daheikmeister said:
And if Halo 3 broke records when it came out, it must have been doing something right
Marketing. None of the games are exceptionally outstanding, but they're solid and had roughly infinity billion dollars in their advertising budgets.
Oh, and Halo one was slower paced than other FPS games at the time, (UTC, the Timesplitters series, PD if it still counts, were there any outstanding GC shooters? Oh, Metroid Prime.) Which opened up what was almost exclusively a twitchy bang bang run around genre to a new audience of slower people.
beddo said:
Regarding Halo: Combat Evolved:
-Recharging health in an FPS hadn't been done before.
-Console local co-op in an FPS hadn't been done before.
-Omission of a lives system had not been in a console FPS before
-Respawning in co-op mode had not been done in an FPS before.
-Hot-Keyed grenades in a console FPS had not been done before.
-Having no bosses in a console FPS had not been done before.
-Cubic and bump mapping had not been done in a console FPS before.
-The type of water shading used had not been done on a console fps before.
-Seamless background loading had not been done in an FPS before.
-Seamless vehicle interaction had not been done in a FPS before.
-The two weapon limit had not been done in an FPS before.
-Sticky grenades had not been done in a console FPS before.
-The number of 3d characters on screen had not been matched on a console FPS before.
-Seamless in-game flight had not been done in a console FPS before.
-Halo's complex enemy AI had not been seen before.
-The number of NPCs in a console FPS had not been seen before.
-Such large levels had not been seen in a console FPS before.
-The physics had not been implemented to the same extent in a console fps before.
-16 person multi-player in a console fps had not been done before.
And here weee... Go.
1. I'll give you that one. It did still have health, though, which was nice, because it didn't turn any person into an immortal killing machine seated on the sniper rifle spawn. They'd have to get health packs, and that would make them vulnerable.
2. Perfect Dark had local Co-op. It even had local "Counter-op" Where Player 2 would be enemies and player 1 still had to complete the missions.
3. Lives? Were lives ever in FPS games? PD, Timesplitters, no lives.
4. Kay, so it's easier.
5. This is an interesting one, because with the addition of the grenades, the game lost the potential of secondary fire. In case you don't remember secondary fire, it was that repeatedly copied FPS convention from way back in the day which let you shoot grenades on a great number of weapons.
6. Medal of Honor was already listed. Also, having the same enemies repeated over and over isn't automatically a good thing. Sometimes it's a good idea to throw in a boss or a light puzzle or some exploration instead of fighting the same mobs of enemies in the same ship and hangar.
7. PC did it. Xbox had the power to do it, and Microsoft had the money to do it, so they did it.
8. "
9. It's only seamless if it doesn't stop the game. There was a several second stutter when the little loading word popped up. Loading screens between levels persisted, just like in every game. Also, GTAIII did the background loading with the exception of island travel.
10. You could count Project Eagle, but no.
11. R6 was mentioned.
12. Perfect Dark, proximity, timed, and remote mines stick to people. And they are so fun.
13. Engine/power issue. Xbox had the power, they did it.
14. Kay.
15. How complex is it? Please provide an example.
16. Xbox. Power.
17. "
18. "
19. Timesplitters had LAN for 16 people.
So you've basically got graphics and physics improvements because the Xbox was the most powerful console at the time. Then you have vehicles and shields.
Someone said Halo was the first FPS with the sticks each controlling strafe and aim. They are wrong.
The fun of Halo, though, is that you can dick around so much in it. I've had more fun in Halo 1 fighting my teammate because he respawns next to me when the enemies are cleared. Oh, and have you ever played Warthog Wars? Go into Blood Gulch with only two people and each grab a hog. Then ram eachother. The moon physics are absurd. And that's fun. Then Halo 2 and 3 took away the invincible warthog moon physics.
You know what's innovative? Adding another dimension to games. Hail to the king, baby.
