Poll: What's Your Opinion of the Halo Series?

[Xdeser2]

Well, for my first forum post, I thought I would take a direct route and ask: What's your opinion on the Halo series (Good, Bad,or somewhere inbetween)

Its a topic that I'm actually a little interested in, as the majority of the online FPS bandwagon has passed it on to greener pastures, and most of the fans left have been with the series for at least a short while. I would consider myself a fan, with the few exceptions being some of the newer installments and spin-offs. ODST to me was a 60$ expansion (which pissed me off as much as Napoleon: Total War did a year later), Reach was (at best) a FAILED swan song, and don't even get me started on Halo Wars. (Why would Microsoft do that to ENSEMBLE of all people, and then fire them is completely beyond me, but I digress) However, I can say the core trilogy has kept my interest thus far.

So, what's your take on it?

NOTE: PLEASE don't turn this into a Console vs PC debate, not something I want to start here...

 

[Sixcess]

Based only on the first two games in the series as those are the only ones I've played, I like Halo. It's not my favourite FPS series by any means, but it's very well made and plays really smoothly. I can load up CE and, regardless of if it was years ago since I last played it, the controls come back to me almost instantly - it is one of the most pick-up-and-play games I can think of in that respect.

I don't blame Halo for the clones that swamped the genre in its wake - I blame the clones for trying and failing to replicate what made Halo so good.

Finally, 343 Guilty Spark is one of the best levels in gaming history - a masterclass in how to tell a story not through cutscenes and exposition, but through level design and gameplay.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Well I think it's a pretty unique shooter that has some fun gameplay. I've never really warmed to the series but I still think it's fun at time, especially when you play with friends.

 

[themechanic]

I could do a whole series on the gameplay mechanics of the series, and story but i'll stick with saying I f-ing love 1-2 and reach.

 

[Shadowstar38]

NOTE: PLEASE don't turn this into a Console vs PC debate, not something I want to start here...

But you made "Pfff. Console trash" a voting option. You're just begging for it.

OP: They are alright. Fun but not the best FPS I've seen out there. Oh! Also

STOP MAKING ME STEER WITH AN ANALOG STICK!

That is all.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm not into it. Aside from not having an X-Box, I never liked the fans or the hype. It's probably par, okay, a passing grade...but is it going to overwhelm my love of Fallout, Rage, Saint's Row 2/3, most Atlus games? No.

 

[Xdeser2]

NOTE: PLEASE don't turn this into a Console vs PC debate, not something I want to start here...

But you made "Pfff. Console trash" a voting option. You're just begging for it.

OP: They are alright. Fun but not the best FPS I've seen out there. Oh! Also

STOP MAKING ME STEER WITH AN ANALOG STICK!

That is all.

Haha good point

I put it there so they could still vent that opinion without the thread becoming completely about it

 

[Erttheking]

I like it a lot, it's one of my favorite series and each game has it's own unique feel...but I have a feeling this thread is going to end badly. The Escapist community's love of Half-Life is very well known, and Half-Life and Halo fans tend to get along like a house on fire.

 

[Tanis]

It's the FF7 of FPS.

Yes, it's the game that popped a LOT of cherries for console gamers who had never played a FPS online, but that's about it.

Mediocre main series, with a crappy RTS, and mediocre anime movie thing.

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

I usually don't play FPS games, but I was forced into playing the co-op campaign and it was alright. Lots of purple, which was nice.

 

[Launcelot111]

It's bright and sorta goofy and you can jump and drive cars off grav lifts and cliffs and stuff and there are sticky grenades. It's good for some goofy fun online but not much more. I don't understand anyone who really enjoys the single player though.

 

[piinyouri]

It's an amusing irony how years ago Halo was the whipping post for anyone who didn't like FPS's.
Now, compared to the dirge of Michael Bay wank off games, that have depraved orgies in puddles of brown and grey, with little changing from game to game, Halo seems like a savior with it's vibrant colors and fairly interesting story.

 

[Kuomon]

I've intermittently played Halo throughout the years since one of my best friends is a huge fan of the series and my reaction has always been the same: good mechanics and polish but overall boring experience. I've always been put off by how open the levels in Halo are (due to their RTS heritage), which probably sounds counter intuitive to most fans, but I like my FPS's to feel dense and alive and Halo has always felt plastic and fake. Furthermore, the game has always felt really floaty to me. I was a big fan of the original Modern Warfare partly because everything felt like it had a weight to it.

All of that said, when I saw the new footage for Halo 4, which is clearly trying to emulate modern military shooters without betraying its roots, I was immediately put out even more than it was before. I used to respect the Halo franchise but the new game has lost my respect.

 

[Eddie the head]

Ehh. It works I guess but the weapons system and the weapons in general are a little to tame for my tastes.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Halo: Combat Evolved - Fuckin' amazing

Halo 2 - Garbage

Halo 3 - Okay

Halo 3: ODST - Fuckin' amazing

Halo Reach - Okay

 

[Korten12]

I've intermittently played Halo throughout the years since one of my best friends is a huge fan of the series and my reaction has always been the same: good mechanics and polish but overall boring experience. I've always been put off by how open the levels in Halo are (due to their RTS heritage), which probably sounds counter intuitive to most fans, but I like my FPS's to feel dense and alive and Halo has always felt plastic and fake. Furthermore, the game has always felt really floaty to me. I was a big fan of the original Modern Warfare partly because everything felt like it had a weight to it.

All of that said, when I saw the new footage for Halo 4, which is clearly trying to emulate modern military shooters without betraying its roots, I was immediately put out even more than it was before. I used to respect the Halo franchise but the new game has lost my respect.

How has Halo 4 tried to emulate Modern Military Shooters? If anything it has gone further from them then before.

 

[an annoyed writer]

*Looks at Master Chief helmet on shelf...

I like it. A diverse color pallet, enemies that come in many shapes and sizes, interesting characters (how many depends on the game you're asking about), a half-decent plot, and the big open vistas of its levels are things that keep me coming back, even when I grow tired of certain elements, like competitive multiplayer and the like.

Oh and I really love the forge mode. I've made dozens of things in that, from replicas of ships from movies and games to Mirror's Edge style levels 'n shit. That mode makes me happy

 

[Kuomon]

I've intermittently played Halo throughout the years since one of my best friends is a huge fan of the series and my reaction has always been the same: good mechanics and polish but overall boring experience. I've always been put off by how open the levels in Halo are (due to their RTS heritage), which probably sounds counter intuitive to most fans, but I like my FPS's to feel dense and alive and Halo has always felt plastic and fake. Furthermore, the game has always felt really floaty to me. I was a big fan of the original Modern Warfare partly because everything felt like it had a weight to it.

All of that said, when I saw the new footage for Halo 4, which is clearly trying to emulate modern military shooters without betraying its roots, I was immediately put out even more than it was before. I used to respect the Halo franchise but the new game has lost my respect.

How has Halo 4 tried to emulate Modern Military Shooters? If anything it has gone further from them then before.

I guess if we're going to have this discussion I may as well qualify that statement. I was specifically talking about how the level design seems to be going for a more constrained and directed approach, which is characteristic of the military shooter, than the old battle arena approach of the old games. Granted, since I don't really follow the series I'm going off of the gameplay that I saw during E3, so I may be wrong, and if I am I would be happy to oblige.