Poll: Alright guys, settle a bet for me. Half Life, Halo, or CoD?

[Timmaaaah]

Yea Half Life! Although it is lacking the multiplayer department I don't care because it's the awesomest single player experience ever. Also, the sequels actually do what a sequel is supposed to do and leave you wanting more and more and when you do get more it's usually either as good or better than the last part.

CoD is great because of it's multiplayer (which tbh I think MW2 had the best multiplayer, however MW1 had the best single player. MW3 suuuuuuuuuucked.), and Halo can never win because the only good Halo game was Halo 1 (and Halo Reach was kinda fun). Personally Halo's 10th Anniversary was fun as hell and felt great to play a great game that had a lovely graphical makeover, but I wish it hd more firefight maps...

 

[Timmaaaah]

Honestly, I have to say Call of Duty. The story has more holes than Spongebob and the community is only slightly less annoying than Bieber fans, but you don't need story for multi-player and the mute button does wonders.

It has nice smooth controls that keeps the action fluid and constant, Halo just feels clunky and I've yet to actually try Half-life, but I won't change my answer based on the possibility that Half-life may be one of the best games of my life.

I definitely agree with you on the subject of CoD's smoothness. Love the controls and the style of all the Infinity Ward CoDs, but I think HL is still overall the better game series

 

[Flizzick]

I have to go Half-Life on this one.

It's incredibly fluid, and has likable characters. The story line is engaging, and doesn't use cut-scenes to explain everything.

CoD4 was really fun as a single player game, and one of my favorite games of all time, but it was extremely short, and I didn't feel the urge to play it again any time soon.

 

[A Weary Exile]

HALO fails because of its bloom and "blank slate" main character.

And Gordon Freeman isn't a blank slate character? Wuh?

Having played all three games, I have to say that Halo is my favorite. Half Life is great and all, but those vehicle sections are a chore and the story seems a little...lacking and vague. I just don't like CoD.

Spoiler

I went with Halo. I enjoyed Half-Life 2 until I got bored with the overlong and simply not-that-good vehicle sequences. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a masterpiece of war campaigns, but the series hasn't been as good from there, with its lowest points appearing every time Treyarch makes one.

The Halo series has, in my mind, a story that is far more deep and complex than most people bother to find out, some of the industry's best music, and gameplay that keeps to relatively simple principles while still encouraging skillful and intelligent play.

But honestly, anyone who thought this particular community would pick Halo or Call of Duty over Half-Life is an idiot. I love The Escapist for its relatively intelligent community, but unfortunately on some issues that tends to translate to elitist snobbery bordering on hipster-style, "It's worse if its popular" crap. Halo and Call of Duty both get tons of hate on this site for little reason other than their popularity, regardless of whether any of the three are actually of higher quality than the others.

This guy has the right idea. Probably would've written something similar were it not for the fact that it's almost 4AM. >_>

 

[Nikolaz72]

Half life because it's the only one out of those 3 which hasn't been milked till its nipples go sore.

Call of duty, Call of duty 2, call of duty 3, call of duty: world at war, call of duty: modern warfare, call of duty: modern warfare 2, call of duty: black ops, call of duty: modern warfare 3

I don't even like the call of duty games, and i stopped liking the halo franchise after halo 3...

Um... Half-life's release timeline


1998 - Half-Life

1999 - Half-Life: Opposing Force

2001 - Half-Life: Blue Shift

2001 - Half-Life: Decay

2004 - Half-Life 2

2004 - Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (non-canonical)

2005 - Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (non-canonical)

2006 - Half-Life 2: Episode One

2006 - Half-Life 2: Survivor (non-canonical)

2007 - Half-Life 2: Episode Two

2007 -Portal

2011 - Portal 2

(Yes Portal is part of the HL universe)

You mentioned 11 things for Halo, but I could mention 12 things that were released in the HL universe.

Sure some are non-canonical, but that doesn't excuse it from not being counted.

