General consensus on game forums is that "halo 3 sux". Why is this game so unpopular despite its ratings, awards and epic sales figures (8.1 million copies as on January). Also it recently reclaimed the top spot on xbox live (from COD4).
Ive always wonderd why most people seem to dislike it. And then it came to me....
When i think of "most people" im not thinking of most people. Im thinking of most people on game forums.
Now hear me out.
I can say, as a frequent user of game forums etc, that i am (for lack of a better term) a bit nerdy...If your reading this then so are you, though if you prefer to think of yourself as an avid games fan or hardcore gamer then so be it. I simply use the term nerdy in reference to my gaming habits, not the stereotypical WOW playing spotty spectacled TV nerd.
I think we can all agree that by the using of internet game forums, it means we are more into gaming than the average joe.
Its this point that i thought about. I play Halo with two housemates (im a student). They both love it and yet they couldnt care less about game news, upcoming releases etc. They just play and love Halo 3 and a handful of other games. I asked them if they ever go on gaming forums and they just looked at me funny (one of them asked if thats where you get cheats so i just nodded...)
ANNYWAY, my point is Halo is more of a casual fun game ideal for gamers less...discriminating in game tastes than us.
SUMMARY in one sentence: Most Halo players dont use internet forums
I know its probably tempting to just say "Halos overrated" or "OMGZ wall o text!" but please, even if you dont like Halo (and im not trying to change your views) could you try and understand where im coming from and discuss it?
Actually i'd say "Halo 3 is okay, but easy to hate since it's hilariously overrated (it is, no matter how good you actually consider it, it is not as good as the first reviews praised it to be) and attracts stupid, loud, foulmouthed kids in multiplayer"
I think the real problem, which is partially related to yours, is that those who do not use game forums really do not know the potential of a game.
To explain this further let me begin by saying that knowing the potential of a game does not necessarily mean you know how to program one. All I mean is that a large percentage of the people that use forums such as these have seen better games. These games are generally sleepers and, for whatever reason, never take off.
What I am attempting to say throughout my inane rambling is that most people who claim to hate Halo (and other mass market games) do not actually "hate" them. Most of them just hate the mass publicity these games receive, while truly revolutionary or good games are swept under the rug. This leads to companies simply trying to leach any scraps from the bloated carcass that is left after the initial rush of these games rather than trying to make their own games.
This is what I believe most people are complaining about. They simply say Halo is to blame.
It's the game that you can attack if you want to attack the 360, just like MGS is attacked if you want to attack the PS3, Mario/Zelda/Metroid for the Wii and Half-life 2 for the PC. No real mystery, if people don't like the 360 then they don't like Halo 3 (mostly). That seems to be why Halo 3 gets the hate it does. People could easily attack Crackdown but it isn't as popular as Halo so it goes under the radar.
You are right in saying that many of the Halo fans come on forums. I think most of the people that play Halo are either too casual to want to come on forums or *GASP* too mature to come on forums and argue about videogames.
Well halo like crippled the fan boys soul...It was to be the holy grail of games.I mean it was developed by 102 people,and so over hyped it dominates anything in the past or future of hype,and all we got a mediocre fps.
It's the game that you can attack if you want to attack the 360, just like MGS is attacked if you want to attack the PS3, Mario/Zelda/Metroid for the Wii and Half-life 2 for the PC. No real mystery, if people don't like the 360 then they don't like Halo 3 (mostly). That seems to be why Halo 3 gets the hate it does. People could easily attack Crackdown but it isn't as popular as Halo so it goes under the radar.
You are right in saying that many of the Halo fans come on forums. I think most of the people that play Halo are either too casual to want to come on forums or *GASP* too mature to come on forums and argue about videogames.
You have some very good points but the words Halo, players, too, and, mature, should never be in the same sentence lol. I love Halo and i openly admit im immature. I can spend up to an hour watchin people get hurt on youtube...
I agree that Halo 3 is largely overrated, but the biggest thing is that is has been shown up and shadowed by other shooters such as Bioshock or COD4. Shown up, not in sales, but in quality. The saving grace for Halo 3 is the multiplayer, which is amazing and fun, but as far as a single player outlet...just lack luster. The dialog seems forced, the story arcs surrcumstancial, and just seeming...clogged. But Halo 3 could have been terrible and still sell as much, because it is Halo 3.
