Halo 1, one of the worst AAA FPS ever conceived?

[KrZ]

Having played FPS games on PC almost exclusively, I decided to give Halo a try. I am wondering how this franchise became so popular given the many issues that plague the 1st game. Need to clarify that I am only referring to the solo as I have not tried pvp multiplayer yet.

Problems with this game listed below:

• Weak level design consisting of empty corridors leading to empty rooms, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. Then you have vast but empty exterior levels. Overall it's kind of boring and uninspired.
  
• Library illustrates above point well and this is probably the most tedious level I have played in a video game alongside Code Vein's cathedral .
  
• Master chief is too slow in general. How is the ultimate soldier so slow?
  
• No sprint!? How that's even possible in modern FPS is baffling.
  
• Abysmal coop AI prone to suicide and team kills - see Captain Keyes escort mission in tight corridors
  
• Fall damage from moderate heights - why give the master Chief an additional handicap when he is already so slow. He is supposed to be super soldier but feels way too weak.
  
• The spread on that assault rifle is obscene. Good looking weapon and sound effect but can't shoot a fish in a barrel with that turkey.
  
• 2-weapon carry limit - stupid design decision and what a way to restrict fun in your game.
  
• Shotgun introduced late in the campaign. Why wait this late to introduce FPS weapon staple? Again, feels like another arbitrary decision to frustrate player for no good reason.
  
• Bullet sponge enemies = no fun, especially when you are forced to work with the assault rifle for big chunks of the game.
  
• Looney toons enemy design and behavior. Hard to take them seriously.
  
• Weird vehicle control, especially on the jeep.
  
• Ugly looking starting pistol - other weapons are fine but this one looks like a toy gun. Luckily it packs a decent punch.
  
• Oddly placed checkpoints which make certain sections frustrating.
  
• Something wrong with level geometry in places whereby your shots hit invisible walls when you have clear line of sight with target.

All in all, I don't quite understand how the franchise took off given those glaring issues. Do the sequels bring drastic improvements? I can't see myself playing through another '343 Guilty Spark' or 'The Library' level again

[Crescendoll]

Weak Level Design: Although it is true that some levels are repetitive and consist of enclosed rooms, the open areas of the game were truly groundbreaking of its time, especially considering the wide range of tools the player has in the game.

Library: The worst level in all Halo probably, it tries to showcase the horde nature of the Flood but becomes too long and repetitive, so I give this one to you.

No sprint: I don't see the problem with the game having no sprint, it is never needed and the fact that every game has it doesn't mean Halo should have it as well.

Abysmal Coop Ai: The ai It's pretty good for its time actually, marines help you without making the game too easy, and they are practically indispensable for vehicle combat sometimes. That said, it is true that Captain Keyes is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ suicide when you have to escort him, so you got that point.

Fall damage: I don't see any problem with that, fall damage is there to punish the player for...well...falling too high, otherwise we could easily skip parts of the levels.

Assault rifle spread: The assault rifle is NOT a long-range weapon, it's used mostly to clean tight corridors or small rooms full of enemies.

2-weapon carry limit: This mechanic is designed to make the player take meaningful decisions when choosing their arsenal, and fits perfectly with the weapon and enemy design.

Shotgun: Halo doesn't utilize the shotgun as a regular weapon as other games, but rather utilizes it as a "power weapon", meaning that it is a good idea to give it to the player later in the campaign. Also, the fact that it is a staple of the FPS genre doesn't mean that it should be in every game.

Bullet sponge enemies: Plasma is for shields, bullets are for flesh; meaning that it is a good idea to always have a plasma and a bullet weapon (which synergizes perfect with the 2-weapon carry limit, since it forces you to change your play style depending on the type of enemy and the ammo you have available).

Looney Toons enemy design: Not every game needs gritty-war themes, in fact, Halo has some of the best enemy design in all FPS games, using orthogonal unit differentiation and different outlines and colors to allow the player to easily distinguish one from another and makes the game become less repetitive (In contrast to games like COD, were each enemy is the same but with different weapons).

Weird vehicle control: The game is designed to be played with a controller, and was one of the first AAA FPS titles featuring such a variety of vehicles. Overall, it could be better, but it's not awful at all.

Ugly pistol: I don't see the problem with the pistol, its instantly recognizable, it looks different from other games pistols, and It's fun to use.