Mentioning halflife 2 deathmatch is akin to mentioning CoD MW2 Multiplayer. Survivor, Lost coast, Blue Shift, Opposing force. Are expansion packs, which... Even though it doesnt have the name mappack. CoD also has shittons of, and he didnt mention them. Portal/Portal 2. Same universe. Not same game.. So I would say the release if we count Valve is Half-life 1 (1998). Half-life 2(2004). We can say Opposing Force is stand alone if we are generous. Because it 'is' an expansion pack. But its also made by another company entirely. So if you think each of those expansions are standalone titles and not just additions, youknow. Expansions. Then you need to count 'all' the CoD mappacks aswell. I mean they cost as much as Half-life expansions. And the Developers insists that their content matches the price. So ofcourse it must be mentioned : P. That is about 3-5 mappacks for each of the newer Call of Duty.. So i guess we can reach about 50-60 Releases in total.

With all due respect, The Escapist is hardly an unbiased source for such a preference.
It is sort of the internet haven for all lovers of valve, so expect an overwhelming majority of Half-Life.
Really though, it doesn't matter how much of an argument you put out, people stick with what they argue. It doesn't really matter about what's true, arguments are about who's right and who's wrong, and everyone argues what they consider "right".
TL;DR
Arguments are instant stalemates, it's not gonna help no matter how much support you get.

By that logic he would have to go to a console only forum to discuss this, or a valve-hate forum (Aka Halo or CoD forums)

Websites like 4Chan and Reddit is just as filled with Valve fans as Escapist. Im sorry but, Valve is just widely liked. And while the majority of the millions of CoD and Halo players might not agree, The Majority of CoD and Halo players 'dont' 'frequent' 'forums' other than the whining and fan************ going on in their forums. And even that is only a niche of them.

 

[StBishop]

The answer is HL2 it's considered to be, objectively, the best FPS game of all time by people who don't even like it.

No. Just no.

Do you care to elaborate on that point?

I think that my statement is valid.

For example, I haven't played it but I've seen it played and have heard countless friends and strangers wax lyrical about it endlessly, as if it were some kind of miracle.

I consider it, objectively to be, if not the best FPS of all time, one of the top 3 at least.

I know at least two people who consider it to be, objectively the best FPS of all time, while enjoying other games more. One guy I know prefers competitively multiplayer FPS' but acknowledges it as the best FPS of all time regardless of not enjoying it; he simply states that despite it's place atop the pile of games (in regards to quality) he prefers others.

So my statement that people who don't even like it consider it to be - objectively - the best FPS ever, is not incorrect.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Honestly, I have to say Call of Duty. The story has more holes than Spongebob and the community is only slightly less annoying than Bieber fans, but you don't need story for multi-player and the mute button does wonders.

It has nice smooth controls that keeps the action fluid and constant, Halo just feels clunky and I've yet to actually try Half-life, but I won't change my answer based on the possibility that Half-life may be one of the best games of my life.

I definitely agree with you on the subject of CoD's smoothness. Love the controls and the style of all the Infinity Ward CoDs, but I think HL is still overall the better game series

Maybe someday I'll buy The Orange Box and my mind will be blown halfway to Nirvana. Thanks for not flaming, I was definitely anticipating flame as soon as I said "Call of Duty."

 

[Timmaaaah]

In the end, the gameplay is so different in all of those games that it's hard to judge, but in terms of mt elements, I think Half Life wins over. Characters, story, immersion, difficulty curve, originality of gameplay mechanics, humour (although usually you need to actually be kind of smart to understand, so somebody who understands the humour trying to explain it just wouldn't be funny), overall fun etc. I love the style of CoD's gameplay but it just wouldn't work in a Half Life 2 environment. I suppose Halo is closer to Half Life in terms of gameplay, however I still see all sequels to the first Halo as utterly mediocre. I still liked the story and soundtrack, but it all just turned to crap. The trailers and the premise were a lot more emotional. I didn't find myself shocked at all when any of the main characters died or were in trouble.

 

[Timmaaaah]

Half life because it's the only one out of those 3 which hasn't been milked till its nipples go sore.

