I know what your saying mr.stickball Halo isn't one of the best shooters because of innovation, it's one of the best because bungie made it so malleable its possible to approach the game from any angle and find something enjoyable waiting for you.
If your a casual fan Halo is very easy to jump into, if you want story there is an amazing universe fleshed out through the courses of the games and books that add to this. For artist and machinimators theres theatre mode which is yet to be replicated by any console fps. For the people who love to build bungie included forge and yes it isn't amazing compared to anything on PC but a simple search can reveal the amazing maps people have created even with these limitations.
I could go on but my point is that people have become so obsessed with hating on Halo for whatever reason they find it convenient to ignore the most amazing aspects of halo. Theres a reason why theres usually 100,000 people on at any given time on Halo 3.
The definitive evidence that video games turn people into mass murderers
