ironchefkorea

Halo - I think it's the greatest console fps of all time. Among the first to efficiently utilize dual-analog sticks in a console fps (the sticks on the XBox are perfect for fps, by the way - unlike the looseness of the PS2 sticks and that retarded yellow octagon with the GCN).

First of all, it was clean - you can tell that bungie, although rushed to release Halo as a launch title, did their most important job - QA. Far too often am I disappointed by games who had such great potential, and were executed well, but simply fell short because a lack of QA - with Halo, movements were smooth. Aiming was relatively smooth. Granted, there were bugs (many of which are exploit-worthy), but negative glitches were always freak occurences (perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones to have avoided glitches in the original Halo thus far).

Second, the gameplay - like I said, the controls were tight and responsive. Using the triggers for fire/grenade in conjunction with the sticks is perfect. Melee attacks have an excellent weight to them, and are extremely gratifying. Switching weapons (and dual wielding in the sequel) is relatively pain-free (unless weapons fall in stacked positions).

The combat of the game, its selling factor, is ridiculously fun - I don't see how people can find it boring. Maybe you who frown upon the game are simply unchallenged, and should've been playing on legendary. In my eyes, though, I found heroic to be a blast - the AI was good, though not excellent. I found myself having to actually plan my attacks, sticking and moving like a goddamned boxer. Enemies take cover, flank, and use your reloading time as a chance to sneak up on you. What else do people expect from a first person shooter? What makes halo not good?

Third, Immersiveness - and I'll end with this, for now. I'm sure people are will want to retort, which is what I expect from a good forum. The one thing that makes me love video games is immersiveness - plugging in that controller, hitting that button, and being sucked into a different world. When you wake up in that cryotank, you are Master Chief. Bungie's melding of clean, high quality graphics, engaging gameplay, tight controls, excellent audio (sfx and score), and well-paid attention to detail (the troops' comments, covenant's comments, etc) pull a willing (and open minded) player into the game and don't let go.

I feel like a fucking review writer, and a shitty one at that. I'll do Doom 3 another time. Right now, I have more of Resident Evil 4 to be playing.

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If it wasn't for microsoft, if we lived in the middle east? Y'all wouldn't have no hands....