Checkpoints: Most checkpoints are placed right before a big battle starts or right before one ends, however I agree that they tend to bug sometimes, so I give you this one too.

Wrong level geometry: This is a problem with the remastered version, since new models don't align well with the real geometry of the level, so yeah, you're right in this one too.

Overall, Halo CE isn't perfect, but it certainly did tons of stuff no game had done before, granting it its legendary game status.

[Psychedelic Adventurer]

Reading this whole rant just reminds me how far people will revise history, so they can hate something.

[Eichhorst]

When i started playing halo when it came to steam i kinda found it ok but overrated but after playing it alot more i started to love it

[KrZ]

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

For reference we're talking about Halo Combat Evolved a game that came out 20 years ago. Lets go point by point:


Weak level design- I agree with you on this that many levels are reused, but name a game with better level design from 2001... But 343 guilty spark is one of the best experiences the first time playing it through.

I can name a few: Half Life & Opposing Force, Quake and Quake 2, Old Dooms, Duke Nukem 3D, Unreal, Heretic/Hexen, GoldenEye N64 (console game too), Shadow Warrior, SiN, Kingpin, No One Lives Forever and many more that I forget.

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Master chief is too slow in general.- This isn't sonic, and unless your doing something really wrong your never really just walking somewhere.

No sprint!? How that's even possible in modern FPS is baffling.- The game is 20 years old... you wouldn't call the first iPhone modern or a two decade old car modern either. A 2001 Honda civic is no Tesla...

Please see point above whereby many FPS of that period and even older had much quicker movement speed. If Master Chief were put in a battle royale against Quake, Unreal and Tribes characters, he would not last 30 seconds

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Abysmal coop AI prone to suicide and team kills - I don't understand this point, as long as you walk ahead of keys you shouldn't have any issues.

I am playing on Legendary and rushing is not really recommended on first playthrough. In any case, whether you rush or not, AI is completely inept and I had several instances of marines blowing up Keyes by throwing grenades in tight corridors with reckless abandon.

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Fall damage from moderate heights - At no point through the campaign do the devs intend the player to jump down anywhere, the only moments you'd jump down is to skip parts of the level so the fall damage is there to tell the player that's not the intended path. I also want to point out your 7 feet tall and weigh like 1 ton, a "moderate height" that you take damage from is like 4x your height. Drop your self in a 1 ton metal can from 28 feet high to see how you make out.

It seems to me that this armor is completely unfit for purpose as it makes the user too slow and unable to sustain falls from moderate heights, but whatever

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

The spread on that assault rifle is obscene.- Halo is built on a balance, the AR is close to mid range, you burst your shots you can shoot further, but you shouldn't be playing the game like COD and taking pot shots from a mile away, and if you do the level gives you a sniper. You highlight your issue later on about not understanding the sandbox.

More like very close range, and even then, it's very inefficient. If just feels odd for an assault rifle to have this much spread compared to other games, and no I do not play COD.

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

2-weapon carry limit - This forces the player to make a choice while playing, and to pick the right weapons, I know it was a common thing for older game to have unlimited guns, but how many modern shooters let you pick up more then 2 gun? Cod its primary secondary same as battlefield, titan fall, CSGO, Valorant, PUBG, and destiny its 3, but thats not too different. This point here makes me believe you're just posted this for attention without any thought. Limited weapon pickup is super normal in "modern" shooters. Really other then doom what game that came out in the last 5 years has unlimited weapon pick ups?

That other games apply the same carry-limit restriction does not make it right and definitely less fun. Most of the games I mentioned previously do not have such thing in place and are well balanced.

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Shotgun introduced late in the campaign.- The shotgun is introduced on the first level with the flood or halo's space zombies. Step back for a moment and think about that, the shotgun appears on the first level that the zombies do...

Shotgun is found for the first time in Library, is it not? And Library is level 7 out of 10, therefore more than halfway through the game. But I think I understand why they did it: it is very efficient against Elites and would have trivialized the first part of the game. Not great in terms of balancing the game. Seems the studio realized this error and introduced it much earlier in Halo 2, but in that latter game it's kind of underwhelming

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Bullet sponge enemies = no fun, especially when you are forced to work with the assault rifle for big chunks of the game.- what?! it takes 1-2 shots to kill anything in Halo Combat Evolved excluding vehicles. This issue only happens if there's a problem between the chair and the keyboard. Halo in a sandbox based shooter, your not "stuck with the AR" pick up a plasma pistol shoot their shields out and one tap them in the head with the magnum. Plasma is good against shields, ballistics in good against flesh, its really that simple.

