Im still trying to see how half life 2 is better... Yeah, the set pieces are maybe a tag bit better, but HL2 gunplay is quite lacking even to lesser shooters than halo. Games like FEAR own Half Life 2 enemy AI and gun fights.
HL2 does have a great story, music is awesome...weapons are great...but as an FPS I come to the table for the shooting part, and the shooting in Hal Life has always been a little on the safe side.
Half Life 2 has a very engaging story/setting, great atmosphere, great gameplay, great AI. Halo is a completely different style of FPS than Half Life though. Halo is the epitome of console style shooters (which means more than just dual analogue versus mouse and keyboard) while Half Life is the epitome of PC style shooters. Yes, other games do some things better, such as FEAR having superior AI, but as a complete package Half Life is deservedly, widely considered the best.
The Combines made me miss the Marines from the original Half-Life.
Halo isn't a just a "console" based shooter, it's a action packed combat shooter that focuses more on a combat than anything else. Halo's combat is far superior than Half-Life 2's or even the first one. Halo even has better A.I.
Yes, Half Life 2 did have the most sophisticated AI at it's time. Though FEAR came out not that long after and blew it away. Of course, when a game has sophisticated AI the enemies are left to their own accord more often and thus there's more potential for embarassment. Just look at STALKER for proof of the point.
I agree that F.E.A.R. blows away the competition when it comes to A.I. but S.T.A.L.K.E.R..... well usually they're very good but they never use grenades and there are some questionable quirks.
Im still trying to see how half life 2 is better... Yeah, the set pieces are maybe a tag bit better, but HL2 gunplay is quite lacking even to lesser shooters than halo. Games like FEAR own Half Life 2 enemy AI and gun fights.
HL2 does have a great story, music is awesome...weapons are great...but as an FPS I come to the table for the shooting part, and the shooting in Hal Life has always been a little on the safe side.
Half Life 2 has a very engaging story/setting, great atmosphere, great gameplay, great AI. Halo is a completely different style of FPS than Half Life though. Halo is the epitome of console style shooters (which means more than just dual analogue versus mouse and keyboard) while Half Life is the epitome of PC style shooters. Yes, other games do some things better, such as FEAR having superior AI, but as a complete package Half Life is deservedly, widely considered the best.
Completely agree. I am replaying Half Life 2 for the 3rd time now (PC, Xbox, Xbox360) and the game is still great. However it does have faults...Unlike a game like...Doom 3 for example, Halof life 2 and Halo 1 are timeless in my opinion. Always going to be fun and feel current. Until Natal kicks in that is :)
I don't believe I was directly addressing you with my post. My mentioning Goldeneye should have been a clear indicator of that.
And no, Halo CE is inferior to its competition and was such from the start compared to PC FPS games of the time. I'm not sure where your "more substance" comes in as many of the weapons weren't that useful, the level design was bland and disappointing, and the story was passable but nothing more.
Im assuming that you don't like the game, but are there any reasonably wise and objective reasons or is it just your own personal opinion being expressed?
Words Of Wisdom said: Neither Golden Eye nor Halo is the best FPS game ever. Both are easily inferior to just about everything on the market today.
I've never said GoldenEye or Halo Combat Evolved are the best FPS ever, I said Halo CE is ONE of the best FPS ever made.
No, Halo Combat Evolved outdoes most of the current competition because it has more substance than games like Call of Duty 4 and BioShock {Dumb down rehash System Shock 2, but a pretty damn good rehash}, the only FPS in the market that can rival or beat Hal are Crysis and Half-Life 2.
I don't believe I was directly addressing you with my post. My mentioning Goldeneye should have been a clear indicator of that.
And no, Halo CE is inferior to its competition and was such from the start compared to PC FPS games of the time. I'm not sure where your "more substance" comes in as many of the weapons weren't that useful, the level design was bland and disappointing, and the story was passable but nothing more.
Halo CE has some of the most balanced weapons in the genre, every single weapon have their own equal amount strengths and weaknesses.... except for the pistol... man the damn thing even had a scope.
The story is familiar but it took familiar, old ideas and made them interesting again. Lone space marine vs. alien hordes had been done before. However, casting the aliens as religious fanatics was unusual - and remember, Halo came out not too long after 9/11. Of course, given that the aliens had vastly superior technology, relied on air/ space strikes, and were vulnerable to guerrilla warfare on the ground, you could see the game as a political metaphor from both sides. The "sleeping menace" idea (the Flood) had been done, but usually it's the player character's fault that some ancient terror gets awakened, and usually the player character is responsible for cleaning it up. In Halo, you basically just run away from the ancient menace. The "unstoppable superweapon that is our only hope against the Evil Ones" had been done before, but the twist that the Halo rings would stop the Flood by killing everything else in the galaxy, and that you therefore DO NOT want to activate the ancient superweapon that is the only hope of stopping them, was unique. Zombies had been done before, but fast zombies created by alien parasites that used weapons and attacked your enemies just as much as they attacked you? Hadn't been done before, and, though it's common now, virtually no FPSes had three-sided battles when Halo came out. Eccentric ancient guardian who tells you how to stop the Evil Ones? Done before, but 343 Guilty Spark was unique in that he was trying to save the world by destroying it, and wasn't actually truly good - or truly bad, for that matter. Fairly sexualized female character who advises you? Done in countless games, but Cortana was unique in that she actually acted intelligent, had an independent personality, and had a friendly but completely non-sexual relationship with the main character. Lots of stuff was borrowed from Aliens (dropships, badass black sergeant, space marines in gray armor), but it was integrated seamlessly.
Also, Halo is just as good as most or any PC FPS as shown in this review.
