Is the Halo series overrated?

[Zero]

The Halo series was an amazing new fps when it first came out. In the past years it has definetly not been overrated with adding a new campaign and modes to every new game. But iwth the upcoming release of halo odst (i preorderd today), halo reach, and a halo anime, it seems as if Bungie is milking the franchise for all its worth, which i don't really approve of.

I'm not sure you understand what it means for something to be "overrated". Also, don't put the blame on Bungie for milking the franchise. It's all Microsoft's doing. Halo Reach is going to be Bungie's last Halo game.

[RX-78-2]

All of this discussion is good food for thought, but I propose another question, as an add-on. I recommend you vote and discuss the original question first though. Anyway, here it is:

Halo 3 is obviously not a perfect game. But why? What keeps it from getting a 10 out of 10? You can also give it your rating of the game on a scale of 0 to 10. Increments of 0.25 (i.e. 5.25, 5.5, 5.75) are acceptable. Use specific examples from the text to support your reasoning. _{lol school is dumb} This is strictly talking of Halo 3 as a game all its own. Not the other Halo games or the influence Halo 3 has had on the video gaming industry.

I can't really think of anything majorly wrong with it. The few things that are are minor glitches, lag compensation (or lack thereof, I still must research this), small difficulties in online play (once people quit, their places cannot be filled during the match), etc. The graphics are great, the sound is great, the gameplay is great, and the story is decent. Plus, there's actually some replay value even playing the campaign mode by yourself. And of course the Forge and Theater add much more to the game. With these things in mind, as well as solid downloadable content (speaking of the map packs), I think Halo 3 deserves 9.75 out of 10.

[Zero]

ugh...decimal ratings. These types of ratings are always unnecessary when rating just about anything. I shouldn't even have to explain why. A simple 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 scale is fine.

Halo 3 is indeed a great game, however it just isn't a perfect game. It is by no means a near perfect game either. Why? I'll explain and digest comments you made to boot.

First and foremost, something you mentioned about the online multiplayer bugged me, me being a Halo vet and all. When people quit in an online match, how exactly do you expect the places to be filled? Furthermore, I need to clarify that it isn't even a bad thing when people quit on your team. You still have a few advantages if you and your remaining team members are good enough. Namely, you're outnumbered. In Halo 2 and 3 that is an amazing advantage. Why? Your opponents typically have less opportunities to increase their score. They encounter your team less frequently, resulting in a lower score usually, typically if your team is better than theirs over all. A single elite MLG player can usually take on an entire 5 man team. Just two MLG's is all you need for a big team match for example. Now I'm not exactly anywhere near MLG level, but I manage to win matches where my teammates quit more often than not. This is common knowledge in MLG and if you want sources, I could get my buddy John Wang to register an account here to further comment on how it works.

Finally, the game. The single player experience is mundane. The plot is sub-par and predictable. The graphics,  controls, vehicles, and weapons are great. The online multiplayer: The single reason to play this game. That's about it really. All of the options you have that I mentioned in an earlier post make this the most versatile Live game, hands down.

In the end, the game is great but that's all it gets. Glitches are unavoidable with any game and none in this game are too serious. So from me, it gets an 8 out of 10. It isn't near perfect. Play any PC FPS like System Shock or Half-Life and you'll realize that right away.

[Neerb]

...the gameplay is great, and the story is decent. Plus, there's actually some replay value even playing the campaign mode by yourself...

...  The single player experience is mundane. The plot is sub-par and predictable...

So apparently, the game's only problem is a matter of opinion over the single player, rather than any more factual annoyance like bad frame rate, low weapon and stage variety, etc?  I'd say that's pretty great, not "by no means near perfect."  Nine-point-something out of ten.

[Triforceman22]

Also, to my knowledge Halo is the first FPS to get Vehicle control right and make it fun.
Vehicles ar still fun to drive and blow up still.
And Halo 2's multiplayer is what pretty much got Xbox live popular, if you think about it. It was the highest selling original Xbox game....

for the 360, Modern warfare baets Halo in terms of numbers of people, but halo 3 is still and excellent game and is so much fun to play with a big party.

You havn't truly expierienced Halo 3 until you have played Infection with a bunch of friends. Way too much fun.

[Mutilator7]

I'm not sure you understand what it means for something to be "overrated". Also, don't put the blame on Bungie for milking the franchise. It's all Microsoft's doing. Halo Reach is going to be Bungie's last Halo game.

