What makes Halo popular?

[swdarin]

I've played the Halo Trial PC demo on my computer and it seems to work properly. Thank god! and speaking of Perfect Dark, that game is a true classic IMO. I've never played any FPS games since Pefect Dark until I've played Half-Life.

Timesplitters 2 looks bad-ass, i wish i played that game.

 

[Warbie]

Timesplitters 2 looks bad-ass, i wish i played that game.

It's pretty good - miles away from the quality of Perfect Dark though, especially in single player.

 

[nicrd]

I'm getting really tired of people saying that halo is popular because it was the only XBox game availlable at launch, or that console gamers did not know about FPS and blabla. Personnaly, I used to be a PC-only gamer like alot of people on this forum. I played alot of fps on the PC, among many other types of games. I had a biased opinion about consoles, and especially about a certain console signed by Bill Gates .

One day, my brother bought an XBox (more than an year after launch). I laughed and him and swore I would never play with this stupid waste of good money. It took a long time to prove that I was wrong. I fell in love with Halo. Its so beautiful (not because of the # of polygons, pls dont flame me) and amusing; the setting and the story is great; the firefights are challenging; and most suprising of all the controls play very well.

This said, I loved it because it appealed to my taste. This is purely subjective. Almost all of my friends loved it for the same reasons, and they have also played almost all the PC shooters before (including HL1).

Pls, stop saying its popular because of newbies playing it, this argument is very far from explaining the overall popularity of Halo.

Overhyped, maybe a little. But just a tiny little bit.

 

[umop]

Honestly I don't understand why it's so popular... I guess I'm just not a big fan of photon laser tripple beam scanner mobile rays shooting out of my ass. Plus consoles seem laggy to me, I think I'm PC spoiled

 

[Pressure]

Yea I played a game at my friends house on an Xbox. While I was playing the game seemed to be lagging. I asked, "Does this seem laggy to you?" He said he didn't notice anything. Everytime I play a console game now it seems like it's lagging. It's nothing major but its noticable.

 

[OCybrManO]

I'm with the people that love Halo. I owned a couple of Ataris, an NES, a SNES, a Genesis, a PS1, a N64, a Dreamcast, a PS2, a GameCube, and about a dozen PCs... but I was totally biased against everything XBox. For the first year after its release I would not listen to any of the reviews or hype surrounding the XBox. The game that finally pulled me over to the dark side was Halo: Combat Evolved. Everything about it was full of polish. It was an incredibly well made game. I heard about it right after it changed from an RTS to a FPS. Initially, I was pissed off about all of the changes that were being made in the transition from PC to XBox (I am still a little angry that we never got to see what Halo could have been) but when I played it I was definately not disappointed.

I might not put it in my "Top 10 Games of All Time (Any Genre)" list... but it's easily in my "Top 10 FPS Games of All Time" list.

 

[Computer5k]

I'll check it out.

Do you need to know the original's story to enjoy the second?

I've only played the original's SP at someone elses house, and it seemed to have no story... and the second has little story. Both still great games.

 

[Neo_Kuja]

While I was playing the game seemed to be lagging. I asked, "Does this seem laggy to you?" He said he didn't notice anything. Everytime I play a console game now it seems like it's lagging. It's nothing major but its noticable.

It's probably the controls. X-Box Controller NEVER will replace the feeling of sniping with precision mouse (optical). If America's Army came to X-Box, and a link was established so that they could play with PC's (Think FFXI - The PS2 and PC versions play togeather), I would be laughing as I sniped every one of the X-Box players in the head while they fiddled with their stupid aiming sticks

Then, they would probably go cry, and start saying that AA sucks compared to Halo, and THEN I'd start doing nade's, headshots, and spamming them with the Heavy Machine Gun, until they got sick of it and left ......

 

[Pressure]

I think its popular because the alien and marine hug at the end of legendary.

 

[Neo_Kuja]

Trust X-Box owners to get excited at THAT !

 

[Cybernoid]

Everything about it was full of polish. It was an incredibly well made game.

Except most of the levels (which had no detail or personality) were apparently copy+pasted over and over...

 

[Raxxman]

Pls, stop saying its popular because of newbies playing it, this argument is very far from explaining the overall popularity of Halo.

I'm not saying that.

What I'm saying is people who bought and Xbox reasonably early always got Halo. Why because it was the flagship launch.

