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[dcx4610]

Mod edit: We're not bothering to edit titles for people who deliberately crate click bait. We're just closing the thread.



I can already feel the heat of the flames. A little background - I decided that I was going to do a big "History of FPS Games" marathon on PC. Some of these games I have played, some of these I haven't and some I just used cheat codes on as a kid and just messed around with them. This time, I actually wanted to go through, play and beat the campaign of all of the major FPS games in chronological order.

So far, that has consisted of the following:

Wolfenstein 3D > Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny > DOOM > Heretic > DOOM II > Hexen > Rise of the Triad > Duke Nukem 3D > Daikatana > Hexen 2 > Quake > Quake II > Unreal > Quake III > Unreal Tournament > Half-Life > Half-Life: Opposing Force > Half-Life: Blue Shift

(Some of these are out of order because I couldn't remember the release date. If I missed any big ones, let me know and I'll play them. I still have tons more to go. I've played and beat all of the Call of Duty games so I didn't included them in this run)

And that brings me to Halo: Combat Evolved and...I just don't get it. I'm 2 hours in and I can acknowledge that the graphics are good and a nice leap in tech and quality from Half-Life but the gameplay... It's so slow, so boring, the enemies are goofy and make cutesy noise, the weapons have zero impact, you empty full clips before the enemy dies, the world feels empty and there's very little music. Coming from all of these other games and especially something like Quake 3 and even Quake 2, the pacing is like molasses. Half-Life is story-driven and is still tense and chaotic at times.

I'm guessing if you were a console player and you've never gotten to experience a FPS before, it was probably pretty mind blowing and and having to use a controller is why the gameplay is slow to compensate. Playing it back to back after these other FPS games on PC though, man is it struggle. I will finish it but as of now, I think it might be the most overhyped game in video game history.

What say you GAF? Why is Halo so beloved? Is it just because of nostalgia and it being the first FPS for a lot of people? It amazed me going through this marathon at how well some of these games hold up. Heretic and Hexen were absolutely phenomenal and I couldn't wait to get back into the game the next day to keep playing. Daikatana not so much and Rise of the Triad aged horribly. Other than that, all of the other games have been excellent and it's clear to see why they are special. Halo though, I'm struggling...

 

[Three]

I can already feel the heat of the flames. A little background - I decided that I was going to do a big "History of FPS Games" marathon on PC. Some of these games I have played, some of these I haven't and some I just used cheat codes on as a kid and just messed around with them. This time, I actually wanted to go through, play and beat the campaign of all of the major FPS games in chronological order.

So far, that has consisted of the following:

Wolfenstein 3D > Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny > DOOM > Heretic > DOOM II > Hexen > Rise of the Triad > Duke Nukem 3D > Daikatana > Hexen 2 > Quake > Quake II > Unreal > Quake III > Unreal Tournament > Half-Life > Half-Life: Opposing Force > Half-Life: Blue Shift

(Some of these are out of order because I couldn't remember the release date. If I missed any big ones, let me know and I'll play them. I still have tons more to go. I've played and beat all of the Call of Duty games so I didn't included them in this run)

And that brings me to Halo: Combat Evolved and...I just don't get it. I'm 2 hours in and I can acknowledge that the graphics are good and a nice leap in tech and quality from Half-Life but the gameplay... It's so slow, so boring, the enemies are goofy and make cutesy noise, the weapons have zero impact, you empty full clips before the enemy dies, the world feels empty and there's very little music. Coming from all of these other games and especially something like Quake 3 and even Quake 2, the pacing is like molasses. Half-Life is story-driven and is still tense and chaotic at times.

I'm guessing if you were a console player and you've never gotten to experience a FPS before, it was probably pretty mind blowing and and having to use a controller is why the gameplay is slow to compensate. Playing it back to back after these other FPS games on PC though, man is it struggle. I will finish it but as of now, I think it might be the most overhyped game in video game history.

What say you GAF? Why is Halo so beloved? Is it just because of nostalgia and it being the first FPS for a lot of people? It amazed me going through this marathon at how well some of these games hold up. Heretic and Hexen were absolutely phenomenal and I couldn't wait to get back into the game the next day to keep playing. Daikatana not so much and Rise of the Triad aged horribly. Other than that, all of the other games have been excellent and it's clear to see why they are special. Halo though, I'm struggling...