I know exactly what it means when something is overrated. It means that it is appraised highly when it shouldn't be. And yes, the series is not overrated because every game adds something new to the halo experience. ODST's firefight mode should accomplish this and hopefully reach will have something worthwhile it's too soon to tell. An overrated game to me is something that just keeps putting out new games in the series without adding anything significantly better to the other games in the franchise. And no i'm not leaning towards call of duty even though their latest installment isn't exactly groundbreaking. Maybe a series like guitar hero, all these new games and they are all the same.

[Zero]

I know exactly what it means when something is overrated. It means that it is appraised highly when it shouldn't be. And yes, the series is not overrated because every game adds something new to the halo experience. ODST's firefight mode should accomplish this and hopefully reach will have something worthwhile it's too soon to tell. An overrated game to me is something that just keeps putting out new games in the series without adding anything significantly better to the other games in the franchise. And no i'm not leaning towards call of duty even though their latest installment isn't exactly groundbreaking. Maybe a series like guitar hero, all these new games and they are all the same.

lol you looked up the definition and then supported why you think the series isn't overrated by saying it adds new content. A franchise that gets milked isn't necessarily overrated. It isn't related at all. At all. You still don't understand why the Halo series is overrated. An overrated game is just a game that gets worshiped for curing cancer and causing world peace when in reality all it does is entertain you and spit in your face afterward. Your reasoning for why the Halo series isn't overrated falls incredibly short and flops.

Halo IS overrated. You can't get around that, mainly because there are people that worship the game like it was blessed upon the Earth by gods.

@SmashBro25:

No, once again. It's a matter of experience. You know a good FPS campaign if you've played through the Half-Life series, Serious Sam series, or System Shock series. Halo 1's campaign was the only campaign to even come close to that. Halo 2's campaign was pretty fun but the story elements dragged it down. In Halo 3, the stages are incredibly mundane and there are not any enemies that are interesting to fight, not to mention that there is only 1 boss and you cannot even call it a boss for crying out loud. The enemy AI ranges from excellent to downright stupid, it can never make up its mind and the ally AI is probably the stupidest I've ever encountered in a video game.  Halo 3's campaign is terrible by yourself, but pretty fun with 3 friends. Friends can make just about anything fun.

Halo has never really been groundbreaking, and honestly, what makes it more apparent is that Call of Duty is overtaking Halo's popularity.

Fact is: The game was rushed. Microsoft probably should have let Bungie take their time with it.

[Mutilator7]

lol you looked up the definition and then supported why you think the series isn't overrated by saying it adds new content. A franchise that gets milked isn't necessarily overrated. It isn't related at all. At all. You still don't understand why the Halo series is overrated. An overrated game is just a game that gets worshiped for curing cancer and causing world peace when in reality all it does is entertain you and spit in your face afterward. Your reasoning for why the Halo series isn't overrated falls incredibly short and flops.

My reason for halo being overrated flops when yours is that "all it does is entertain you". That is the whole purpose of a video game, to entertain you and give you a fun time. I never said the game was overrated because it was milked, i just showed my opinion on microsft/bungie milking it. The standpoint of a game being overrated because it is worshipped by fanboys isn't that firm because only that particular group of people truly think that about halo. I understand your wording about curing cancer and world peace as a way that some people think halo is the game. But whether or not the game is overrated is really what you look for and like in a game. I've never felt halo has "spit in my face" because i know what it is and accept that, it's an average fps that is fun to play with friends.

Halo 3's campaign is terrible by yourself, but pretty fun with 3 friends. Friends can make just about anything fun.

I agree with you there, the campaign is incredibly short and doesn't get you connected to characters like a good story does. The marines are a joke as in the AI is pretty bad, once you put those skulls on the enemys actually know what they're doing though.

[Zero]

My reason for halo being overrated flops when yours is that "all it does is entertain you". That is the whole purpose of a video game, to entertain you and give you a fun time. I never said the game was overrated because it was milked, i just showed my opinion on microsft/bungie milking it. The standpoint of a game being overrated because it is worshipped by fanboys isn't that firm because only that particular group of people truly think that about halo. I understand your wording about curing cancer and world peace as a way that some people think halo is the game. But whether or not the game is overrated is really what you look for and like in a game. I've never felt halo has "spit in my face" because i know what it is and accept that, it's an average fps that is fun to play with friends.

