Christ! While I was writing that about a million people responded already.

I don't believe Halo: 3 was innovative, Halo: 3 was all about the gameplay, its engine was brilliantly done, it was more focused on the multiplayer gameplay aspect, considering everything is sorted out into lobbies. I think innovation in regards to Halo was most likely referring to Halo:CE. Which, in its time, set the bar for modern FPS's to strive for.

Halo Combat evolved introduced the following to the best of my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong, really.

Introduced
Regenerating Health
Limited Weapons Supply
Integrated Use of Vehicles

Personally my favorite thing about the original was how every weapon was useful unlike the weapons scaling of most shooters up until then (Pistol then Shotgun then Machinegun then Rockets you get the idea, usually once you got The Machinegun you never switched to any others until you ran out of ammo)

Halo brought nothing though enemy AI was limited to the room they were in on legendary mode you could easily go through a door gun some enemies run out wait and repeat process over and over weapon realism was a nice throught w/ only 2 weapons carried at once but overall it was mediocore at best and should be buried along w/ E.T down in New Mexico

Novajam:
I think it was the first (or one of the first) FPS games to use regenerative health, and it's partially responsible for bringing the FPS genre to broader public attention.

that one, basically it started the massive trend toward Regenerative health meters, rather than simple health

l Ancient l:
halo 1 started all this space marine stuff

Actually, I think Doom did.

Ravenholm27:
Halo brought nothing though enemy AI was limited to the room they were in on legendary mode you could easily go through a door gun some enemies run out wait and repeat process over and over weapon realism was a nice throught w/ only 2 weapons carried at once but overall it was mediocore at best and should be buried along w/ E.T down in New Mexico

Woo Halo hater.

Lets see, innovations...Halo did Regeneration of "health" (yeah it was shields but they were your lifeline). The mapping of the controls I think set it apart. Friendly AI was pretty innovative as was the enemy AI. Sort of non-linear levels? I don't know to be honest. It was a great game though.

RavingLibDem:

Novajam:
I think it was the first (or one of the first) FPS games to use regenerative health, and it's partially responsible for bringing the FPS genre to broader public attention.

that one, basically it started the massive trend toward Regenerative health meters, rather than simple health

But it made sense in this game, and we also still had regular life bars in it. They fucked this up when they made halo 2 and 3, possibly because they moved their attention to online multiplayer, where regular health bars should definitely not belong.

My reasons
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.83153?page=2#1152372

Halo was quite innovative. It had the best vehicle physics, weapon balance, squad mate support, and multiplayer of any FPS, and the graphics were jaw-dropping... in November of 2001.

Frankly, that OP is asking why Halo was innovative now, some 7 years later, is an automatic complement. Considering the OP was 14 at the time, he probably didn't have a real clear picture of how games compared to each other back then.

fullmetalangel:
It's not.

edit:

Well, actually, Halo was one of the first console FPSs that became really popular. That's gotta count for something.

Ahem...Goldeneye 64 and its spiritual sequel Perfect Dark

orannis62:

l Ancient l:
halo 1 started all this space marine stuff

No, it didn't. Unless I'm wrong, movies like Aliens did.

The original was innovative, its the sequels that are copy-pasted.

Recharging health was a thing for Halo but thinking back why did we all crazy over holding two weapons in Halo 2?

Darkrai:

fullmetalangel:
It's not.

edit:

Well, actually, Halo was one of the first console FPSs that became really popular. That's gotta count for something.

Ahem...Goldeneye 64 and its spiritual sequel Perfect Dark

Alright, alright, stop calling me on it x_x

The whole shield+health thing was a good idea, it's a shame they got rid of it.

Because Game journalists are sellouts and corporate lapdogs and Most Xbox gamers are stupid.

fullmetalangel:

Darkrai:

fullmetalangel:
It's not.

edit:

Well, actually, Halo was one of the first console FPSs that became really popular. That's gotta count for something.

Ahem...Goldeneye 64 and its spiritual sequel Perfect Dark

Alright, alright, stop calling me on it x_x

Alright but we all know.
Doom and Wolfenstein-PC
Goldeneye 64 and Perfect Dark-Consoles

Mr.Pandah:

Ravenholm27:
Halo brought nothing though enemy AI was limited to the room they were in on legendary mode you could easily go through a door gun some enemies run out wait and repeat process over and over weapon realism was a nice throught w/ only 2 weapons carried at once but overall it was mediocore at best and should be buried along w/ E.T down in New Mexico

Woo Halo hater.