I agree with you. Halo (im so sorry) is totally overrated. As you said Halo is a casual game. Whenever I want to buy a game, I go to this store with a halo demo. If you pay close eye attention to the people who play it, its ussually that little group of dudes(2,3...) I frequently hear those classical, dumb comments and advices "Shoot that little guy, on the left..." and "Throw a granede over there..." and so on. (you know what I mean) Anyway, one day i decided to go and try it. I played it, but it was nothing that special and great! Its not that it was, bad, it was like, average. Thus prooving your point: Halo is a game for those without a concrete opinion on games. Us forum posters are more experienced gamers and have this... feel to game quality. To casual gamers theres the "Good" and the "Bad". To us, theres "Good, but the graphics could be more polished", "Bad, but the Boss fights are actually fun" and so on. In conclusion, Halo is a casual game, for casual gamers.
I have never had a problem with Halo 3. It was never going to live up to the hype that surrounded it's release, but that doesn't make it a bad game. If people buy into the hype and expect their lives to be changed if they buy the game only to discover to their horror that it is 'only a game' then that is not really the fault of the actual game itself.
I think the fact that Halo 3 was such a huge selling title also means that there are more people out there who are inclined to dislike the game in proportion to the number of units sold. For example, if 20% of people - on average - dislike a game, if you sell 100 units of the game, that is 20 people who will complain about it. Sell 1000 and it's 200 people and so on.
Halo 3 sold by the truck load and so there is a proportionately higher number of people who will have bought it and disliked it. It is the way of things that they are more inclined to post their dislike of the game in forums as opposed those who like it.
TommyGun465: I agree with you. Halo (im so sorry) is totally overrated. As you said Halo is a casual game. Whenever I want to buy a game, I go to this store with a halo demo. If you pay close eye attention to the people who play it, its ussually that little group of dudes(2,3...) I frequently hear those classical, dumb comments and advices "Shoot that little guy, on the left..." and "Throw a granede over there..." and so on. (you know what I mean) Anyway, one day i decided to go and try it. I played it, but it was nothing that special and great! Its not that it was, bad, it was like, average. Thus prooving your point: Halo is a game for those without a concrete opinion on games. Us forum posters are more experienced gamers and have this... feel to game quality. To casual gamers theres the "Good" and the "Bad". To us, theres "Good, but the graphics could be more polished", "Bad, but the Boss fights are actually fun" and so on. In conclusion, Halo is a casual game, for casual gamers.
Jack_Burton: I have never had a problem with Halo 3. It was never going to live up to the hype that surrounded it's release, but that doesn't make it a bad game. If people buy into the hype and expect their lives to be changed if they buy the game only to discover to their horror that it is 'only a game' then that is not really the fault of the actual game itself.
I think the fact that Halo 3 was such a huge selling title also means that there are more people out there who are inclined to dislike the game in proportion to the number of units sold. For example, if 20% of people - on average - dislike a game, if you sell 100 units of the game, that is 20 people who will complain about it. Sell 1000 and it's 200 people and so on.
Halo 3 sold by the truck load and so there is a proportionately higher number of people who will have bought it and disliked it. It is the way of things that they are more inclined to post their dislike of the game in forums as those who like it.
TommyGun465: I agree with you. Halo (im so sorry) is totally overrated. As you said Halo is a casual game. Whenever I want to buy a game, I go to this store with a halo demo. If you pay close eye attention to the people who play it, its ussually that little group of dudes(2,3...) I frequently hear those classical, dumb comments and advices "Shoot that little guy, on the left..." and "Throw a granede over there..." and so on. (you know what I mean) Anyway, one day i decided to go and try it. I played it, but it was nothing that special and great! Its not that it was, bad, it was like, average. Thus prooving your point: Halo is a game for those without a concrete opinion on games. Us forum posters are more experienced gamers and have this... feel to game quality. To casual gamers theres the "Good" and the "Bad". To us, theres "Good, but the graphics could be more polished", "Bad, but the Boss fights are actually fun" and so on. In conclusion, Halo is a casual game, for casual gamers.
Exactly the sort of thing i meant! No need to apologise though, as i said i never intended to change your views, i dont mind if you dont like it! lol
EDIT wtf hapend there! SOrry bout all the quotes guys lol
With regards to the reviews of Halo 3, call me cynical, but it seems to me as thought 99% of reviewers had their gears oiled by either the grease of dirty money or the urine of fear.
