- Coux73
- |
- Intrepid Legendary Member
When the game is over, the king and pawn go into the same box
Posted by: An average gamer
Posted by: A 3 Legged Goat
How could a Halo game be so short-lived?
Three words: Call of Duty.
They finally killed Halo.
Back in the day, Halo was the revoultionary FPS game. It had fast gameplay, and it was one of the only FPS titles one could take to Live and play with friends. It was a solid game. There was no competition. Nothing else challenged it at all.
Halo 3 was in the same boat. Not only was it the sequel to the only game everybody knew and loved, but it STILL had no competition. Gears of War? Please. The Matchmaking was broken and laggy. Call of Duty emerged, but there was little customization and it only began making a name for itself.
By the time Halo 3 aged and ODST and Reach were talked about, Call of Duty had made a huge name for itself as one of the best games out there. It's not the most skilled, it's not the most consistant, it's not the most lag-free game, but what it is is appealing to the causals.
Call of Duty offers everything a gamer could want. It rewards every little thing you do with points and commendations. Anybody can get kills. You pop into a game, see an enemy, spray , and get a kill. If you get lucky, you are given streak rewards which make you feel all-powerful. That keeps you coming back. If you are getting creamed, the game lets you just quit out and instantly get placed into an easier game. You don't have to be 100% accurate with shots. You don't have to think where the enemy is because you respawn so fast. If you want competitive gameplay, the game offers S&D and hardcore which makes people feel good at the game. It has it all.
Halo: Reach was a good game by FPS standards. Yes, it strayed from Halo standards, but that isn't what killed it. The crowds who played Halo religiously are small in comparison to those who just want to play a fun game. Now that Call of Duty exists to offer a lot of streamlined, fun gameplay, people flock to that. I honestly believe it's of no fault of Reach that Halo's time in the spotlight has ended. Reach delivered a great, competitive FPS. It has some faults, yes, but it's still amazing. It's just that fewer people play it since it's harder and less rewarding. It's not impossible to get out-teamed and go 50-0. If you quit, you get banned. In Call of Duty you just play every match that lets you get your invincible airstrike streaks and quit when you start going negative. People don't want to try.
Fun > challenge and that's why Halo is dying.
Very well put. Times, they are a changing...