The real reason Halo was/is so popular

[bruMackBBQ_89]

Halos seqeuals

it was one of the first F-P-S on a console. was it not for halo we might not have games like CoD4, GoW, Bioshock, or Killzone

agree...

halos sequals not only BXC (blew up xbox concoles) nationwide wich had many consoles tryin to compete with such a tru adversary.

my guess is dat writers at microsoft are not lettin the saga dye without a fight.

 

[Reg5879]

It is because it was the only FPS exclusives on the original Xbox and it just gain undeserved popularity from there and everyone that bought an Xbox (I didn't) bought the only exclusive worth buying: Halo and loved it because there was no other game on the god damn Xbox, the sequels got popularity just because popularity got built on from the first Halo.

Have you ever done researching before?

Halo was not the only Xbox launch title. Project Gotham Racing, Dead or Alive 3, and Oddworld Munch's Oddysee were released during the Xbox's launch. Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3 sold very well. In 2002 a year after the Xbox was released, other exclusive games for the Xbox titles; MechAssault and Splinter Cell sold millions of copies and have gotten really good reviews.

Have u ever read before???

I said only FPS exclusive.

Sorry, my mistake.

Halo did have the best controls for console first-person shooters due to the Xbox controller layout.

I still consider Halo CE to be the first console FPS that worked. Goldeneye 007 was nice for its time but it's was weak compared to Quake/Quake II and Doom.

I did try Halo once on the Xbox, I will say the levels were big, the guns were ok I guess, but it was still nothing special, it did do its job I admit, it gave u a FPS with some action and good old shooting gameplay. Also, I dunno why Master Chief is a famous character coz he just bores the shit out of me, his like a robot, I say u wanna good FPS with a character with a story, play Area 51 on the PS2 or Xbox, that game was a good FPS.

 

[Tonimata]

Gordon Freeman would kick his ass.

Why? Because he's in a better game?

Better Games (plural)
And yes, yes he would. EVERY TIME.

 

[avian304]

Gordon Freeman would kick his ass.

Why? Because he's in a better game?

Better Games (plural)
And yes, yes he would. EVERY TIME.

The crowbar cannot be stopped.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

The crowbar cannot be stopped.

Wrong, the crowbar doesn't stop

 

[Azeria]

What I want to know is why the online multiplayer for Halo 3(or any Xbox Live compatible game) is so appealing. I mean my brother just sits on his xbox playing Halo 3 or whatever FPS game he has talking to his friends through a microphone when they only live a couple houses away from us. Its quite stupid if you ask me. To me all Halo 3's online multiplayer just creates another ground for people to become socially inept in public. Not to mention the fact that most extreme Halo fans are too busy playing Halo 24/7 to walk out their door unless they have too.

 

[Woodsey]

That, or it's dumb, fun (for some) and easy get in to.

 

[Popadoo]

'-GENERIC HERO CHARACTER- is a god-among-men in a seemingly helpless war to save the entire human race, and each and every character in the game isn't afraid to tell you so or run for your life when they see you. I didn't care about the -GENERIC HERO CHARACTER- until I WAS him, and I was told that I could turn the tides of a war almost entirely by myself.'
Yeah, that's nearly every game ever.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

It's an accessible FPS. That's all.

 

[Bakuryukun]

The reason Halo was good to me was that it's a Technocolor FPS with a folk rock soundtrack. I wish more people would describe Halo in this way.

 

[MrGalactus]

Because it's an excusive, has multiplayer full of people, and is marketed rrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally well.

 

[Llost]

If people on this board are too hard pressed to even actually rationally and objectively view Halo then why even talk about it? I'm sorry but look at it this way, I can list many more pro's and con's on Halo without making myself look like a biased fool that just wants to slap one pretty average complaint to the game and rely on that as a 'halo sucks' argument. After all the sad thing is many of these complaints can be attached to similar games they like but they just pick and choose when it's suitable. People seem to be having trouble discerning why Halo is popular so I'll list a few reasons (do you guys think for yourselves at all?, or does your opinion stop at 'I don't like it overall so every bit of it must suck'?).
Pro's
- Mostly balanced weaponry (not claiming it is all balanced but better than most FPS/TPS)
- Large levels
- More colourful than usual brown / grey FPS
- sci-fi story more interesting than run and gun terrorists (gives us nice varied weapons like plasma launchers, needlers, energy swords etc. too)
- good balance between being too fast or too slow (not a twitch shooter like unreal tournament or quake but not as slow as COD, Far cry etc.)
- large online community
- plenty of multiplayer modes (personally I like that I can go on firefight and play with people against AI opponents if I wish or do zombie modes, swat, deathmatch, capture the flag or whatever)
- various gameplay elements to play with (armour abilities, melee, vehicles, weapons, grenades etc.)

