You Want Overrated? I Give You Halo

Kombo Writes: "Since we have started talking about overrated games, let's talk about the biggest and most grotesquely overrated game and now franchise of our time: Halo. When Halo released on the Xbox back in 2001, it was praised as the Messiah of the Xbox, and it quickly became the "best" FPS ever made. For that time period, Halo was the best FPS on the home console market. Is Halo a good shooter? Yes, it is, but it's not the greatest FPS now or was it back when it first released."

[s8anicslayer]

This will reach 1000 degrees very fast!

[Th3 Chr0nic]

yep kotaku must be low on hits today

but i will say Halflife as well as Halflife 2 are classics that every FPS fan should play.
I can remmeber playing halflife 1 on PC way back and i still have vivid memories of it. The AI at the time was really good and it was the first time i ever had an AI opponent throw one of my nades back at me lol. i still remember the scene like it was yesterday but that had to be at least 10 years ago if not more.
I finished Hafllife 2 on PC and then finished ep1-2 on 360 as well as portal (cake!!)

[borgome]

Due to all of the jealous sony fanboys scurrying over to try and bash the most legendary video game series of all time.

[TheBand1t]

Okay. I just compared LittleBigPlanet and MGS2: SoL, MGS4: GotP. And the only one that tops those is Halo: CE, which makes sense since Halo: CE was, for it's time, a very good console FPS.

[OmarJA]

Nothing new, we already know that...

"Due to all of the jealous sony fanboys scurrying over to try and bash the most legendary video game series of all time."

Sorry there are many many series far better & more legendary than Halo, i guess you were born yesterday eh ?

[callahan09]

@Lariat:

Well, uh... the whole idea behind over-rated is that the scores are higher than it deserves. I'm not agreeing that Halo is overrated, I'm just saying. So its metascore being high is precisely the point when trying to speak of it being "overrated."

[bbblockbird]

bout time sum1 said it halo is an average game but 3 sh!Ty fanboys sware its the best fps n to them i say duck hunt is the best fps

[Parapraxis]

@ Th3 Chr0nic, you obviously didn't read the article.
This story isn't from Kotaku.

[BattleAxe]

This is a very well written article, and very very interesting to. Its so true that marketing can pull the wool over alot of peoples eyes.

[ukilnme]

OmarJA

It's also nothing new that all the Halo haters would come swarming in. We already knew that too.

[Trebius]

Ha...Ha...Ha.

You my friend...are the very representation of a modern day "gamer".
Sorry to make an example out of you but your statement left you open for heavy criticism...

To call this Halo series...Legendary...and greatest of all time...wow. You were probably 13 or 14 when it was released...and the heavy advertising made you worship him...theyve warped your poor little brain for life...

The "Real" gamers, did not start gaming with the Xbox and PS1, like you little boys that think you're gamers but you're really just started playing with Halo, and were never able to appreciate games on Atari...then on NES....SNES...Genesis...seeing the evolution of gaming first hand.

The Halo Generation (the ones that live by it, and worship it) is deranged and delusional, maybe it was the mountain dew.

I didnt say the game isnt great, it's definitely a good game...but if you think about it, if M$ could've gotten babies to cry for Halo, they would've done it.

[pixelsword]

1. They insult Halo without giving any real reason to insult it.

2. They try to pin Halo 2's shortcomings on the original Halo.

3. The comment "Killzone just hasn't found itself, yet. It has great graphics and solid gameplay, but it lacks its own unique identity". Is one of the most impotent I've heard from a gaming site in ages. Say the word "Helghast" and almost immediately images of orange-eyed demons appear in your head; deny it all you want, you know you saw them.

4. Half-Life was a great game, but to call it the greatest is also a little... burdensome to the game's legacy.

[Sheddi]

OffT: Ahh i remember the Sega genesis days.
Does anyone else remember a game called "Combat Cars"?

OnT: I tried Halo on PC and it wasn't extraordinary or something.
It wasn't bad though either, I liked the flying things and cars :P

[Information Minister]

You might want to leave your basement once in a while and smell the fresh air of the real world, because Halo is not "the most legendary video game series of all time". Not even close!

And yeah... the "jealous sony fanboys" will be all over this, because there's just no chance in hell we'll spot an angry Halo fanboy or two right? Oh wait, I think you answered my question before I asked it.

*EDIT*
BTW, I've said it before and I'll say it again: opinion blog posts aren't news and don't belong here.

[JokesOnYou]

Honestly he really didn't give any reasons why Halo is over-rated, he just seems to think Half-Life didn't get the recognition it deserved.

-I think this guy nailed it:

"I think Halo set the bar for 1st Person shooters on consoles. Just like Goldeneye did before it. Until a shooter can bring another level to the genre. Other then more people online, and better graphics it will remain king. By the way I don't even play 1st person shooters, but I know the impact it has had on the industry." -TheWon

-Shooters are my favorite, I have played them ALL and the original Halo CE is the most memorable shooter I've ever played so for me, yes its the best ever, Halo2 & Halo3 may not be the best FPS ever but for me and millions others they are definitely among the elite shooters. In the end at this point its a useless debate because Halo 1,2 and 3 have already solidified its success in gaming history fans like me won't think any less of Halo because some guy on a blog says its over-rated. I honestly believe like with anything in life thats very popular some of the negativity is truly nothing more than a difference in tastes,(thats fine) while alot of it is just plain old jealousy. I respect anybodys opinion who doesn't think its the best ever, but really that has no effect on what Halo has meant to the genre on consoles.

JOY

[Trebius]

I think everyone can agree on that. Very well put.

[gaffyh]

Lol flamebait article. It is true in one respect, Halo is not as good as the hype, but it is still a pretty good game.

I have played some of Halo 1 and 2, and I finished Halo 3, and I wouldn't call myself a halo fan. The only reason I finished Halo 3 was really to see what the hype was about, but when I played through it, it was quite obvious that the original Halo had a much better story (even though I gave up on that after a few hours).

The main thing I hate about halo is the stupid little triangle-shaped enemies. If they didn't have them, the game would be a lot better, those things are really annoying. Also it's a little bit too colourful, like Resistance 2, Resistance 1 was better by design.

EDIT: just needed to add IMO

[s8anicslayer]

I just want to know, no matter how one may feel about halo or any other game for that matter, how is success over-rated, and if halo is so over-rated why are there multitudes of people around the world that devour anything halo? I think the article should be why is Halo over-saturated

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

10 million gamers would disagree

[vhero]

Halo has and always be massively over rated as its the MS game to make there console shine that isn't really there. I'm not saying its not a good FPS but its not the best by far. The best console FPS has to be timesplitters series even with no online play. It had everything! Fully customizable and great fun to boot and best of all no 8 year old kids screaming yo mama jokes when they kill you which degrades any game IMO. The best FPS of all time for any system in terms of sales and amount of games played online is Half Life and its mods TFC/TFC2/CS/Source etc.... if you disagree with that your an idiot millions of people still play CS and TFC every day and have while Halo was just an idea in Bungies head.

[GameGambits]

Halo is successful. People need to deal with it. It did enough right at the right time and was backed up in the right way.

I personally got my 360 because the Halo 3 commercials were so well done and I felt I was missing out big time as a gamer by not having a console to play it on ASAP. The marketing team did a great job, and while the game wasn't my cup of tea for more than a month it was still a sound purchase.

People don't get we are never going to agree on what the best game is or which ones are the bomb. It's because videogames at the end of the day are ART, but it's a form of art we can judge the canvas it was made on. If you make a broken game(the canvas), then the final product(art) will be noted and recognized as crap by most.

Games are entertainment and not much different from Monopoly, Clue, Candyland, etc. It's a game at the end of the day and you'll like different ones more for your own tastes.

Halo over praised? Nope it gets just what it earned through the means it did. Marketing, developing, and releasing when it has. Success is more than just a matter of looking back 2 years later and wondering why you aren't playing it anymore or you enjoy something more now. It's because times change and most people do with it.

Articles like this are so unintelligent and need to have heat seeking missles auto lock and shoot at their writers the second they are written.

[Eddie20101]

The Halo games are great games, are they legendary? no, not as a series of games. The first Halo or Halo Ce was the only one deserving of it's high scores, not a perfect score, because there is no such thing as a perfect game. Halo 2 and 3 had week single player that was kinda short, but had very good multi-player. Graphically Halo 3 is just slightly better than the previous Xbox Halo games and was also kinda short. If I were scoring the games I would score the first game a 9 to 9.5, the second and third games I would Score an 8.5 to 9. So basically Halo or Halo CE was the only triple A tittle out of the three for me.

[TheRealSpy02]

the article concludes with half life not getting the recognition it deserves. are you kidding me? almost every gamer i know considers the half life series to be the great FPS games ever made. which they are.

the only reason console games get more credit is because most websites cater to console gaming more than pc gaming. but lets be real here. there is a very clear division between console gaming and pc gaming...especially when it comes to FPS.

the reason why halo gets, and deserves, the credit it gets is because before halo, FPS on console was taboo. it was an unsuccessful medium for FPS to appear on. there were a couple notable shooters before halo like goldeneye and turok. but think about the controls. using those C-buttons to look around or move. you had to be a pretty hard core N64er to be a good FPS player. and aside from that, there really was nothing (though i do remember playing doom on super nintendo and Descent on PS1). nobody will ever argue halo 1 had amazing graphics or even original ideas. it simply successfully relocated the genre to console because it was fun to play.

ppl who try to tear it down are probably anti MS and forget exactly what it deserves credit for.

[FlameBaitGod]

People make halo look awesome because its the only FPS exclusive they have and make it a Big Deal, and since almost every 1 that buys a 360 will get halo, friends play 2gether and enjoy it. But its nothing of a legend

[Rainstorm81]

Halo 1 did something great it brought FPS games to the mainstream (sorry goldeneye 64 and Perfect dark) it was fun it was co-op and the multiplayer was the most balanced of all the Halo games.

Because of this Halo 2 was highly anticipated to me i read article after article and preview after preview. They named so many things that would be in Halo 2...... I think 2 things made it the dual weilding and the plasma sword.....NOT the 4-5 new vehicles...NOT all the new weapons they proclaimed....NOT the new gameplay elements as Elites take real time cover and climb walls...... Halo 2 was a shadow of Halo CE..... ending the game as the Arbitor I mean WTF

Halo 3 was dubbed Halo 2.5 because there wasnt a graphical boost by that much( ie KZ1 & KZ2 or Unreal Tournament to Gears) They finally added the features that were supposed to be in Halo 2, other than that all you heard was "FINISH THE FIGHT" Not to mention it got OWNED by COD4 on XBL.

Once they started going the EA sports route and not giving more bang for my buck each time I lost interest. Halo is a great series for MS but not its not the G.O.A.T.

