Halo

Halo is a series of First Person Shooter games created by Bungie Studios exclusively for Microsoft's X-Box line of computer games consoles, and later ported to the PC and Mac gaming platforms. As the franchise has grown, it has branched out into other genres and mediums. The products in the Halo video game series are:

• Halo: Combat Evolved (X-Box, PC, Mac)
• Halo 2 (X-Box, PC)
• Halo 3 (X-Box 360)
• Halo Wars (X-Box 360)
• Halo: Chronicles (X-Box 360)

Halo and Half-Life

Halo is widely regarded as the closest market rival to the Half-Life Series and games from both series are frequently compared and evaluated against each others merits. This is a situation compounded by their often concurrent release windows: Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 were both released in November 2004, and the Orange Box and Halo 3 both saw release in Autumn 2007. Halo will follow Half-Life's Episodic example in late 2008 with Halo: Chronicles.

Due to a number of factors, Halo is considered the superior title in terms of financial and franchise success, with significantly larger sales figures and a far greater degree of brand-potential (running into text and graphic novel lines, spin-off video game series and widely distributed merchandise). The critical opinion is however a little less clear-cut. Official reviews for both games are usually high, though reviews of the Halo ports to non-franchised platforms have received contrastingly harsh reviews that Half-Life games ported to consoles have not. This had lead some to believe that early Halo reviews are either poorly written or inflated by publications' need to appease Microsoft, whose successful X-Box platforms owe much to the Halo brand. On the other side of the argument, the drop in review score is attributed to the poorly handled X-Box to PC / Mac port process that results in Halo games having unnecessarily high system requirements and poor control implementation.

Halo's superior market position is considered to be a blessing and a curse for the franchise. Whereas Half-Life games are famed for their labored release cycles and are constantly patched post release, Halo games are allocated very strict release windows by Microsoft and are required to be free from bugs by that date for shipping on the largely unpatchable X-Box platforms. It is felt that two key criticisms of the first games (Halo's intense recycling of architecture and Halo 2's abrubt ending) were caused by the Bungie working environment. Certainly, Halo: Combat Evolved was considered X-Box's 'Killer App' and the game was pressured into an intensive development period between Microsoft's June 2000 aquisition of Bungie and the November 2001 release of the final product, after years of the game being an ill-defined PC / Mac action game.

It is argued by that some that Halo and Half-Life aren't strictly comparable due to their being specifically developed for the 'differing' console and personal computer platforms and their inferior port-work when finally available on the same machines. Such opinion also cites fundamental differences in the methods of story-telling used by both games, with Half-Life's ruthless adherence to subtle First Person narrative too disimilar to Halo's third person methods of story exposition.

Criticism

The Halo games are frequently praised for their advanced artificial intelligence and the new challenge they brought to First Person Shooter games (facilitated by recharging armor and a limited weapon carrying capacity). They are frequently cited as the best First Person games on any console, with only the N64's Goldeneye cited in comparison by a rose-spectacled minority. The game's co-operative and competitive multiplayer has been the subject of much praise, especially in the first game, despite a lack of the online components originally hyped pre-release. The game's narratives are also complimented.

Negative criticism of Halo has focused on its lack of variety or simple lack of content. Halo: Combat Evolved consists of 10 chapters, though the last three revisit locations from earlier in the game that often recycled architecture heavily. The seventh chapter is particularly unpopular, as an identical multi-floor tower: Penny Arcade famously declared that it 'makes sense that the Alien architects would design each room to be identical - so that the intruders would become bored and leave'. This repetition is argued to be carried over into enemy design, where there are few basic types simply repalleted to indicate an increase in health points. Design in general comes under criticism, with the game's outlandish, fuschia coloured alien enemies and craft considered a point of contention. The story's skipping between environmental extremes with no transition has been likened to level design dating back to the Sonic the Hedgehog era.

Halo and halflife2.net

Unsurprisingly as a Half-Life fanatic community, many members of halflife2.net show open and blanket hostility to the Halo series of games, whether they have played them in-depth or not. A section of the community disappointed by Half-Life 2 (though life-long fans of Half-Life) defend Halo vigorously. Those who sit on the fence champion the finer points of the series (difficulty, split-screen play, storyline, multiplayer) whilst acknowledging perceived flaws (copy and paste level design, abrupt endings, fanbase).

Famous Notable Quotes by Members

"Halo has an amazing campaign on Legendary." --Samon