Lets see, innovations...Halo did Regeneration of "health" (yeah it was shields but they were your lifeline). The mapping of the controls I think set it apart. Friendly AI was pretty innovative as was the enemy AI. Sort of non-linear levels? I don't know to be honest. It was a great game though.

okay i went over on the deep end on that i apoligize but still it was a mediocore game and i must mention that in Deus Ex for the PS2 AND starwars battlefront you could easily map the control exactly the same way as halo's

Ravenholm27:

Mr.Pandah:

Ravenholm27:
Halo brought nothing though enemy AI was limited to the room they were in on legendary mode you could easily go through a door gun some enemies run out wait and repeat process over and over weapon realism was a nice throught w/ only 2 weapons carried at once but overall it was mediocore at best and should be buried along w/ E.T down in New Mexico

Woo Halo hater.

Lets see, innovations...Halo did Regeneration of "health" (yeah it was shields but they were your lifeline). The mapping of the controls I think set it apart. Friendly AI was pretty innovative as was the enemy AI. Sort of non-linear levels? I don't know to be honest. It was a great game though.

okay i went over on the deep end on that i apoligize but still it was a mediocore game and i must mention that in Deus Ex for the PS2 AND starwars battlefront you could easily map the control exactly the same way as halo's

While I do think that the option to map the controls your own way is the best way to go about things, the basics were set up by Halo for most games.

Sirisaxman:

l Ancient l:
halo 1 started all this space marine stuff

Actually, I think Doom did.

And Bungie did Marathon before Halo... I'd call that space marines. So its not like it was their first attempt either.

LewsTherin:
The whole shield+health thing was a good idea, it's a shame they got rid of it.

They didn't get rid of it, its just now you can't actually see your health meter.

Zemnexx:

LewsTherin:
The whole shield+health thing was a good idea, it's a shame they got rid of it.

They didn't get rid of it, its just now you can't actually see your health meter.

Yes they did. Halo 1 had health packs for your health bar and the Shield recharged independently. Now you can say there is still health and shields but in reality, the screen just turns red when your other "shield", meaning your health, is dwindling.

Sewblon:
Because Game journalists are sellouts and corporate lapdogs and Most Xbox gamers are stupid.

Hurr hurr I are dumb Xborx gamer d00d cuz I lieks Halo!

No wait, I'm in my senior year at WPI (a.k.a one of the more prestigious universities in the United States) and about to graduate with a degree in Game Design.

Also all my roommates are equally as intelligent and all like the Halo series. Does this make them stupid as well? In fact does it make the entire game design major as a whole stupid becasue most of those students like Halo? I don't think so!

Flat out... It wasn't innovative at all.
In my opinion.

ZomgSharkz:
Halo 1 was considered innovative, but in my opinion I don't see Halo 3 as that innovative. There are definitely plenty of games out there I would consider much more innovative than H3.

Halo 1 was innovative, Halo 2 and 3 were innovative in the online play. (Some of the best ever)

AceDiamond:

Sewblon:
Because Game journalists are sellouts and corporate lapdogs and Most Xbox gamers are stupid.

Hurr hurr I are dumb Xborx gamer d00d cuz I lieks Halo!

No wait, I'm in my senior year at WPI (a.k.a one of the more prestigious universities in the United States) and about to graduate with a degree in Game Design.

Also all my roommates are equally as intelligent and all like the Halo series. Does this make them stupid as well? In fact does it make the entire game design major as a whole stupid becasue most of those students like Halo? I don't think so!

You, my good sir, just won the internets!

raxiv:
If there was this question, report it for deletion. Thanks!

I go over the internet, and people keep talking about Halo being innovative [like in the other Innovative FPS thread]. I think it is worth a seperate thread to talk about it.

Was I the only one who saw the standard "Here's is your weapon, go kill bad guys" scheme? I really don't have a clue why it is innovative!

so you weren't at all enchanted by:
the biblical storyline? The shield-recovery health system? The giant forerunner structures? The little cute guys with the blue balls? Great Xbox Live support? Background music/ambience?

Sewblon:
Because Game journalists are sellouts and corporate lapdogs and Most Xbox gamers are stupid.

As a Freelance Journalist I take offense to that statement.

One of the first PC-styled shooters that came out on a console. I think that was it anyways.

Halo: Combat Evolved made the FPS genre popular on consoles, as well as making recharging health and vehicle sections a more prominent part of the FPS genre. Halo 2, from what I've heard, did wonders to make online services popular on the consoles. Halo 3 introduced Forge and Theatre modes, making machinima on consoles so much easier.