Madden is they most popular sports game out......is it the best?...not IMO and ive been playing madden since SNES.
BTW I support PS3 but I play everything

Popularity =/= Greatness

rant over.....I return you to your regular programmed fanboy nonsense

[NickIni]

I don't dislike Halo, but I agree it is incredibly over rated, good, no doubt, but not "the messiah of FPS". Claiming to be a messiah is punishable by crucifixion you know.

Legend of Zelda is probably my all time favourite.

[Thugbot187]

Fanboy article for Half-Life. He had some good point here and there but I didn't agree with everything he said. Half-Life wasn't the best FPS ever, the free mod made by some people in there free time Counter Strike was so much better and so many people played it.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

The game still commands a $40 price tag, still sells well and it is probably the largest community of gamers on one console. I say there is nothing overrated about the game with so many gamers playing this game and continuing to buy it.

It is not the end all be all game, but it certainly was a great game in a balanced and complete package.

Go ahead, hit the disagree button and it will only show the bias from the fanbois here.

[kevnb]

Halo is a good game that not everybody likes. Sometimes opinions of others are valid, you cant just tell 8 million people the game they love sucks because you don't like it. Heck I love Halo, and Ive been playing fps games since wolfenstein 3d, so dont give me any "only casuals like Halo" bs.

[godofthunder10]

I agree and disagree with him.I'll agree that right now halo isn't the best FPS we have now.On the other hand to say that it never was even when halo 1st came out is just a bias remark.People could say what they wont.Halo put FPS on the map.Before halo FPS wasn't as popular as they are now.Hell i have a 360 and i'm not that crazy over halo.Unlike ps3 fanboys i'm not bias.Anyone could tell the impact that the 1st Halo had over FPS.To say that all 3 parts are overrated is just a bias remark .
I bet this guy thinks that R 1&2 & MGS4 was underrated.When it comes to R 1&2 it's a great game.When it comes to MGS4 it's just an over hyped game like halo 3 was and that's a fact.I'm tired of hearing ps3 fanboys cry and claim that a 360 game is overrated and vice vesa.I'll agree with ps3 fanboys that halo 3 was over hyped because i'm not a childish fanboy.To claim that MGS4 wasn't is just a bias remark.The fact is that MGS4 is more of a movie then anything else.On top of that it didn't even bring anything new into to games.Fanboys need to face reality.The fact is that not only does the 360 have games that's over hyped but the ps3 does to and that's a fact.Instead of trying to trash 1 system i like to know why they are not playing a game on the system they have.If it's as great as they claim then they would be playing it instead of trying to trash the other system.
I've read an article the other day where they had a fanboy claiming that the wii is 1st,the ps3 is 2nd and the 360 is 3rd when it comes to consoles sold.You could tell that he's just a ps3 fanboy.The fact is that the 360 have almost 8 million more units sold then the ps3.I'm not saying the ps3 wont catch up,it might.The fact is that as of right now his remark isn't true.The truth is that it's the wii 1st,the 360 2nd and the ps3 3rd and that's a fact.

[Psycho_Mantis]

It will be OVER 9,000!!!!!!

[indysurfn]

Just one! Because this game has proof of being the most played in online matches and hours. Month after month! Not so with ANY PS3 game any ps2 game any wii game or any other xbox360 game including Call of Duty 4! When a game is over rated people quickly stop playing it. But this game keeps setting records WELL after it sold!

[farhsa2008]

damn...took the words right out of my mouth, it brings nothing new to the table and graphcially it aint even that good to look at.

[silverchode]

but still fun to play.

[edgeofblade]

It's clear people will set their own criteria for a good game so they can twist and squirm their way into whatever their religious-faith fanboyism tells them to believe.

I never saw how a game being overrated was supposed to diminish the experience of people who didn't even play it in the first place. If you don't like it, it's not like anyone is forcing you to play it.

But at the same time, the fact that people like it is the self-evident proof. It's a good game series, just like all the other popular shooters.

[Bubble Buddy]

farhsa2008: damn...took the words right out of my mouth, it brings nothing new to the table and graphcially it aint even that good to look at.

silverchode: but still fun to play

Silver, You should TELL THAT to the reviewers when they review games. Not every game has to reinvent the wheel. They just have to make the wheel spin well.

[Hallucinate]

doesnt have to bring anything new to the table... and like 8million people dissagre with you..but it is definitly overrated

[Man_of_the_year]

I don't recall ever playing ANY Halo game that put me to sleep...however i do remember MGS4 putting me to sleep in some scenes...To me that "game" was highly over-rated.

[Capt CHAOS]

.

[Deadman64]

lol why can the sony fanboys not accept Halo's success and it has brought plenty new to the table. Near perfect gameplay, theater, matchmaking, party system, screenshots, Forge, i'm sorry but you dont get anything like this on a console, and I doubt an PC game comes with all this things. (May be incorrect on the PC comment)

[Major_Tom]

Why can't you accept that some people have different opinions than you do. Not everyone is going to like Halo.

[Man_of_the_year]

I agree with you Tom. everyone does have their own opinion. But seriously...out of all the over hyped games that have come out this gen...do you really think HALO 3 is the most over hyped game? I mean, it had a lot of money put into marketing but reviews accross the board in the gaming industry have pretty much agreed that it is a game well worth the money and reputaion. Now if it was competely HYPED and received poor reviews, then ya i could say that it was an over hyped game...or if people just didn't care about it and didn't buy it then ya i would say it was an over hyped game as More money was put into advertising the game than it actually returned.

Basically...-sales and/or -reviews + large marketing/advertising (including internet fanboy Hype) = Over Hyped

or +sales and/or +reviews + Large Marketing/Advertising (including internet fanboy hype) =/= Over Hyped.

I hope this formula is understandable to some of you guys...

[Deadman64]

Tom thats fine. Honestly. But please note I said success. The Halo Trilogy was a huge success.

[Shaka2K6]

If Halo was on the PS2 from the start it wouldn't be anywhere near as popular as it is now. It would have just been another decent game in a sea of decent to great games. But since it was on the Xbox, and there weren't too many good games on it, It has become the most overhyped game in history!!!

[Sky Zero]

Vehicles, Movie Editors, ranking system, customizable character look, quick and easy matchmaking, several game types, Forge (level creation).

Halo3 came out in 2007 and still no console FPS has matched its features FACT.

People are filled with hate because of Halo's success and can't face the fact that even to this day no FPS on the market has topped it's features and over all pull in the console gaming market.

I laugh when people try to knock it but they can't stop it as if there words will change a thing.

Counter Strike Source isn't the best of FPS's in terms of features but the community that plays it that invest time and become CREATIVE with the title is what makes it still a PC champ.

It takes a great game in order for you to use your MIND to make it better.

That is Halo.

And if you think for a second that every person that plays Halo is stupid or 12 your an idiot....it is not the most played XBL game for a reason so simple that only a dumbass could think of.

So if Halo3 is overrated how come there are no other games that have matched or surpassed its features?

[Lord Xire]

Bubbles+

See your a Wildstar fan too.

[mario888]

You can talk all day about how great halo is but it will never appeal to a hardcore old school gamer like myself.

Here a Fact for you:

Halo has Auto Aim assist which has evolved from full Auto Aim Lock on.
Helps average players paly the game better but screws players who want something more challenging.

I don't consider racing around maps to see who can grab the best weapons a challenge or getting runned over by noob in a vehicle fun.

Fact: Noob games like Halo, Gears and COD will always Appeal to a larger demograhic and Games like Killzone require alot of skill to play.

Gaming is Indeed changing.

:

[iHEARTboobs]

I would have to agree with you that Halo 3 hasn't been matched in terms of features. I give major props to Bungie for the support they have given to the game. It's not my favorite FPS but at the very least it's solid with great features.

As for Killzone, I think like most games, it does require skill to be good. But I don't think those two games should be compared because they're different play styles.

[UnwanteDreamz]

Yep because its on XBOX. Wouldn't be the most played if it was on PSN. BTW the only thing Halo has that UT3 didn't was a movie editor. You can even play as Master Chief if you got the PS3 or PC version. Truth is if you havent played the first one you missed the boat and Halo will not be enough for you to be a crazed fan about it. Guess it aint that good.

[TheSadTruth]

"Vehicles, Movie Editors, ranking system, customizable character look, quick and easy matchmaking, several game types, Forge (level creation).

Halo3 came out in 2007 and still no console FPS has matched its features FACT. "

I'm a huge fanboy and you're right, almost no game in existence can match Halo's extensive features or options. Where Halo 3 falls short is it's gameplay, graphics and single player.

I'm not going to write a massive essay but basically:

Gameplay: Massively degraded from Halo 2, the maps that shipped with the title were also massively mediocre compared to those of Halo 1 or 2.

Graphics: Let's be honest, with as much money as Microsoft throws at Bungie, Bungie failed horribly graphically and didn't push the system as far as it could go. Look at Halo 2 on the Xbox in comparison.

Single Player: A big stinky turd. It's amazing they can't get a good single player story going when they've crafted such an amazing universe. Apparently the books are excellent, but Halo 3 picked off where Halo 2 left off, a completely terrible campaign.

[Perjoss]

Not a big halo fan myself, I have played all 3 games but only because my cousin practically forced me to as he is a halo nut. Single player wise I think it is a bit over rated.

I see a good story in there but VERY badly told, combat vs flood is just not fun (running backwards in a FPS away from targets while trying to shoot them and bumping into parts of the level is a no no)

Having said all that, I'm still waiting for a game to come out with matchmaking as good as the matchmaking in Halo games. You can log onto halo 3 right now and be matched up with people of similar skill levels and actually have a fun game. Many games have claimed to do this but FAILED.

Most other online FPS if you log on for the first time after the game has been out for over a year you will get your arse handed to you by people that are much much better than you.

[Jager]

Vehicles, Halo
Movie Editors, Halo
ranking system, Socom started this
customizable character look, Socom
quick and easy matchmaking, Socom
several game types, Socom (for console online)
Forge (level creation) Halo

love this quote btw, just screams ur ignorance

"Halo3 came out in 2007 and still no console FPS has matched its features FACT."

most of the features you listed... Socom already started? lol

[mario888]

Sky Halo has Auto Aim assist which is an improved version of Auto Aim Lock on and Cod is even worst. How long have you been gaming? I used to game on PC before I moved to Console. I also remember when you could turn off Auto aim.

Gamers like me are the minority. There are more gamers like you will swear games like Halo, CoD and Gears are the best shooters you can buy. Devs will therefore continue to make noob games because it sells. You don't even realize that Halo has Auto Aim. Here is some links for you.

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/...

http://vgchartz.com/forum/t...

@Skyzero wrote:
Running and gunning with accuracy and awareness takes skill.
Just because the game is easy to play doesn't mean you don't have to combine skill.

Skill is the very foundation of what makes a good player.
From the looks of it you sound like you have NEVER played a Halo game.

