- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: SentientGiraffe
I guess I've never found another game that had the right balance of features and simplicity. It's a relatively simple game, but it has enough to keep it interesting.The maps weren't exactly complex, but they were some of the best. There isn't a great selection of weapons, but the essential weapons are there. There were three kinds of attacks, and they worked together. On paper, it seems like a pretty average game, but I believe it has a harmony that isn't common among its peers. Several things about Halo that weren't in any other games:
1. Only being able to hold two weapons at once. Doom, Quake, etc. always let you hold up to as many as you could find, but Halo made you think about what weapons you should carry.
2. The Rock-Paper-Rocket Launcher weapons. Halo did with nine weapons what most shooters couldn't do with twenty. Each weapon in Halo had a specific role and was unique from each other. Although you wouldn't ever use the Needler or the Plasma Pistol in competitive gameplay, you could at least appreciate them in Campaign and how they had their own roles. Plasma weapons drained shields while fire-arms were good for taking down health. Frag grenades were good for blowing stuff up and plasma grenades were for precision demolition.
3. Regenerating health. This mechanic is over used to such bad effect nowadays, it's painful for me to play another shooter that has it. However, it was quite innovative at the time and it allowed for good pacing and it was good. It was almost perfect, considering how you still had health bars to look over. It was really like having regenerative armor, which is what shooters should really have.
4. Good vehicle combat. Seriously, the Wart Hog was tremendous win. There was really nothing more fun than getting on the back of a machine gun while your team mate was driving. It was great.
Besides that, it was simply a decent, solid shooter that was executed quite well that was only above average.