Yep. so far, Orange box is winning reviews wise, and personally, looks better, imo.
Lets look at them, by modes.
single player-
Halo's single player is pretty fun, but more about running forward and shooting, sometimes driving forward and shooting, then anything.
Half Life 2, on the other hand, is much more....everything. It has puzzles, and bosses, and the gravity gun. It has two other episodes, both of which are good for a couple hours, at least, of play time.
Portals is another additon, and can add hours onto the orange box's single player, the promise of new puzzles to download (At least for the PC version) makes this a potentially lifesucking additon to the pack.
Note- Halo 3 has four player co-op, whereas Half life 2 has none, at all. hat might effect your descion, it didn't mine.
Winner- Half Life 2, by a long shot.
Multiplayer-
Here is the tough one. Here, we see Halo 3. It has a good variety of weapons, and vehiles, and downloadable maps. Add in the abbility to basically create Gametypes, and you have yourself an epic multiplayer experince. One flaw, to me, in Halo, is the lack of variety, player wise. A lot of players use the same exact weapons, and frankly, in my time with halo 3/Halo PC, I've determined that neither version has people that use much strategy. It takes skill to kill somebody, but not much wits. If you are good at pistol headshots, you are about as good as it gets. And the fact everybody you play against is the exact same as you, health and speed wise, it gets a tad boring, to me.
Team Fortress, on the other hand, has a awesome class system, that really makes me want the game. You have Heavies, who can take loads of hits, but have counters. Every class, has a counter.
Heavies are countered by snipers,
Snipers are countered by soldiers, Scouts, and spies.
Soldiers and scouts are countered by heavies
Spies are countered by wits
Engineers are countered by heavies
Medics are countered by anybody who knows to kill them.
It goes deeper then that, but you get the point. This makes it a battle of skill, and wits. An enemy Heavy tearing your team to pieces, switch class to a sniper and headshot him. A sniper keep picking you off. Use either a Spy or Soliders to get into the sniping point, and take him out.
This strategy makes the game so much more enjoyable, to me. Now, it's maps are very limited, at the moment. This is a major downside, but it's not unlikley more modes, and maps will be realesed, and for the PC version, Mods are easily capable of replacing Forge, and then some.
Winner- For me, a guy to use wit and strategy with his shooters, TF2
Other-
The Orange box has five games, for the price of one. It's an amazing deal, considering the original half life 2 costed the same, yet was all alone in it's packaging. Halo has the video capture mode, which admitley, is super cool, but it's not enough to overtake the sheer value Valve gave us on this gem of a game. you get three games, equal or better then Halo's solo, another single player that is unquie and should be played, and a multiplayer game that has the potential to blow Halo's out of the water.
What do you guys think?
Alright dude one reason why Halo 3 is more popular amongst people is that it is simple enough for someone to pick up yet deep enough for a gamer who wants a challenge. Half Life 2 is a fun game for single player but that is all you really get in Half Life, single player. Sure it has it's puzzles and own unique gameplay mechanics but not everyone is interested in doing that stuff to get through a game. There's been times when i'm playing Half Life 2 where I want to go in and kill a ton of stuff but I can't because of a stupid puzzle making it impossible for me to. As for Portal that's all it is. A giant darn puzzle. Sure that can be fun but it gets a very tedious after a while to play nothing but a giant puzzle. So for single player i'm going to say Halo 3 for simplicity and amount of action, and Half Life 2 when I want a healthy mix of that and puzzles, and Portal for a mind breaking game.
As far as multiplayer again Halo 3 is simple yet fun and challenging if you want it to be. The weapons in it being similar just make it much easier to learn them which again falls into simplicity. The class system is very boring to me because you can only do one to a few things with them. If you choose the sniper class that's all you can do, snipe. In Halo 3 you can do so much more because you aren't as limited. Sure it may seem simple on the outside but in reality when you have so much to do because you aren't in a selected class then you find you could do much more. Playing the strategy card is an aweful mistake too. In case you haven't noticed there is a great deal of strategy in Halo 3's multiplayer. Naturally you have to find the skilled people for this but that is beyond the point.
I've played Halo 3 multiplayer, Zero <-<
Trust me, it doesn't go much further then running forward, MAYBE stepping behind a tree while widley firing your weapon. It doesn't compare to the limits put upon you in TF2.
In Halo, you run around senslessly, picking up whatever weapon, and kill the other players. In TF2, you can't just kill the other players and hope to win. You have medics, who heal other players. It takes more thinking then Halo. Halo, the man objective is, Kill the guy who's shooting at me, or who is most likley to kill me.
In TF2, it goes far beyond that. Should I kill the Heavy tearing my teamates to pices with a headshot? but then if I miss, the medic will make him invinciable, and he might be much more dangerous, so I should shoot the medic, then the Heavy. But wait, I see the engineer running. Maybe I should shoot him, in case he finishes a teleporter.
