Halo - Anyone?

[Wyoming]

Does anyone play Halo seriously now? It seems to have fizzled out somehow, especially the serious gamers and clans. I'm still running a small clan that makes machinama (for those of you that don't know, that's videos made with games). However I'm getting worried that gamers are being drawn away by fancy graphics and not necessarily what's important, good gameplay.

What's great about Halo is the sheer diversity. A huge variety of game modes, well designed levels and a great gameplay system. Some complain that 16 players isn't enough but the game works on many levels. It moves from a tactical game when you have 2-6 players to a frantic frenzy at 10-16.

Halo was groundbreaking on the Xbox, featuring creative weapons like games like Quake and Unreal Tournament. However also leaning towards realism with a weapons limit of two.

[Dougal]

I got bored with Halo really quickly I didn't like the maps and the endless problems I had getting the multiplayer to work even on a LAN put me off it for life.

Same story as the Worms 3d and WWP multiplay.

[Xaneden]

Halo was never particulary groundbreaking imho. The maps were bland, the interface buggy, and I always felt movement was jolted when walking, and overly sensitive when driving.

Personally, I can say good riddance to Halo 1. I just hope I don't have to endure Halo 2 on PC for too long

Raven Shield, now that was a good game... and what I would define as tactical

[Pirate Pete]

one vote here for counter strike source if we are talking about the best multiplayer game at the moment

the thing that i like most about is the way its quick (usually) action, only 3 minute rounds means you get back to the action reasonable fast

and the fact that valve, very sensibly didnt change the rules from the original counter strike (which i love)

oh, and yes it does beat ravenshield (in my opinion)

Pete

[Flibb]

DoD is still my fav, but m mainly playing BF2. I do like halo, found it to be a good grin.

[directhex]

i have NEVER enjoyed halo.

i've tried, i really have, but bland and repetitive visuals to put Quake to shame; lack of immersive feedback on your actions (seems to simply be 'hold the trigger for long enough until something dies)... bleh. and i've tried it on pc and on xbox, before i get comments.

[herulach]

The pc one was crap because you knew the story, and it didnt have coop, the only truely groundbreaking feature it had, and even that wasnt new. Halo 2 was just well, dire, the new weapons were atrocious, especially the covenant ones, that level where youre on the station with all the flood and what basically amounts to the mosin from call of duty is the most frustrating thing ever, i didnt even bother fighting, i just ran past them all.

[Wyoming]

I do agree than Halo 2 is actually painful to play in both campaign and multiplayer, especially as the arbiter. I just find that the Halo PC Online element is good, I don't agree with the idea that it is:

hold the trigger for long enough until something dies

Mainly because that's the theory behind every first person shooter, if you think about it. However Halo allows you do this in so many ways and the levels and weapons are more interesting and diverse than games such as Ravenshield (I must now confess I only donwloaded the Trial version to see what it was like).

I would buy Half-Life 2 and play Counter Strike: Source, but I have no money, so I can't.

[Xaneden]

How does Halo allow you to hold the button down and wait for a kill in multiple ways? The game is neither frantic like Half Life 2 or strategic like Raven Shield, in fact I feel it offers very little.

Also, what part of Halo do you feel is innovative? To me, and to everyone else it seems, the game comes across and bland and unexciting?

[mike_w]

I never liked Halo very much. It was a good game, but hardly, in my opinion, the great game some people claim it is. I found the singleplayer repetitive, and UT and UT2004 are better in multiplayer - they have varied and more interesting game modes, maps and weapons, along with a multitude of mods.

[Wyoming]

Xcelsion, I don't think your view is shared by the majority of gamers, other wise how could Halo's sequel achieve such tremendous interest ?

Obviously all those people who bought Halo 2 were wrong and you are right, I'm sorry for the confusion.

[Xaneden]

Xcelsion, I don't think your view is shared by the majority of gamers, other wise how could Halo's sequel achieve such tremendous interest ?

Obviously all those people who bought Halo 2 were wrong and you are right, I'm sorry for the confusion.

Now now Wyoming, no need to start insulting. We are simply giving our opinions of Halo. You started a thread on a forum about it, so expect varied answers that do not generally correlate with your own opinions.

Also, I cannot help but feel Halo is extremely over-rated, and only gained its success on the X-Box due to it being the only real, viable FPS game available for it.

[mike_w]

Xcelsion, I don't think your view is shared by the majority of gamers, other wise how could Halo's sequel achieve such tremendous interest ?

Obviously all those people who bought Halo 2 were wrong and you are right, I'm sorry for the confusion.

Perhaps Halo was interesting because of the hype surrounding it, and the promotion that was given to it as one the XBox's first games? Why do people drink Coca Cola rather than Coke from Tesco? Most of the time, it's not taste - it's image, and your perception of the product. Even if we know they taste the same, we continue to drink Coca Cola because we are told it's better by advertising.

And there's also the fact that, while it may be popular with XBox gamers, PC gamers might have different criteria along with different games to compare it to. I don't like to generalise, but I would expect there to be plenty of PC gamers here on Hexus.

Of course, I could be completely wrong... which is more than likely. Still, each to their own!

[Wyoming]

UT2004 [has] more interesting game modes, maps and weapons.

I'd agree with that (excuse my rewording), as UT2004 is a great game which I play frequently (demo version, not the full, I have no money for such things). And the modes, maps and weapons are interesting. However I just believe Halo offers a viable stepping stone between realistic games (e.g. Ravenshield) and the even more frantic games such as Unreal Tournament.

I was simply trying to find with this thread whether anyone plays Halo, which they do not apparently. Oh well.

[Xaneden]

Perhaps Halo was interesting because of the hype surrounding it, and the promotion that was given to it as one the XBox's first games? Why do people drink Coca Cola rather than Coke from Tesco? Most of the time, it's not taste - it's image, and your perception of the product. Even if we know they taste the same, we continue to drink Coca Cola because we are told it's better by advertising.

And there's also the fact that, while it may be popular with XBox gamers, PC gamers might have different criteria along with different games to compare it to. I don't like to generalise, but I would expect there to be plenty of PC gamers here on Hexus.

I think you hit the nail on the head there.