Okay

Its so beautiful (not because of the # of polygons, pls dont flame me) and amusing; the setting and the story is great; the firefights are challenging; and most suprising of all the controls play very well.

not gonna talk about the beauty, cause the concept work is nice. But you have to admit the textures are a little bland and repetative. This isn't so much of an issue on a normal TV due to low resolution.

Setting and story: I find it funny how people go on about the story. Okay I like sci-fi and its a sci-fi plot written well. But thats about it, its yah run o' the mill aliens trying to wipe out humanity with a hint of uber powerfulness someware in the mix.

Now the game plays well. But not that well that it takes on every other FPS and hands there asses to them. The AI is fun, but does silly things (get one elite close to a cliff throw a grenade the other side of it and watch the elite do a swan dive off the cliff). The shield system is probally the best feature for the game, as it adds some tactics to hiding while your shield powers up. However it does have issues. The weapons aren't well thought out (pistol is more powerful than the assault rifle + its way more accuracte and has a zoom) and I find the phyiscs to be purely meh.

So we're left with a game which I'd give about 88% on XBox (Coop) and 82% on PC. And I'm not the only person. Yet this game has a major fan base of people who foam at the mouth when the word Halo is used in a sentence which doesn't contain 'F****** Rocks'. Not saying its newbies I'm not even talking about the players really.

I'm talking about the compertition.

Halo walked onto Xbox unchallanged, no other fps was close to it on the XBox. If it had headed onto the PC then it really would of faced up vs some seriously good games. As such the number of people who played it proportionaly will be less. Factor in that it really doesn't stand out by a country mile and if Halo was a PC relase only or a none Xbox title relase and I reckon it would be one of those games which people occasionaly put in the list of 'Good FPS's' and it would probally have a good cult following, like several of the other PC FPS's.

However if you really think that if Halo hadn't been an Xbox launch relase, or that it hadn't recieved the huge advert campaign that it did for its Xbox relase, we'd be here talking about why its so popular?

 

[kungfucheez]

I have halo for the Pc and the multiplayer aspect is fun for awhile but gets old fast, and i never really bothered to finish the, Sp plus everyone has told me the X-Box version is much better

 

[DizzyOne]

It's probably the controls. X-Box Controller NEVER will replace the feeling of sniping with precision mouse (optical). If America's Army came to X-Box, and a link was established so that they could play with PC's (Think FFXI - The PS2 and PC versions play togeather), I would be laughing as I sniped every one of the X-Box players in the head while they fiddled with their stupid aiming sticks

Then, they would probably go cry, and start saying that AA sucks compared to Halo, and THEN I'd start doing nade's, headshots, and spamming them with the Heavy Machine Gun, until they got sick of it and left ......

its a myth that u cant aim precise and fast with an controller, ofc a mouse is less stress and its much easier to turn around, aslong as your in the right angle when u get attacked (like cs). I love controllers especially the sensitivity, its just more enjoyable ( more style even )

 

[Warbie]

its a myth that u cant aim precise and fast with an controller, ofc a mouse is less stress and its much easier to turn around, aslong as your in the right angle when u get attacked (like cs). I love controllers especially the sensitivity, its just more enjoyable ( more style even )

I agree. It's just easier with a mouse - not better.

If America's Army came to X-Box, and a link was established so that they could play with PC's (Think FFXI - The PS2 and PC versions play togeather), I would be laughing as I sniped every one of the X-Box players in the head while they fiddled with their stupid aiming sticks

Of course you would, that's obvious. That doesn't mean controlling a fps with a mouse is superior in any way. I like the challenge that aiming with an analogue stick offers (having to carefully take aim can really add to the experience in some games). Getting a headshot in Golden Eye is far more satisfying than in, say, CS. Using a mouse is just easier.

Sure, some games need the ability to aim real fast (Quake 3) and need mouse control (DC version of Q3 sucked balls as a result) These cases are usually limited to online, twitch games though. For single player games, that are often more about immersion than super reflex hedshots, then i'll take a joypad anyday.

Not to mention how poop moving with a keyboard is compared to analogue control (talking single player here) Trigger buttons > mouse buttons and rumble really adds to the immersion. In simple terms, it feels more like you're shooting a gun with a joypad.

(but mouse owns all for online clan play )

 

[ShadowFox]

Most games I've played overdo the rumble. I mean, I jump off a three foot drop and I get a rumble?

I don't see what is so bad about moving with the keyboard. Give me my WSAD anyday.