Halo... This Video Game series evokes two kinds of emotions from the general video game circuit, One of Fandom and one of Hatred, There are very few gamers who interweave into varied states of both emotions but they exist. In this article we will look at both viewpoints and I will give my opinion on the game.
Hatred: Many people who hate the Halo franchise state that their hatred is fueled by a Story/ Campaign that is void of a plausible storyline, that every plot twist and point are too chaoutic and hard to follow, some believe it is too shallow. The other main point of Contention is a Multiplayer mode that is chaotic, and void of any kind of "true skill" and tactical gameplay. These opinions have merits, ever since the original Halo: Combat Evolved helped make the Xbox name what it is today the story has been convoluted and decently sketchy leaving gamers to either fill in the blanks themselves or look for further reading on the subject such as the halo novels, comics and short movies, Halo 3 did a good jb of tying up loose ends but it rings hollow to gamers who love a deep engrossing story. As for the Multiplayer, it is chaotic, it doesnt have many points of tactics other than outnumbering your opponent and it is easy to feel cheated when getting the jump on an enemy only to have him/her still kill you when you obviously should have won. That aside we will look at the other side of the coin.
Fandom: Halo is loved because it is a bright, vibrant game with beautiful designs and awesome setpieces. Fans of the series say that Halo says enough during its story to keep your attention and that the characters steal the show, and that Multiplayer though chaotic is a great break from games such as Call of Duty which sometimes overpower players without detailed knowledge of a maps choke points, spawn points, and hiding spots/strategic areas. They say that there are so many that take that formula in multiplayer why not let a game have chaos if the players love it. They also point out that just because there arent subtle tactics it doesnt mean a player who thinks is not any better than a trigger happy lunatic, baiting players to tight areas to kill with shotguns/grenades or hiding with a sniper rifle is tactical enough in their eyes.
My Opinion: The Halo series has done incredible things, especialy for online gaming. The Forge mode that allows players to create their own maps...although done before by games such as Farcry and Little Big Planet...gives players amazing control to create their visions, Theatre mode allows players to view old matches and relive glory moments by editing clips and taking still frames to send to friends, The graphics are always impressive, the Campaign for the most part is solid and the Multiplayer is always the biggest draw of the serious, while I enjoy the game variants and explosive moments, I myself enjoy more tactical games, such as a Command and Conquer or Call of Duty or Gears of War, I do appreciate Bungies effort in putting great quality forward. In a standard 1-10 format, 1 being terrible and 10 being perfect I would give the series a fantastic rating of 9. Halo 2 is the best of the series multiplayer and Halo 3 is best for story. I URGE ANY GAMER TO PLAY THE HALO SERIES, if you don't you truly are missing out, you don't have to love it but at least appreciate how solid a series of game it truly is.
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