Jump to content

Original Halo Trilogy is Overrated


echoeight2five

Recommended Posts

Just recently I picked up the Xbox one for cheap and bought gamepass for 3 months. Off and on I have been playing through the original trilogy on MCC. Like most Playstation players, I have always heard that Halo is a system seller and the best exclusive on Xbox since the original. The original Halo was very surprising on the fact that it is holds up really well today, until you get to the copy and paste rooms and the third time you’ve had to backtrack. Then the flood. I’ve heard of the flood, but never knew what it was. When they are introduced, it turns the game upside down and it becomes more of a survival horror game, which was really cool. But after the first hour, you’ve seen and done everything new and there is still 6 more hours of killing the flood. After the boring slog of the first game, Bungie decides to shoehorn it into the next two games. Each game has interesting set pieces and great gameplay until almost the end where they throw the flood in. Story was overall pretty meh. Also each game felt VERY similar to the previous. This is not a bashing of the original trilogy, just minor gripes. What are your thoughts on these games, are the new ones better and worth playing or just be forgotten and stop here. Let me know.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think the series is overrated. The story is pretty good, but I wouldn't put it up there as one of the greats. I can't really speak for the level design since it's been years since I've played any of them, but I have played each campaign multiple times, so I would say they were good enough for me. One of the best aspects of Halo is the combat, which really shines in the multiplayer.

 

I think you're also focused too much on the campaign. I've always seen Halo as more of a multiplayer affair similar to CoD and GoW. Halo 1 had a decent multiplayer, while 2's was very good and 3's was incredible. In my opinion, Halo: Reach is the best Halo has to offer. Both the multiplayer and campaign are a step-up from the original trilogy and you might also enjoy it more since there are no flood. Halo 3: ODST is also worth a try. If you don't like the original trilogy then I'd say avoid the new games by 343. I played 4 and it was terribly boring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Halo is alright, but it wouldn't sell me an Xbox One if I didn't have that already. Anyway I have to give it some credit for being a sci-fi FPS series instead of another military one. Even so, if I had to choose between a new Halo or Crysis sequel, I'd go with Crysis. Call of Duty's futuristic installments are some of my favorites... I like the direction the Black Ops sub-series went for its 2nd & 3rd episodes. Too bad Treyarch dumped the campaign in BO4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't played since Halo 2 (and only got to really play some MP of Halo 3 at someone else's house) but apart from those sort of levels like the Flood where things get repetitive I still think the original trilogy along with Reach and ODST hold up well by today's standards. I guess it's fair to say it isn't mindblowing like you would expect them to be if you played them today and there are a couple things that are dated but I still think they fit in that timeless category. Especially since attempts to make "Halo killers" like Killzone and Haze (Yeah, remember Haze? :P ) didn't work out.  Although at least Killzone managed to become it's own thing but that's another discussion.

 

I don't really remember how well the story is presented in the games themselves but I like the theme of humanity fighting against a common enemy and all that. It's something I feel like only Mass Effect really got right in terms of making something similar and I would like it if another game like it or some other game could do a similar kind of story to it and do it right. It's certainly a type of story I think needs to happen again anyway.

 

But yeah, I wouldn't say they are overrated. Maybe kind of dated but those can be overlooked when compared to everything else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn it. Saw the thread name "Halo Trilogy", immediately thought back to the rumors that MC Collection was considered for port a few years ago, got insanely excited, then realized this is a dig on Halo (shame on you) and got sad. All in the course of 3/10th of a second. 

 

Thanks OP. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have only ever played the very first Halo game a few years ago. Honestly? I loved it. I used to hear a lot about it back in the day in gaming magazines, how Halo: Combat Evolved revolutionized the FPS genre and I always thought I would find it OK at most playing it some 15 years after its release. I ended up liking it way more than I expected, to the point that it would easily make me buy an Xbox One to play through the entire franchise (that and Gears and Forza, but still). It's not for everyone, though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Halo was the only game that I genuinely loved to the point of digging up and absorbing as much of the lore of it's universe as I could. Much of it I found to be quite fascinating. Even played Halo Wars, which is a decent RTS spinoff from the main series of the FPS titles.

 

So, I don't feel that's it's overrated, but probably isn't your cup of tea.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Afro_Gear said:

Damn it. Saw the thread name "Halo Trilogy", immediately thought back to the rumors that MC Collection was considered for port a few years ago, got insanely excited, then realized this is a dig on Halo (shame on you) and got sad. All in the course of 3/10th of a second. 

 

Thanks OP. 

It is being ported to steam

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having played through a chunk of the first few games at least in the Master Chief Collection, I don't think they've aged well personally.  The love of the Halo games stems from nostalgia more than anything IMO.  Speaking from experience, lugging Xbox's around and playing multiplayer/LAN with friends was a defining phase of many gamers lives.  I don't even like FPS's really and that was incredibly fun... adding to the fact Halo was one of the first-best FPS's on console period and no doubt influenced countless FPS franchises that followed it.

 

Overrated may not be entirely inaccurate in 2019... but its doing a disservice to the franchises significance to the industry, and to gamers on a personal level.

Edited by Dreakon13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In order to really appreciate the original Halo trilogy you have to put things into perspective. Those games are 12-18 years old at this point. Like you said, Halo CE is still a blast to play today. There won’t be many other games from around that time that are. CE was also made in something like 9 months, after they scrapped like 3 different projects that were supposed to be the first Halo. That’s why there’s a lot of backtracking and repetition in level design.

 

Overall, I think they’re still great. Like with any other old game, you have to approach it with the right mindset. If you play GTA III today, you’re not going to be blown away by it, but you’d have to be a fool to call it overrated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The multiplayer is honestly pretty fun, and some of the mechanics are still being used in shooters today (If I recall a specific grenade button and armour with shield regen were both popularised by Halo) but holy shit the level design in the original Combat Evolved is absolute trash. I came into it after playing Quake II, Unreal and Half Life and boy those games have held up a lot better than the original Halo. The pacing also feels pretty wonky and despite completing the first game I still don't remember anything about the story. Maybe they improved on level design and storytelling in 2 and 3 (I only played multiplayer with my friends on those games) but the original really isn't very good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I'm old and was pretty experienced at online games like quake and unreal. Didn't like Halo at all, having only 2 weapons to carry seemed ridiculous at the time and the story was pretty lame imo. It's popularity was that it was a console shooter that also had online. GOW is the only XB series I've actually liked tbh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...