It may suck now but combat evolved was good in that era.

Edit: I see your point. Yes maybe coming from console only had a part to play in it but I think it was mostly just a cultural thing. It was basically CoD back in the day. People teabagging eachother, red vs blue videos. It was just a mainstream shooter and one of the main games for the xbox console launch.

 

[nkarafo]

I wasn't impressed either. Maybe it was the big, empty environments, the big flat surfaces with a lot of bump mapping to fake details, or the silly enemies. I did like the vehicles though.

 

[bender]

Unless you were playing something like Delta Force, the size and freedom of approach in CE's levels were a revelation. The AI on Heroic and Legendary are also wonderful and outside of FEAR, nothing really compared. Seamlessly transitioning from on foot to ground and air vehicles wasn't common. Playing a campaign in co-op was also uncommon. It also defined the standard for how a dual analog shooter should control on consoles.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

No lies detected.

 

[Warablo]

Halo and Gears of War were game changers for the console market back in the day.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

You played it co-op back then, split screen. And it worked fucking well. One drives one shoots, flanking positions on foot, uncovering the secrets of Halo, getting better with the one true FPS controller setup until you are pulling off wild moves by the end, fighting over a guns like a pizza in Turtles in Time.

Then you played 4 player multi, then you found more Xboxes to get to 4 on 4 in seperate rooms, then you found out about tunnelling software and played janky matches online, then someone of age bought beer, then girls had no where else to be and had a side party at a fucking LAN setup, then real pizza showed up.

 

[Captain Toad]

Halo Infinite was the first one I played. I had always thought I'd hate the franchise.

It turns out, I was correct.

 

[dcx4610]

You played it co-op back then, split screen. And it worked fucking well. One drives one shoots, flanking positions on foot, uncovering the secrets of Halo, getting better with the one true FPS controller setup until you are pulling off wild moves by the end, fighting over a guns like a pizza in Turtles in Time.

Then you played 4 player multi, then you found more Xboxes to get to 4 on 4 in seperate rooms, then you found out about tunnelling software and played janky matches online, then someone of age bought beer, then girls had no where else to be and had a side party at a fucking LAN setup, then real pizza showed up.

So...nostalgia?

No hate. I get it. I could say the same thing about a ton of games and things people wouldn't understand. I was just a hair too old for Power Rangers when it came out. I know so many people slightly younger than me that are obsessed and I have zero connection to it. They'd have the same zero connection to Voltron, Thundercats or G1 Transformers. I think Halo is just right place right time. If I was the right age and never played a FPS before, I'm sure the game was amazing. Especially with online multi.

 

[IFireflyl]

Halo: Combat Evolved is over two decades old. Is it dated now? Sure. It feels really slow and a little clunky. But if you're going through the campaign it's got a decent story, and the sequels improve upon the game play. My advice is to make it through Halo: Combat Evolved and start on Halo 2. If you don't enjoy that after the first couple of levels then Halo might not be for you.

Also, make sure you understand the weapons. The Plasma Pistol can be charged up and shot at Elites to instantly drop their shields. Then switch to a Pistol or Battle Rifle for a one-shot (head shot) kill. The Needler will cause an enemy to explode when they're hit 8 times. The Assault Rifle and the Shotgun are great against non-shielded enemies like Grunts, Brutes (Halo 2 onward) and the Flood.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Opinions aren’t really worth listening to on older games if you didn’t play then at release. If you lack the context to understand how Halo CE compared to its contemporaries then you really can’t tell me anything I’d want to actually listen to. You can’t watch videos and read articles to overcome that. If you weren’t there you would never get it.

 

[PaddyOCanager]

What say you GAF? Why is Halo so beloved? Is it just because of nostalgia and it being the first FPS for a lot of people? It amazed me going through this marathon at how well some of these games hold up. Heretic and Hexen were absolutely phenomenal and I couldn't wait to get back into the game the next day to keep playing. Daikatana not so much and Rise of the Triad aged horribly. Other than that, all of the other games have been excellent and it's clear to see why they are special. Halo though, I'm struggling...

Because Hang Em High pistols only and Blood Gulch CTF until the sun rises or the Code Red runs out.

 

[bender]

If I was the right age and never played a FPS before, I'm sure the game was amazing. Especially with online multi.

