How I feel about Halo.

SHOOT THE BIG BLURRY SHINY GUY WHO IS GREEN OR PURPLE.

Over the past decade I have had a rocky relationship with the Halo franchise. There were times where I loathed it, vowing to never touch it's wretched discs again. Other times I actually bought the fucking thing. Nowadays I'm a fan. Let's rewind time to see where the fuck I went insane.

Halo was released in 2001 or 2002, one of those years. I'm too lazy to confirm facts with Wikipedia, so I'll just let you know that I bought it and an X-Box in 2002 after I graduated high school. At that time I kinda hated the X-Box, because it was new and I thought it was stupid. Everything on the console looked big and dumb, even the controller was fucking enormous. Those were the days of console domination from eastern developers, most US made games were simply shit (except PC games).

Halo was a mediocre game, but it was an exceptional console shooter. I had seen the promise land of multiplayer shooters, I had played CounterStrike and Day of Defeat. Shit, I had played the Quakes, been obsessed with Doom and it's badass little brother Doom 2. Halo was a space man doing a disco dance in comparison to these games, but it hit at the right place at the right time.

Halo wouldn't be this sweet for like 8 more years.

In my opinion, the X-Box and PS2 generation blew video games into the megasphere. There had been huge consoles prior, but it had always been considered a kid's hobby. The newer games looked more and more realistic, and the games became edgier and edgier. Halo dropped right in the middle of this shitstorm, and everybody went fucking bonkers. Since it was a decent multiplayer shooter, and on the hottest consumer item of the year, it sold like hot cakes covered in Monster Energy Drink.

I don't even know what the fuck this is, I found it on Google.
Maybe the bullet holes are to keep that fucker cold.

I played through most of the game, and played the multiplayer quite a bit. After a while, I found the game quite boring and put it down since I was playing other, more interesting online games at the time. I didn't really think much of the game beyond it being OK, but the hype wasn't dying down over the thing. People everywhere loved it and they do what people do best, annoy the shit out of me.

I worked at a Gamestop for a few years after I started college. Every fucking day I would have to listen to some kid tell me how Halo was the best looking, best playing, best smelling, and best tasting game ever made to date. EVERY. DAY. Resident Evil on the Gamecube was out at this time, so I would usually point to it and say "that game right there looks way better, and it is a fact." At this point they would point out to me that the Gamecube was a Nintendo, and Nintendo's were for babies. You can see where I had a hard time working at Gamestop.

The fanfare never fucking stopped and Halo 2 was on the horizon. This time everything was twice as fucktastic, so I had to get ready for this one. I still worked at Gamestop when Halo 2 came out, and you'd think God himself showed up on Earth and gave everybody a Ferrari. People were so worried about pre-ordering the game, they would frantically rush into the store asking about pre-orders. I told them there would definitely be plenty, because why wouldn't there be? I was right, because I'm pretty sure you could buy them in gas stations.

Halo 2 was more of the same, blah, blah, blah. You already know, you've played it. I have, too. At this point I was still not a fan. The multiplayer was only fun because you can play with friends and that aspect is cool. The game still felt clunky and everything still looked shiny and gross. The games just didn't look that great, and they were just OK. Halo and Halo 2 were just OK, nothing more, nothing less. I am going on record with that one.

After the X-Box 360 came out, it was just a matter of time before a new Halo was going to be released. I was as jaded as anyone could possibly ever get, so I was preparing for a shitstorm. I suppose I grew up, or grew out of whatever funk I was in, because I ACTUALLY BOUGHT THE GAME. That's right. I went to a store and bought the game for 60 doll hairs. Brand new. Mostly it was because I played with my friends on the XBL a lot, and I succumb to peer pressure easily.

After playing through the campaign with my friends, I was more interested in the series. The story, as far as I can tell, is that little gremlins hang out with big grunty guys and they throw purple balls. This all takes place on a donut in space. That's Halo's story in a nutshell. There is also a sexy computer program chick who tells you what to do. So, the story wasn't why I was interested in the game. It was more about the experience, not really the game itself. Although, I will say Halo 3 was a step in the right direction. The world looked like a place that actually exists, it wasn't shiny and the gameplay was a lot tighter. Master Chief also didn't feel like he was floating on air anymore.

You forgot he was in this game.

The next game in the series was ODST, which was an enjoyable experience. It had the same multiplayer as 3, so I didn't really dive too deep into it. The campaign was fun, but I really don't remember much beyond Nathan Fillion and that chick's chin. Overall I rate that game a "I don't really think it was bad, but it's wasn't amazing."

This image was more than enough to make me excited to play.

Halo Reach, however, was quite good. The campaign was great, it had a lot of great action and the experience was pretty intense. The multiplayer modes were fun, and I actually enjoyed playing it. The game took a huge leap in visuals, and the worlds were looking more and more real and less like giant blurry, shiny purple things. I don't really have a lot to say about it other than it was a great game, and the ending was crazy intense. I like my games to have crazy intense endings like that.

And you thought he was stuck in a ship floating in space. Oh wait.

After Reach, the reigns of the franchise was tossed over to 343 Industries and the only thing I have to say about that is: hallelujah. Halo 4 is good, at least from what I've played of it. The first thing I noticed in the game is how great everything looks. There is detail now, stuff looks like an actual place. Granted the previous three games in the franchise were getting there, but this one pulled it over the line. Looking around on the Forerunner planet at the stuff is actually entertaining. It's sort of like when you see a reaper in Mass Effect, you can't help but look at it and stare in awe at how fucking huge it is. This is sorta like that.

Halo 4 also has a pretty solid multiplayer portion. Granted I've only put a few hours into it, I've enjoy every minute of it. I used to get pretty pissed off when I died in Halo due to cheap shit, but now I mostly just sit in awe of some crazy shit some dude just pulled off to kill me. The gameplay is reminiscent of the older games, but with a new level of polish. I feel like the controls are a little bit tighter and everything just flows a lot better. Everything is nice and smooth, while still maintaining the great visuals.I never thought I'd say a Halo game look good, but this one does. Good work, 343.

I am currently playing through the single player campaign on Legendary, and it is the biggest pain in the ass ever. Legendary on co-op is sort of a gimme, since there are 4 people to lay waste to everything and you really have to play on Legendary to get the full experience. I feel the same way about single player, Legendary is the only way to go...but damn is it annoyingly hard. At times I feel like there is no strategy to this mode, just shoot stuff, find bullets and hide behind cover until your shields heal. When I feel that way, I usually find myself ducking behind boxes, popping up to take potshots at stuff, dipping back behind walls to flank enemies and find weapons. So I guess there is strategy, I just like to complain.

I guess Halo 3 is what started steering me towards the light, although I will never admit this to be my favorite shooter franchise (Doom will hold that title until the day the world gets blown up while Rose and the Doctor look on). 3, ODST, Reach and now 4 have shown a tremendous leap from the Halo of yore to the Halo of today. So if you ever hear me talking about playing Halo and enjoying it, now you have some idea of what has transpired since the days of me totally hating and bashing this game into the ground. Even though I have come around to Halo, I don't think I'll ever come back around to Call of Duty, but that is probably better left until another post altogether.