With classes, the classes are there to add strategy, and for nothing else. If you don't like sniping, then don't snipe. And you can change them, every death, so it's not like you are forced into a single role for every match, you can change it up.
In Halo, you don't have to worrry about such stuff. It doesn't go much deeper decision making wise then, shoot the sniper, or the guy in front of me, or in SOME games, the flag carrier.
Sure, it takes strategy in Halo, but TF2 takes all the strategy, and triples it, and adds limits to keep anybody from being overpowered.
Single player wise, that's just you. Half life 2 is widely considered the greatest game, and greatest shooter of all time, for a reason. I doubt everybody hates using thier brain in video games. Whereas, Portals, is designed for the thinkers in us. It's not for everybody, that is a given, but for the puzzlers and thinkers, it's a great game.
Halo is very simple, and it's popular for that very reason. I'm not questioning why it is popular, but why The Orange box, is the better shooter of the group. Halo might be more...easy to understand, but if you look in it's design, Orange Box has it trumped in nearly every category, except customication.
Dude NJ for one, you don't own a 360. For two, you don't have Xbox Live so I don't imagine you've played against skilled players and not on the same screen. For three, TF2's class system is similar to the weapons in the game except that you don't have unlimited of one weapon type. So don't even go there my friend. It's also made so that you don't have one specific weapon over another for the most part.
As for the single player dude there's reason why people call games shooters. <<; You are supposed to shoot and kill not waste a couple of minutes on a lame puzzle. I don't mind it but it gets to be a serious bore.
I don't know either, and I know full well that. However, I DO have friends outside of RPGN, you know <-<
And I've played probably 40 or so mathes online, and it was cool. However, none of my teamates ever said " sniper on the cliff" Or "cover my back" or anything of the sort in multiplayer scenerios.
And Halo has the basi strategies of any other shooter, as does Team Fortress 2, but team fortres 2's class system makes it that much deeper then halo. I'm not saying Halo is any less fun to play. I love to play Halo trial on the PC, and Halo 3 when I get the chance. But comparing it to online class shooters, it's hardly comparable, strategy wise.
Single player wise, once again, that's you. I can see how you don't like puzzles, but many people do, hence why The Orange Box is pwning halo in the critic reviews <-<
After playing TF2 myself I can say it is an EPIC FAILURE OF DEATHLY PROPORTIONS. The online matches are aweful for lag, the class system is an incredible bore and makes it too easy to beat your enemies, and quite frankly it looks, sounds, and feels way to childish and idiotic for my liking. Halo 3 on the other hand doesn't have any of these aspects not surprisingly. And don't even get me started on the lack of maps the game already has. All in all, I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE THE CORE OF THIS GAME EVEN MORE SO THAN I LOATHE JUDAU ASHTA!!!
TF2=TOTAL EPIC FAILURE OF DEATHLY PROPORTION
Halo3=TOTAL EPIC AWESOMENESS OF GRAND PROPORTION
As far as single player after having another taste of Half Life 2 I can safely say that while very fun, doesn't provide me with the excitement Halo 3 does. Not to mention Half Life 2 is supposed to be so realistic it's amazing. I find that hitting an enemy with a crowbar has so little effect it's completely amazing. They don't even flinch from getting hit by the darn thing. And SMG bullets seem to have no effect in stopping their own return fire. Not to mention when I try to shoot crates out of my way they can't seem to break. 2 or 3 whacks of the crowbar and it shatters into pieces.
Portal is an incredible game though not what I had hoped for in mind bending puzzles. Not to mention the incredibley short length(I beat it in 2 hours easy.) That being said it's a really fun game for how long it is. And since Halo 3 lacks puzzles Portal wins in that area though loses in length.
Overall-
Halo 3= great single player, co-op campaign, somewhat short campaign, incredible multiplayer, and for the most part lag free matches.
Half Life 2= Great single player, awesome appearance, unreal reactions from enemies being hit, Single player only, 3 stories.
Portal= Incredibley fun, somewhat challenging puzzles, very very short game.
Team Fortress 2= Boring class system, INCREDIBLEY LAGGY MATCHES(All 13 matches I played were aweful I couldn't stomach any more after 3 but I decided to stick around long enough in hopes of a better game), looks, sounds, and feels like very childish and bright for it's type, lacking any fun.
On a side note: NJ you must not have played with a competent team because nearly all of my matches have involved strategy in weapon selection, spotting enemy, planning attack, etc. Of course you seem to try to bash(Or something similar in concept) anything Halo related at every turn you've gotten dude. XD So this doesn't surprise me at all. As for the fact you call yourself a true Halo fan after your numerous attempts I can't believe you for a second.
Why did this degenerate into a pissing match between Zero and NJ? o-o; On a more serious note, Zero over there is biased to Halo 3 as a member of the KoG, and NJ is biased against Halo 3, due to lacking a 360. So both your arguments are null for any objectivity. Have a nice day.
