Why Halo is called innovative?

[pha kin su pah]

It was the first console FPS I played with a Co-op campaign, but I'm not sure if it was the first ever (I think perfect dark had this.) I can't think of a console FPS before it that used vehicles, but again I'm probably wrong (again, I think perfect dark might have had this). The dual joysticks for movement maybe, I'm not sure.

I don't think it was as innovative as just really well rounded.

Perfect Dark had a co-op Campain. It had a Counter-Op Campaign; Player 1 plays as normal, Player 2 takes one of the enemies and tries to stop them.

Goldeneye used dual-joysticks for movement; one of the options for control was to use two controllers, thus giving you two sticks. I think that is far more innovative than using two joysticks when the controller itself has two built into it.

Goldeneye also used vehicles, so that's not new either.

a tank driving section is not a tangiblke argument to innovation of vehicles.

goldeneye catered to the console players and perfect dark did the same while building on that. whilist Halo was targeting the PC players to move over to the box.

Halo, while people seperate them out, i generally treat the "Halo" series as a whole, it was innovative with the shield regen that people ***** about and properly utilising vehicles into combat.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Regenerating health, decent vehicle sections, something of a physics engine, useable grenades, and decent AI for the time. Yeah I'd say it was innovative, and anyone who says it wasn't didn't play it in time, because a wave of copycats copied many of its features before anyone who didn't own an Xbox saw it.

Edit: Oh and melee attacks mapped to a button (as were grenades)

I forgot!, thanks for reminding me, Halo was the first game was a physics engine, which you could do cool stuff like throw a grenade past weapons on the floor to get them nearer to you.

and please stop with the melee and grenade button mapping, we did that shit with hot keys on Half Life.

 

[Dys]

Goldeneye was still not really an appeal to the PC FPS market though. It was still mostly console gamers that bought this game. The gameplay was fundamental in the design of all future games, but it still didn't have the pull and initial hype that halo did. From the moment the original halo concept was released, it had a steady, PC fan dominant, fanbase. I think it was announced as early as '99

"PC fan dominant fanbase" for the hype in Halo?, Bungie are Mac boys and girls, they never made a PC game in their lives.

First up, while I know what you meant, the makers of the game that kept microsoft in the console wars can hardly be called mac boys and girls. Even if they were it's too ironic for me to not bring up
I said PC but meant computer gamer, not stricly windows. A lot of Mac people were keen on another game by the Marathon people, so hopefully nobody is going to bother arguaing with me about whether people play games on Macs.. You are right and they did develop for Mac OS. As dirty as this makes me feel, and as dirty as everyone is going to think I am for saying this, Mac gamers are still gamers. Hell they are even more hardcore than Windows/Console gamers in terms of what their rig costs them.

 

[GeeDave]

As has probably been said (Can't be bothered to read through most of this dribble). Halo 1 was considered innovative for it's success and popularity on the console. It's quite clearly not an innovative game in itself. It is quite a lot of peoples 'first FPS', typically those who don't game on PC, or simply don't care to. This is why it is epicly rated, because (and this is being quite honest)... the strictly-console players at the time had not seen anything like it done so well.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

WAS innovative. WAS. And that's debatable.

It WAS considered innovative because it was one of the first mainstream console FPS games that didn't absolutely suck. The recharging shield and SF setting probably didn't hurt, either.

To call Halo innovative now?... That would be nuts. It's like calling "Dynasty Warriors Xtreme Whatever 12" (not an actual name, but you get my point) innovative.

As for me, I prefer Black, Urban Chaos and Project Snowblind.

Nobody ever listens when the forge is brought up; show me another console FPS with a system similar to the forge and a theatre mode for making machinima and I will agree that Halo 3 isn't innovative. Until then the naysayers are just riding the anti-halo bandwagon.

Halo is just one of the first games to bring lackluster editing tools to consoles...Far cry 2's map editor was miles better than halo 3's forge.

 

[Starke]

On another note, been able to bash things without using ammo is just so useful. I don't know how many times I've ran out of ammo in an FPS and had a bad guy in front of me, I could do nothing but scream and desperately reload as I was blasted back to the previous check point.
.

I've not run out of ammo in an FPS, maybe once when I was a nervous wreck, using up all your ammo in an FPS is like not having milk in the fridge, it just doesn't happen.

That reminds me, I need to buy some milk.
The only FPSs I can recall running out of ammo in were System Shock 2 and Deus Ex, so go figure.