Every review I read said this game was going to blow me away, that I would be more than satisfied with the conclusion and the gameplay had actually taken a bold leap forward. Every review I read turned out to have lied.
Its not that Halo 3 sucks. Its just average, very very average. The multiplayer is a redeeming factor, but its not like there isn't better multiplayer FPS on the Xbox360 (i.e. CoD4). In fact, there isn't a single feature of Halo3 which hasn't been done better in another game.
Oh and if you compare it to the best of recent PC FPS games, its unspeakably dull and uninspired.
p.s Halo was not designed for Casual gamers, at least not as I understand the definition of Casual. It may have worked out that way, but believe me, they were pushing for the hardcore shootemup kids.
edinflames: call me cynical, but it seems to me as thought 99% of reviewers had their gears oiled by either the grease of dirty money or the urine of fear.
No one has a problem with the normal people that play Halo, it's the jackoff's that come into or start threads lamenting all the hatred of Halo that people dislike. It's the infectious disease that is matchmaking to the exclusion of direct user control of game selection spreading throughout the console shooter world that has pissed people off. The biggest problem though is the attitude of some of the jackoffs that Halo effectively invented the console shooter when there is a fairly strong lineage of prior and even contemporary (To the first Halo.) games that were better at being shooters on consoles than Halo ever was. If I have to deal with choosing between being able to reload and being able to jump while moving because some asshole at Bungie didn't think it wise to actually LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CONTROL MAPPING IF YOU USE SOUTHPAW the game is not God's gift to the genre period. (This goes for alot of console shooters some with worse problems than Halo 3 with respect to Southpaw.)Being told how I am somehow wrong about something I can demonstrate to be nearly physically impossible to pull off because of the button mapping by a Halo jackoff is not something that makes me happy. (A normal human being wouldn't have a problem with my assessment after I explain the problem but the jackoffs are a different story. I have nothing against the normal people (Most people as you point out Stubee.) who like the game.)
It's annoying to see awardss given to the game when there is at least one game released on consoles that has done something that has never (to my knowledge) been done for a console shooter, in the form of full mod support. It makes you wonder if the people giving out the award were serious or were they just trying to jin up hits for their site. It's the overwhelming praise for mediocrity that gets on people's nerves. Halo could have been much more than it actually is, if people actually called out Bungie.
When I look at MGS4 I can see that they tried to do a great deal even if they were not perfect in their execution; and let's not pretend that there are no rabid MGS fanboy/girls out there. The MGS team was awake when they made the 4th installment. Bungie's Halo 3 looked like they were asleep when making and just kind of threw some shit together and called it a day. It turned out ok but there really wasn't anything I had not seen in a bazillion other games whether it be visuals or some interesting level design.
Halo 3 is probably okay, but i ain't touching it even with a looooong stick. I'd rather stick to Gordon Freeman as my choice of a sci-fi game protagonist.
shadow skill: It's the infectious disease that is matchmaking...
It isn't as if other games couldn't use a matchmaking function - on COD4, my opponents are either Gold Crosses (That's a good thing for you non-COD4 players) or they are 30 levels below me. No matter how balanced they try to make the teams, there is often a glaring need for a TrueSkill system.
Also, try and find a bigger variety of words next time. You called Bungie devs and Halo players 'jackoffs' four times in the first paragraph.
shadow skill: It's the infectious disease that is matchmaking...
It isn't as if other games couldn't use a matchmaking function - on COD4, my opponents are either Gold Crosses (That's a good thing for you non-COD4 players) or they are 30 levels below me. No matter how balanced they try to make the teams, there is often a glaring need for a TrueSkill system.
Also, try and find a bigger variety of words next time. You called Bungie devs and Halo players 'jackoffs' four times in the first paragraph.
Why not quote the whole sentence next time, I never said that Halo was the only game doing it. It was just one of the first to use it to the exclusion of user control over game selection. Again quote the entire sentence. I refered to the dev team as assholes not Jackoffs by the way.
As far as I know, Halo doesn't exclude user control over game selection. There are many different playlists with different gametypes, and you can veto a map/gametype mix if you don't want to play it.
Johnn Johnston: As far as I know, Halo doesn't exclude user control over game selection. There are many different playlists with different gametypes, and you can veto a map/gametype mix if you don't want to play it.
