Smack500 said:
flo_Orian said:
Varsity said:
)NateDogX said:
A True Canadian said:THINGS THAT MADE HALO INNOVATIVE:
1. Controls
Before Halo's release, the controls on console shooters were absolutely horrid. Very few games were able to take all the elements of a shooting game and relay it back towards the control scheme. The dual analogs for character movement and aim were so obvious, it was crazy that no one had thought of this before. One trigger for your weapon and one trigger for you grenade made so much sense.
This control scheme that was pioneered by Halo is now used in every other console shooter to come out on the market since (even the mediocore Xbox version of Counter-Strike). :O
2. Melee Attack
Once again, melee attackes were virtually unused in shooters until Halo came around. Yes there were a few exceptions in older shooters, but it was usually only with one special melee weapon. Halo took the concept and applied it too every weapon in the game (including the large grenade launcher, and even the sniper rifle and pistols).
This has now been emulated in many recent games (most popular being Call of Duty; a PC shooter no doubt).
3. Vehicles
Vehicles in First-Person Shooters were an after-thought, until Halo came in and showed the world just how much fun driving and shooting can be. Arguably the games best feature, the vehicles allowed you to transition from foot to your desired means of transportation seamlessly. There was no cut from you on foot, to you inside the vehicle. Instead the camera pans away from the First-Person perspective and switches to a Third-Person view which not only made the vehicles easier to drive, but allowed you to see more of the terrain.
Vehicles = Fun, and it's not surprising that the games best levels include the various ships, transports, and tanks that alter the gameplay from just run-and-gun, into an above average experience.
4. Two Weapons at a Time
That's right, only two weapons at a time. Implemented to make the game slightly more realistic than it is, having to carry only two weapons at a time made things a little more challenging. This two-weapon system was taken into consideration for many of the single-player modes of games in the future. It is true that the two-weapon limit was seen in earlier games such as Counter-Strike. However, this was the first time that this was done in a single-player experience, not a multiplayer one (as far as I know).
Many of you guys even remember Valve considering this two-weapon system and incorporating it into Half-Life 2.
It had that much of an impact.
5. Co-Operative Gameplay
If the vehicles weren't the best part of the game, then the co-operative mode was. Very few games had done the co-operative aspect well (Perfect Dark being the best one I had seen up until that point). Usually when co-operative modes are implemented in games, the developer would have to minimize the visuals or reduce the number of additional elements to make the game run at a better framerate. Halo took car of all these problems. The co-operative version and the single-player version are essentialy the same, except in one you are playing with a buddy.
In the co-operative version, there was a better utilization of vehicles, the player animations (such a loading your weapon) were superb, even the opening cutscene had the two of you in it. The game transformed into a much more stable, and immersive experience when playing with a friend. In fact co-op is the only reason why I still play the game every now and then. :thumbs:
These things are the main ones, but as you can see: how can you not call Halo innovative? Halo changed console Shooters forever, and even had an influence on PC games.
Halo 2 will most likely tweak these ideas and make them more fun than the original. We're even seeing other ideas being incorporated such as the energy sword to make the melee combat more exciting; destructable environments to make the worlds seem more alive than previous attempts; destructable vehicles to add a sense of fear, and even colossal enemies that would give the Strider a run for it's money.
Not all are innovative, not not all of them have been done successfully either. Melee combat, with swords and the like, in a First-Person Shooter have generally sucked. Red Faction attempted to give us destructable environments but even that detracted from the shooting experience. Destructable vehicles are nothing new, but it has never really had the added touch of physics (usually the vehicle would just erupt in a firey mess and collapse into itself). Only in driving games, has vehicle destruction been done well. Finally colossal enemies have been done before (Serious Sam, Painkiller), but this is the first time it will be done as an afterthought, not as the main attention grabber of the game.
We tend to forget the innovative aspects of Halo, and we forget even more of the additional gameplay mechanics being incorporated into the sequel. We know more than necessary about Half-Life and Half-Life 2's innovations and elements, so I felt it necessary to make this post and remind the rest of you how much more the Halo series is than just a regular shooter. Yes, many of the levels in the original sucked, the game is scarcely replayable, and the ideas used in the story had been seen a thousand times before; but for all the things it did wrong, it made up for by bringing the 5 innovative ideas to the gaming world.
:bounce:
She said:
The Thing said:
A True Canadian said:4. Two Weapons at a Time
That's right, only two weapons at a time. Implemented to make the game slightly more realistic than it is, having to carry only two weapons at a time made things a little more challenging. This two-weapon system was taken into consideration for many of the single-player modes of games in the future. It is true that the two-weapon limit was seen in earlier games such as Counter-Strike. However, this was the first time that this was done in a single-player experience, not a multiplayer one (as far as I know).
Many of you guys even remember Valve considering this two-weapon system and incorporating it into Half-Life 2.
It had that much of an impact.
A True Canadian said:I agree with the shield system, Warbie. But I didn't include it as an innovation as it had been doen before (most noticably in Half-Life). What I liked about the shield was that it was self-recharging. Your health would go down (as it should, you're not invincible), but your shield would continue to charge back to it's highest setting.
It's good to see that a game that takes place in the future has equipment that doesn't seem dated <insert DOOM 3 flashlight bashing here>.
ViolenceJack said:
ViolenceJack said:
ViolenceJack said:
ViolenceJack said:
