I wouldn't go so far as to say that I necissarilly HATE Halo. I guess one could assert that I do have a bias against it. Here's why

When Halo came out I was still enraptured in my Counter Strike sessions. Counter Strike was a killer app mod of Half-Life that was an answer to all my multiplayer FPS wishes. In turn I basically preffered Counter Strike over One-player FPSs all together. With Counter-Strike bieng a free download and having Half Life, and availability to download any free update/mod for it I just saw no reason to buy another FPS. Hands down. Also especially considering the level of realism reached by Counterstrike, kinda soured Turok and Goldeneye for me and I felt there was no way I wanted to go back into the realm of bury 40 rounds of ammo or launch heatseeking mini nukes at people or whatever unreal design that was part of a game. Fantasy FPS was over (at that point in my life and I only wanted realism). I was enchanted by Red Faction, I love Total Recall (the movie), and thought the story and promised interactivity with environment would be sweet. Unfortunatly after play RF1 and 2 at friends I enjoyed it but only for a little bit then found myself just thinking Counterstrike.

Why others hate it? Why I kinda hated it for a while. One word: Fanboys. Ever since fanboyism rocked the States, it has decided the fate of a lot of gamers opinions for a franchise one way or the other on a personal level. People will just ignore the greatness or shittyness of a game based on what side of they fence theyve found themselves on. The fanboy arguments will the further reinforce said decision or effect others into a choice even if they didn't initially care. When Halo and XBOX came out, it was like a whole new breed of fanboy had arrived with them a whole new breed of stupidity. When a new Halo fan started raving about it, most times it was clear that they didn't knoe absolute F*** about what they were talking about. In my personal run-ins when these fanboys I personally thought to myself (no attempt to flame here, this is the past anyway). My god these are worse than the PS cazer fanboys who thought Final Fantasy started at 7 and don't know what an SNES looks like. I recieved so many blank stares from these fanboys when talking about any other shooter, be it Turok, Red Faction, Quake, and they would say things like " I don't know, when is it coming out?". I even had someone ask if Goldeneye was out on XBOX yet. I tried not to judge the game based on the people but it really is hard not too at least let it effect your psychi.
Lastly and of course not least, it was made by Microsoft. Many people in the IT industry (like myself) and who are Gamers (big time myself) already hated Microsoft before they even became a game company (same can be said about Sony for me, I've always hated them as a company). So that resentment did impact my feeling and I'm sure others towards Halo.

All in all I still admit I haven't warmed up to Halo yet. Since I havent played Counterstrike in at least 3 years I think I can aproach FPS again. I have to say I WANT Bioshock, some of yu have probably noticed that. Perhaps in time I will pick up Halo for like 9 bucks out of a sin bin (Hockey term for penalty box, that I sometimes use for bargain bin, simply cause I like the name), and play it for my Xbox (yes I did get one, because EB ran a weekend sale one time where I got 4 SEGA games free with the SEGA GT JSR Future and extra cS-controller all for $200). I still hated the controller, Microcon is okay. I got Fable 2nd week it was out, felt ripped off. Maybe, MAYBE logged in 35 hours total on the box, I dunno it just didn't do it for me. but now Im digressing to much. OK thats pretty much it.

Honestly, I think it's the fans(not just fanboys) of Halo that turn everyone off of the game. Seriously, they act like its the holy grail of gaming (of course, this is with any other game as well, but Halo fans/fanboys are just a lot louder). That's what turns me off from the game.

Personally, I think it's a kickass game and did like it better than MGS4 (:O), but Halo 3 just seemed a little over hyped (the single player anyways). It's online was kickass though :D

It's over hyped.

Although any single game that can save a console from absolute ruin more or less deserves the hype, particularly among fans of the platform.

It's sold well by any standard, although 2 and 3 definitely rode in upon the coattails of Halo CE, which is what really made the FPS genre a phenomenon for consoles for the first time since N64 007. Halo 2 and 3 just kept the momentum rolling.

Is it the best FPS out there? That's a personal preference call, but most will say no.

If you have an emotional investment in Master Chief and the Halo Universe, then that goes a very long way.

If you don't, then it's a good franchise, but far from the best.

Sure, it is not the best FPS out there, but it is incredibly fun. I have 2 guys that I party up with and we play for several hours. After over 1,000 matches, I am still enjoying myself. People tend to hate things because they are mainstream. It happens in every single facet of society, so why would video games be any different. For every 1 person who hate Halo, 5 more people like it.

I'll go with overhyped!

@JaggedSac

Exactly. Personally I hate Metal Gear Solid Series, that doesn't mean its a bad game just not my type. Everybody have a different taste in great games. And believe me most people who hate Halo 3 are the PS fanboys. People can hate all they want but Bungie and Microsoft is laughing a the way to the bank.

The sequels haven't lived up to the standards set by the original game. In an oversaturated genre, Combat Evolved was indeed worthy of the hype and praise heaped upon it. Its impact on the gaming landscape on a struggling platform is testament to this fact. Subsequent games in the franchise have not advanced this foundation in any way. Rather, the campaign has suffered as a consequence of the added emphasis on online multiplayer.

Halo 2 and 3 are overrated, but not Combat Evolved.

lag and standby cheating. The game itself is good.

I've played a ton of FPS since the original Wolfenstein 3d on my 386. The thing is Halo brought nothing really compelling to the FPS scene.

It succeeds for the same reason Nintendo succeeds: low barrier to entry.

It's not like Counter Strike or Armed Assault where you fail for months before becoming "semi-not-crappy;" you can immediately jump in and be competent if you have any experience FPS games.

Halo really is the Wii of FPS gaming. That's why it's popular and why the hardcore FPSers turn their nose up at it.

For me personally, that particular genre doesn't appeal to me unless it has the strategical/tactical depth of something like Counter Strike, the hardcore realism and scale of Armed Assault, or the pure furious speed of Quake 3.

I understand what Bungie is doing, though, and I respect it. I just personally don't like the game.