I agree with you there, the campaign is incredibly short and doesn't get you connected to characters like a good story does. The marines are a joke as in the AI is pretty bad, once you put those skulls on the enemys actually know what they're doing though.

@Bold: Average does not deserve a near perfect score. People look over all of the flaws Halo has just because of its online capability. That isn't how you analyze a game.

You said and I quote "An overrated game to me is something that just keeps putting out new games in the series without adding anything significantly better to the other games in the franchise." Hence why I related your milking comment to it. That isn't what overrated means, at all.

Also, once again. Don't blame bungie for the milking of Halo. They're talented developers and know they can do so much more than just Halo games, which is why they aren't a part of Microsoft Studios anymore. Reach is the last Bungie developed Halo game.

At any rate, I'm not about to repeat my points over and over. Halo is an overrated franchise but it deserves its place in the industry.

idrgafatp

[HTA!]

We should all just give up and agree that Infinity Ward > Bungie?

Halo is fun and all, but where it falls short seems to be variety in my opinion.
Guns aren't new and interesting, online modes need some tweaking especially in the filling-in-of-drop outs department (spoiled by Domination D:), and in general Halo is carried by its vehicles.

It is one of the only games to my knowledge that uses vehicles in a fun and mostly balanced way. Otherwise, it is like any other FPS.

Fun, but not best game ever.
MW2 will hold that spot, :P

[RX-78-2]

ugh...decimal ratings. These types of ratings are always unnecessary when rating just about anything. I shouldn't even have to explain why. A simple 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 scale is fine.

Halo 3 is indeed a great game, however it just isn't a perfect game. It is by no means a near perfect game either. Why? I'll explain and digest comments you made to boot.

First and foremost, something you mentioned about the online multiplayer bugged me, me being a Halo vet and all. When people quit in an online match, how exactly do you expect the places to be filled? Furthermore, I need to clarify that it isn't even a bad thing when people quit on your team. You still have a few advantages if you and your remaining team members are good enough. Namely, you're outnumbered. In Halo 2 and 3 that is an amazing advantage. Why? Your opponents typically have less opportunities to increase their score. They encounter your team less frequently, resulting in a lower score usually, typically if your team is better than theirs over all. A single elite MLG player can usually take on an entire 5 man team. Just two MLG's is all you need for a big team match for example. Now I'm not exactly anywhere near MLG level, but I manage to win matches where my teammates quit more often than not. This is common knowledge in MLG and if you want sources, I could get my buddy John Wang to register an account here to further comment on how it works.

Finally, the game. The single player experience is mundane. The plot is sub-par and predictable. The graphics,  controls, vehicles, and weapons are great. The online multiplayer: The single reason to play this game. That's about it really. All of the options you have that I mentioned in an earlier post make this the most versatile Live game, hands down.

In the end, the game is great but that's all it gets. Glitches are unavoidable with any game and none in this game are too serious. So from me, it gets an 8 out of 10. It isn't near perfect. Play any PC FPS like System Shock or Half-Life and you'll realize that right away.

For your complaint about decimal ratings, I wanted to give people the chance to be as accurate as possible in their rating of Halo 3. I deliberately made it like this so that it could be essentially a 0 to 1,000 scale in increments of 25. You may find it unneeded, but it's for the benefit of others, and I don't see how complaining about it solves anything either. We didn't need to know about your opinion of decimal rating systems. That isn't what this thread is about. Then again, neither is this, but I'm just calling you on this to give you a bit of advice (hopefully you'll take it as it was given). Please don't make a big deal out of this particular comment.

Anyway, to your comment on filling places and the tactical advantages of being outnumbered, thank you for sharing, but I'm pretty sure nearly everyone, if not all in this thread, has been aware of that. It's common knowledge not just to MLG's, but to just about every right-minded gamer. It would be helpful, anyway, to have the places filled in the case of a "Slayer" game in the Social Big Team playlist. Call of Duty: World at War allows players to join matches even after they've started so that they may fill the places of those who disconnected for whatever reason, eliminating the unpredictable chance of using an advantage such as being outnumbered. Also, since not every player is able to take advantage of this circumstance (lack of skill being a common reason), it's better left out of online play, which I believe influenced Call of Duty's online play into making this distinction from Halo 3's.

Also, I wasn't talking about the plot of campaign mode so much, I just meant the gameplay. Besides, I just think it's average, hence the usage of the word "decent". Even so, it's just an opinion.