Try again. No idea what the "right age" is either. I'd played just about every FPS ever crated and CE was a blast. And while you could do tunneling to play the game online, it launched way before Live was a service so most people were doing couch co-op/multi.

Looking at classic titles through an older lens is almost akin to thinking a movie like Citizen Kane sucks because you didn't enjoy the story while completely ignoring the techniques it invented and how it impacted every movie going forward.

 

[Danknugz]

it was just another project in which MS aped ideas from someone else's innovation and and cobbled it together to profit from it, see windows

 

[bender]

it was just another project in which MS aped ideas from someone else's innovation and and cobbled it together to profit from it, see windows

True. It's not like Bungie had experience making sci fi themed first person shooters.

 

[BennyBlanco]

You played it co-op back then, split screen. And it worked fucking well. One drives one shoots, flanking positions on foot, uncovering the secrets of Halo, getting better with the one true FPS controller setup until you are pulling off wild moves by the end, fighting over a guns like a pizza in Turtles in Time.

Then you played 4 player multi, then you found more Xboxes to get to 4 on 4 in seperate rooms, then you found out about tunnelling software and played janky matches online, then someone of age bought beer, then girls had no where else to be and had a side party at a fucking LAN setup, then real pizza showed up.

hell yea man. you nailed it. I remember playing Halo 1 over XBconnect with the homies.

 

[bender]

hell yea man. you nailed it. I remember playing Halo 1 over XBconnect with the homies.

People memorizing respawn locations. Ouch.

 

[Hobbygaming]

It's the most overrated franchise imo

It has some good moments like the jeep escape in the Halo 3 campaign but I never thought it was all that. It has a few cool weapons like the Needler but the games never really grabbed me

I liked Halo 3 somewhat, the only one I haven't played is Halo Infinite

Oh and I wish they could throw away the Prometheans from any Halo lore, they suck as enemies

 

[EekTheKat]

What changed what I thought about Halo was people pointing out that at its core Halo was a fun party game and not really some die hard win at all costs competition game. It was super easy for family and friends to get into and play.

 

[64bitmodels]

i get feeling that halo's gameplay is a bit slow in comparison to something like quake 2, but quake only has indoor corridors with lines of dumb, simple enemies
Halo's got massive, wide and open (beautiful too i should mention) environments and enemies that are actually smart and aren't just there to take your gunshots, not to mention how completely free the gameplay is, you could do anything with the resources you were given in this game, and the maps were perfect for that too as they were big enough to encourage experimentation. It was the first true 'sandbox fps' before games like bioshock and Far cry would come along, which frankly didn't do it was well

not to mention that the story and lore are extremely in depth and well written, far beyond any half life game if i'm being frank

people talk about multiplayer and allat, and that's an amazing reason as to why its beloved as well, the amount of gameplay and possibilities that are made from forge is endless, and the base gameplay and maps are good enough for indepth competitive play

i frankly just think it's the type of game not really meant for you, you seem to prefer the fast, technical gameplay that quake offers, and that's one of my favorite styles too

you shouldn't force yourself to finish it if you're currently not liking it, if it doesnt grab you just drop it

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

It was special, revolutionary, and unique; no anymore.

 

[Bridges]

This reminds me of all the people claiming Goldeneye was never good in the re-release thread.

It was surely a time and place thing, I recently played through all the Bungie Halos for the first time and found CE very difficult to enjoy at first (though it definitely got better in the second half).

Halo 2 & 3 in co-op still hold up though, without any reverence or nostalgia those are still great games, as is Reach.

 

[rabbity-thing]

*cough* The Library *cough*

 

[Rykan]

And that brings me to Halo: Combat Evolved and...I just don't get it. I'm 2 hours in and I can acknowledge that the graphics are good and a nice leap in tech and quality from Half-Life but the gameplay... It's so slow, so boring, the enemies are goofy and make cutesy noise, the weapons have zero impact, you empty full clips before the enemy dies, the world feels empty and there's very little music. Coming from all of these other games and especially something like Quake 3 and even Quake 2, the pacing is like molasses. Half-Life is story-driven and is still tense and chaotic at times.