I learned that while playing through the game; in Halo 2, the plasma/headshot combo is even more important. Not very exciting loop for a so called 'sandbox' game when there's only one viable option.

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Looney toons enemy design and behavior. Hard to take them seriously.- Ok, thats what most people would call character. When you stick a grunt they scream and run to the nearest elite for help even though there's nothing that can be done and it might end up in them both blowing up. When you stick an elite he runs to the player because he knows his time in near and wants to take you down with him. When you kill an elite, the ranking member on the field, all his grunts freak out and panic. I could make countless examples all day about how much character the AI has.

Not really a big fan of their design and some of the voice acting. Maybe the fact that they are talking English for some reason?

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Weird vehicle control, especially on the jeep.- Yes but once again its 2001 how many FPS games back then had vehicles. I'll wait.

Not many, but did they have to make it control like a bar of soap? I did not even mention the very last level and that silly obstacle course

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Something wrong with level geometry in places whereby your shots hit invisible walls when you have clear line of sight with target.- Your probably playing on the remastered graphics, hit tab to go to the classic graphics where the geometry is correct. The company that made the 10 year anniversary messed up.

That's a shame. Some of the lighting is better in the classic version in my view.

CookieNinja50 lähetti viestin:

Its fine to not like a 20 year old game, but you don't seem to understand that its older then people going to collage. Its older then smart phones, the first iPhone came out in 2005. This. Game. Is. OLD. Saying "I am wondering how this franchise became so popular" when it revolutionized gaming. The Xbox controller made playing an FPS possible, just look at Golden eye on the N64 trident. Bungie did something never before scene in gaming, and on a console. The AI in Halo CE is still better then most FPS AI. To top everything off the music. If all I posted was "The music." anyone who as heard about halo would agree that having the best soundtrack in gaming helps a lot.

I know what old is my friend; I have started with Wolfenstein 3D I agree that there is fun to be had with the AI and playing coop with friends. As far as the soundtrack, that is very subjective. For me, nothing tops Unreal soundtrack and many would agree with me.

[RoadRager1904]

ᴡ ᴇ ʜ ᴢ ʏ 'ꜰᴛᴘ lähetti viestin:

bait thread.. wow.

I tried warning people...

[Corpulent Swine]

It's bait.

[roi]

Hard to disagree. The way the game plays is very hard to conciliate with the lore. Crysis is also about a supersoldier and did a much better job at simulating adversity. Halo is just bullet sponge enemies and being slow and apparently weak.

[lavalobster93 #killtf2]

low quality bait, try harder please

[Sid_]

Just watch the actman video there is the answer,

[Ante]

343babies should not be allowed to post on any halo-related forum

[Fastspectre]

⎛⎝The cuchi killer⎠⎞ lähetti viestin:

No Fate lähetti viestin:

imagine comparing a 20 year-old game to modern 2021 fps games

This.

and the people doesn't really care about "Balance" in multiplayer games in 2001

absolutly wrong, balance in PVP games always was and will be a huge thing, especially if there is tournaments running

[marcus_hough]

I have to agree with the OP. While I wouldn't go so far to say that it's a poor game, it certainly isn't great even by 2001 standards.

While the Library level gets a lot of flak, it's actually a good illustration of the overall game's approach but it's length means that it most clearly demonstrates Halo's flaws. The levels were long but bland and repetitive. Endless corridors that all looked the same. (The outdoor levels were better but there weren't many of these). I kept playing through the tedium expecting it to get better, only to be dismayed when it then made me play through the exact same boring level only in the opposite direction. There wasn't much variety in the enemies and while it was fun the way the Flood, um, flooded you at first that soon grew old too.

I remember playing it on console back when it came out and wondering what the fuss was about since it didn't compare favourably at all with PC shooters that were several years older. It seemed that XBox owners were simply deliriously happy that they had an FPS that didn't completely suck. I didn't finish it at the time though (I hate playing FPS on controllers) and only played through the whole thing recently.

Also, I just didn't enjoy the vehicles. The control was bad and they feel floaty with no weight. Considering how much hate the Mako in Mass Effect 1 received, I'm baffled as to why the Warthog is so loved when it doesn't seem any better.