And please, let up a little. You can't force your opinion on others. You may not mean to, but it very much looks like it. The most you can say is "Halo 3 is overrated", but all you're really saying (or are able to say for that matter) is "I think Halo 3 is overrated". You can't prove that it's overrated because it's an opinion.

[Zero]

For your complaint about decimal ratings, I wanted to give people the chance to be as accurate as possible in their rating of Halo 3. I deliberately made it like this so that it could be essentially a 0 to 1,000 scale in increments of 25. You may find it unneeded, but it's for the benefit of others, and I don't see how complaining about it solves anything either. We didn't need to know about your opinion of decimal rating systems. That isn't what this thread is about. Then again, neither is this, but I'm just calling you on this to give you a bit of advice (hopefully you'll take it as it was given). Please don't make a big deal out of this particular comment.

Anyway, to your comment on filling places and the tactical advantages of being outnumbered, thank you for sharing, but I'm pretty sure nearly everyone, if not all in this thread, has been aware of that. It's common knowledge not just to MLG's, but to just about every right-minded gamer. It would be helpful, anyway, to have the places filled in the case of a "Slayer" game in the Social Big Team playlist. Call of Duty: World at War allows players to join matches even after they've started so that they may fill the places of those who disconnected for whatever reason, eliminating the unpredictable chance of using an advantage such as being outnumbered. Also, since not every player is able to take advantage of this circumstance (lack of skill being a common reason), it's better left out of online play, which I believe influenced Call of Duty's online play into making this distinction from Halo 3's.

Also, I wasn't talking about the plot of campaign mode so much, I just meant the gameplay. Besides, I just think it's average, hence the usage of the word "decent". Even so, it's just an opinion.

And please, let up a little. You can't force your opinion on others. You may not mean to, but it very much looks like it. The most you can say is "Halo 3 is overrated", but all you're really saying (or are able to say for that matter) is "I think Halo 3 is overrated". You can't prove that it's overrated because it's an opinion.

I lol'd. You must not have encountered anyone that has forced their opinion on others before. I certainly am not doing it. I'm just telling you like it is. I personally don't overrate Halo, as you can plainly see by my evaluation of the flaws the game has. Halo, however, is overrated by a majority of the gaming community and therefore is an overrated game overall. The game simply does not deserve a perfect rating, because it is not a perfect game. When someone says "that game is overrated", they're talking about how hundreds of thousands of people think its perfect overall, even when there are tons of flaws with the game that keep it from being a perfect game. Do you think Final Fantasy VII is overrated? Case in point. Final Fantasy VII is overrated to living hell by a vast majority of people. Therefore it overall is an overrated game. Is it a bad game? Of course not, but people sure think its perfect, even when there are hundreds of flaws with it. You have to understand the meaning of "perfection" before you can fully understand what it means for something to be overrated.

and lol @ my "complaining" as you put it. Again, telling it like it is. Decimal rating systems are unneeded because what in the hell signifies the difference between an 8.0 and an 8.25? Nothing. It's just incredibly stupid. It's why most game critics do not use a scale like that(IGN does lololololol and we all know how that turns out most of the time; ex: God Hand's infamous 3.0 rating).

If people were aware of my MLG comments, then why did M7 complain about being outnumbered? My point exactly. I made the comments more so to him than to anyone else.

"Also, I wasn't talking about the plot of campaign mode so much, I just meant the gameplay. Besides, I just think it's average, hence the usage of the word "decent". Even so, it's just an opinion."

Yeah I'm starting to remember why I don't come here much anymore.

Alright, let me get this straight. You're trying to review Halo 3 has a whole, and gave it a 9.75 out of 10. Which, may I remind you, is a rating that should be saved for games that are "near perfection". Yet you were not talking about the campaign mode "so much", "just the gameplay". You also believe the campaign is "average".

...

:/

I'm done. If no one can comprehend what I'm saying then there really isn't any point in debating this further. I was praying for some intelligent life here since SmashR is down again but it really looks like I've hit rock bottom with this forum.

[Mutilator7]

I'm done. If no one can comprehend what I'm saying then there really isn't any point in debating this further. I was praying for some intelligent life here since.

I haven't seen a single unintelligent post on this thread. I think we all are comprehending what you and others are saying and replying with our views.

[WhiteReverse]

And here I thought this place wasn't going to be anything like SmashR.

By the way I voted for the top choice.