But WOW, can't you agree that Halo brought most of the things that PC FPS' had to the living room (other than online, but co-op/system link makes up for it anyways)? I think this is what most console FPS' at the time were missing.
At the same time, it brought new things to the table. I mean vehicles just like from Battlefield but not really, multiple grenades, CO-OP!!, the two weapon combo, regenerating shields!!! (not ala Halo 2, but still it was the start of this movement), etc.
Also, the story in Halo can be interesting when you look at it from a BioShock/Metroid/Legend of Zelda perspective. What I mean by that is that the game has a lot of backstory that is really interesting IMO. In Halo 2 and 3, we learn a bit more about the Forerunners and The Reclaimer and stuff, but it still gives place to imagination.
Also, I know it doesn't really have anything to do with Halo CE, but the Halo games are the only ones that still include 4-player split-screen multiplayer up to this day. I can't wait to see more developers do that again. Stupid online gaming...! >_>
Random game thought : Why is Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 getting so much hate? We finally get a real game and they're not even satisfied... I'm starting to hate the gaming community so f****** much...
Squilliam said: For its time it was among the best. There are what? 3-4 other names which are consistantly brought up alongside the name Halo: CE? Doesn't that fit the premise of the thread that its one of but not the best FPS ever?
@Reasonable, be reasonable and read the OP again.
Till now, I still say it's among the best. To me, the only FPS that can defeat it are Half-Life 2 & 1 and Deus Ex.
Words Of Wisdom said: Neither Golden Eye nor Halo is the best FPS game ever. Both are easily inferior to just about everything on the market today.
I've never said GoldenEye or Halo Combat Evolved are the best FPS ever, I said Halo CE is ONE of the best FPS ever made.
No, Halo Combat Evolved outdoes most of the current competition because it has more substance than games like Call of Duty 4 and BioShock {Dumb down rehash System Shock 2, but a pretty damn good rehash}, the only FPS in the market that can rival or beat Hal are Crysis and Half-Life 2.
I don't believe I was directly addressing you with my post. My mentioning Goldeneye should have been a clear indicator of that.
And no, Halo CE is inferior to its competition and was such from the start compared to PC FPS games of the time. I'm not sure where your "more substance" comes in as many of the weapons weren't that useful, the level design was bland and disappointing, and the story was passable but nothing more.
Halo CE has some of the most balanced weapons in the genre, every single weapon have their own equal amount strengths and weaknesses.... except for the pistol... man the damn thing even had a scope.
The story is familiar but it took familiar, old ideas and made them interesting again. Lone space marine vs. alien hordes had been done before. However, casting the aliens as religious fanatics was unusual - and remember, Halo came out not too long after 9/11. Of course, given that the aliens had vastly superior technology, relied on air/ space strikes, and were vulnerable to guerrilla warfare on the ground, you could see the game as a political metaphor from both sides. The "sleeping menace" idea (the Flood) had been done, but usually it's the player character's fault that some ancient terror gets awakened, and usually the player character is responsible for cleaning it up. In Halo, you basically just run away from the ancient menace. The "unstoppable superweapon that is our only hope against the Evil Ones" had been done before, but the twist that the Halo rings would stop the Flood by killing everything else in the galaxy, and that you therefore DO NOT want to activate the ancient superweapon that is the only hope of stopping them, was unique. Zombies had been done before, but fast zombies created by alien parasites that used weapons and attacked your enemies just as much as they attacked you? Hadn't been done before, and, though it's common now, virtually no FPSes had three-sided battles when Halo came out. Eccentric ancient guardian who tells you how to stop the Evil Ones? Done before, but 343 Guilty Spark was unique in that he was trying to save the world by destroying it, and wasn't actually truly good - or truly bad, for that matter. Fairly sexualized female character who advises you? Done in countless games, but Cortana was unique in that she actually acted intelligent, had an independent personality, and had a friendly but completely non-sexual relationship with the main character. Lots of stuff was borrowed from Aliens (dropships, badass black sergeant, space marines in gray armor), but it was integrated seamlessly.
Also, Halo is just as good as most or any PC FPS as shown in this review.
Well vehicles were done before in GoldenEye, Red Faction, and Tribes {Even though I haven't played Tribes} but Halo was one of the few FPS to do it right! They feel good, controll well, and the physics are badass!
Squilliam said: For its time it was among the best. There are what? 3-4 other names which are consistantly brought up alongside the name Halo: CE? Doesn't that fit the premise of the thread that its one of but not the best FPS ever?
@Reasonable, be reasonable and read the OP again.
Till now, I still say it's among the best. To me, the only FPS that can defeat it are Half-Life 2 & 1 and Deus Ex.
Never played Deus Ex! I don't know why, its kind of similar to why I never played through Halo: CE. I went through a couple of years where I 'only' played Age of Empires 2.
Squilliam said: For its time it was among the best. There are what? 3-4 other names which are consistantly brought up alongside the name Halo: CE? Doesn't that fit the premise of the thread that its one of but not the best FPS ever?
@Reasonable, be reasonable and read the OP again.
Till now, I still say it's among the best. To me, the only FPS that can defeat it are Half-Life 2 & 1 and Deus Ex.
Never played Deus Ex! I don't know why, its kind of similar to why I never played through Halo: CE. I went through a couple of years where I 'only' played Age of Empires 2.
Dude, when you get the chance you gotta play Deus Ex. It's one the best games ever created, it's so good I wanted to punch myself in the head for placing it a number lower than Halo CE.
Oh my, one nerd from Gamespot says Halo is as good as all other PC FPS'. Then it must be true. I don't think the majority of PC gamers and PC game reviewers share his opinion on this. If anything, the major discrepancies between the X-box and PC versions of Halo 1 and 2 in scores should be a hint at this.
