What is good about Halo?

[The Director]

A question many people ask who don't play Halo is, "What's so good about it? What makes it better than any other FPS?"

 

There are things about Halo that other games beat it at, and there are things that not everyone enjoys about it. Which makes that question hard to answer.

 

I think that the answer, quite simply, would be "everything". Here's my reasons.

 

The campaign of the game starts off with a lone warrior. That's a bit cliche, until we learn that he wasn't always alone. That he used to be part of a team. And that most of that team is dead, and that they died defending the human race. Which is exactly what the lone warrior intends to do. You fight enemies with technology that seems to be mystical, until you actually pick it up and use it on them. You pick up the game and play it, and you find the story to be kind of... empty. Then you find out about the Haloverse, and all the books that go with the games that fill in the gaps. That's what grabbed me about Halo. I was mainly into it for the multiplayer with my friends, but then when I actually picked up one of the books I was forever hooked. Turns out the story of the games is only 1/1000th of the full story. The story about the technologically superior alien race that is determined to wipe out humanity, and humanity doing everything it can to simply survive. The story about what originally started the SPARTAN and MJOLNIR programs. The story of how Master Chief Petty Officer John Spartan 117 came to be in a cryotube aboard the Pillar of Autumn. That in and of itself sets it apart from most FPS games.

 

Then we have the multiplayer. The constantly evolving, adapting, and fun multiplayer. Everyone has their own favorite Halo multiplayer, and that to me is amazing. That the games can be so different from each other that people will argue for hours over whether Halo 3 or Halo Reach had the better multiplayer. The simplicity of the multiplayer at the beginning was what hooked most of us older gamers. Pressing one button to switch between two weapons at the time was revolutionary. And there were some pretty cool ways to play as well. Then things started getting a bit more complex, but even then that added more fun to the game. Customizable gametypes, the ability to play with people who you've never met before and might not again while still playing with friends, more vehicles and weapons. And then they let you customize armor, gametypes, and even maps to play on. Even people who didn't want to play multiplayer that often always had something to do. Then came Forge World and more armor customization. It was to the point where you could tell a player just by the type of armor they were wearing. You could spend hours customizing your character and building a map and gametype. And all of this on a console.

 

And then we have the community. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's still more tight knit than most. There are so many different people that contribute to Halo that it's unbelievable. There is enough fan fiction to fill entire novels. There's enough Machinima to last you for days (maybe weeks), even if you were watching it all back to back. And all of that is from the Halo community. That makes the game SO much more fun to me. When I can discover a new detail in the campaign and have an active discussion with a dozen people about it, that's when you know there's something good about the game. The fanbase is no more or less loyal than other games, but it's definitely more "in depth". There are people in the community who create and write backstories for their spartans, which is something  you usually only see in RPG's.

 

There are plenty of games that can say that they have a feature that Halo does. Whether it be a good story, a good multiplayer, a good fanbase, or a good game mechanic. The thing about Halo, though, is that it has them all. Whether you play it for just the story, for just the multiplayer, or just the ability to create, you play it because you enjoy what you can do in the game. 

 

That's the reason I think Halo is awesome, and am definitely looking forward to Halo 5.

[D-38 Boss]

TL:DR version: Trust us, It's good.

 

 

Excellent read.

[BeckoningZebra1]

I don't know what to say about this thread other than how much I agree with you.

 

I think you were dead on about Halo's community.

The Halo community is above and beyond any other community I've ever been on. I think that's what drew me to this site, how much the members actually cared.

 

Halo community members don't just care about your ideas, your rank, your achievements, or your awesome looking armor (which btw are all good things to care about, in the right perspective) but the Halo community, this community, cares about you, and what you go through.

 

The Halo community is one of the kindest if not the kindest communities out there,

 

Thank You Halo Community, from the bottom of my Heart

[Caboose The Ace]

This reminds me on how great the halo community once was we will rebuild better than before.

[Jamis]

I 100% agree with all of that, you covered everything that makes Halo great.  Awesome Read!!

[SternuS]

As always, since I've been on this site, you are definitely, unarguably right. We should really put this where everyone that comes on this forum can see this.

 

But do you know what I think will make Halo a revolutionary FPS again in the future, besides, obviously, its story? Forge. A place where you can create maps that will be played by millions of gamers worldwide. It's the old "Editor" option in games like Starcraft, on PC, transported on a console. This will be revolutionary.

[Frankenzer]

I agree with all you said but here's my opinion:

 

The thing that makes halo so good is the fact that it is a combination of different wonderful game elements. Good story, gameplay, graphics, etc. If any of those elements is to be taken away halo would be ruined. This is why I respect 343 so much. Even with time constraints and pressure they were able to make a really great game. Those people who keep saying 343 ruined halo is deluded. They improved halo to something it was never before. All halo really needs are more dedicated game companies that will buy 343 more time to make games on the main trilogy while making spin offs that expand the halo universe and at the same time make a good game.