What you can't do is control who you get connected to. I don't hate matchmaking but I know I would like the option to choose just who I end up gettin connected to because the algorithm can't always be trusted to not screw up. I can't understand why they didn't put both in. Resistance Fall of Man for example includes both mechanisms.
shadow skill: No one has a problem with the normal people that play Halo, it's the jackoff's that come into or start threads lamenting all the hatred of Halo that people dislike. It's the infectious disease that is matchmaking to the exclusion of direct user control of game selection spreading throughout the console shooter world that has pissed people off. The biggest problem though is the attitude of some of the jackoffs that Halo effectively invented the console shooter when there is a fairly strong lineage of prior and even contemporary (To the first Halo.) games that were better at being shooters on consoles than Halo ever was. If I have to deal with choosing between being able to reload and being able to jump while moving because some asshole at Bungie didn't think it wise to actually LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CONTROL MAPPING IF YOU USE SOUTHPAW the game is not God's gift to the genre period. (This goes for alot of console shooters some with worse problems than Halo 3 with respect to Southpaw.)Being told how I am somehow wrong about something I can demonstrate to be nearly physically impossible to pull off because of the button mapping by a Halo jackoff is not something that makes me happy. (A normal human being wouldn't have a problem with my assessment after I explain the problem but the jackoffs are a different story. I have nothing against the normal people (Most people as you point out Stubee.) who like the game.)
It's annoying to see awardss given to the game when there is at least one game released on consoles that has done something that has never (to my knowledge) been done for a console shooter, in the form of full mod support. It makes you wonder if the people giving out the award were serious or were they just trying to jin up hits for their site. It's the overwhelming praise for mediocrity that gets on people's nerves. Halo could have been much more than it actually is, if people actually called out Bungie.
When I look at MGS4 I can see that they tried to do a great deal even if they were not perfect in their execution; and let's not pretend that there are no rabid MGS fanboy/girls out there. The MGS team was awake when they made the 4th installment. Bungie's Halo 3 looked like they were asleep when making and just kind of threw some shit together and called it a day. It turned out ok but there really wasn't anything I had not seen in a bazillion other games whether it be visuals or some interesting level design.
I feel like everything after this post has completly missed the point of this topic. This is not a discussion of whats good and bad about halo, there are an infinite amount of topics you can use if you simply wanna talk about that
Johnn Johnston: As far as I know, Halo doesn't exclude user control over game selection. There are many different playlists with different gametypes, and you can veto a map/gametype mix if you don't want to play it.
What you can't do is control who you get connected to. I don't hate matchmaking but I know I would like the option to choose just who I end up gettin connected to because the algorithm can't always be trusted to not screw up. I can't understand why they didn't put both in. Resistance Fall of Man for example includes both mechanisms.
Halo has online custom games. You hand-pick who goes into your game - bypassing the TrueSkill algorithm.
Back onto the topic, I agree with the previous posts. Halo gets a lot of hate in the same way that MGS gets a lot of hate - some people don't like the fact that they wrre highly anticipated and hyped up to a level where neither of them could completely fullfil the expectations.
Johnn Johnston: As far as I know, Halo doesn't exclude user control over game selection. There are many different playlists with different gametypes, and you can veto a map/gametype mix if you don't want to play it.
What you can't do is control who you get connected to. I don't hate matchmaking but I know I would like the option to choose just who I end up gettin connected to because the algorithm can't always be trusted to not screw up. I can't understand why they didn't put both in. Resistance Fall of Man for example includes both mechanisms.
They did put both in. It's called custom games. I used to play it quite a bit with friends.
I wonder why people need to argue about halo so much, i mean i know it's an easy target/(according to xbox livers)the best game eva, but can we talk about different games, like every site permanently has a halo topic running, and it's getting old.
shadow skill: No one has a problem with the normal people that play Halo, it's the jackoff's that come into or start threads lamenting all the hatred of Halo that people dislike. It's the infectious disease that is matchmaking to the exclusion of direct user control of game selection spreading throughout the console shooter world that has pissed people off. The biggest problem though is the attitude of some of the jackoffs that Halo effectively invented the console shooter when there is a fairly strong lineage of prior and even contemporary (To the first Halo.) games that were better at being shooters on consoles than Halo ever was. If I have to deal with choosing between being able to reload and being able to jump while moving because some asshole at Bungie didn't think it wise to actually LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CONTROL MAPPING IF YOU USE SOUTHPAW the game is not God's gift to the genre period. (This goes for alot of console shooters some with worse problems than Halo 3 with respect to Southpaw.)Being told how I am somehow wrong about something I can demonstrate to be nearly physically impossible to pull off because of the button mapping by a Halo jackoff is not something that makes me happy. (A normal human being wouldn't have a problem with my assessment after I explain the problem but the jackoffs are a different story. I have nothing against the normal people (Most people as you point out Stubee.) who like the game.)
