I am definitely in the camp that Halo changed the genre for the better on consoles. I think the most important thing is that it took what Goldeneye was trying to do and perfected it. Halo was that moment when people realized that consoles FPS could be just as good as PC FPS if done correctly. They discovered the formula for making the genre viable on the console as more then novelty, but something that could be developed with the console in mind rather then as a port from the PC. Halo may not be the best game ever but it certainly is a milestone in the genre for the shift in development it created.

For me the best FPS'es are Goldeneye -> Perfect Dark -> Timesplitters 2/3 -> Halo 3.
It continued the lineage of shooters that handle perfectly and are a lot of fun in my case.
 
Not saying Halo should be today's template, but it is one of the best shooters out there.
No opinion can change that.