Mr.Pandah:

Zemnexx:

LewsTherin:
The whole shield+health thing was a good idea, it's a shame they got rid of it.

They didn't get rid of it, its just now you can't actually see your health meter.

Yes they did. Halo 1 had health packs for your health bar and the Shield recharged independently. Now you can say there is still health and shields but in reality, the screen just turns red when your other "shield", meaning your health, is dwindling.

True, while it is called your health in H3, it really is just a second shield because it also recharges.

Neither of them were particularly good ports. Both were pretty butchered versions of the original but at least the music sounded decent in the SNES version and it had most of the levels.

LewsTherin:
The whole shield+health thing was a good idea, it's a shame they got rid of it.

EDIT:(Got ninja'd on the health meter thing)They got rid of it in a way, but you still had health meter just not visible. The way I understand it is,(in halo 2-3 shield has X number of HP after it goes away the health portion starts depleting, after a few seconds the shield recharges but the health portion stays depleted only trickling up after a while. So while your shield bar might be full 100/100 your health might be 10/100 +5 every few seconds, something like that anyways.

Reason halo was innovative, mainstreamed FPS's on consoles, provided the best control scheme available (plus it was customizable every which way). Integrated vehicles in a manner not previously done so.

The two weapon limit made you think a bit tactically, no more I'll save this rocket launcher+sniper+shotgun+whatever, there was always a trade off. Shotgun+AR better not have long range encounters, sniper and pistol better hope there are no flood, Do I pick up the RL and lose the shotty? These kinds of choices it brought to the genre.

All weapons where useful, there was no pointless weapon, all had situations and strategies that each were best for. Granted the pistol in multiplayer was like having the right hand of God but at least everyone started with it(in slayer pro gametype)

It made Co-op gameplay fun, i'm sure many of us have enjoyed playing with friends/family on the same console. Plus Co-op goofing around was a blast.

It signaled the next generation of gaming on consoles, how many years where spent coming up with a halo killer? The graphics where great, it made great use of color, the environments where generally creative and diverse, USNC ship to beautiful Halo, to creepy jungle and instalation, alien ships, night on a desert mtn, snowy canyons. There was hardly two levels alike.

It set the standard recharging health mechanic(yet this one was actually realistic in the setting)

The multiplayer was incredibly accessible, balanced, yet deep. Newcomers could hop in and at least hold their own, while vets can always find a new tactic or strategy, there where many many gametypes from footraces, CTF, Slayers, King of the hill, oddball, and all of these where easily modifiable. (other games have had said gametypes but not all in one and not with the level of polish that Halo had)

It had a fluid melee system, I thought it was the coolest thing when I stunned an elite with a shotgun blast then proceeded to beat him upside the head with it. Or meleeing your vehicle and having it move roll or slide around.

Levels allowed you to go anywhere, barely any invisible walls around. Wanna jump onto that 30 ft high rock, throw a grenade and use the shockwave to throw you higher. Wanna perch on that rock 200 feet up a cliff wall? Go trek though the level and get a banshee. Want to get on top of the halo installations? warthog jump over grenades (Co-op) If you could see it you could reach it(mostly).

The level of freedom this game offered was unparalleled you where not shoehorned into a specific way to do an encounter, strategies where strictly up to the player.

Plus for me the story and the setting was amazing. When I first walked off that dropship and my eyes adjusted to the light, I was in awe there where waterfalls, trees a massive cliff that lead to an ocean, then I looked up and saw the halo itself with oceans and continents it loomed over you so majestically one couldn't help but just stand and look around.

Anyways that's why it was innovative to me.

I believe it was "innovative", because it was the first game Microsoft was attached to(aside from flights sims, and by proxy Freelancer) that didn't suck.

Oh jeez, Halo outsold -insert game you like-, get over it everybody! How many "why is Halo popular" and "I just don't get Halo" topics do we need?

Halo 1: not especially innovative but it combined a few things together in a way that hadn't been done before that. Regenerative shields, competent use of melee attacks, dedicated grenade button, no "magic satchel" full of weapons, vehicle sections that weren't horrid, and a coherent story (which was like the unicorn of FPS games at the time).

Halo 2: ....dual-wielding? I don't know. The mechanic was really well done. Other games had done two weapons (Goldeneye comes to mind) but I can't remember any that allowed you to swap out either the left or right hand weapon on the fly, let alone mix and match weapons.

Halo 3: Love it or hate it, there were some innovations. Not so much with Forge but definitely with Theater.

So no, it's not the big revolutionary video game messiah that the series is made out to be, but certainly not the unoriginal garbage others make it out to be.