KZ2 is a camp and shoot game.

Camping takes NO Skill

~~~~~~~~~~
I have played Halo and all my xbox noob friends love it. Halo is too slow for me and Gears!!! Gears feels like your crawling on the floor. Slow the game down , add in cheap weapons and auto aim assist and you got yourself a 5 million or 10 million seller.

All games require skill but Killzone require much, much more and therefore is more challenging to me.

Try this: aim at someone in Halo and have you friend run across you sights. Then come back to me and say Halo has no Auto aim.

FYI: Killzone has no Auto Aim.
Pick a game on the 360 that does not have Auto Aim and I will play you. Or play me one on one in Killzone. We will play all 7 modes and since you think Killzone is all camping . You go ahead and camp and see how far the gets you. I'll even film it for N4g.

[Sky Zero]

I'll play you in Gears of War.

No auto aim in that.

I returned KZ2 back to gamefly a month ago.

Or even CoD4....I will literally let you use any weapon of choice while I use a pistol.

Halo3 in multiplayer Auto Aim is irrelevant.

Try to stay on target in an actual Halo3 match putting all hope into Auto Aim and see how far it gets you..you'd be meleed before you get the chance to think.

Nowhere.

Oh and Jager....maybe your illiterate or just have a mental defect...but Halo has all of those in 1.

Let me explain it on a 5th grade level so you can understand it more clearly.

So since Socom doesn't have a level creator, vehicles, movie editor that means it "doesn't" have the features which means it isn't MATCHED.

Which goes back to the quote ""Halo3 came out in 2007 and still no console FPS has matched its features"

[-PEEDO BEAR-]

Halo loves to stick it to the sony trolls

[mario888]

You are correct, forgot about that, Gears has No AUTO AIM Assist. No, I'll Decline Gears of War, LOL.

That game moves too fast for me and I could never get the good weapons when playing with my friends. - Sarcasm . I couldn't play Gears more than 10 minutes because it was so Slow.

Skyzero:
I returned KZ2 back to gamefly a month ago.

Or even CoD4....I will literally let you use any weapon of choice while I use a pistol.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

So you do have a ps3? You returning Killzone 2 says it all.
COD 4 has more Auto Aim than Halo and it's twitch games which I got bored at real quick but at the time there was nothing else to play except Socom.

All games requires certain level of skill to be good. Saying that, Killzone is not a game for everyone because it requires you to have really good eye and hand coordination. Killzone two is also a very fast pace game. It's also the best console game out right now for really competitive No Auto Aim clan matches. I can understand why you didn't like it or was there some other reason you don't own it?

Since you like COD, Halo and Gears so much do you have one of these? http://www.evilcontrollers....

Skyzero Wrote:
Halo3 in multiplayer Auto Aim is irrelevant.

Try to stay on target in an actual Halo3 match putting all hope into Auto Aim and see how far it gets you..you'd be meleed before you get the chance to think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You really don't understand what I mean by Halo's Auto Aim Assist do you?
Auto-Aiming is a technique used by Bungie in the Halo series to make targeting your opponent easier. This shifts the challenge from aiming to movement and strategy, unlike most FPSs. Other games use Auto-Aim to completely lock on to a target, while Halo simply makes it easier. This was taken from http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/...
Halo's Auto aim targets the Mass and you do so you just need to adjust your aim. Again , Gamer like you will enjoy Halo while the minority games like me will not consider it a Great Game. Killzone is Has No Auto Aim and you have to shoot in Burst because the gun jumps. Add the fact that you target is moving make the game very challenging.

You have to be kidding about the Pistol. If we play the small training map. I will destroy you with my MP5. I don't camp. I constantly run , pull the gun up, auto aim takes over and your dead. Like I said COD is a twitch game, no skill really needed.

PSN J1reborn but i really don't play under that ID anymore. Message my account and I will play you in a cage match. But remember you have to use a pistol , lol. And no Camping. You come at me an I come at you. My twitch skills are second to none.

[caladbolg777]

Geez guys. Calm down for a sec. Pop your weenies back into your breeches. Go buy TF2 (PC) and hop on http://www.thesharktank.org or http://www.themachine.org and play a couple rounds.

Guaranteed you go crying back to your 360 with your tail between your legs.

No e-peen contests until you've played a REAL fps.

[N2NOther]

No skill needed in COD? Tell that to the countless people I cause to quit games all the time. Like today, my friend and I were playing Domination on Chinatown, each using MP5s and when the host quit the score was 75 - 45 us, and we both had in the mid 20's in kills and haven't even cracked 8 deaths. Mind you, no one else on our team or the enemy's had more than 9 kills. Why is this? Because the people we were playing were unskilled. Even at higher ranks of prestige. COD may have a pick up and play feel but to be truly good at it, requires skill.

[velaxun]

Seriously, CoD is the biggest camp fest I've ever played. No matter where you go, someone is standing in a corner watching a door. It's sad. Like mentioned above, go play some TF2 ON PC and try arguing about skill again ok?

[Eddie20101]

Having tons of features doesn't make a game perfect. It's the content within those features that is the deciding factor, the single player in Halo 2 and 3 was not the greatest nor were the graphics. Multi-player and all the features that go along with it, is pretty great. Games should be rated by all of its content not just buy its Multi-player.

I like the Halo games, but in my opinion Halo 2 and 3 did not deserve all the Hype they were given.

[Matpan]

Very well put Sky Zero.

@mario888 ... I am a hardcore long time gamer. Been gaming steadily since the 8 bit era. FPS being probably my favourite genre since Wofenstein released back in the day. And I can say Halo is an excelent game on its own rights.

Back when Halo 1 was released it quite stirred consoles FPS scene and added a good quote of ease-of-use for more casual gamers to try and enter the genre while keeping it competitive. I frankly don´t see how bringing a genre to the masses is something wrong or bad... I frankly don´t get the "elitist hardcore gamer" point there... I want more people to play games, specialy the games that I like. Halo did a great job at getting new people into FPSs... and surely there where lots of kids (we all where kids sometime in our lifes) and noobies (yup to become a pro or a hardcore you actually need to be a noob at some point, right?) but that speaks very highly of Halo, coming from a genre that was quite "select" or "elitist".

And to the people arguing about botgome´s point... It´s his own view of the matter... Maybe he was 10 when the game released and it is heaven for him. We sure have a special place for that one game that shocked us at a special moment (mine was Sonic the hedgehog)... and the fact that Halo has become THAT special game for many people isn´t but another point in favour of the franchise. Live and let live... 8 and 16 bit games where GREAT in their way and for their time, but gaming continued its growth to a multi billion business and the way games are made now and the type of games that appeal to kids nowadays has changed... So there is no point in saying a SNES classic is better than Halo (or any other PS2/Xbox and beyond game). By that logic, your father would say that no electronic game would ever top a ping pong match, for what that matters...

I mean, I have a special place for old school gaming, and I am hardcore in my essence, but I cope with the idea that new generations turn their attention to new stuff and might not think so highly of the games that I regard as classics... It´s just the way history unfolds.

And in the process I really enjoy new games, new IPs and Ideas and always welcome innovation and new gamers. It would be foolish not to recon Halo is a major force in modern gaming. It is one of the lead franchises of one of the three major console manufacturers to date. And the 3rd installment in the series is a record in sales and online gaming, not to forget all the points SkyZero pointed out...

you speak of marketing and overhyping... Since when is it wrong for a company to advertise their own products? I think what MS did with halo3 was just perfect (look at the figures if you have any doubts). But don´t go thinking you can sell crap just for advertising it, the brand name and the game quality also boosted sales greatly, I doubt any other than a Halo game would have done what Halo 3 did in terms of sales. And the game deserves the praise it got, it might not be a technical marvel from a graphics point of view (though they are quite ok) but lets not forget all the rest of the things it does REALLY great. Halo 1 btw is yet a better game in many aspects (at least for its time), and was a great visual ride when released.

And I´m not saying a game is better or worse depending on how well it sells, I´m trying to cover all the points here and make a reasonable argument. Halo ain´t the best game ever... but it isn´t overrated either. It´s a great game that achieved what it deserved and established a solid brand.

[DARK WITNESS]

@ mario888

i am sorry man, but i just don't see how you can moan at halo and gears being slow games and then hype killzone 2.. its just as slow.

I have all 3 halo games and gears 2 and killzone 2 they are all slow ( not that its a bad thing in my opinion ) I can't stand the corridor shooters were everyone runs at 3 times the speed of light. everyone is trapped in little rooms and you just watch blips run across the screen and shoot at everything that moves and you call that skill..

[n4gno]

"surpassed it's features" ?

unreal, kz2, and more did it..and they are far better fps, even on console.

halo is just an acceptable clone of unreal, the fact people buy and play it = marketing (like some for movies, music bands, etc), and because young people did'nt know unreal tournament before, it's absolutly not a question of quality or features.

[N2NOther]

If someone kills me by camping a doorway, I can, and do get around them and kill them when I find them in the same spot. Be it through a well timed grenade, or because now I'm ready for them and use a different tactic.

I have played TF2, and it's fun, but COD offers more fun for me, especially when I kill cowards, er I mean snipers, campers.

[mario8888]

This applies to Console gaming only.

I consider myself a minority but if that makes me an elitist so be it. When I buy a Shooter my main concern is how good the Competitive online multiplayer potion of the game is. I don't want the game to have Auto aim because auto aim only helps the inferior player and just doesn't give me the same gameplay satisfaction.

Matpan wrote:
Back when Halo 1 was released it quite stirred consoles FPS scene and added a good quote of ease-of-use for more casual gamers to try and enter the genre while keeping it competitive. I frankly don´t see how bringing a genre to the masses is something wrong or bad... I frankly don´t get the "elitist hardcore gamer" point there... I want more people to play games, specialy the games that I like. Halo did a great job at getting new people into FPSs... and surely there where lots of kids (we all where kids sometime in our lifes) and noobies (yup to become a pro or a hardcore you actually need to be a noob at some point, right?) but that speaks very highly of Halo, coming from a genre that was quite "select" or "elitist".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Exactly my point, because Halo and now COD 4 , gaming is changing. The programming has gotten so good most people don't even know that there is auto assists there. These new generation of gamers think Halo and COD 4 is a game that requires a lot of skill but it's not. Skill and Strategy is two different things. It may be fun to the less skilled player but it's not to someone like me. Sure hell sell a lot of games and therefore creating the next generation of noob auto aim gamers.

