"Two really good games. I think Half-Life is the more significant to gaming history, but then it came 3 years before the first Halo - a bit unfair to compare on that basis. They're quite different games really - Halo is much more combat-oriented and on a larger scale, Half-Life is a 3-act structure B movie.
H4xlike said:
"Halo definatly. Much superior story, they also innovated the genre unlike HL2."
Care to expand on that? I certainly can't think of many genre innovations in Halo. But don't get me wrong - I thought it was a brilliant game. "
Well Halo 1 revolutionized the genre a bit on the console and Halo brought quite a few evolutionary features with it as well(forge, theater, etc...) But the fact remains that HL2 is just a better game plus it has mod support.
Half Life is better. I like games that tell you the story through the gameplay itself rather than cutscenes. Half Life is also extremely weird by comparison. Which is cool.
I came into the FPS genre pretty late, I actually hated first person perspective games until I played the original Halo. (But to my defense I didn't even know Half Life existed at this point)
But eventually I was set in the right direction and played Half Life, and then Half Life 2. I enjoy Half Life 2 more than any of the Halo games in terms of single player gaming, but I just prefer Halo multiplayer (Co-op and Xbox Live Play) over any Half Life 2 mods.
"Two really good games. I think Half-Life is the more significant to gaming history, but then it came 3 years before the first Halo - a bit unfair to compare on that basis. They're quite different games really - Halo is much more combat-oriented and on a larger scale, Half-Life is a 3-act structure B movie.
H4xlike said:
"Halo definatly. Much superior story, they also innovated the genre unlike HL2."
Care to expand on that? I certainly can't think of many genre innovations in Halo. But don't get me wrong - I thought it was a brilliant game. "
Well Halo 1 revolutionized the genre a bit on the console and Halo brought quite a few evolutionary features with it as well(forge, theater, etc...) But the fact remains that HL2 is just a better game plus it has mod support. "
half life 1 established the future of the genre, halo followed on...
Half-Life is a lot better than Halo. I really like the puzzles and boss fights in Half-Life. Halo is good, but it's just not as engaging or challenging.
Halo has a crappy story and great multiplayer, and Half Life has a great story and is the foundation for many many multiplayer games so I'm gonna side with Dr. Freeman on this one
"Half Life...i think. I played Halo 2 and 3 more for the multiplayer and all the Half-Life's just for the singleplayer...so it's a weird comparison."
I only make the comparison because most people consider them to be the best FPS games for both of there platforms "
Thats true but they are the best FPSs for two completely different reasons. Halo has some of the best online multiplayer Ive ever played and Half-Life 2 is one of the best Single Player Campaigns Ive ever played. Its like asking which is better books or board games.
" Halo definatly. Much superior story, they also innovated the genre unlike HL2. Bubububu you can break the boards blocking the path, the physix ;( -virgins "
Anyway, Halo was easier so I liked it more (and it had cooler music). Half Life 2 was better in all other aspects, but I never had to think too hard with Halo. I'm pretty lazy, so not having to figure much out during the course of a game makes me happier in the end. However, and this is probably nostalgia, but I think I liked Half-Life 1 more. I am admitting that affection is probably because of blurry memory and the newness of the game a decade ago. I just remember being freaked out by some stuff in Half Life 1 and rather "meh" by stuff I saw in both HL2 & all the Halos. This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy those games, it only means I was not knocked out by what was going on during the course of the game like I had been when everything was a fresh experience.
If we're talking about the wider franchise, then I'll have to side with Half-Life. It genuinely innovated and changed the FPS genre. I see Halo as an attempt to squeeze much of that onto a console, not always successfully. Remember, Portal takes place in the HL universe and timeline, and as probably the most brilliant and original first person experience in recent years that has to count for the HL argument.
Half Life, I've never really enjoyed the Halo games. With Half Life I enjoyed myself, though for some reason I think I had more fun with Opposing Force. With Halo I never really understood the hype, as a shooter, it was fine, it worked, but nothing really stuck out about it.
If you include mods, then even the first Half-Life is leagues above every Halo in everything but graphics. If you don't include mods, then the first Half-Life is still leagues above every Halo in everything but graphics and multiplayer.
I don't really see what's so amazing about the Half Life story. There's a lot of FPS games with better story than Half Life in my opinion. Halo's and Half Life's stories are about equal and while the Half Life single player is better, I had more fun in Halo.
" I don't really see what's so amazing about the Half Life story. There's a lot of FPS games with better story than Half Life in my opinion."
There definatly are. But you see, there is a difference between a five year old reading a story aloud, or an actor. There is a difference between "Peter killed Steven" and getting told the story of Peter, and why he killed Steven in which setting; and how this information is conveyed, and by whom, and in what medium. The Narnia-movie, plot-wise, is nearly identical to the book, but only about 1/10 as enticing, exciting, or entertaining. Why? Because it's in the storytelling. A good story is not measured by how many characters and unexpected or interesting events there are. It is how the events are told and, in the case of videogames, how the player is incorporated in the telling that makes being told a story exciting and good.
Plot and setting of Half-Life aren't "better", "deeper" or more thought-out than those of Halo. But if I am to choose between being read the same fairytale by Ben Affleck or Kevin Spacey, I'd take the latter.
I like Halo, but Half Life is the greatest saga ever. The story telling is so cinematic, and immersive, and it is so well integrated with the gameplay. Definitely Half Life.
" whoever thinks halo is better, does not know what a great game is..... half-life 2 is probably the greatest first-person shooter out there to date. "
Oh snap! We aren't allowed to have opinions? Because I like Halo better, I thoroughly enjoyed Half Life 2 and love it as a game, but still prefer Halo. Does this mean I don't know what makes a great game? :O Come on, it's all a matter of opinion...
Halo = mediocre. I never played half life but it shouldn't be that hard to be better than Halo so I will assume Half Life is better.
Edit:
Maddox said Half Life is better than Halo and according to Maddox. To disagree with him is to be wrong. "everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything...you are wrong." Also, to quote him
Apples. Just can't get into apples. Sometimes they're green and don't taste right, and then there's that worm thing. But oranges now, oranges rule! You know they're ripe--they're orange!
Halfe-Life seriosu without a shadow of a doubt......when I first saw HL i thought i twas stupid then i got it to play CS: source and started playin HL to watse time and the story sucked me in and its probably the best game i have ever played. whereas halo i fot looked kool as fuck til i played it and thought that everything about the game seemed familiar.. and lookin at it i jus saw the blatent rip off of half life. half life has a story...halo has a guy ina green suit! and judging from xbox fanboys comments to this FPS war half life jsu seems over their head as in its too inteligent for them because they try and bring down half life instead of sticking up for halo because they hav no real argument.. i have played both franchinse's and its a clear win to hal life!
Not a fan of Half-Life 2 or Episode 1, however Episode 2 was awesome that final battle felt like it was never gonna end it was intense the whole way through. I just couldn't stand the platforming in Half-life. Don't step on the ground or the ant-lions will get you, or jump on cars to avoid electrified water and toxic spills, fuck that. Also I hated the boat sequence and all of Ravenholm.
So i liked Halo better, i guess i like my FPS's fast paced and colorful.
Half Life Single-Player, and Halo Multiplayer.....of course if Counter-Strike, DoD: Source, and the rest were part of Half Life, then Half Life would win in both categories.
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