Call of duty, Call of duty 2, call of duty 3, call of duty: world at war, call of duty: modern warfare, call of duty: modern warfare 2, call of duty: black ops, call of duty: modern warfare 3

I don't even like the call of duty games, and i stopped liking the halo franchise after halo 3...

Um... Half-life's release timeline


1998 - Half-Life

1999 - Half-Life: Opposing Force

2001 - Half-Life: Blue Shift

2001 - Half-Life: Decay

2004 - Half-Life 2

2004 - Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (non-canonical)

2005 - Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (non-canonical)

2006 - Half-Life 2: Episode One

2006 - Half-Life 2: Survivor (non-canonical)

2007 - Half-Life 2: Episode Two

2007 -Portal

2011 - Portal 2

(Yes Portal is part of the HL universe)

You mentioned 11 things for Halo, but I could mention 12 things that were released in the HL universe.

Sure some are non-canonical, but that doesn't excuse it from not being counted.

Mentioning halflife 2 deathmatch is akin to mentioning CoD MW2 Multiplayer. Survivor, Lost coast, Blue Shift, Opposing force. Are expansion packs, which... Even though it doesnt have the name mappack. CoD also has shittons of, and he didnt mention them. Portal/Portal 2. Same universe. Not same game.. So I would say the release if we count Valve is Half-life 1 (1998). Half-life 2(2004). We can say Opposing Force is stand alone if we are generous. Because it 'is' an expansion pack. But its also made by another company entirely. So if you think each of those expansions are standalone titles and not just additions, youknow. Expansions. Then you need to count 'all' the CoD mappacks aswell. I mean they cost as much as Half-life expansions. And the Developers insists that their content matches the price. So ofcourse it must be mentioned : P. That is about 3-5 mappacks for each of the newer Call of Duty.. So i guess we can reach about 50-60 Releases in total.

With all due respect, The Escapist is hardly an unbiased source for such a preference.
It is sort of the internet haven for all lovers of valve, so expect an overwhelming majority of Half-Life.
Really though, it doesn't matter how much of an argument you put out, people stick with what they argue. It doesn't really matter about what's true, arguments are about who's right and who's wrong, and everyone argues what they consider "right".
TL;DR
Arguments are instant stalemates, it's not gonna help no matter how much support you get.

By that logic he would have to go to a console only forum to discuss this, or a valve-hate forum (Aka Halo or CoD forums)

Websites like 4Chan and Reddit is just as filled with Valve fans as Escapist. Im sorry but, Valve is just widely liked. And while the majority of the millions of CoD and Halo players might not agree, The Majority of CoD and Halo players 'dont' 'frequent' 'forums' other than the whining and fan************ going on in their forums. And even that is only a niche of them.

The thing about Valve is that you just CAN'T be angry at them for making you wait, because when they release a fully fledged single player game (of which there are few) you know that it will be great because they strive for excellence. Like Douglas Adams, I think they like the wooshing sound as deadlines pass by. You can't rush art. Anyone who played AC Revelations would have seen that had they not been trying to pump out a game year instead of say, 3 to 4, we would have had a masterpiece.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

I voted for half life even though i haven't played it (would like to). I have played the other two and i'd still prefer to play a game i haven't played before/yet.

EDIT: I don't hate cod or halo it's just not that much

 

[Cavan]

While I don't dislike either the escapist community or half life (also was expecting half life to win in general anyway), this is kinda a PC user dominated forum and half life is a PC user holy grail of a thing, makes the results kinda slightly more pointless than a usual community poll.

In my opinion I enjoyed halo a lot more, I found half life difficult to get involved in and sorta lacking any sense of urgency.

Only CoD I have played to any real degree was CoD4 single player a couple times over the years.

I do agree with the person who said that halo is a lot more replayable, of all my FPS games i've ever had it and metro 2033 are the easiest to pick back up and play through again.

 

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

Half Life a million times over.

Call of Duty has the same scene but with different skin colours a thousand times over and I never really saw the appeal of Halo. Yeah, it was the best game on the Xbox, but..... that's not really saying much. Later Halos were slightly more fun to play, I'll admit.