Great for the noobs but elitist gamers like me are getting less and less games to choose from because they don't allow you to turn auto aim off. I don't know how many people on N4g are in Killzone 2 clans but if you are and you play all the time you know where I'm comimg from. And if anyone of you ever played Starwars Battle front 1 and 2 you know that there were two types of Server you could go on Auto Aim lock on and Auto Aim off.

@DarkWitness wrote:
I can't stand the corridor shooters were everyone runs at 3 times the speed of light. everyone is trapped in little rooms and you just watch blips run across the screen and shoot at everything that moves and you call that skill..

Sounds like you are not a casual gamer. Killzone allows Noobs no auto aim gamers to run around with Rockets just like COD 4 but you can actually modify the game and remove the noob tube and super boost speed.

Have you ever played a clan match in Killzone? Have you ever even played in a clan match. Please don't say COD4 because as I have said that is a noob game.

Play a clan match in Killzone with assault class off and no rockets. Then come back to me and batch about no skill.

[Matpan]

Well someone had to make the genre more appealing...

I still resort to CS, UT, Quake3 If I want a good competitive game... I think you have three different and unique gameplay styles there, tweaked to the fullest, tested for years on... and you can find a LOT of skilled players to frag your brains off(you also have the oldest CODs, MOHAAs and Battlefield 1942 to ease your WWII hunger, should there be any left :P). I do agree games have become "easier" (specially FPSs on consoles) that´s why I just don´t seek in this new franchises what I can have from games that are already 10 years old, run EXTREMELY well on nowadays hardware and are still fully online supported. Oh and yes... they are on PC. You want Hardcore FPS, don´t use a console to begin with...

Now when I play FPSs on consoles, well I just know it´s a "light" version of the experience... speed is toned down (they take too much care into graphic details, I think they also want you to notice that too :P), there is surely some level of aiming assist (as console analog sticks are nowhere as precise as a gaming mouse). But then again, its another ball game. One that I also truly enjoy every now and then. I still use my PC for FPS mainly and all other kind of games I play them in consoles.

[kewlkat007]

but knowing PC's are the ones that really pushed the genre in all aspects, you gotta give halo PROPS when you just look at Consoles while throwing Goldeneye in there.

PC's have plenty FPS games and some have said even play better on there but there are certain games that do it for their perspective platforms and Halo which expanded on Goldeneye with XBL was a killer Kombination.

There is always "that game" that made it mainstream to all, on a specific platform. FFVII did the same for JRPG's, of course it wasn't the first JRPG and some will tell you, it wasn't the best.

Now you can still dabble on objective matters.

Some of these games/franchises fall in the same argument. No matter how much you envy, or cannot understand the force them or people that play they will always outperform because the user-base always comes back for more. They don't sell on just marketing tactics alone and they always gets the Casuals interested.

-Ninja Gaiden( I have yet to see another Ninja that rivals)
-Grand Tourismo (Still creme of the crop)
-Grand Theft Auto (No other like it, Vice City did it)
-Mario (Enough said)
-Zelda (Enough said)
-Street Fighter( SF2 did it on consoles and brought it home)
-Gears of War ( I know, a young franchise but it's base is SOLID)
-Final Fantasy (Wait till FFXII comes out)
-Tomb Raider (Though Uncharted is great, this game did it on PSone)
-Resident Evil - (This was in on PSone, true 3d horror)
-Golden Eye (Before there was halo)
-Halo - (When you can save a console and continue to the same base + more, it's no gimmick)
-Starcraft (How many still play a 1998 game?)
-Half Life - (Enough said)
-World of Warcraft (It is what it is)

[Immortal Kaim]

Great comment, I agree.

[ukilnme]

Bubble up.

[thebudgetgamer]

no metal gear solid?

[kewlkat007]

I know there are more games.....but man, that should be on there..oops

-MGS (No surprises there)

See the thing is, All these games I've posted I've played all of them at one point in time but you can hate on these games or think they are overrated but it will never change the facts..

Most of the games posted are not perfect.

-Some have more pixels then the other.
-Some have great Stories and some not.
-Some great controls and some not.

But one thing they all have is "MASS APPEAL" something "insert them games + killer" been trying to achieve.

When it comes down to it, not every game is pushing "technical feats" it's all about pure addicting fun + great developer support at the end of the day. That, Halo is.

I spent countless days + nights playing Counter Strike, Starcraft, Golden eye(4 player split), Halo 1 + 2 on my college network when I entered in 1999.

EDIT: Not sure why my COMMENT got DELETED?

[Tony P]

What happened to kewlkat's original comment?

It seemed very objective and relevant to the subject. Now deleted? :s

Edit: Yeah, I'm with you kewl, I thought your initial comment was pretty insightful. Wonder why it was deleted?

Edit: Cool, it's back. Way to go, mods.

[Matpan]

great comments, bubs to you for putting it simple and to the point. Some games just appeal :)

[bomboclaat_gamer]

you want fan boy?

i give u the writer of this article

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Agreed. Here we are again I hate Halo/Halo Overrated article #100000

I guess when your at the top you get a lot of hate. Halo is a good game, yes I was disappointed visually with Halo 3 but the franchise is great and there is a reason it's managed to keep the amount of players on it with gamers having the biggest selection of titles in history.

Gamers should appreciate Halo because it's a blockbuster and it brings attention to our hobby, it inspires young developers and it brings in big $$$ to the industry.

[thebudgetgamer]

gamplay > graphics

:)

[UnwanteDreamz]

What is the point of having a Golden Calf like Halo if you can't roast it? Some of you guys are way too sensitive about it. Halo is a game and something better is bound to come along sooner or later. Get over it. Wait untill the franchise is played out like Sonic or Mario wait till they oversaturate fans with Halo games. Will you still blindly defend it?

Halo has been huge. I mean the game is recognizable even to non gamers but you still can't handle anything negative.

[thereapersson]

Some people just don't like Halo. What's hard to understand about it? It's the same reason why some people don't like Killzone 2. Not everyone is going to like the same stuff. It just doesn't suit them.

If this were written about Killzone 2 though, you'd be praising it left and right. There's a blatant double standard here.

[Matpan]

@UnwanteDreamz

If the franchise wears out it just deppends on how the developer decides to use it´s name... You can milk the cow dry in a heartbeat releasing a ton of crappy titles, or gradually feed it good games to keep it high in people´s memory and eventually end it, leaving a good memory in the past.

Even if MS does a crappy job at it and releases 40 Halo gamesthat suck in 2010, that won´t change the fact that Halo 1 was a great game and Halo 3 did a great job too...

[Slime]

Killzone 2, Little Big Planet and Uncharted are overrated!

Halo is not!

[GiantEnemyCrab]

haha so you answer this ignorant article with an ignorant response.

If that's your opinion I accept that. However those 3 games are well deserving of the praise they get just as Halo does.

[iHEARTboobs]

I don't think any of those titles are overrated.

[ukilnme]

KZ2 is awesome. I can't speak on Uncharted or LBP because I have not played them but I will say I have no interest at all in playing LBP.

[Parapraxis]

@ Lariat.
Please elaborate on why you think Uncharted is a "b" game as you put it.
What classifies as a AAA game? Sales, scores?
You're really sahowing some ignorance.

[The Wood]

Parapraxis,

unless you speak or can read fluent troll, dont ask. Uncharted IS one of the best games this gen. Top 7 for games, top 3 for action adventure. Once you've played it **YES PLAYED IT** you'll see why. Its a common troll trait to hate on something you have never experienced 1st hand. He'd be cumin in his y-fronts if it was a 360 exclusive. Im not going to hate on halo but i can dislike other aspects like art style, graphics, vs number count ect BUT its ultimately the gameplay that counts and it seems to have that locked even though i hear part 2 is still the most definitive version.

[brandonk129]

@ baodeus

that glitch in kz2 with the shotgun auto aim is REALLY old. they patched that up like good developers would.

[II Necroplasm II]

LBP is great man.

[n4gno]

LBP (goty !) is well rated, the others two are underated...if you make a stupid comparison with halo scores.(but everyone knows that you can't compare games from differents consoles, ps3 exclusives are always judged with severity, because the sony machine has more potential)

[Eiffel]

"Halo made the FPS popular for more mainstream gamers, while Half-Life pleased the true FPS fans on the PC front"

What makes one a true FPS fan?(Rhetorical Question)

Having a love for FPS perhaps?

[Nykamari]

I never liked FPS until I played Halo 1, now I can't stop playing any FPS. I wish all this B.Sh!t will stop, Gaming is for fun you guys act like a bunch of politicians running for office. Just enjoy the games you like and stop B!tching!!!

[Tee7soo]

IS THE BEST FPS OF ALL TIME .

[Timesplitter14]

I think Halo's a great FPS and it's not overrated, but the best FPS ever title goes to Half-Life 2 imo. And for online FPS it's UT2004

[Perjoss]

@ play2man

Half-Life called, he said Crysis want to talk to you about something.

[Timesplitter14]

I really loved Crysis, unlike many anti-graphics fanboys who say a game is bad as soon as it has great graphics.

But I don't think it could be called the best FPS ever

[evrfighter]

as a pc gamer myself. No, crysis is not the best fps out. Not even close actually. While fun the first time around and really good to look at. It's multiplayer was horrible.

I give the title to best fps to either cs or q3.

[Timesplitter14]

COD4 is WAY overrated. I like games that are creative and original. Playing as a VERY COOL soldier out in the Middle East to kill the evil guys is not my definition of a good game. Also, way too many grenades.

And Halo 3 is great

[Cherchez La Ghost]

You think COD4 is overrated?! Never thougt of that. Hmmmm...? I'm not disagreeing with you. And I respect your opinion.

[Mwaan]

Gotcha.

[Shadow Man]

I agree halo3 was overrated but the multiplayer is fun. Halo CE still the best in the series for me.

[maverick1191]

halo is no way near the best fps of all time and to say all people do in kz2 is camp is pathetic clearly you havent played the game fact halo is not the best fps of all time

[Tee7soo]

BEST RPG FALLOUT 3
BEST FPS HALO
BEST RACING GAME MIDNIGHT CLUB LOS ANGLOS
BEST ACTION GAME MGS 4

[Timesplitter14]

BEST WAY TO WRITE : ALL CAPS

[UnwanteDreamz]

No doubt you just dated yourself.

BEST RACING GAME MIDNIGHT CLUB LOS ANGLOS ?

Someone slap this kid...

[Matpan]

Let the kid be... You sounded like a friends older brother that came bragging about how Kung Fu master was a true game when we where playing SFII for the SNES :) hahahaha... though you could quite drop those caps and check on that spelling :P

[maverick1191]

i do agree it is really overrated even more than cod4 the graphics suck and gameplay is'nt the best yet people go on about it being the best fps of all time when its clearly not

[NegativeCreep427]

LOL...Gee I think I just answered my own question.

[Tee7soo]

LOOL

[Timesplitter14]

Let go of that poor caps lock button, sir

[ShabzS]

yah feed them the hits

[OGharryjoysticks]

Sure Halo has tons of hype and when other games get hype, one way to knock them back to earth is to rip on it for it's flaws and stay on it until more people join the hate parade. You've never seen anybody do this to Halo. They say it's overrated but never say they "hate" it and even if you heard one or two people say it you need a fair ammount to have it sink in.

[TheBand1t]

Is Halo the greatest? That's entirely subjective. I never much cared for them, but alot of people do. So it's not really my place to judge.

[Tee7soo]

halo 1 was lest gen !
and i played games since 1998 .

[ukilnme]

1998? LOL. I wish I was young again with all the knowledge I have now.

[Timesplitter14]

1- Learn to use the reply button