[RX-78-2]

I lol'd. You must not have encountered anyone that has forced their opinion on others before. I certainly am not doing it. I'm just telling you like it is. I personally don't overrate Halo, as you can plainly see by my evaluation of the flaws the game has. Halo, however, is overrated by a majority of the gaming community and therefore is an overrated game overall. The game simply does not deserve a perfect rating, because it is not a perfect game. When someone says "that game is overrated", they're talking about how hundreds of thousands of people think its perfect overall, even when there are tons of flaws with the game that keep it from being a perfect game. Do you think Final Fantasy VII is overrated? Case in point. Final Fantasy VII is overrated to living hell by a vast majority of people. Therefore it overall is an overrated game. Is it a bad game? Of course not, but people sure think its perfect, even when there are hundreds of flaws with it. You have to understand the meaning of "perfection" before you can fully understand what it means for something to be overrated.

and lol @ my "complaining" as you put it. Again, telling it like it is. Decimal rating systems are unneeded because what in the hell signifies the difference between an 8.0 and an 8.25? Nothing. It's just incredibly stupid. It's why most game critics do not use a scale like that(IGN does lololololol and we all know how that turns out most of the time; ex: God Hand's infamous 3.0 rating).

If people were aware of my MLG comments, then why did M7 complain about being outnumbered? My point exactly. I made the comments more so to him than to anyone else.

"Also, I wasn't talking about the plot of campaign mode so much, I just meant the gameplay. Besides, I just think it's average, hence the usage of the word "decent". Even so, it's just an opinion."

Yeah I'm starting to remember why I don't come here much anymore.

Alright, let me get this straight. You're trying to review Halo 3 has a whole, and gave it a 9.75 out of 10. Which, may I remind you, is a rating that should be saved for games that are "near perfection". Yet you were not talking about the campaign mode "so much", "just the gameplay". You also believe the campaign is "average".

...

:/

I'm done. If no one can comprehend what I'm saying then there really isn't any point in debating this further. I was praying for some intelligent life here since SmashR is down again but it really looks like I've hit rock bottom with this forum.

To your MLG comments, I guess it's okay, since they were directed at a user who wasn't "in the know" about this (no offense). But still, he probably knew about it anyway, and, like I said, isn't able to take advantage of that situation.

About forcing your opinion, if you want to "tell it like it is", then you must present your statement as a fact. The Halo series is overrated by some, but not by all, therefore it's not a fact that it's overrated. If it were, then everyone would have to be overrating it, and then no one would see it as an overrating anyway, in which case it would not be overrated, making it impossible for this to be a fact. You can say that many people overrate the Halo series, and that would be acceptable and be a fact. However, your opinion is not a fact; no one's is. I understand that you think Halo 3 is overrated yet still a good game, but you can't tell someone that in a way that makes other believe that you're telling them that it's overrated and that their opinion is wrong. Like I said before, opinions are not facts, and therefore can't be right, wrong, proven, or dis-proven.

Yes, I think the campaign is average, and that's one of the reasons why Halo 3 isn't a perfect game. That's why it deserves 9.75 out of 10 in my opinion. Everything that is wrong with Halo 3, in my opinion, amounts to only a 0.25 reduction from its rating, resulting in a 9.75. If I were to use a five star rating system, I would rate it a 4 and a half out of 5 (if that's allowed). If no half-stars are allowed, then I would have to rate it a 5 out of 5, signifying that it is a perfect game, even though it is not. It deserves more than a 4 out of 5 star rating though, so this isn't the most accurate rating system available.

The decimal rating system is efficient though, because it allows people to give a very accurate expression of their review. Let's say you're buying something at a yard sale (in which no tax is involved). The item you are trying to purchase costs exactly $10. If you have only $9.99, and the seller is not willing to "haggle" the price any lower, you can't buy that item. You would need one more cent. It's a small difference, but it's enough to make a difference. To your question about what signifies the difference between 8.0 and 8.25, the difference is 0.25, but I'm sure you have a calculator and/or a brain to figure out things of that sort. If you can't figure out the significance that that has in the way people that feel about their video games, then maybe you don't have either.

In closing, I daresay you've insulted everyone at this forum in your closing statement. If you can't handle a friendly discussion with a "newbie" (and formerly "n00b") forum user, either kindly remove yourself from the discussion (not necessarily the thread), or "grow a pair", as I was once told by a rather "friendly" _{(hint, hint)} moderator.