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

[Laser Priest]

It's entertaining enough for me. The characters and the story certainly aren't the greatest, but they work well enough for me. And the multiplayer is one of the few I can bear in FPS games. Especially with the level of customization in the maps and modes, and the sheer amount of minigames people have made with it.

 

[In Search of Username]

Played the first two Halo games' campaigns with my cousin years ago and remember finding them fun but ludicrously repetitive in terms of the environments. Played the multiplayer in some of the more recent ones and, meh, it's fun in short bursts. So they're okay I guess.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

"I used to like it, but I don't like the direction the series has gone / is going" <- Voted this.

I used to be a huge fan of it, I liked the concept of Aliens vs Humans with a design where the aliens didn't look exactly gross and the humans didn't have armor that was 100% silly.

I liked the expanded universe......but then it started getting ahead of itself, and then Halo 3 just reeked of bad writing

 

[Gideon Rogers]

I got into fps with Halo two, I used to play three man free-for-all with my brothers for hours. Played 3 a little bit, though by the time I got a 360 Reach was out. I'm looking forward to 4, and I plan to get it on release day. Less intense than CoD but more less frustrating and more fun with friends. To me, Halo is the bedroom of videogames. You may not spend all of your time there, but when you're tired of everything else, it's where you go.

 

[Korten12]

Used to really enjoy it- definitely loved the first 3. After that though, it all started to fell a bit samey, and now that the franchise is going to have a release per year, I've pretty much given up all hope of the series dramatically changing itself...

What... Halo isn't yearly... I mean granted, it has sort of been since Halo 3 with Wars, ODST, Reach, Anniversary, and now 4. But there is no plans for a Halo 2 Anniversary, and Halo 5 isn't coming out next year. :/

It won't be coming out till the next xbox is out already.

Really? I could've sworn Microsoft were releasing Halo 4 this year, Halo 5 in 2013, and then Halo 6 in 2014.
But I'll listen to you- you do have a Spartan as your avatar, so therefore are probably far more knowledgeable about all things Halo than me

Halo 4 is this year, and then Halo 5 is TBA, but they said it won't be next year. So probably 2014 for Halo 5, if that. It will also depend on the release of the next xbox since that's what they're waiting for.

So we won't be getting the next Halo sadly until Microsoft finally releases the Xbox 720. D: Or what ever it shall be called.

 

[Korten12]

I consider it the best gaming universe of all time.

No, I'm serious.

The games are fantastic (excluding Wars and ODST), but it's the novels and expanded universe that really give it life. Even Wars is a fun distraction and with a HEAVILY reduced price tag, ODST could have been great.

I'm also a sucker for epic and the Halo games and universe have some of my favorite moments ever.

I adore the story and have been following for a long time.

AND THEN GREG BEAR HAPPENED.

I despise the Forerunner books more than anything else in my life.

Hopefully Halo 4 doesn't embrace them too much.

Yeah... They're embracing it fully to the point where they have to release the last book of the Forerunner trilogy as it would spoil everything in Halo 4. They're connected in big ways.

Also what's so bad about them?

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Halo 1 - fun and interesting (but somewhat generic) take on a sci fi shooter.
Halo 2 - rushed cash grab that gained popularity from the online multiplayer, which I refused to pay for
subsequent Halos - didn't buy them or play them because of the emphasis on multiplayer

While I found the gameplay mechanics in Halo kind of fun for the type of game it was, it really annoys me when I hear about it in other games, especially "cinematic" games where you're basically along for the ride. Halo took some strategy with dealing in individual confrontations. Modern shooters sound like boring theme park rides with little to no punishment for death. But it's "okay" because the multiplayer is good (and I don't play multiplayer).

 

[Cpu46]

Halo CE was my first step into current release gaming. I was seriously sitting around with a gamecube and Mario games. Hell, the most violent game I owned at the time was a cell shaded arena brawler with no blood. Not really complaining but it did kinda keep me isolated during game discussions at the time.