2- Well 1998 is pretty late. The PS2 came out two or three years later. You missed all the 2D era, and believe me, the 2D era was full of awesomeness. Can't blame you though. We don't choose when we are born. I myself started gaming in 1994 when I was 5. I wish I'd been born 4 years sooner since I didn't really know what games were good at that time

[Matpan]

Oh yeah... the 2d era... so full of magic.

Began serious gaming by about 1986...87 when 6-7...

I still have to feel again what I felt through the graphic adventure years... An yup, 3d games still have to match the atmosphere and style of some 2D jewels. Do play Lucastars classics if you never have... And don´t miss the Space Quest saga (specially VI).

And no 3D title compares to what I felt when I first saw DOOM (yeah, I had played wolfenstein, but DOOM was just too much to cope with at my age :P)

Out of this wolrd and Flashback BLEW MY BRAINS OFF...

Sonic The Hedhehog made me fall in love with SEGA ñ.ñ

Super Mario World still amazes me

Zelda: A link to the past is still a blast to play...

[PotNoodle]

I'm not a fan of halo, i don't think it is a bad game - it just isn't my thing.

However, i do respect and i can easily see what halo has done for the console FPS genre, so i wouldn't call it overrated in that sense.

There are some situations where i could call it overrated, but that could apply to almost any game, so i won't go there.

[TwistedMetal]

halo is overated and has tons of casual and kid gamers playeing it.

[Lariat]

Halo is an excellent franchise. The only thing that I don't like is the art-direction, but in terms of gameplay, it blows every single FPS ever out of the water.

[TheBand1t]

*In your opinion.

[Timesplitter14]

console FPS

[Boldy]

Why are Halo related opinion pieces still being made? The game released almost two years ago. Why not criticize some newer games that still have some relevance in them?

[OmarJA]

ROFLMMFAO at Lariat in the Gamer Zone! another butt hurt bot... :D

Bots crying & whining are like a sweet music to my ears. :D

[2FootYard]

You can hear them?

[Timesplitter14]

Hey but there's something I don't get. I love Halo, but didn't Timesplitters set the standards for console FPS? It came out one year before Halo and it used the dual analog stick control scheme and all...

I know it didn't have the same impact as Halo, but it DID define the next generation of console FPS gameplay-wise (story was pretty lame, but we're looking at the core gameplay here).

meh anyway

[BADBOYEK4]

Halo 3 sold 10 million copies and it is still the number 1 played game on xbox live. When 10 million people goes out and buy a game that game was a master piece for its time. Now to all the SONY fans HALO 3 sold more copies than little big planet,killzone,metal gear 4 and uncharted combined so stop all the hate.If all u sony fans would get off of your azz and buy games for your PS3 maybe u would feel better.

[madjedi]

So by your own logic wiifit and wiiplay are masterpieces because 10 million+ people bought them. Then mcdonalds 99 cent double cheeseburger must be a work of art, since they sell so many of them, i'll take quality over quantity thx.

Well maybe if those games had a 15 or was it 30 million dollar marketing budget they might approach halo 3's numbers, maybe uncharted 2 will have it's own pepsi drink. If the best you can come up with is to throw in sony fanboys faces, that no sony game has hit halo 3 numbers thats pathetic.

Again halo 3 is getting the sh*t kicked out of it by wiifit and wiiplay(those 10 million+ masterpiece games) by a large margin.

Okami sold less than a million copies i still consider it one of the best games of last gen.

Halo is a good series, but when retards talk like it is the greatest fps, and best video game series ever people start to dispise being badgered with how good halo is.

I personally believe halo 3, gets far too many passes and praises than it deserves but then gta 4 did to.

[Covenant]

You want idiocy?

I give you this article.

[DNAgent]

Halo is all the xbots have left to play.

[Dimitri]

Personally I dont like futuristic laser shows.

I prefer something like COD4.

Halo 3 is for young kids.

[Information Minister]

... Where did all the Master Chief avatars go?

[111111]

I remember when i got the first geForce a friend of mine stated that no game except one will ever be able to use the full power of the card.
I asked him what game, he replied HALO. That title got stuck in the back of my head of course - that must be one hell of a great game i thought.
Four years later and on geforce 4 or so, i actually got it when it was released for pc. Total WTF moment...
Had some more WTF moments with dead spaces, ass creeds and bioshocks...

[111111]

Point is, this industry switched from content to massive net hyping.
I wonder how long this will do any good to the companies.

[Information Minister]

You know, you could have used the EDIT button.

And did you just say "ass creeds"?!

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

Woah mods are having a field day with this article.

About 20 comments have been deleted.

Good job mods.

ON TOPIC:

Halo 3 isn't overrated. It's a really fun game to play with your friends when your bored. But I believe people turn to hating because of all the praise it gets which it doesn't deserve.

It's always, OMG WILL IT BE A HALO KILLERR!?

Or OMG CAN IT TOP HALO'S SALES??

If people would stop comparing other games to halo, then there wouldn't be anymore of these crap articles.

[ikkeweer]

don't matter what usefull things you have to say, don't matter what age u are and what you know about games.
Just get the tittle right and your on top of N4G.

Whats worse is that that the clear fanboy-tittles have so many responses with ppl defendin that theyre not and why theyre not a fanboy, it confuses me why they even answer.

WHEN IS THE IMPROVEMENT N4G PROMISED GONNA KICK IN?
Honestly, i doubt most hardcore users here even want it.

Too bad, I really like the opinion on games here, but not on the consoles.

[111111]

LOL - i totally love the "top five reasons why this console is better than that" - followed by top "insert any number" reasons why fanboys suck :p
Any sentence starting with "top" and or including the word "reasons" gives me chronically diarrhea :/

[Transporter47]

like when you die when someone hits you n you fly for like 10 meters in the air yet you can't jump like that??? explain that?? also when you play online you do hear those 12 year olds playing a lot of the times, then again Halo was good, word was... but since there r so many games that feel better to play like Killzone 2, CoD4 which i prefer over easily

[AbyssGravelord]

The whole bashing Halo or calling it overrated thing is sooooo 2007

[BYE]

Halo doesn't even touch Golden Eye on the N64.

[No Way]

What game does? o.O
Haha.

[iDystopia]

When anything goes into the Halo-esque stratosphere of popularity, it will become "overrated" because its just too popular for its own good.

Does that make it any less of a good game? No, but there are some other good shooters out there that don't receive even 1/4th the amount of recognition Halo does, and it's a great shooter too.

Halo is just popular. I love Halo online...it's so well balanced, competetive and more than anything, FUN.

Halo 4 will be coming... start the hype train to rule all hype trains.

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

The article picture perfectly reflects the people that play that game.

[Socomer 1979]

Uh thank you.

Roses for the author!!!

Those xbutts stink to the high heavons. It's about time someone out there brings them back to the real world.
Hello xbutt, I'm a hardcoregamer. I know you don't know what that means but I just wanted to tell you that your games suck.

Farewell.

(takes another bow)

[2FootYard]

Why you would you be the one bowing? You didn't do anything except act like an idiot.

[Fleet Fox]

lmao complete douche living in fantasy world.

[BasilMarceaux]

As good as it is, yes its definitely overrated. Not to take anything away from it.

My snobby/elitist take on the matter is that the people who still play it for hours every day and neglect more innovative games like COD4, Killzone2, or Left 4 Dead simply have lousy taste in games. That and the fact that most of its die hard fans are 13 year-olds and fratboys.

[Gun_Senshi]

Battlefield 1942 did most what halo did.

PC Gamers are the real FPS gamers.

COD4 is downgraded version of COD2 espically online, made sperfically for noobs.

[PS360PCROCKS]

"sperfically for noobs" I'm sorry but sperfically? lol you're not even close...lol you even added an "R" :)

[drewsny]

i think now i've heard it all, you can call many games overrated. The reason why people don't call uncharted overrated is because it really wasn't very popular. Most games are actually overrated, for example GTAIV, MGS4, Gears 2, Uncharted, LBP, COD WaW, L4D, assassins creed, RE5. And the list just keeps going on. Pretty much no game is perfect so in theory no game should get a perfect score.

I really don't know why this article got approved though, it has flamebait written all over it. I guess thats what happens when you have fanboys, they resort to the lowest measures to try and justify their purchase.

[tha_meat_beater]

?

[tha_meat_beater]

gayblow wars sucked and the other gayblow games sucked too . HARD!

[No Way]

"You Want Overrated? I Give You Halo"

Yup.. That's why it's so popular, huh?

[Rez HD]

As much as I wish that people would stop making these articles, I really wish that people would stop giving them so much attention by posting on them.

[IQUITN4G]

With an article and title like this one, of course this would attract many so called experts on FPS, slagging what is still one of the most fun games in the genre

Only when something is real good does it stays in the headlines - never after a launch do you hear mentioned the lesser games for example

Halo plays very well and is also very accessible, hence it's very popular

[Gen0ne]

And yeah, it's kinda is overrated. I played all three. And bought all three day one and half way through each of their campaigns I realized that this game was blatantly average. Because, it's campaign mode is not where it shines. As a matter of fact, the campaign sucks, on all of them. Sorry. And as far as Halo 3 is concerned, why does Microsofts' flagship title look like crap compared to Gears? And I always found it a little insulting that they kept comparing it to Metroid. Which you're going by campaign,( you have to include pacing and level design ) Halo can't hang. At all. By the same token though that's like comparing Prime 2's multiplayer to Halo's, and well, Metroid can't hang. At all. Halo's play style seems to adopt a Nintendo game play mechanic which is, " anybody can play it" which is why so many do. And that's cool, the world needs more gamers, so that when we're all old farts our kids won't have to deal with all the irrational crap/finger pointing that we do today. But, and be honest there grand Halo fans... do any of the Halo series really deserve a 10? A perfect game? Take the 8 and be happy. It's a GOOD game.

[IQUITN4G]

I like Metroid1 for GC quite a bit but the sequels although competent, just aren't in the same league, or indeed with any of the Halos either.In any case Metroid's combat is not so much the main focus - as a whole the combat and adventuring aspect makes for an excellent experience, combat on it's own is not all that special.The two really shouldn't be compared to be fair

If you opted out of playing the campaign side of Halo then you wont have had a chance to see what all the fuss was about anyway - and frankly you can even do away entirely with story(not that i would personally), as gameplay is really why people continue to play it

Far more in the way of layered combat than any other game of it's type and while it's fine people don't dig it, saying any of the Halos are 8/10 is ignorant, unless of course what you're really saying is that just about all FPS (including the better than average ones) are only 6/10

[Gen0ne]

Last I heard and 8, or in school terms a "B" was good. And how does anyone's opinion on a game make them ignorant? To be ignorant is to be uninformed. And in order to state an opinion ( or a score for that matter ) on any subject, one should be informed. I played it/hence I am informed. And it's an 8 to me. Now, let's see what other ignorant things I can into.

[The BS Police]

Call Of Duty IMO is overrated (seriously, quit releasing one every year), I'm not being a fanboy, I played the COD4 Beta, and in all honesty it's just Call Of Duty 2 reskinned with modern weapons and modern environments. Sure Halo 3 is similar to the first two previous games, but there are enough tweaks, new weapons, new abilities and new options to differentiate all three Halo games (four if you count Halo Wars).