It's a game where you need to take into account when it was released. The world feels "empty" because rich, detailed open zones like the ones Halo had weren't really common back when Halo was released. Just look at the games you've mentioned: All phenomenal games mind you, but all of them feature somewhat tight levels. They're mostly corridor shooters. The fact that Halo featured such wide open areas was quite unusual, especially on a console.

As for the weapons and the fact that you have to empty full clips: There might be a chance that you're not playing the game right, which is understandable, as the game doesn't do a great job explaining how it works. Halo has a lot of different weapons, but there are two main categories: Plasma weapons and regular weapons that use bullets. Plasma weapons are stronger against shields and regular weapons are stronger against enemies without shields. Lowering an enemy's shield also makes them vulnerable to headshots with your pistol. Ideally, you'll want to lower enemies shield with a plasma based weapon and then switch to a bullet type weapon for more damage. This concept is expanded upon in the sequels.

I'm guessing if you were a console player and you've never gotten to experience a FPS before, it was probably pretty mind blowing and and having to use a controller is why the gameplay is slow to compensate. Playing it back to back after these other FPS games on PC though, man is it struggle. I will finish it but as of now, I think it might be the most overhyped game in video game history.

There is partly truth to this, but I do think you're selling the game a little short. It's absolutely true that Halo's legacy has a lot to do with the fact that it "solved" FPS on consoles,but there's plenty of other innovations that Halo either started or perfected. Concept like a shield that regens, or its two weapon system. It has several different vehicles, both on the ground and in the air that feel intertwined with the core gameplay and not a "vehicle section" like you see in most FPS. The story and its setting are pretty well done too, by 2001 standards anyway.

 

[bender]

*cough* The Library *cough*

The only nice thing about The Library is that where combat is required in the game, it's probably the easiest sections to clear on Legendary runs. Otherwise it is the epitome of monotonous.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I had 14 people in my parents garage playing linked multiplayer on 4 TVs and I still think the only good thing about Halo was the pistol. The rest of the time I just wished I was playing something like Threewave CTF with 14 people in the same room instead.

 

[existensmaximum]

I remember renting an Xbox console together with Halo back in 2002 or something. Me and a friend played it together all night and neither of us was impressed. We were both like "OK.. This is it..? It sucks!"

 

[Three]

I still remember all the talk about the regenerating shield/health system. Then the PC folk started complaining that it was becoming the norm in other games. Combat Evolved was a great game. Nothing in particular made it great but it was a good mix of everything that it had being good making the whole package great.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

I think everyone liked the very first HALO. HALO 2 was a major hype train but I still dont get how it could compete with HL2 at the time. From then on, I found HALO boring and slow especially for an MP game. I didnt ike the floaty physics and the enemy variety between the games is very low.

 

[Barakov]

it was just another project in which MS aped ideas from someone else's innovation and and cobbled it together to profit from it, see windows

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Almost all the games listed in the OP are corridor shooters. While there is nothing wrong with that, it's obviously a preference for you. Halo CE is more of a sandbox shooter. I'm a little bummed that you didn't appreciate the story in CE. It's fantastic. I would recommend sticking with the game through at least Guilty Spark 343. If you still think it sucks by then, obviously Halo is not for you lol.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

I played Halo CE for the first time last year and I agree that it hasn't aged super well. Halo 2 onwards was a blast though.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Wait until you get to the library op.....

Lol.

I disagree with you but I can totally see your points.

I'm a pc gamer and grew up on all the games you mentioned. I scoffed at Halo when my friends got xboxes and I was still on my PC, ps2 and gamecube.

I finally played 4 player halo at a friend's and did a co op run...was great fun and made me go out and pick up my first xbox.

Playing through the game I understood its uniqueness and how special it actually was. You're only two hours in so I'm not sure if that'd affecting your judgement. Yes, it's slower than all those PC games we had played but the was something methodical about its play style, the BR, pistol, grenade...push in an melee felt truly brilliant once I'd got into it and personally I loved the enemies. The dance that you learnt to do with the ai between those key combat mechanics...then that initial mission where you get in the warthog and drive with your marine buddies is one of the best memories in gaming! Exceptional stuff.

The scope, vehicles, scale and story was incredible and still is imo...

...just the library...

Good luck with the library!