On the positive side:
- I quite enjoyed the story.
- The use of regenerating shields instead of a health meter was new - and suited the context in Halo (It's not Halo's fault that it became the default in games where this didn't make sense)
- The smooth transition from 1st to 3rd person when jumping on vehicles was implemented really well for the time. (I don't remember previous games doing this).

[Snark]

Halo CE is one of the better FPS games out there. I can stay here all day and point at minor details about level design and weapon placement, etc. But the truth is the game is just fun.
The world is colorful, full of imagination, the enemies are all colorful and full of personality, they react in ways that are predictable yet nuanced enough to where it keeps the game fresh and replayable.

The guns usually promote a more close ranged approach which means you get to do all kind of goofy ♥♥♥♥ like turning around a corner and mowing down 5 grunts, hitting the elite, switching to a pistol and finishing him off with a bullet to the head. The enemies jump around all over the place and have satisfying death animations, explosions are nice and big and the way the warthog controls is so satisfying. I just love the wild turns, drifts, jumps, etc. With the warthog kicking dirt in the air.

This whole game makes me feel like I'm in an action move and a retro sci fi universe at the same time. I find that after CE the games have gotten more polished but less imaginative, less thrilling, exciting, less colorful with less personality.

[Kainey]

• Weak level design consisting of empty corridors leading to empty rooms, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. Then you have vast but empty exterior levels. Overall it's kind of boring and uninspired.
  
  It's 20 years old.
  
  
  
• Library illustrates above point well and this is probably the most tedious level I have played in a video game alongside Code Vein's cathedral :gnarled:.
  
  Nobody likes this level.
  
  
  
• Master chief is too slow in general. How is the ultimate soldier so slow?
  
  Console FPS were slower paced so it was easier to aim.
  
  
  
• No sprint!? How that's even possible in modern FPS is baffling.
  
  It's 20 years old.
  
  
  
• Abysmal coop AI prone to suicide and team kills - see Captain Keyes escort mission in tight corridors :alexangry:
  
  Funny complain cause modern games tend to have even worse AI
  
  
  
• Fall damage from moderate heights - why give the master Chief an additional handicap when he is already so slow. He is supposed to be super soldier but feels way too weak.
  
  There isn't alot of verticality in CE so it's never a real issue.
  
  
  
• The spread on that assault rifle is obscene. Good looking weapon and sound effect but can't shoot a fish in a barrel with that turkey.
  
  It's a base weapon, you drop it for the first Plasma rifle or Plasma pistol you find.
  
  
  
• 2-weapon carry limit - stupid design decision and what a way to restrict fun in your game.
  
  No it makes it balanced so you have to choose carefully, best is to have a shield melter and a finisher/ranged gun.
  
  
  
• Shotgun introduced late in the campaign. Why wait this late to introduce FPS weapon staple? Again, feels like another arbitrary decision to frustrate player for no good reason.
  
  Because the flood is just the perfect enemy to introduce a shotgun.
  
  
  
• Bullet sponge enemies = no fun, especially when you are forced to work with the assault rifle for big chunks of the game.
  
  You are NEVER forced to use it you can literally get rid of it after meeting the first enemies of the game.
  
  
  
• Looney toons enemy design and behavior. Hard to take them seriously.
  
  It's a video game you're not supposed to take anything in it seriously. After the pitch of Johnson in the introduction I don't know how you can think it's a completly serious game.
  
  
  
• Weird vehicle control, especially on the jeep.
  
  Can't deny it lacks a freelock feature.
  
  
  
• Ugly looking starting pistol - other weapons are fine but this one looks like a toy gun. Luckily it packs a decent punch.
  
  It's one of the most iconic pistol ever but ok.
  
  
  
• Oddly placed checkpoints which make certain sections frustrating.
  
  It's easy to get checkpoints by cleaning a zone and looking around for few seconds.
  
  
  
• Something wrong with level geometry in places whereby your shots hit invisible walls when you have clear line of sight with target.
  
  Because Anniversary graphics are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ with different geometry than the actual game. Now that they fixed classic graphics you have no reason to play with anniversary ones, they ruined the whole game and art style.

[GamerXT]

KrZ lähetti viestin:

it merely democratised FPS' on consoles. I guess fully playable coop campaign contributed to its success too.

No, it mostly improved on what was done previously, regardless of being on consoles.

Before Halo, most FPS games where less animated wirh janky physics and there wasnt really such thing as weapon balance.