I also dislike looking at constant muted colours in FPS games (I prefer variety in environments). Bungie also still supports Halo 3 which is why it has been the most played Xbox Live game this month and the most played Xbox Live game ever.

Can Halo be done better? Yeah of course it can (I'm not a fan of the lack of story in Halo 3 compared to the first two games), there is always room for improvement, but it is the most accessible and user friendly game on the Xbox 360.

ODST sounds like a nice change of pace and maybe it's a good direction to take the franchise, as long as they keep the essence of Halo and don't try to cater to the group who like muted colours and random bullet hoses.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

To bad the PS3 doesn't have anything this big, maybe if the PS3's games were movies. Wait... MGS4 is a movie but it still isn't this big.

[rayjelic]

What a f$%king clown you are for even comparing Halo to MetalGear,
Bill Gates wouldn't even say something like that. If they was so confident of their sales with Halo they would of threw that or Gears 2 out when Guns of the patriot release.

[Obama]

Halo is like as popular as Mcdonalds, but noone will ever say that Mccdonalds is the best fastfood restaurant. Halo 2 and 3 are mediocre games that are way overated, and I am glad that most gamers realize this, besides the bots who are still praising it since they have no games to play.

[JJFNIGHTS80]

Halo is way overrated. Only reason they surpass 1 million in few weeks is because M$ graphics doesn't change on some of thier games.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Why does everyone hate on Halo? It's a good game and a good series. It's funny, people wonder why Halo is over-rated? Because every idiot writes an article about why it's "over-rated" and the free publicity never stops. It's like saying "Macs and ipods cost a lot and are over-rated" Ya well look how that stops people?

[IQUITN4G]

Megatron

It's fair enough you don't like this series and that's for whatever reason.I like some quite crappy games for whatever reason too but i'm smart enough to know they are bad games if looking at their gameplay.I'm not a believer in all things being subjective as it makes for convenient argument.Halo is a great game when you examine what and how it does things.Sure enough you and others will find other types more appealing but that doesn't make for a better game, and there aren't better more pure fps games out there

And half the time it isn't even about gameplay, as story and setting are enough for some to come to a magical conclusion of a game's greatness.Sometimes it's just that, that a game as a whole makes for something great, but often people refer to what they found appealing to them as great gameplay

And then you can move on to what really is subjective and it all ends up stupid

Your opinion is based on what didn't appeal to you and that's not what i consider a well judged opinion

I'm going to very arrogantly say that you and others are quite wrong when it comes to your opinions of the series - your point is that Halo is merely good and that simply isn't the case

Not that it makes any difference to what you believe and nor should it

[baodeus]

@mario888

Well i only see Halo Tournament and Gear tournament so far....do you really think these game aren't based on skills? My nephew entered a halo tournament, they got 5th place. Me and a couple other people just want to test his skill on halo and guess what, we play like 4 on one and we get owned every time. He only use battle rifle.

About KZ2, it is call bad control design.....not skill. And didn't you see that glitch with auto aim or assist aim.....go look it up on youtube.

[mario8888]

This applies only to console gaming.

Baodeus wrote:
Well i only see Halo Tournament and Gear tournament so far....do you really think these game aren't based on skills?

All games require a certain amount of skill and some games take more skill then other. You know Samsung is the official LCD of The NFL. I wonder how much that cost them. Did you know that Madden used to be played on the PS2 but then Microsoft came and double the amount of sponsorship to MLG. Did you know that those tournaments Halo and Gears tournaments are Sponsored by Microsoft. One thing Microsoft does well is spend money. The perception that because these games are played at a Major Console Gaming level will fool the average consumer.

Can you imagine COD, Gears or Halo played at the professional Level of NBA Basketball. Oh Michael Jordan you must slow your game down, but that will allow the other player to keep up with me. And we've also enabled Auto Aim. As long as the ball goes within one inch of the rim it automatically go in. If you suck you suck but it would definitely allow the average player to match up better against an otherwise better player.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
My nephew entered a halo tournament, they got 5th place. Me and a couple other people just want to test his skill on halo and guess what, we play like 4 on one and we get owned every time. He only use battle rifle.

All games require a certain amount of skill and some games take more skill then other. The Auto-Aiming technique used by Bungie in the Halo series to make targeting your opponent easier. This shifts the challenge from aiming to movement and strategy, unlike most FPSs. Other games use Auto-Aim to completely lock on to a target, while Halo simply makes it easier. Halo took auto aim and took it to the next level. FYI: Skill and Strategy are two different things. Take the auto aim off and the game becomes even harder. no offense but man you and your friends must really suck. I bet a million dollars you can't get enough of COD.

And if there were no Auto Aim I'm sure you wouldn't have been able to even hit him once, LOL. Go ask your Nephew to play Killzone which game requires more eye hand coordination skill to play.

Try one of these, they only work on noob games like Halo, gears and cod. http://www.evilcontrollers....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Badeous Wrote:
About KZ2, it is call bad control design.....not skill. And didn't you see that glitch with auto aim or assist aim.....go look it up on youtube.

Dude that was fixed a long time ago. See all games have a certain amount of Auto aim. You had to do it keep pulling and letting go of the trigger to pull the gub up. Only Noobs would constantly pull the gun up to fir. Oh, that sounds a lot like COD, LOL.
No, Its call No Auto aim and may not appeal to the noob gamer who either is to lazy to learn how to aim without auto aim assit or he may just lack the eye hand coordination.

By the next console cycle you will never see games like Unreal Tournament on PS3 or xbox.Yes, Unreal di not sell very well. Games like Killzone and Socom will be niche games for true hardcore no auto aim gamers. Also The next generation of Noob gamers will determine how easy FPS and TPS games will be made so Devs can make more money.

So Noobs can understand what Auto Aim is:

Auto-Aim defines and outlines how far a bullet will "bend" in order to hit an enemy. This is also affected by the speed at which the bullet moves and impacts.

Magnetism simply assists and advocates in your face painting and your aim by creating a sticky effect between your reticule and your target when in range. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved, it will not work without you moving your reticle entirely.

[kaveti6616]

I keep hearing bullcrap about how halo 2's single player is terrible compared to halo ce's. I heard this for a long time so i went and played the first game. You guys are liars. Halo 2's campaign runs circles around the first. Everything about halo 2's campaign is superior to halo 1. Halo 1 had the most repetitive rooms i have ever seen, for starters. and then, the flood just were not as scary in the first as in the second. playing as the arbiter in the second game made the story so much better, and there were some missions that took place in the quarantine zone that for me were just scarier than any resident evil game ever. The music, the atmosphere, the graphics, the characters, the story, the levels, and just about anything you can think of are done on a whole a lot better on halo 2 than ce, so I call nostalgic bull.

And, no Halo is not the most legendary FPS, at least not yet. In ten or fifteen years, yes, I think people will be nostalgic and call it the best FPS ever. That's pretty much how it works; people think of a very old game that they played as kids and they love the feeling, so they call it the best.

Half life 2 on the other hand is a great game, probably better than halo 2 in certain ways except music and basically half life 2 is frustrating for me to play because i feel so alone all the time as gordon freeman.

[poopface1]

ITS OVER HATED. I dont think anything is overrated just because I dont like it, only morons do that. My favorite FPS ever are HL1, deus ex and probably DF2: JK but I can still say that halo is not overrated. The original halo did something even my favorite FPS didnt do. WHats that? It shiped with a great single player and great multiplayer. While I didnt really care about the campaigns in H2 or H3, they were still good and offer great multiplayer.

HAlo 2 was the first good online console FPS.

Halo 3 is still one of the only FPS that offer online play for 4 people on one xbox with one live account. Online with up to 4 people on one console, seems like a simple idea right? Hmmm 1.5 years later and still no games that can do this besides halo 3. guess its harder to accomplish then anyone gives credit. But I really think the bashers have no idea of this feature, or just cant see the merits because they have no friends.

I say this and guess what??? THE ONLY FPS THAT I PLAY NOWADAYS IS CS SOURCE. I dont even have halo anymore.

[likedamaster]

Best quote I've heard all year.

[Sizzon]

You want Overhyped I give you Killzone 2.

[poopface1]

KZ2 was hyped to high heaven and it completely floped. It is also completley unoriginal game which is crap to play. I can see why so few people want to play it.

Such a hyped game that took 5 years to make and it doesnt even have split screen. Killzone 2 is such a crap game that its still overrated even tho it sold like crap.

[DelbertGrady]

The fact that people love to whine about Halo being "overrated" is evidence that it's not. If COD4 was a console exclusive and reached the same status it would've been "overrated" too.

[jax07]

No one hates Halo its just that no one can come up with any concrete reason its the best FPS. Just three reasons, thats it. It really is average and thats what it has been all three games. The first one wasnt even that good outside the story and the fact that the type of game was new to those that had a XBOX. Ive said it before, TIME SPLITTERS IS DAMN NEAR THE SAME GAME. So why is it that this series isnt as popular as Halo? Marketing thats why.

[robotnik]

Halo 1 was fun thanks to the big areas and vehicles, of course in PC. The story and enemies were retarded, enemies taking the big spot. The main character sucked of course, kinda childish if you ask me, calling someone Master Chief...

No doubt about that the Halo series are the most overrated ever.
Half Life is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay superior to it.

[SpoonyRedMage]

Yes, how dear he have a real, existing rank in the Navy.

God it's like calling someone Sarge...

[El Padre]

But how do we measure the true quality of a game? Reviews? Sales? Number of players still playing the game after a year or two? Well guess what - Halo has it all. Sure, you can inflate sales, bribe a reviewer, but can you bribe enough of them to get over 90 metascore? Can you bribe millions of players to play Halo 3 on XBL? You can say that the masses have no taste, but what makes you think YOU have a good one? Get over it - by all reasonable standards, Halo is not overrated. Nobody's forcing you to like it, just give credit where it's due.

[caffman]

then why is every FPS that comes out going to "kill" it? Surely if it was bad or overrated it would die on its own.

[Neo604]

xbot buy anything advertise on tv.

[thrashermario]

its the most over rated videogame xbox fans would kill you if you insult halo, halo FOR THE LOSE TREY 4 LIFE

[mrnjl]

Oh dear.....here we go again.