 

[recma12]

My hot take (I was there in 2001):
Halo's success was only partly based the actual gameplay or story, it was the tech that was lightyears ahead of everything else in the 2000s.
Amazing gamepad fps controls, huge sandbox maps, vehicles, 4 player splitscreen, online play with lobbies, headset communication, LAN parties, content creating and a robust player-identity system that made it easy to connect with people.

"Playing FPS online" was mostly a PC only thing back then (CS, Quake, Unreal etc.) but the experience on PC was fairly cumbersome.
Bungie and MS streamlined that experience, brought it to the living room and made it easy to set up and connect.

I'm not trying to shit on Halo 1 and 2 here, they were great games too, but it was the combination with Xbox's local LAN functionality and later Xbox Live online play that made Halo a juggernaut.

By the time CoD4 came out, the industry had caught up and the "Halo features" became standard.
Without that tech advantage, Halo hasn't reached those Halo 2-3 heights ever again and probably never will.

There will always be a market for a new Halo game and without 343 fucking shit up, Halo could do a lot better than Infinite.
But at the end of the day, even if Infinity Ward made Halo 6, it would never come close to Fortnite, CoD or Destiny.

 

[Negotiator101]

I can already feel the heat of the flames. A little background - I decided that I was going to do a big "History of FPS Games" marathon on PC. Some of these games I have played, some of these I haven't and some I just used cheat codes on as a kid and just messed around with them. This time, I actually wanted to go through, play and beat the campaign of all of the major FPS games in chronological order.

So far, that has consisted of the following:

Wolfenstein 3D > Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny > DOOM > Heretic > DOOM II > Hexen > Rise of the Triad > Duke Nukem 3D > Daikatana > Hexen 2 > Quake > Quake II > Unreal > Quake III > Unreal Tournament > Half-Life > Half-Life: Opposing Force > Half-Life: Blue Shift

(Some of these are out of order because I couldn't remember the release date. If I missed any big ones, let me know and I'll play them. I still have tons more to go. I've played and beat all of the Call of Duty games so I didn't included them in this run)

And that brings me to Halo: Combat Evolved and...I just don't get it. I'm 2 hours in and I can acknowledge that the graphics are good and a nice leap in tech and quality from Half-Life but the gameplay... It's so slow, so boring, the enemies are goofy and make cutesy noise, the weapons have zero impact, you empty full clips before the enemy dies, the world feels empty and there's very little music. Coming from all of these other games and especially something like Quake 3 and even Quake 2, the pacing is like molasses. Half-Life is story-driven and is still tense and chaotic at times.

I'm guessing if you were a console player and you've never gotten to experience a FPS before, it was probably pretty mind blowing and and having to use a controller is why the gameplay is slow to compensate. Playing it back to back after these other FPS games on PC though, man is it struggle. I will finish it but as of now, I think it might be the most overhyped game in video game history.

What say you GAF? Why is Halo so beloved? Is it just because of nostalgia and it being the first FPS for a lot of people? It amazed me going through this marathon at how well some of these games hold up. Heretic and Hexen were absolutely phenomenal and I couldn't wait to get back into the game the next day to keep playing. Daikatana not so much and Rise of the Triad aged horribly. Other than that, all of the other games have been excellent and it's clear to see why they are special. Halo though, I'm struggling...

Perfectly balanced weapons and the two weapon limit. Outstanding AI (for the time). Huge open ended levels that gave a sense of wonder and awe, level design is a mixed bag though.

A simple but memorable and coherent story, and sound design and music are excellent (not sure why you complained about the music).

 

[Corndog]

No lies detected.

It’s an opinion.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

No.

 

[93xfan]

Amazing game. Stick with it OP. It gets much better.

 

[nkarafo]

It also defined the standard for how a dual analog shooter should control on consoles.

Not sure about that. Dual analog controls in console FPS games existed way before Halo.

 

[synchronicity]

I always thought Halo was bland and uninteresting. Red vs Blue for the dullards of the worlds. I'm not saying it's an *awful* franchise, but I always saw its success as more due to being a rallying point for Xbox adopters early on. They needed something to call their own - to establish their "identity". (I had an original xbox, fwiw - no console hate here.) And that name..."Master Chief"...lol. Some real finesse there.

 

[Dithadder]

Are you playing with mouse or controller?

 

[TintoConCasera]

Played it back then on PC and, while it started nicely, it became a borefest quite fast.