People seem blind to the fact that yes, Halo hasn't done anything new to the genre but it doesn't need to, it does what it does well. It has a lot of strategy (or can, this obviously depends on your play style) due to being able to use armour abilities, relying on cover to recharge shields, only able to carry 2 weapons at a time and the general maps which are designed to have some neat ways to flee or hide etc.
Anyone claiming they don't know why Halo is popular is obviously just not a fan and not everyone will be but to not be objective enough to respect what it does is another thing. it's an FPS with all the features, gameplay modes and fun design it needs to be successful while still maintaining a decent singe player unlike most and having mechanics people find fun. How so many of you cannot see such simple things is astounding but I'm guessing Halo being popular took some fanboys by surprise and they couldn't stand to see it more popular than there games.

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

I always enjoyed halo because I used to play it with my dad when I small (to this day I still smile when I see a game has split screen co-operative modes)

 

[ImperialSunlight]

Oh, yes. Because a game that makes you the only soldier that matters MUST be good.

No, the real reason that it is so popular is because most of the human race are idiots.

 

[Llost]

Oh, yes. Because a game that makes you the only soldier that matters MUST be good.

No, the real reason that it is so popular is because most of the human race are idiots.

How is that any different to an RPG where your team has to save the day? Or almost any story for that matter. Most games and stories have this flaw, to single out Halo for it alone is rather stupid. Does the lone hero stereotype not sound familiar? Besides he often does have backup from other marines, he is just the best because he is the last fully spartan armoured super soldier. Now ask yourself would it make sense in that situation that he is tougher than the rest? In this game at least you being the best is logical, at least you do have other marines floating around etc. but explain how games like killzone where your just another soldier, uncharted where your just another guy, Mass effect just another guy etc. all don't fall foul of this? Even Zelda, Half-life, Fable and more too. Your post makes no sense because that comment applies to most games even more than Halo and even less logically.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

Oh, yes. Because a game that makes you the only soldier that matters MUST be good.

No, the real reason that it is so popular is because most of the human race are idiots.

How is that any different to an RPG where your team has to save the day? Or almost any story for that matter. Most games and stories have this flaw, to single out Halo for it alone is rather stupid. Does the lone hero stereotype not sound familiar? Besides he often does have backup from other marines, he is just the best because he is the last fully spartan armoured super soldier. Now ask yourself would it make sense in that situation that he is tougher than the rest? In this game at least you being the best is logical, at least you do have other marines floating around etc. but explain how games like killzone where your just another soldier, uncharted where your just another guy, Mass effect just another guy etc. all don't fall foul of this? Even Zelda, Half-life, Fable and more too. Your post makes no sense because that comment applies to most games even more than Halo and even less logically.

I didn't mean that him being more powerful than the others was not logical, I'm just saying that to want to play a game like that, for that reason alone, one must be quite vain.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

See I just found it fun and didn't think too much about it beyond that. Not every game needs to light the world on fire.

Also, a lot of the stick Halo gets is misappropriated. Yahtzee's Turok review made me laugh so hard because all of the points he brought up he then attributed to 'let's all be like Halo' when in reality only perhaps one of his points can be seen in Halo.

Stuff like games being brown and gritty now. Does anyone who accuses Halo of this actually play the games? Especially the early ones were pretty brightly lit, with enemies who came in every colour from orange to fabulous purple.

But anyway, don't really know about your points because they apply equally well to a lot of unpopular games as well. I found it fun, and maybe for some people they don't need to find fault with something, they can just enjoy it.

 

[Llost]

Oh, yes. Because a game that makes you the only soldier that matters MUST be good.

No, the real reason that it is so popular is because most of the human race are idiots.

How is that any different to an RPG where your team has to save the day? Or almost any story for that matter. Most games and stories have this flaw, to single out Halo for it alone is rather stupid. Does the lone hero stereotype not sound familiar? Besides he often does have backup from other marines, he is just the best because he is the last fully spartan armoured super soldier. Now ask yourself would it make sense in that situation that he is tougher than the rest? In this game at least you being the best is logical, at least you do have other marines floating around etc. but explain how games like killzone where your just another soldier, uncharted where your just another guy, Mass effect just another guy etc. all don't fall foul of this? Even Zelda, Half-life, Fable and more too. Your post makes no sense because that comment applies to most games even more than Halo and even less logically.

I didn't mean that him being more powerful than the others was not logical, I'm just saying that to want to play a game like that, for that reason alone, one must be quite vain.

Thankfully people don't play it for that fact alone then.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

I've always gotten the impression that a lot of people who don't like Halo are people who haven't and won't play it. I was one of those guys, then I played it and still didn't like it. It took me about two months to figure out why I couldn't get into this ultra popular sci-fi shooter (something I really should like). The fans. Halo has some of the most annoying fanboys I've met and I don't want to be associated with them.

Also since the second Halo I've found it pretty safe to say that they've all been pretty boring. Reach was the first Halo I actually liked since Combat Evolved (even then it was for different reasons, CE was fun because of how brainless it was at the time and Reach because it actually tried to breathe some much needed life into the franchise).