Games You Hate That Everyone Else Loves

[fastbilly1]

One thing that I have to give Halo credit for is that the developers were looking out for us alternate control players. Legacy, Southpaw, and Southpaw Legacy were all options. It also had 4 player splitscreen and 4 player per box lan. These things, while trumped by Time Splitters 2, are what give it a place in my collection. The fact that the developers cared enough to give us old school fans options is important to me. Now like I said TS2 did this even better (allowed full remapping) but unlike other games of the time, ie most Xbox FPS, it was a little bit of coding that the developers knew would sell more copies so they put the time into it.

Simply put, if Halo did not have Legacy controls I would not have played it.

[Luke]

I suppose it's a little unfair to call Halo bad. I would call it "average". Possibly even "competent". But it doesn't do anything that hadn't already been done and done better on the PC. It's even a step back control-wise. The biggest issue I have with it is that it caused a massive boom in FPS's on the console platforms and subsequently caused several FPS's to suffer in quality to varying degress (DX:IW, Bioshock).

There is no emoticon that would show how much I want to hug you right now.
Y'know, in a platonic way.

[Flak Beard]

You guys make some solid points, but I tend to isolate my experiences when it comes to games. If every thing is always boiling down to a comparison, you'll never enjoy anything. I played a lot of PC FPS games before Halo as well, but the game was still an excellent experience for me. The controls, gameplay, atmosphere, story and music all clicked.

Was it as complex as some of the PC FPS games I played before? No, but who cares? Should I not play the original Super Mario Bros. because I've greatly enjoyed something more evolved like Ratchet & Clank? I cut my teeth on the original Dragon Warrior when it comes to RPGs. Just about everything else since that has been far more involved and complex. Do I really need to shit all over DW1 now? Screw that. I still enjoy it, and still have fondness for it. Sometimes simpler just works.

Same goes for DBZ. I just take it for what it is, and enjoyed it greatly. It wasn't my first anime either. I think a huge problem with the bashing of it, is that it gets compared to anime series produced ten years after it. I'm sure there are a handful of people who watched it not realizing it was produced in the 80s.

I'll agree to disagree though. I think we can all agree however that Halo does is some way fall victim to irrational trashing across the internet. It put Xbox on the map, so it's going to be the target of fanboys who oppose Microsoft. I've just heard so many stupid remarks over the last five years, that it's hard to take anyone serious when it comes to "hating" the game. That's my own fault though. Can you blame me for being on the defensive?

[Ack]

I can understand you wanting to defend something that pretty much put a favorite console on the map. And I agree that some sections of the anti-Halo community have no valid complaints beyond "it's on Xbox and Xbox sucks." I do feel that some of us have valid criticisms, but since this is about personal opinions I can't say you're doing anything wrong by liking the game. If you enjoy it, enjoy it and don't worry that I don't enjoy it.

And I realize that some of my criticisms may stem from the console it's on. For instance, I said I dislike the controls. I realize that that's partly because I dislike the Xbox's controller, so I shouldn't blame the game for that.

I also don't like some of the things that I feel Halo popularized, like the regenerating shield. I prefer going room to room, agonizing over health pick ups, because it makes me feel like I'm more into the game. It makes me question if I really will get through the next room without getting hit by a stray bullet or something. With a regenerating shield, I'm not as worried and it kills some of the experience for me.

[Luke]

I can understand you wanting to defend something that pretty much put a favorite console on the map. And I agree that some sections of the anti-Halo community have no valid complaints beyond "it's on Xbox and Xbox sucks." I do feel that some of us have valid criticisms, but since this is about personal opinions I can't say you're doing anything wrong by liking the game. If you enjoy it, enjoy it and don't worry that I don't enjoy it.

And I realize that some of my criticisms may stem from the console it's on. For instance, I said I dislike the controls. I realize that that's partly because I dislike the Xbox's controller, so I shouldn't blame the game for that.

I also don't like some of the things that I feel Halo popularized, like the regenerating shield. I prefer going room to room, agonizing over health pick ups, because it makes me feel like I'm more into the game. It makes me question if I really will get through the next room without getting hit by a stray bullet or something. With a regenerating shield, I'm not as worried and it kills some of the experience for me.

I actually only own Halo on the PC, and I'm still not a fan. The controls are quite nice though. I think one of the reasons my friends like Halo so much is that it was almost like a myspace/facebook of gaming. It was a hit when I was in undergrad, so a lot of my buddies were reuniting with old friends via xbox live. It kind of spawned a social gaming network for gamers who already weren't in the online loop via PC games.
That said, when my friends came over to my place, I should have charged them by the hour to play Counter Strike, I might be able to afford a neo geo.

[Gnashvar]

I think Halo is feeling the love I hate it too. Same with Gears of War and all those other hyped fps. I don't know why but it just drives me nuts when kids go bananas over those games.

[Luke]

I might be wrong, but isn't GOW a 3rd person shooter?

[Gnashvar]

I might be wrong, but isn't GOW a 3rd person shooter?

Yeah it is Halo can be a 3rd person too. My bad.

[Luke]

Not at all your bad, I haven't played GOW yet, but I was pretty sure it had a similar over the shoulder cam ala R.E 4.

[Flak Beard]

Yeah it is Halo can be a 3rd person too. My bad.

Halo is 1st person almost all of the time. Only when using vehicles or holding a turret in Halo 3 does it switch to a third person perspective.