Perfect Dark is a much better game.

 

[skit_data]

I played Halo CE back when it released om PC and found it to be alright, but it had some very annoying and drawn out parts (i.e The Library) that left the overall impression mixed. Never felt the need to return to the universe enough to purchase an Xbox. The multiplayer was alright I guess but I was playing a lot of Counter-Strike back then so the flow of combat and weapon aim came across as unappealing.

I can see it being somewhat different from a console only player perspective, but that wasn’t the way I experienced it.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I think the highlights of Halo for me was the vehicular combat. Hoping into a tank and watching your fellow soldiers hop on for a ride. The Ghosts and Jeeps were fun to use as well.

There’s a feeling of openness there that none of those other games had.

One you got inside…then it got pretty blah and repetitious.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

yeah I always thought it was bad actually

 

[Forsythia]

As a pc player I wasn't impressed with it either at release. Now all these yeara later it still cannot hold a candle to classic pc shooters, but I still play it often as it's just fun.

 

[nominedomine]

I know it might come as a surprise but I legit hate the series. I played it for the first time on PC when it released in 2003 and it just paled in comparison to the FPS we had on PC by then.

Halo 2 being released in the same month as Half-Life 2 doesn't even make any sense to me, Half-Life 2 is infinitely superior.

To me how mediocre these games are is completely incompatible with the hype they get, as if it's all the result of some astroturfing, massive market budget or something.

The only things I like in Halo are the music and the silly enemies.

 

[Punished Miku]

I only played part 1 and Infinite. FPS is not really my thing, but I'm playing more than I used to with GP. Infinite was pretty fun.

I've always wanted to like the series more, but I wish it was third person. Interesting art style and setting.

 

[LordCBH]

Whoa whoa whoa. I’ll give you infinite and 5. Those are booty cheeks after a night of heavy Taco Bell. But 2, 3, CE, REACH? All fucking awesome games.

 

[tygertrip]

I can already feel the heat of the flames. A little background - I decided that I was going to do a big "History of FPS Games" marathon on PC. Some of these games I have played, some of these I haven't and some I just used cheat codes on as a kid and just messed around with them. This time, I actually wanted to go through, play and beat the campaign of all of the major FPS games in chronological order.

So far, that has consisted of the following:

Wolfenstein 3D > Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny > DOOM > Heretic > DOOM II > Hexen > Rise of the Triad > Duke Nukem 3D > Daikatana > Hexen 2 > Quake > Quake II > Unreal > Quake III > Unreal Tournament > Half-Life > Half-Life: Opposing Force > Half-Life: Blue Shift

(Some of these are out of order because I couldn't remember the release date. If I missed any big ones, let me know and I'll play them. I still have tons more to go. I've played and beat all of the Call of Duty games so I didn't included them in this run)

And that brings me to Halo: Combat Evolved and...I just don't get it. I'm 2 hours in and I can acknowledge that the graphics are good and a nice leap in tech and quality from Half-Life but the gameplay... It's so slow, so boring, the enemies are goofy and make cutesy noise, the weapons have zero impact, you empty full clips before the enemy dies, the world feels empty and there's very little music. Coming from all of these other games and especially something like Quake 3 and even Quake 2, the pacing is like molasses. Half-Life is story-driven and is still tense and chaotic at times.

I'm guessing if you were a console player and you've never gotten to experience a FPS before, it was probably pretty mind blowing and and having to use a controller is why the gameplay is slow to compensate. Playing it back to back after these other FPS games on PC though, man is it struggle. I will finish it but as of now, I think it might be the most overhyped game in video game history.

What say you GAF? Why is Halo so beloved? Is it just because of nostalgia and it being the first FPS for a lot of people? It amazed me going through this marathon at how well some of these games hold up. Heretic and Hexen were absolutely phenomenal and I couldn't wait to get back into the game the next day to keep playing. Daikatana not so much and Rise of the Triad aged horribly. Other than that, all of the other games have been excellent and it's clear to see why they are special. Halo though, I'm struggling...

It wasn’t nowhere near as innovative or unique as the console kiddies thought, but I still consider it one of the best FPS of the era… played using a MOUSE, of course, not a gamepad like some drooling dudebro. Plus, it kept co-op alive, well after iD software has abandoned it.