Here are some claims that people make to praise Halo with, however they are false. I'm going to prove it by counter pointing and debunking them.
"Halo's Golden Tripod combat mechanic adds a new layer of depth and strategy to the combat, especially with balance weaponry"
Absolutely not, the fact you can throw grenades without holstering your weapon can make it easy to spam grenades randomly and melee attacks are overpoweringly cheap. Plus, they have been done before and done better in Duke Nukem 3D and Team Fortress classic. The weapons in Halo are horribly balance because the weapons are either too powerful {Pistol, Battle Rifle, Plasma Sword} or too underpowered {PLasma pistol, magnum, plasma rifle, assault rifle}.
"Halo's story takes a lot of cliche and familiar elements but puts them on their heads to create a compelling plot, with a rich mythology and universe with relgious symbolism."
The story is basically Starship Troopers meets Aliens, aliens are taking over the world and you are a badass yet one dimensional super soldier who is humanity's last hope, a ring planet is planning to destroy all life and only you can destory it. Wow, great story pffft. The universe and "mythology" is a joke compared to games like Mass Effect and Star Control II. Plus Halo's religious symbolism makes the game very thiestic and blatantly pro Christianity.
"The enemy A.I. is intelligent, they all believe in believable ways while assorting to tactics. All the enemies are unique and behave differently"
The enemy A.I. is stupid because all they do is side step a little during a fire fight, that's it. The enemies are cartoonish to the point they seem like Sesame Street rejects, all of the are annoying and laughable.
"The multiplayer offers a lot of content and customization, forge and theatre add even more depth with theatre allowing the player to record gameplay footage and examine their mistakes to allow the player to use a better strategy the next time"
The multiplayer may seem good by console standards but it is shallow compared to the high standards of PC shooters and seems average in comparison. Forge is basically a dumb down version of Garry's mod and theatre doesn't allow the player to see anything.
"The Master Chief is unique is that he doesn't have much of a personality nor can you see his face so the player can feel he's the Master Chief, he speaks often to what the player is thinking which gives a strong sense of immersion."
The Master Chief is a one dimensional character who resorts to Macho action hero cliches, he's a typical space marine and nothing more. His lines are corny that seem straight out of cheesy 80's action flicks. The fact the game never shows his face is just a blatant excuse to his blandness.
"The vehicles handle smoothly and are very well balance with combat depth."
The vehicle controls are broken and sloppy with inconsistent physics, they offer no strategy because like the weapons they are generic and poorly balanced.
"The controls are the best for console first-person shooters."
All I have to say to that is GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, and TimeSplitters.
"The recharging energy shield keeps the pacing going foward which fortunely prevents the player from backtracking for health packs. It also adds a strategic element showing you can't soak up a tons of bullets in a fire fight."
The regenerating shield just makes the game much easier, why always take cover to wait for your damaged shield to recharge where you could just avoid enemy fire all together? Plus, searching for health packs gives the game more depth.
"The two weapon limit adds realistic immersion but also forces the player to make wise choices to what is the most effective weapon to the situation that is given."
The mechanic just makes the game even more dull, sure you have limited weapons you need to wisely choose but it doesn't matter when you have a bunch of weapons from your other dead opponents.
"The 30 seconds of fun philosophy Bungie uses for Halo means that battles will occur in nonscripted fashion allowing every mechanic to flow seamlessly with each other to allow the player to tackle enemies in multiple amount of ways with meaningful combat choices."
The "30 seconds of fun" philosophy really means that you have fun the first 30 seconds than get bored. No matter how many ways you can approach combat, the outcome is still the same as you just kill enemies. It makes battles seem unsatisfying, scripted sequences make battles more satisfying which makes Call of Duty and the Half-Life series a superior and more liked franchise than Halo.
So that is all, I have debunked all of the Halo fanboys claims. It's a shame how so many can't accept Halo's flawed/poor gaming design. Halo is only popular because it appeals with the casual masses and marketing, sad but true.