I did not buy Halo 3 because of the marketing, hell over here I did not see one TV advert for Halo 3 (Australia).

I got it because I loved Halo 1 and Halo 2. In my opinion Halo 3 is the best of the series all round. Great single player with 4 player co-op you can play over and over + top notch online fun. Oh And Im 31 this year so anyone who thinks Halo is for kids needs to grow up themselves.

Sure marketing gets the product into homes, but marketing does not get it the praise it has received from the majority of the gaming community.

@jax07: I loved time splitters myself, and it was popular. Just because it didnt sell as well can be put down to a number of reasons not just marketing. And saying there the same near game is a pretty stupid statement.

[bohemian 23]

Halo 3 is a fun game, Call of Duty is a fun game Half life is a fun game. Overrated would have to be Gears of War 1 or 2, IMO. I just can't get into the game or the story.

[rjackson1]

Halo is the best FPS ever made period.

[kingdavid]

Why bring this up now? Halo 3 has been out for 2 years...

Pathetic how an article like this becomes the most read on n4g.

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

Just shows the respect and fear of Halo 3. Still hating after all this time.

[n4gno]

Because of ms fanboyz, allways excited when someone talk about marketing and overated games, their unique source of pleasure.

[user9422077]

Killzone >> Halo

[hennessey86]

any one who says the halo series is overrated has either 1 never played the game or 2 is a complete fanboy of another series and theres been a few people on here sayin oh u must be new to gamin well im not ive been playin games sinse i got my first amiga and hav enjoyed loads of great fps halo series bein 1 of them also redfaction halflife, timesplitters,doom return to castle wolfenstien i havnt played killzone 2 yet coz im a 360 owner but will wen they drop the price of the ps3. Halo 1 2 3 are some of the best games i hav ever played and its pathetic to try and convnce people otherwise the stats speak for them selves

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

With a great and successful franchise you will always have haters. This site is such a joke. Where are the news? I don't want to see the hottest news of the day being a childish rant from some fanboy.

[Boty]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Go ahead...Click it.

[NickyFinn]

halo:ce was epic but imo 2 n 3 didnt come close to ce n there are much much much better fps games out there half life n all its mods trash halo 2 n 3 easily DONT FLAEM MEZ FOR MY OPINIONNNZ!!!

[militant07]

1- sold +8mil
2- 2nd best selling title in a week
3- played by around a million every week
4- still no.1 most played xbox360 game on live
5- its rated 93%

nothing here prove its overrated

[n4gno]

Nothing here prove it's not either ! quantity is not quality.

[militant07]

what are you saying make no sense what do you mean by quantity ?

quantity of what?

[Mr Face Creamer]

Once upon a time, Bungie made a game exclusively for the Xbox 360. Once upon a time it was praised as the best FPS in this generation. Once upon a time, a sony fanboy from "Kombo" (wtf is that?) decided to bash the game as many fanboys have done before.

The game has a deep nice story, extremely solid MP with many many many features such as "Forge", the ability to upload screens, download other maps from other users, share files, customize your character and much more.

It was an excellent game, why don't Sony fanboys just get over this?

[Droid Control]

halo 2 and 3 were crap.

[Obama]

I bubble you up since you are one of the few xbox fanboys who are willing to admit the truth.

[peeps]

what does my head in is when ppl say 'halo was the first to... insert what halo did first here'

Ok so it introduced matchmaking to console gaming. Thats great except every other game now has a decent matchmaking system. I went on halo3 again during the free live weekend and it took much longer to matchmake compared to playing cod4.

forge - it's not a full map editor though, and map editing has been in pc games for aaggggeeesss. In terms of console games, there are other console games on the market that offer better level creation - far cry 2 springs to mind, 1 of the best console map editors i've seen.

vehicles - erm loads of games use vehicles, battlefield is a great example...

ranking systems have been in games since there was online :/

video editor - a cool feature but we're seeing more of this in other games

customising your character - is halo really known for this?? as far as i could tell theres two character skins, a selection of colours (which only apply in dm anyway) and a logo. So really it's a customisable logo not character.

point being - Halo is a good game but every other game out there has caught up and taken over. ODST needs to be a big step up to sit along side the other games available but it won't be because it is just an add on to a 2 year old game so graphics etc won't be improved. It will still sell because of the name though.

[-MoOkS-]

25 million + people obviously disagree.

$ony droids just can't handle the fact that the playstation brand doesnt have a mascot like nintendo and MS.

Sony doesnt have any exclusive that even comes close to Mario or Master chief

[batterystrength]

Sony has an army of mascots, just think about solid snake, crash bandicoot, cloud strife or the sackboys.

Whenever you think of Nintendo the first thing that comes into your mind is Mario.
Whenever you think about the Xbox the first thing that comes into your mind is the ring of death and the 2nd is Halo and his Masterchief.

When you're thinking about sony well there is no such thing. Thats the strenght of sony, thats why the playstation has become so popular, because there is diversity ;)

How could you possibly be jealous about Mario or Halo ? Since Mario 64 and Halo 1 this series have become worse and worse. Look at Metal gear For instance, each game was better then the previous one.

[eagle21]

dumb xbi!c#. :)

[xg-ei8ht]

BADBOYEK4 - that 23million advertising budget certainly got to you and the other people who bought it.

It was hyped up and that's the reason it was given the budget.

If you gave uncharted,lbp,killzone2 that type of budget, you would see different sales.

But is it the defining fps.

Halflife 1 is possibly the best fps. But that's a pc game.

I liked goldeneye, i didn't like the slowdown though. broke the game for me.

Bf1942 is another game that was brilliant as is the battlefield series. but another pc game.

Killzone2 got most correct, aim,the tough battlefield,explosions.fx,stor y was ok,Mp was good, but needed vehicles and bigger maps.

I only played halo1, and that was on PC.

I never got into the mp much, i preferred the SP.

Halo2 i didn't like.

And i've only had a tiny go of halo3.

But i'm not about to go buy an xbox360 for halo3. Because just like most games, there's always another to peak my interest.

I still play alot of pc games. The main reason the 360 is a success now is because of live,plain and simple.

I'm not against anygame unless it's very poor, and halo is not in this category.

[Sabre2922]

I have been a gamer for over 25 years for better or worse through the good times like the great SNES / GENESIS era and the bad times like the crash of 83.

My first gaming console was the venerable Atari2600.

I have seen many so called overrated games throughout those 20 plus years.

Is Halo overrated?

To a certain degree yes.

Many younger gamers that started out on the N64 or especially in the PS2/Xbox generation worship the Halo games like it is the second coming.

The fact is Halo has a very generic cliche storyline that features a main two character with no face.

The first Halo had a good fun single player campaign but Halo2 and Halo 3s single player were decent at best.

Halo 3 has good multiplayer that is accessible to gamers of all skill levels that is were Halos success comes from.

Do I think Halo as a series is overrated?

very much so.

Does that change the fact that Halo is successful and popular with a certain group of gamers ? Not at all.

[Sez]

i think the arthur meant. KZ2. other than the graphics. it really didn't being anything new that wasn't already in alot of FPS. the controls where laggy, the acting was over the top,the story seem like they stole from a few FPS that came before it mainly CoD4.

[Agent VX]

Yep, I just love all the comments. Most of the tools posting "Hate" comments about Halo have never played the game, much less seen it in action.

Fact: The game sell a tonne, and although it's not my favorite FPS (I prefer COD) there is no denying it is easily one of the best FPS franchises ever. Only fanboys or people who are jealous make dumb articles like this.

Halo is an excellent franchise and has top notch online aspects that arguably hasn't been beat.

[SRT4Chris401]

When halo came it was the best fps for the console generation, because let's face it, there really was nothing else. It's not innovative, it doesn't do anything unique to a shooter. It's not bad, but it's not great, it's a medicore fps that came out at the right time.

[illjaden]

When Halo came out on the Xbox many went like: Woooooaw, whats this!? It had good graphics (You cant say anything els), a god damn perfect soundtrack that makes any 12-50 year old feel like a war hero. Master Chief, a great name; easy to remember, catchy and it makes people feeling like: yeah, I am the !"#&)(% Master!

It had great level design and alot of different types of missions (even though many of them were alike). The only bad thing about the SP as I can see it was that it contained alot of backtracking. A story filled with twists (like the flud). Alot of fun weapons: Needler (even though it sucked), Assault rifle, the pistol (which still today is one of the few weapons that leaves you with a big smile on your face) etc. It had a great co-op, system link etc. 4 different difficulty levels which ment people would play it over and over again to finally beat it at Legendary.

With that said ofcourse it has flaws, no online bad animations, for example: movement and jumping. You can surely think of more...

Halo left many people with thoughts like, oh my god how will shooters become in the future or how can this be topped? It fast became crowned as the best FPS and whatever people says it WAS the best FPS back then. When Halo 2 came out many people like myself cried, becouse Halo 2 realy sucked ass: Graphics wasn't that much better (it looked like Halo '1' with better lightning effects) All the fun weapons from the previous Halo was taken away and instead people could use... the sword, which instantly killed you with one hit, a weapon that was cursed to be abused. Halo 3 came and well it wasnt alot better, There was almost no change to the gameplay except for the shields and the return of the assault rifle and a bad gun. Levels was just boring and slow, designed like !"#¤ any many people that was new to the title and didn't know how they designed their Levels had problems finding where to go or what to do at different points of the game. Also, the weapons sounds like !"#¤.

Today there is alot better FPS on the market: GoW, CoD4 and KZ2 All with better online multiplayer, graphics, story, weapon feeling and sound, animation and level design. If you want to talk about KZ2 having a bad story then just holla at me and I'll explain the story, becouse then you either haven't played it or you are 12 years old and cant "read between the lines" or analyze it for that matter.

Halo has many particles that makes it a good game BUT not a perfect game or THE BEST FPS or even a great game for that matter. It's just the same as it was 8 years ago with the big exception for online MP which many games does better nowdays. Bungie is living on their success from the past, nothing els.

[LoaMcLoa]

Yeah, I've been thinking about Halo's review scores for a very long time.. I own Halo 3 and I totally don't agree with the scores!
Finally! I'm not alone thinking Halo is overrated!
(If you don't believe I got Halo 3, then add me: LoaMcLoa):P

[otherZinc]

Halo 1 sold itself! No one hyped it, nothing. If Halo 1 sucked, it wouldn't sell 10million copies & be the most played game on the net for consoles!

If Halo 2 & 3 sucked, they would not have sold more than Halo 1. M$ & Bungie continue to make each iteration better than the previous.

So haters stop, the Halo Universe has many stories to tell & its only going to get better from E3 forward.

[KingKionic]

