Halo. I’ve been hearing about how cool and just good the games are. How deep and interesting the lore is.
I was visiting old games I heard good things about but never played. I had finished with the Half Life games and enjoyed them.
Then I decided to get the Master Chief Collection.
Started with Reach. Shooting immediately felt bad. The characters started dying off almost immediately after meeting them. Then the game was finished.
That was… Disappointing.
Well alright. Maybe Reach is a black sheep.
Onto Halo CE. Shooting felt even worse. The open areas were pretty cool, but there were a lot of small frustrations with the game. Story wasn’t anything special. Certainly none of that “deep lore”.
Well… Halo 2 then? Felt a lot like Halo 1. More story, yes, but it was as if the game assumed I was already invested in the story. About two thirds in I realised I was still waiting for Halo to finally become cool or good.
Halo was good because it was good when it was released. The concept of ‘good story with gunplay’ has been massively upgraded by now, AND the story told has been repeated by other games/tales with their own twists so it feels like you’ve seen it before. Completely agree with you on shooting feeling off. The only reason I would play it in the coop modes is for nostalgia.
Personally, I think Halo’s heyday was decades ago when Halo first came out. It was a huge success back then, and I’d argue that’s half the reason it’s enjoyed by some today. Halo 2 was also very excellent. Halo 3 came out on the Xbox 360, so it had a different feel to it since it was on a different platform. The other games (Reach, 4, ODST) couldn’t even hold a candle to the literal monumental success that the original Halo was.
Could the people telling you that have possibly been talking about the books? There’s >20 books telling various storylines from the franchise and they go way deeper than the games.
I will agree that the games are pretty sparse for storytelling. They tend to go more “show, don’t tell”. The problem with that is that the lore of Halo needs to be told and can’t really be shown
Yes, often books and movies are brought up when it comes to Halo, but I don’t see the point at all. I have been shown a few “cool” or “epic” clips from the movies by Halo fans but… they looked pretty bad.
When I get interested in getting into the weeds of some lore, it’s because the main-line (be it movies, or games) has made me interested to learn more. Halo never made me interested. Stuff just happened in cool alien environments, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve played a shooter with little story in cool alien environments (even from the era Halo is from… probably especially in the era Halo is from).
I think I was able to deep dive into the series’ lore because I started with Halo 3, and because I was a teenager at the time. I eventually went back to play CE and 2 and they… are certainly products of their time
Halo. I’ve been hearing about how cool and just good the games are. How deep and interesting the lore is.
I was visiting old games I heard good things about but never played. I had finished with the Half Life games and enjoyed them.
Then I decided to get the Master Chief Collection.
Started with Reach. Shooting immediately felt bad. The characters started dying off almost immediately after meeting them. Then the game was finished.
That was… Disappointing.
Well alright. Maybe Reach is a black sheep.
Onto Halo CE. Shooting felt even worse. The open areas were pretty cool, but there were a lot of small frustrations with the game. Story wasn’t anything special. Certainly none of that “deep lore”.
Well… Halo 2 then? Felt a lot like Halo 1. More story, yes, but it was as if the game assumed I was already invested in the story. About two thirds in I realised I was still waiting for Halo to finally become cool or good.
I stopped playing.
Decided Halo as a whole is very overrated.
Halo was good because it was good when it was released. The concept of ‘good story with gunplay’ has been massively upgraded by now, AND the story told has been repeated by other games/tales with their own twists so it feels like you’ve seen it before. Completely agree with you on shooting feeling off. The only reason I would play it in the coop modes is for nostalgia.
damn, should have started in order of release instead of jumping straight into reach. love halo
I highly doubt that would’ve changed anything.
Halo is probably the biggest series that I never got into, because I didn’t have an Xbox.
I have the MCC pirated on my PC, just waiting until I can get a full group to do the entire thing co-op.
Co-op is pretty cool, but be careful with playing co-op with friends who know the game well; they will absolutely rush ahead of everything.
Personally, I think Halo’s heyday was decades ago when Halo first came out. It was a huge success back then, and I’d argue that’s half the reason it’s enjoyed by some today. Halo 2 was also very excellent. Halo 3 came out on the Xbox 360, so it had a different feel to it since it was on a different platform. The other games (Reach, 4, ODST) couldn’t even hold a candle to the literal monumental success that the original Halo was.
Could the people telling you that have possibly been talking about the books? There’s >20 books telling various storylines from the franchise and they go way deeper than the games.
I will agree that the games are pretty sparse for storytelling. They tend to go more “show, don’t tell”. The problem with that is that the lore of Halo needs to be told and can’t really be shown
Yes, often books and movies are brought up when it comes to Halo, but I don’t see the point at all. I have been shown a few “cool” or “epic” clips from the movies by Halo fans but… they looked pretty bad.
When I get interested in getting into the weeds of some lore, it’s because the main-line (be it movies, or games) has made me interested to learn more. Halo never made me interested. Stuff just happened in cool alien environments, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve played a shooter with little story in cool alien environments (even from the era Halo is from… probably especially in the era Halo is from).
Fair.
I think I was able to deep dive into the series’ lore because I started with Halo 3, and because I was a teenager at the time. I eventually went back to play CE and 2 and they… are certainly products of their time
I had the same experience.
I kept comparing it with the absolute masterpiece that is Half-Life and it felt boring.
The story doesn’t pull you, no characters are memorable, in some areas I felt like I was cleaning the exact same room over and over.
Even compared to something like Doom II, which lacks any real story and is all about playability and fun, it felt lacking.
I guess it’s just not for me.