 

The most important element of halo is the community. Without our support halo would be nothing it is today. that's why members of the community should remain loyal and not quit playing or supporting halo. Halo 5 is destined to be a hit and the community will be something it was never before. Join me and wait and by doing this we will help build halo.

[The Director]

I agree with all you said but here's my opinion:

 

The thing that makes halo so good is the fact that it is a combination of different wonderful game elements. Good story, gameplay, graphics, etc. If any of those elements is to be taken away halo would be ruined. This is why I respect 343 so much. Even with time constraints and pressure they were able to make a really great game. Those people who keep saying 343 ruined halo is deluded. They improved halo to something it was never before. All halo really needs are more dedicated game companies that will buy 343 more time to make games on the main trilogy while making spin offs that expand the halo universe and at the same time make a good game.

 

The most important element of halo is the community. Without our support halo would be nothing it is today. that's why members of the community should remain loyal and not quit playing or supporting halo. Halo 5 is destined to be a hit and the community will be something it was never before. Join me and wait and by doing this we will help build halo.

I have to disagree about one thing. If they removed a piece of the game, the game would still be pretty amazing. It would be ruined for some people, but the others would still love it.

 

I think that we are a bit spoiled by Halo. We expect a certain amount of "woah" out of every new Halo that rolls out. Not every Halo game will have that though. I really, really hope that Halo 5 does.

[Maestro]

The one thing I like most about Halo is the amount of creativity and imagination put into it. People have come up with some crazy creatures in fiction, but I never would have come up with a four-jawed samurai humanoid alien species, little methane-breathing coneheads, or massive metallic hunchbacks that are really ancient humans who were assimilated back when humanity was in its prehistoric technologically advanced state.

[The Director]

The one thing I like most about Halo is the amount of creativity and imagination put into it. People have come up with some crazy creatures in fiction, but I never would have come up with a four-jawed samurai humanoid alien species, little methane-breathing coneheads, or massive metallic hunchbacks that are really ancient humans who were assimilated back when humanity was in its prehistoric technologically advanced state.

Don't forget the walking tanks that are really made up from a bunch of worms. lol

[Jack Of Harts]

I love the sense of adventure and mystery in it, first time playing. It keeps you at the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen at the end and it just makes you want to keep playing. The multiplayer is fun as well. Often, you will find really cool people who don't criticise your lack of skill, or for stealing theirs, they just like to have a good game and when you do good, the other players respect you. The Halo community is very good, they're very dedicated, and they like discussing a lot about the games. So Halo 4 had it's flaws, but it's still a great game. I thought it was much better than Reach, though not as good as CE or 3. Most of it's flaws have been patched though, showing that 343 listens to criticism and how much they want to improve their game. I have high expectations for Halo 5 and I am very excited for the future of Halo.

 

"Halo. It's finished" "No, I think we're just getting started..."

[The Stig]

I will answer your answer, about a question, and answer it with a question...

 

If someone asks you, "What is good about Halo?" or something along those lines, just respond with...

 

"There are things about Halo... Even the Fans, do not understand..."

 

Is it not better to let them know not why the game is good, but why it is not bad?

 

They might already know the reasons why the game is good. So try telling them reasons why the game is not bad instead of why it is good.

 

 

Hope that makes sense.

[BaconShelf]

I'm just going to call you out on community.

 

 

The Halo community is a horrible community. Outside this forum, anyway.

 

Other than that, basically right.

 

I haven't ever seen a more splintered and divided fanbase.

[Jamis]

I'm just going to call you out on community.

 

 

The Halo community is a horrible community. Outside this forum, anyway.

 

Other than that, basically right.

 

I haven't ever seen a more splintered and divided fanbase.

That is a fair point I have been on other forums where all they do is slag Halo 4 and 343i, personally I loved Halo 4 really good story and it also the awesome spin off Forward Unto Dawn with Laskeys story.  Also thought Spartan Ops was a great idea and added alot of story as well as linking Glasslands and Thursday War (which if you havent read I recommend you do) although shame it was only one season but hope they do something simialr in the future. The fact that you finally see some Forerunners as well got me really excited! All in all they did a good job and like you guys above I am really looking forward to Halo 5 really dont want to wait!!

[BaconShelf]

Yeah. This forum is nice but everywhere else, it's just constant flaming over differing opinions

[The Director]

Yeah. This forum is nice but everywhere else, it's just constant flaming over differing opinions

Yeah, that's kind of the internet in a nutshell. The fractured community is actually what makes it great. You see, we all love the same games, but different parts of the games. Some parts of the community love to rage at each other about what their favorite is, other's don't. The splintering of the community isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just makes being a part of the Halo community a bit more interesting.

[Jamis]

Yeah, if there wasnt so many heated debates online and everyone agreed there wouldnt be any point going onto forums.  In saying that though there are some harsh comments sometimes that are totally uncalled for if you dont like a game i.e Halo dont play it instead of ranting at the people who enjoy it. No harm in having a bit of a debate but when it turns to a slagging match is usually when I leave it

[Ryu♥Hayabusa]

Why is Halo great?

 

Fear not, for we have made it so.