CE will always hold a special place in my heart for giving me both some of the best content ever in a game and one of the best stories and expanded universes I have ever lost myself in. While halo 2 did feel a bit rushed I loved it for some of the finest setpieces I have ever seen. The High Charity and the Covenant fleet warping in over delta halo still sends shivers down my spine. Halo 3 was an acceptable conclusion to the first trilogy but perhaps the best part of it was the release of ODST. ODST shone on its own and I honestly would have not minded a few more ODST games. Halo Reach was the best of the next gen games, still not as good as CE in my eyes, but a damn fine game that I still prefer over most of the current releases.

Halo 4 looks to be a winner in its own right. 343 does not look like it is going to disappoint.

 

[Gatx]

I had alot of fun with it. it got me into FPS's mainly because while it stole alot from James Cameron, it did it very well. Also the old LAN parties with my friends were some of the best times i had with multiplayer. Its hard to beat sneaking up on one of your friends with the energy sword and saying "pssst, behind you" and having 7 screens pull a 180 and one of them goes black.

What did it steal from James Cameron? You said that as if we all know exactly what you're talking about, but I've never heard that before.

Care to clarify?

It's been a while since I've played either but the motion tracker thing in Halo works like the similarly named device in Aliens, but then again I think aesthetically that's how actual radar looks (blinking dots on a circle) anyway. I might also add that I guess the Elites with their armor on sorta kinda look like Xenomorphs. Also space marines but then again it's not like James Cameron invented space marines.

If I didn't know that Halo didn't come out 8 years before, I'd also say that some of the vehicles kind of look like the ones in Avatar, and the color palette is kind of similar (one side is murky green vs while the other is colorful with bright blues and purples).

 

[Tdoodle]

I was a proper fanboy once, but haven't been into it for a while. It's still good, and I'll end up playing 4 for a bit, but it's something I'll pick up for a cheap a few months after launch, not something I'm hyped for like I used to be.

 

[RandV80]

I have only very limited experience playing Halo, and FPS'ers aren't really my genre anyways. The thing that really came to mind when playing a bit original Halo multiplayer on the PC was how much it felt like Goldeneye.

Anyways, my opinion on it is it's not overrated, but it's certainly overhyped. I mean I remember seeing the Halo 2 release date being announced on the CNN news ticker. It's obvious where that comes from, this is Microsoft we're talking about after all and Halo is the main franchise for their console. They're going to throw their full weight behind the marketing of the game, with results that go beyond what Nintendo or Sony could ever hope to accomplish in North America. Even though it's not my genre I can accept Halo earning it's spot among any best games or best game franchise lists. Having it's own official "Halo Day" when a new game gets released however... to me it's just a more devious form of "Blast Processing".

 

[Terminate421]

It's one if the most fun and colorful series out there. The lore is great and it totally gets WAY too much hate on this site

 

[Vigormortis]

Halo: Combat Evolved - Fuckin' amazing

Halo 2 - Garbage

Halo 3 - Okay

Halo 3: ODST - Fuckin' amazing

Halo Reach - Okay

Spoiler: Le gasp!

Someone who actually views the series as I do! Well, mostly.

I absolutely adore CE and ODST. They were the most creative and atmospheric of the bunch. Bungie did (almost) everything right with them.

As for 2, 3, and Reach, well....yeah. Steaming piles of fail in my eyes. Just awful campaigns. Multiplayer components with ever increasing layers of fluff, much of which wasn't necessary.

Essentially, all of them lost the personality, so-to-speak, that the first game had. (and ODST mostly re-imagined)

However, the one place I drastically differ from most Halo fans is in my admiration of Wars.

I think the game gets a lot of undeserved hatred. The story was not only better written than most of the other Halo games, it was more interesting. To me, anyway.

Besides, though it obviously is no where near as good as the best RTS games available on PC, it was still a damn good attempt at making one on a console.

But whatever. I guess because it didn't have a "pew pew gun" on the screen or because it wasn't Starcraft most players felt they needed to hate on it.

==============================

I may be biased, though. You see, the Halo series is really the closest we've come to getting a proper contemporary version of the classic Starship Troopers story.

No, I don't mean that fucking God-awful Paul Verhoeven film. Christ I hated that movie. I mean the original novel.

A LOT of the story elements, themes, locales, designs, etc, of Halo are all but blatantly influenced by Starship Troopers; as well as the Alien films.

