ain't no real disagreeing with what you be saying but that ain't what I was saying either.Really,a few of the people around here obviously get repulsed by those associated with a game.Its just like whenever Christianity is mentioned in some big movie that isn't bashing it,the extreme atheists go nuts.

 

[Trogdor1138]

Good for you, but I still hate the fuck out of the obsession with realism they inspire.

Yeah, this I agree with.

I actually think Halo 1 and 3 were entertaining when I played through them, I didn't care at all for 2 and it was probably the worst game I ended up finishing (I just started running past all the enemies after awhile because I wanted it to be over).

They're perfectly entitled to dislike these games, what I don't like however is when haters invade topics where fans are discussing the games, only to spew their shit everywhere like their opinion is the only right answer.

 

[foolish snails]

ah, where to start.
I bought the original xbox when halo: CE came out and over the years, I have probably played thousands of hours on that and halo 2 alone. It's just so easy to get into. You sit down with some friends, plug in a controller, and play, as easy as that. No character customizations to worry about, no extensive menus, just fun. Sure, it wasn't the most imaginative gameplay out there, but it kept me occupied. Then came halo 3, along with a new shiny xbox 360. It would be embarrassing to tell you how many hours i spent on there with my friends, both split-screen and on xbox live. Over the years, halo is probably the most consistent thing i have done with my friends.
Then there's cod. So maybe the series has degenerated into a money making scheme, but I don't care. I still switch between cod4 and bops just to have some silly fun by myself.
Together, these two games probably have taken up over half the time I have spent playing video games. Are either of them my favorite? No. Are either of them amazing? Not particularly. But are they fun?
Certainly.

 

[Thyunda]

I love Halo. Not to the point where I'd play nothing but Halo, but...I think it's fairly awesome. I play it daily, at least. I especially like how they try to keep things going without making them stale - I've yet to get bored of fighting the Covenant, and re-adding the Elites into their ranks for Reach was a pretty smart move.

However, the one drawback is the community. Not the Xbox LIVE community, the Bungie.net one. Dear God...when you have a developer like Bungie, who pays attention to its fanbase, and actually builds the game around them, you get half the community starting to take the piss.

Take armour lock for example. If you were to go to the Bungie.net Reach forums, you will see three threads, at least, on armour lock. They want it nerfed. They think it's unfair. And their definition of a troll is someone who tells them to adapt to it. I adapted to armour lock. I waited for three seconds and slapped a grenade on the prick. He was forced out of armour lock a split-second before detonation. The lockdown doesn't last long enough to regenerate the shields from empty.
But, if you tell the Bungie.net community that, they'll brand you a troll and bring up your K/D spread. As if being bad at the game deprives you of having an opinion.

Other than that - Halo's awesome.
I don't get the same vibe from Black Ops...it just feels generic. I know that sounds odd, but online play feels like it takes itself too seriously. Halo's scoreboard, painted bright red and blue, looks like a sporting board. Black Ops just looks like it's trying to be uber-serious, and although it's fun, I just can't be doing that.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I used to like CoD, but then it became about the multiplayer. I am sure many people will disagree with me and send me a hate filled inbox about this but, the single player is good but is crippling short and a lot of the focus is on multiplayer, which is about people competing to be at the top. Now my problem is that someone HAS to lose no matter what and that's the problem once a game makes losing common place people get frustrated, and the object of the game is ruined because it is supposed to be all about fun. not to mention what about people who still don't have that much internet they buy a game for a 5 hour campaign! I am not saying we should abolish multiplayer but I think multiplayer and singleplayer should be evenly balanced I am sick of a game saying it's redeeming factor is the multiplayer while the single player is an afterthought. You should either market yourself as singleplayer or multiplayer or, if you go for both, then make them feel like that if you buy it for the singleplayer it was worth the money and vice versa with the multiplayer.

Remember when ZP said that an 10 hour campaign was short! Now it is considered a decent running time, also I feel games are starting to become movies length wise but that is for a different time.

Disagree with me? I encourage an debate. I will try to reply but not if it is something like "You suck CoD is awesome!"

OT:I don't think I hate it for something like multiplayer it is pretty good but there are some game breaking stuff in there.

We still have people arguing on this? Aside from the controversy over "No Russian," it's been quite a long time since CoD was advertised as anything but a multiplayer experience. Just because something has a singleplayer mode doesn't mean that mode has to be the focus of the game, anymore than a bonus multiplayer mode had to be the focus back in the late '90s. Anybody who bought MW2 or any of the later CoD games expecting a singleplayer focused game was making a blind purchase, possibly based on CoD 1 and 2, but with no basis in the current reality or advertising of the series. If you want something singleplayer focused, those games are out there; CoD just isn't an example anymore, and hasn't been for quite some time.

Also, about the 10 hour campaign thing: 10 hours has always been the sweet spot for an FPS. There just isn't all that much a shooter can do to keep most people's attention for any longer than that. If you want to argue that a 10 hour game isn't worth $60, I'd agree with you, but I also think that no game is worth $60, regardless of length; the fact that most games are shorter than RPGs has no bearing on it.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

personally i liked both CoD and Halo, ok CoD is a pretty generic brown shooter, but its fun to run around and AK someone in the face, the pace is fast online and most people like me, like that excited nervous feeling when playing multi player.

as for halo, its maps are good, and usually very BIG. lots of interesting characters and enemies. multi player is much of the same.

*SNIP* As far as multiplayer, XBL has this feature that allows you to mute people really easily. So if they are annoying, they get muted.

AHEM FOR THAT

 

[webby]

-snip-

I was just using your comments about MineCraft to launch my initial tirade, after that I kinda went off on my own little tangent. Should probably have made that clearer, sorry about any confusion.

I've never really been exposed to the online aspects of CoD etc because I tend to only play with friends in the same room as me so I can't really comment on the community.

 

[The Night Shade]

The Games are fun but that doesn't mean that they improve gameplay or try something new,every game is the same with probably 1 or 2 new things

 

[CarlsonAndPeeters]

CoD stories are not my favorites, but I actually had a very emotional moment in Modern Warfare 2. I live in the DC area and during the loading screen that pretended to be an emergency response system, I thought it was real. It said Prince Georges County and stuff like that, stuff I hear on the radio every day. I was freaked out until I noticed the loading bar. You never know when a game is going to strike you like that. It really made me think about what it would be like to be invaded, way more than Homefront did.

Though I really play Halo and CoD for the local multiplayer. Great, fun way to relax and mess around with friends, especially playing Ballistic Knives Only and stuff like that.

 

[Rickyvantof]

For every person that hates Halo/CoD, there are about 100 people who love Halo/CoD.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

-snip-

I was just using your comments about MineCraft to launch my initial tirade, after that I kinda went off on my own little tangent. Should probably have made that clearer, sorry about any confusion.

I've never really been exposed to the online aspects of CoD etc because I tend to only play with friends in the same room as me so I can't really comment on the community.

Unless you love the mute button,you're not really missing much really.Same stuff as with friends,just without friends.