Just because I don't have a 360, doesn't mean I havn't played Halo 3, Hyper <-<
I've played it numerous times, as like I've said hundreds of times, just because you don't own a game, doesn't mean you can't judge it <_<
Zero, you're experince with TF2 may have been different then somebody else's. Just because it laged for you, doesn't mean everybody is going to have that problem. From what I've heard/seen, it's not normally laggy.
I don't bash Halo every chance I have, Zero.
If you'd look at RPGN, I have made and kept more halo related threads then anybody <_<
And what exactly do you mean by ompetent team? the Team I was on was just the same as the team we played against. the fact of the matter is, Halo is simplistic. Now, you may not like Shooters being complex in design, but personally, I do. The single player on Halo, any of them, bored me into playing the multiplayer instead. I'm not sure what exactly it was, but it seemed so dull compared to even lesser shooters. I'm not a fan of Halo's single player.
And it's impossible to beat Halo's pick up and play. You can pop halo in at a party, and play it, with hardly any problems, the same can't be said for Team Fortress 2. However, I myself, prefer the strategy literally built into TF2's gameplay, rather then the simplicity Halo has. sure, thee are strategies on Halo, but like I said before, liek you seemed to ignore, almost every strategy in Halo can be replicated in Team Fortress 2, ALONG with the added strategy of a class system keeping people from being too noobish on it.
For your description of TF2, at the bottom of the page, is incredibly opiniated.
For one, you may think the class system is boring. However, appearently, considering the reviews the orange box has been getting, critics seem to think otherwise. It's different, for shooters, not the same old respawn, shoot your enemy, respawn, shoot your enemy. you my not prefer it, yourself, but just because you think it's boring doesn't make it as such. I myself find the class system as an intellegent way of making the matches more fun, and less a matter of shooting, and more a matter of thinking. Weapon selection takes very little intellegence.
lawl rocket launcher blow ppl up. It doesn't go much deeper then that, in most matches.
Zero, you are mixing the word fan, with fanboy up. I'm not letting my fandom of a game overshroud my vision. I like Halo, I play it daily. It's an amazingly well made game, and oe of the easiest to pick up and play shooters of all time. However, it has it's flaws. Unlike a fanboy, I know it has flaws, and don't hesitate in pointing them out. Every game has it's flaws. Learn to live with Halo's instead of always putting up bland arguements against them, and you'll learn to respect other shooters that deserve attention as well, and it'll make life a lot better for you, and everybody else who does it. and ONLY flaw you put on Halo was it's short campaign mode, yet you weren't the least bit hesitant to put flaws up for Team Fortress 2. there are other flaws in Halo, despite what you may think. Inluding the fact that the majority of people I played agaisnt stuck with the strategy of running forward and shooting, without any thought process at all. Another thing was, the severe lack of intellegence in the online play, at all. sure, there are people who think on Halo, but for every one intellegent person, you have four 12 year old boys screaming into thier microphone the entire match, every time they get killed. If you deny this, I'd like to know what you did to your Xbox, so I can pass this amazing information onto my friend, who has this trouble every single match he plays.
Dude Hyper being in KoG has no influence over what I think about the Orange Box because plently of other people in KoG have different opinions. You barely know what KoG is about anyway so nice try. XP
NJ you know what I mean by competent team. A team of people who happen to be smart enough to say "cover me." or "their sniper on the platform.", etc.
It's unreal how bad TF2 was to me though. I hated every aspect of it from the looks to the play to the incredibley boring class system(Which essentially is the weapon you need on demand.) I just don't like the game at all. <<; Sorry for being so trigger happy on listing it's faults but you honestly can't blame me when I see a game this bad.
Oh and yes I do know that Halo 3 has it's flaws. They just aren't as noticeable in Halo 3 as they are in Team Fortress 2. For one if you are stupid enough to enter matchmaking by yourself in a Team type then you know you're screwed. Because chances are you will get a poopty team or one that doesn't talk. Though sometimes you might get lucky and get a team who knows how to communicate between one and other. It really is influenced by luck NJ. o-o; Fact is those the only 2 MAJOR flaws i've found in the game. List more and i'll be willing to tackle them on.
Calling me a fanboy is wrong. Calling me someone who is trying to convince people that The Orange Box isn't the greatest is some aspects as well as Halo 3, yeah you'd be right. And NJ while you might maintain the most Halo threads on RPGN a few of them have you bashing on Halo 3. Not that I would know mind you seeing as how I left. So now i'm going to edit my overall description of Halo 3.
Halo 3= Fun single player, 4 player online co-op, short campaign, fun multiplayer, excellent matchmaking software, awful setup with teams on Team game types sometimes.
Enjoy because I've noticed you've run out of things to say about The Orange Box and Halo 3.
I would have to say Orange box because you get more than 1 game so you can understand that But halo is one of the best games out there and yeah bla bla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla blabla bla bla bla just to keep this Thread a lot to read thread
o-o It's unclear what you voted for but do take into consideration both the Orange Box's weaknesses as well as Halo's. Don't forget their strengths either though.