So, in some ways, Halo is the first and only decent adaptation of that original story. Probably part of why I liked the first game so much.

 

[jollybarracuda]

It's not my favorite shooter as it once used to be, but the series has a lot of personality and it shows with all its little secrets and hidden jokes, something not seen in any other game besides Serious Sam, come to think of it. I always thought the shooting felt a bit...off. And by God, i hate that three-round burst Battle Rifle, but everyone else seems to love that thing to death, so online, it's like the only gun that ever gets used. Ever.

So yah, i'm not sure if i'll be getting the newest Halo, i'll definitely look into it, but it's just not my thing anymore.

 

[Comocat]

One of my favorite gaming memories is a friend and I battling through the story mission. After about an hour we discovered that you could 1-shot your ally if you pistol whipped them from behind. For probably another hour we made no progress because we'd say "oh yeah ok no more of that" then someone would run forward and we'd do it again. It sounds stupid but damn it was hilarious.

That and plasma grenades on the warthog.

I'm not sure what number the series is up to because I havent paid much attention, but the original was pretty awesome.

 

[MidnightSt]

I played Halo 1 back in the days and I liked it, mainly because opponents seemed somewhat more intelligent compared to FPSes I played until then. I don't care at all about any sequels and I've never even tried them, and I don't really understand how such a simple world could've spanned a franchise with such huge fan-base.

 

[WanderingFool]

I think its a decent shooter, and is still very different from COD to give a different taste for console gamers.

But that said, the mechanics that were a part of Halo (as in the very first game) that I just dont care for. Such as the ability to aim... and carry more than two guns at a time.

 

[DugMachine]

Halo 3 was my favorite. Got into the FPS scene in 2 but Halo 3 was it's peak for me. Speaking of multiplayer of course.

As for the story well I've enjoyed it all throughout. Not the most gripping tale but I never really get bored and am interested in how it will all end. ODST had such a nice campaign and 3 was pretty fun. Reach was kind of meh but I liked it for the most part.

Still on the fence about getting Halo 4 though. I've recently gone pure PC gaming and i'll never buy Halo games for the story alone and seeing no PC ports anytime soon I might give it pass.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I consider it the best gaming universe of all time.

No, I'm serious.

The games are fantastic (excluding Wars and ODST), but it's the novels and expanded universe that really give it life. Even Wars is a fun distraction and with a HEAVILY reduced price tag, ODST could have been great.

I'm also a sucker for epic and the Halo games and universe have some of my favorite moments ever.

I adore the story and have been following for a long time.

AND THEN GREG BEAR HAPPENED.

I despise the Forerunner books more than anything else in my life.

Hopefully Halo 4 doesn't embrace them too much.

Yeah... They're embracing it fully to the point where they have to release the last book of the Forerunner trilogy as it would spoil everything in Halo 4. They're connected in big ways.

Also what's so bad about them?

Truth be told, I've never even looked at the second one because I despised the first so much.

I just felt so many of the story decisions were shitty retcons.

Here are just the problems I had with the first 30 pages.

1) Calling themselves the Forerunners. No. It's stupid. I don't care what "We know we're coming before other people" explanation they give.

2) A war with a human empire a long, long time ago. Again, it just felt silly. How is there ZERO evidence of this previous human empire ANYWHERE in the galaxy or on Earth???

3) Normalizing the Forerunners so much. They didn't seem special in the slightest. They complained their jobs. They tried to live up to their parents expectations. They weren't the ancient god creatures they should have been.

And that segways into my main problem with the book: It exists. I feel the Forerunners should have NEVER been explained t any extent. The whole POINT of having an Ancient Alien Race is that they are mysterious! If you explain them, they aren't nearly as interesting because there is nothing left to imagine about them.
And yeah, they sort of saw this coming, so what did they do? Well, there just happened to be ANOTHER Ancient Alien Race before them! What do you know! They even went so far as to name them after the TV Trope I linked to.

The whole thing felt utterly artificial, pointless and destructive to canon.

Maybe I'm not really a Halo fan anymore because this hatred, but I still hold hope for 4.

As long as they keep the crap about the Precursors and the ancient human empire out, it should be ok.