Halo 3 is a good fps . Im not a fan of multiplayer anymore,but the story was great. In terms of graphics alot of games beat it . This takes nothing from the game its sucess is dued to how many people ENJOYED the game. Alot stuff in halo fps to day dont have.

[XPC HARDonE]

both the open and gamer zone comments. Let people discuss this stuff on the N4G forums, and just leave the articles as they are. All this pointless bickering is useless. We all have our own opinions and there will always be someone who doesn't agree with what we have to say. This illusion that we are taking part in some sort of dialogue is pathetic, we are unpaid employees of the video game industry, as they try to hype their products they plant stories and commenters in order to fuel the flames of their hype machine. As much as we would like to think we are all free from coercion sites like this are great examples of commodity fueled manufactured group think.

[d--keller]

Are there millions of gamers who got hooked because it was (pretty much) the only compelling game for original Xbox? Yep. Does that generate a lot of unneccessary "Halo is the BEST game I've ever played"! Yep. But it also gets an equal amount of crap from Sony fanboys who hate it for no reason.

I'm a Sony gamer through and through, but Halo is a great game. It is a ton of fun and there is nothing like it to take 3 friends via split screen and compete online. That's obviously a technical accomplishment because no one else can do it. It can also convince this Sony fanboy to renew his Live subscription every year just to play it. And that may be the biggest accomplishment of all.

Don't knock a game just because you've never played it or because you suck at it.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

MS know how to HYPE and MARKET their exclusive products to no end
and
XBOX fans ACTUALLY BUY their exclusive titles

[XxCYONIDExX]

Halo was a good shooter, but I think it was more of one of the greatest co-op shooters of all time. Call of duty kicks halo's ass in all ways.

[lizard81288]

that pic is funny.

[scott182]

I'm going to have an open mind here and ask, waht is it that makes halo so great? The story seems like another generic save mankind story to me, the multiplayer seems just like another chaotic multi play, and the single player was a little boring.

I may have just not given these titles enough of a chance, I mean ten million buyers, holy crap. There must be something I am missing here, I am not a sony fanboy, so please don't think i'm purposly trying to tear this game down, i'm not.

[mastiffchild]

" You want hits? Then slag off Halo a little bit!"

-see what he's done here? Plus he got to tell EVERYONE how much he loves Half Life as well!

Many people felt that the meta score for Halo3 was a little generous as the SP really hadn't altered more than cosmetically(and not much visually either)but that the MP was both easy to pick up, engaging but, best of all, really difficult to master. Tbh, I would have been as happy with a MP only release last time out as it was way better online than off and Forge is a great feature. The vast sales are partially, even largely, down to the huge fanbase held over from the first two original Xbox games but the innovations they made(for consoles at least)meant the fanbase was well earned.

Today Halo3 is still heavily played on live and as it does have it's own flavour to it I guess it always will but hopefully with ODST Bungie will pish the SP back into the limelight a little and show us something really new and challenging on that front to keep the series deserving of it's legions of fans.

It's hard to see circumstances allowing another shooter to emulate what Halo has done-like the game or not(and these days I can easily understand why many don't really take to Halo-it's a bit odd looking, slightly dated graphically and hasn't appreciably changed it's gameplay ever)it really has found a place in pop culture history. It was in the right place at the right time and really capitalised on that.

In fact I don't think it's really comparable to many shooters as it plays so oddly compared to many in the genre but the srticle just used the name to get hits and big up the writers favourite game. Halo overrated? No. Halo3 slightly overrated? Maybe but it's irrelevant if it keeps it's fans happy.

BTW, I noticed a few people feeling that Halo gets these accusations as others are somehow jealous of it's success. While there's a few that small minded I really don't think that's why people think that way-it's just a Marmite game and you have less chance of falling in love with the series if you're starting now than if you got in at the start. Honestly I hadn't played for ages and put it on the other week and it struck me just how odd it feels to play when you're used to any other shooter. Either you'll love it or just not get it, imo, and if you don't get something yet still it seems like it's everywhere I can see how that might puzzle you, even annoy you.

Great series, less than stellar last installment for me. Hope ODST is a different take on the universe as well.

[Pandamobile]

The Halo franchise has been going down a very steep hill. I mean, Halo 1 was frickin amazing back in 2001, and I still enjoy playing Halo 1 with some friends now and again. Halo 2's story sucked, but the multiplayer was awesome. I spent countless hours on Live with my friends.

Then I started playing PC games and forgot about Halo entirely. Who needs a generic story and crusty multiplayer when you've got stories like that in Half-Life and multiplayer like TF2?

[Ninjamonkey]

Halo was a great game.

Though Halo 3 is just a good game. Its silly how some fanboys call halo the greatest FPS ever and try to force it upon everyone. At the end of the day its subjective.

But from a technical standpoint and gameplay wise COD4 beats it, gears 2 beats it and Killzone 2 beats it imo...

[lukeoplakea4u]

Well being a huge FPS fan i have played many and fallen in love with several great FPS's. Bungie obviousley did something right to make the halo series work the way it did. I have never in my life seen a matchmaking do what theirs did... Personally i would never play Halo 3 again if it wasnt for the size of the partys that are able to play and how their are several different game modes. There are just so many things that you can do... Countless and unlimited gameplay becasue of forge and the settings you can do with your own games! But the call of duty series will always have me first but i do not believe Halo to be overated.

[Ldubbz]

Ice cream, pizza, and sex are also overrated.

Blog = FAIL

[ULTIMATE_REVENGE]

this basically sums up Gears of War 2's story

FatGuy 1: HEY THE ALIENS ARE HEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!! !!!

FatGuy 2&3: RAAAAAAAAGHH...RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAHH, LETS QUUUUICKK SOME AAAAASSSSS!!!

FatGuy 1: Hey look more unloaded textured aliens over there over there
FatGuy 2&3: I DON'T GIVE A SH1T WHERE THEY ARE LETS JUST CRUSH THEM WITH OUR FLAB...YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!! aaOOOOOOOGHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

the next couple hours is just filled with F***this n F*** that

marcus dies due to drowning in his own flab the end.

[Xbots play games]

N4G.com skyrockets Anti-Halo blog # 452..but that's ok..they even hated on Jesus once.

See while this 'popular' hate blog may draw over 300 replies..today..just like yesterday..and the day before yesterday..and last month..and even last year...

There will be 1 million+ people who log on Xbox Live to enjoy Halo 3. Sony Hardliners and Halo hater (including the author of the lame fan-blog) will scramble up every poor excuse in the book to try to discredit this worldwide celebrated franchise.

But, as usual they completely miss the point. They will always be the group that sat on the sidelines and threw rocks from glass houses. Not me though..I will proudly proclaim that Bungie deserves the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE of GAMING for the creation of this series.

In term of gaming..it is this generations'Goldeneye..

In term of movies it is our 'Star Wars'

In terms of sales..it ranks up there in the upper echelon of games..and clearly Halo 3 will NEVER be touched by any exclusive on the 360 or the PS3 period.

I want to keep it completely honest..all the back forth fanboy corniness aside..games like Halo are why I love gaming...period.

There are a whole slew of members on N4G.com and gaming forums all over the internet that barely could even hold an Xbox controller when the original was released..there are alot of new gamer and console haters scour Metacritic, Wikepedia and copy other forum posts...just to form opinions these days..so I'll give you my first hand on why these games were far from overrrated...

Halo: Combat evolved..Single player was just brilliant..remember..

The first time we faced the attacking grunts and elites on the ship...the first time we touched down onto Halo..the first time we played 'Silent Cartographer' ..and said HOLY SH*T! The first time we drove the warthog on the beach...the WTF moment when The Flood appeared..THE SPOT-ON controls...back then..NOTHING on ANY console had come close to the size and scope of this amazing experience..

But the crazy this about this this was that you could play the whole thing in split screen co-op..at the time it was also unheard of..and even to this day (YEARS LATER) games like Killzone 2 couldn't pull it off.

Co-op or not..ask the colleges..ask the military..ask you friends who had an Xbox @ that time..what it was like to play multiplayer on the original Halo. 4-player was a blast alone..but it was the multiple T.V.s that cemented gaming HEAVEN. I easily remember 10 hour sessions with 20 people in the room just waiting to get on.

Halo 2..the RIDICULOUS anticipation..the midnight lines..the day off from work..the non-stop play of the single player game..the WTF ending..the ONLINE co-op???..ahh..the memories...

But it was logging on to Xbox Live and losing hundreds and hundreds of hours online with everybody I knew who owned an Xbox. To say this changed the playing field is an understatement. We literally played Halo 2 until the day Halo 3 came out. In fact, the FIRST rank sysyem that Bungie introduced STILL has not been surpassed by any other console FPS to date.

Halo 3..Say what you want to say about the single player experience...but it was STILL Halo at the end of the day. Sure Gears had upped the level of graphics..but it still didn't change what made us love this series. 4 player co-op was unheard of when this game dropped..and to do it with 3 other friends online is one of the reasons so many of us have had many multiple play throughs of that experience.

But, let me be perfectly clear when I say that the online multi-player just hit it out of this universe. Theater alone is freakin' PRICELESS. Watching youself and friends play together online together for the first time brought an unheard of party atmosphere to FPS gaming alone. The ranking system is just UNRIVALED..period. Forge..the ridiculous amount of game types..

And the one thing that all the haters completely missed this generation..the game is FUN..an absolute blast..easy to learn..hard to master..in fact..I laugh at all of the silly noob comments in regards to Halo..Jump into an unranked match as a 'NOOB' with a room full of 50's and pretend it's a game for noobs. Playing ranked let us all players find that perfect level to play with.

Bottomline..Halo 3 is FAR from overrated. Microsoft shelling out millions for the promotion campaign for a franchise that generates a BILLION dollars is just a testament to how popular this franchise is. It's constant success is only a thorn in the side of it's detractors. They will even hate the critical success and awards it received. But it's far too late to hate.

So as we wait for new E3 footage of Halo:OSDT..it's clear that some reviewers and media will try to show as much resistance to the game as possible..but millions will stand on line at the impending midnight launch and continue to play the next installment of this incredible Xbox franchise. In the mean time a whole lot of us will fire up the Mythic Map pack levels and enjoy the gift that keeps on giving.

[likedamaster]

Wow, I am inspired.

[oldsnayke]

You're right this game is horribly overrated. If you want underrated, I give you Too Human.

[SpartanZero]

You know for a trilogy that is continually being for like a decade all the time and has good review scores and is like the best game this generation I can see why they would call it overrated at some point. Really? Wow this is just one of the best examples of Jealousy. Seriously WTF!