Okay, I'll offer my two cents of sniping. Someone suggested AI vs AI fighting, sorry, Doom had monster infighting, if that's what you're talking about, going all the way back to the beginning of the genre. Half Life and Deus Ex both had friendly AI units and I may be mistaken here but I think HL had two mutually hostile factions.

As for the fast melee thing, I'm not sure if there's an earlier example but Duke Nukem 3d from way back when had a quick kick key. I'm not 100% that Dark Messiah isn't taking potshots at that venerable title.

As for the dedicated grenade key? I'm genuinely unsure. You may actually have one there, but, I'm not sure.

Regenerating Health leaves itself open to a duzzy, you remember Everquest? MMOs have had regenerating health for years. (I'm not 100% sure EQ is one of them (but still.)) Hell, Starcraft had regenerating units. It was conditional, but still.

With vehicles I remember the build engine games having vehicles, but I wouldn't use that as a claim that it was something that Halo stole.

As for dual wielding, the original Marathon allowed for dual .44 magnums. Which got upgraded in Marathon 2 to include double barrel shotguns and in the third installment high velocity drum weapons. You couldn't mix and match, but, the potential was there. As for mix and match dual wielding, I recall Heavy Metal FAKK2 allowed you to mix and match weapons. I'm not sure if you could independently reload one and not the other, but still.

Finally, limited weapon space. Well, damn, now you've got me. Deus Ex and System Shock 2 both used limited weapon space in the games, it's not nearly as restricted as Halo, but still, it's there. Now, granted these are both FPS/RPG hybrids, but the fact remains that Halo wasn't the first game to force you into making hard decisions about what to keep and what to pitch.

Okay, here's a point, none of these games except FAKK2 are what you could really call obscure. Marathon can't be because it's the predecessor to Halo.

 

[The Heik]

halo 1 started all this space marine stuff

Not Warhammer 40k?

If anyone gets the credit on that it should be Robert A. Heinlein. Starship Troopers ( the book) I think has the some of the earliest references to marines in space and powered combat armor. Credit where credits due, as they say.

edit -
checked up on it. While fighting man in space was written of before Starship Troopers. The powered armor does in fact appear for the first time in this book and is credited to Heinlein.

when did he write it?

 

[Symp4thy]

Halo was innovative because it contains an overpowered sniper rifle with which you have no penalties to accuracy while jumping or running. Also, it introduced the game to two new demographics, 12 year olds and frat boys.

 

[darthzew]

Rechargeable health, the way the plot was implemented well, the grenade button was new, the mass-variety in the multiplayer (not new per se, but it did it well), open levels, a melee button, etc.

Halo 2 can be considered innovative as well. Especially in how it did dual-wielding well. It's been before, yes, but not as well as Halo 2 did it. It also defined online gameplay. Again, it's implementation of plot was also very good.

 

[RIOT MAST3R]

Halo had a better storyline than any shooter before it.

 

[RIOT MAST3R]

halo 1 started all this space marine stuff

No, that was Warhammer 40k that started that look. (And that starship troopers book before that).

No. Alien started the whole space marine thing.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

2. A dedicated button for grenades. Now this might not seem much, but games before halo had grenades as just another weapon. Giving a player a 'grenade' button made grenades a core part of game play. It made people think about using grenades with their weapons.

Team Fortress Classic wants its credit back.

 

[spyrewolf]

Halo: Combat Evolved made the FPS genre popular on consoles,

lol, you didn't get the golden eye perfect dark thing did you.....

anyways, halo was barely a innovative FPS by anymeans, it was however insanely popular, because something is popular doesn't always == innovation.

Gran Turismo on the PS1 was mad popular too, that is not innovative by any means but sold like crazy.

 

[mattttherman3]

halo combat evolved was probably innovative, i cant say the same for halo 2 and 3

 

[TheHorizon]

They made the rechargable heatlh system.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I don't think even the Halo fanboys can say Halo is innotive with a straight face.

...Actually, I'm underestermating fanboys.

Yup, Im a fanboy because I for once elaborates my opinions instead of just saying that everyone who doesnt share the same opinion as me are stupid...

Well, at least you admit it.

 

[Chaos Marine]

halo 1 started all this space marine stuff

You lose! Doom started all this space marine stuff.

Halo's innovations came from being able to see your feet and pretty graphics. Appart from that its a pretty stock shooter with a simple-but-it-works online.

Tribes II, you could see your feet and that was before Halo. While I don't hate the game, I always thought the Halo series was bland, eye-wateringly monotonous in it's gameplay. What always surprises me though, is that it was so popular. Just about every PC gamer I've ever spoken to or read of, considered it mediocre at best.