It's annoying to see awardss given to the game when there is at least one game released on consoles that has done something that has never (to my knowledge) been done for a console shooter, in the form of full mod support. It makes you wonder if the people giving out the award were serious or were they just trying to jin up hits for their site. It's the overwhelming praise for mediocrity that gets on people's nerves. Halo could have been much more than it actually is, if people actually called out Bungie.
When I look at MGS4 I can see that they tried to do a great deal even if they were not perfect in their execution; and let's not pretend that there are no rabid MGS fanboy/girls out there. The MGS team was awake when they made the 4th installment. Bungie's Halo 3 looked like they were asleep when making and just kind of threw some shit together and called it a day. It turned out ok but there really wasn't anything I had not seen in a bazillion other games whether it be visuals or some interesting level design.
I feel like everything after this post has completly missed the point of this topic. This is not a discussion of whats good and bad about halo, there are an infinite amount of topics you can use if you simply wanna talk about that
I dont know why people seem to hate halo, probally because its the easiest target, it was hugely hyped and if it didnt live up to their expectations then they decide its not worthy or something
I dont know why people seem to hate halo, probally because its the easiest target, it was hugely hyped and if it didnt live up to their expectations then they decide its not worthy or something
In the last 24 hours over 700,000 people have played Halo 3. I would say less then 5% of these people use the boards on bungie.net
EDIT: Also just looked and 44,000 people have played Halo 2 in the last 24 hours! That is mental!
I don't really know why, but its the same thing that affects MGS4. The difference is that the people who criticize MGS4 are ussually the ones who haven't played it.
Indigo_Dingo: I don't really know why, but its the same thing that affects MGS4. The difference is that the people who criticize MGS4 are ussually the ones who haven't played it.
Halo has the same thing - I've read a lot of user reviews on game sites that gave it a score of 0/10 for everything, and claiming that everything involved was terrible. When I checked the profile of the author, it was the case more often than not that on their profile they said that they only owned a PS3/Wii. The same syndrome hit MGS4 and SSBB.
Indigo_Dingo: I don't really know why, but its the same thing that affects MGS4. The difference is that the people who criticize MGS4 are ussually the ones who haven't played it.
very true, alot of people i know have never played halo or have played one game and claim they hate it, its boring, takes no skill etc etc... the funny thing is, the ones who say it takes no skill are the people who play call of duty 4.
General consensus on game forums is that "halo 3 sux". Why is this game so unpopular despite its ratings, awards and epic sales figures (8.1 million copies as on January). Also it recently reclaimed the top spot on xbox live (from COD4).
Ive always wonderd why most people seem to dislike it. And then it came to me....
When i think of "most people" im not thinking of most people. Im thinking of most people on game forums.
Now hear me out.
I can say, as a frequent user of game forums etc, that i am (for lack of a better term) a bit nerdy...If your reading this then so are you, though if you prefer to think of yourself as an avid games fan or hardcore gamer then so be it. I simply use the term nerdy in reference to my gaming habits, not the stereotypical WOW playing spotty spectacled TV nerd.
I think we can all agree that by the using of internet game forums, it means we are more into gaming than the average joe.
Its this point that i thought about. I play Halo with two housemates (im a student). They both love it and yet they couldnt care less about game news, upcoming releases etc. They just play and love Halo 3 and a handful of other games. I asked them if they ever go on gaming forums and they just looked at me funny (one of them asked if thats where you get cheats so i just nodded...)
ANNYWAY, my point is Halo is more of a casual fun game ideal for gamers less...discriminating in game tastes than us.
SUMMARY in one sentence:
Most Halo players dont use internet forums
I know its probably tempting to just say "Halos overrated" or "OMGZ wall o text!" but please, even if you dont like Halo (and im not trying to change your views) could you try and understand where im coming from and discuss it?