Before you go and erupt into a fireball, hear me out. Halo, used here as the first example coming to mind, is a decent (your mileage may vary) game series with a horrible fanbase. It's not particularly original, the story is so-so and the gameplay is your standard FPS fanfare, with much of the focus of the series being on MP. Not the cup of tea of most of BioWare's fanbase, in other words.
How is it objectively better than Mass Effect, which has memorable characters, choices and well-written dialogue and a story created by the long-time masters of video game storytelling (your mileage may vary on all points)?
Easy. The difference between the two is that Halo is not trying to be anything else than what it is. Halo is Halo, and it knows it. That's why it works. Halo isn't trying to reel in fans from other genres, it's not radically changing itself to appeal to wider audiences. It does what it is supposed to do, and it does it for its target demographic.
Contrast Mass Effect, which attempts to be everything for everyone and ends up being nothing for no one, aping after CoD, Battlefield and Gears of War and taking and mashing together story elements from Halo and Deus Ex. Similarly, DA2 was altered to be like the wildly popular Mass Effect, whereas DA:O was the first BioWare game in a while to just do its own thing. And SWTOR, naturally, tried to contend with WoW by uniting its gameplay with the enormous expanded universe of the Star Wars franchise.
It seems to me that the most successful franchises are the ones who are simply doing their own thing, whether it is Halo (futuristic shooter with a fetish for megastructures), Assassin's Creed (nodding at birds to absolutely, positively kill every motherf***er in the past), Gears of War (slicing and dicing testosterone-poisoned aliens with chainsaws mounted on machine guns), God of War (an atheist's wet dream), etc etc.
And for a time, ME was doing its own thing until the decision was made to make it more like the "popular" franchises, including, for some reason, uninspired "rinse and repeat" franchises like CoD and Battlefield (no offense to Dice, they've made cool, innovative stuff like Mirror's Edge in the past).
It is the gaming world equivalent of telling your child to be more like the cool kids at school, failing to realize that the cool kids became cool just by being themselves (may not be applicable in some states in USA and in certain other countries).
The moral of this story is that EA are terrible parents.
Halo (for example) is better than Mass Effect (and DA2/SWTOR)
Débuté par
Guest_Arcian_*
, sept. 09 2012 07:40
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#3
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:46
Jamie9
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Halo revolutionized the console FPS, and has a great story for a shooter.
Oh, and don't try to say innovation is bad. I'm going to point at the rise of indie games to prove you wrong.
Oh, and don't try to say innovation is bad. I'm going to point at the rise of indie games to prove you wrong.
#4
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:47
AresKeith
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Metal Gear Solid still has the best story 
#5
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:47
DirtyPhoenix
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Don't own an xbox so don't know how HALO is, but I'd agree Assassin's Creed is absolutely motherf***ing awesome. But i agree to your general viewpoint. Be original and don't try to copy others, success shall be yours.
Modifié par pirate1802, 09 septembre 2012 - 07:49 .
#6
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:48
Baa Baa
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Limbo is the ****Jamie9 wrote...
Halo revolutionized the console FPS, and has a great story for a shooter.
Oh, and don't try to say innovation is bad. I'm going to point at the rise of indie games to prove you wrong.
#7
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:48
Dragoonlordz
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Halo was bad SP game. Half Life was million miles better SP. Halo had good MP but just MP (imho).
Modifié par Dragoonlordz, 09 septembre 2012 - 07:48 .
#8
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:49
Jvolikas
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I feel Halo and Mass Effect aren't really comparable. Halo is a fantastic series but it has very little player choice and instead guides you along the journey. In Mass Effect (until 3 at least), you got to make your own journey.
#9
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:50
Ghost
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pirate1802 wrote...
Don't own an xbox so don't know how HALO is, but I'd agree Assassin's Creed is absolutely motherf***ing awesome. But i agree to your general viewpoint. Be original and don't try to copy others, success shall be yours.
Go collect feathers.
#10
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:50
Ghost
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Jvolikas wrote...
I feel Halo and Mass Effect aren't really comparable. Halo is a fantastic series but it has very little player choice and instead guides you along the journey. In Mass Effect (until 3 at least), you got to make your own journey.
Halo is also an FPS.
#11
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:50
Baa Baa
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B-b-but, Halo 1 and 2 had really awesome singleplayersDragoonlordz wrote...
Halo was bad SP game. Half Life were million miles better. Halo had good MP but just MP (imho).
#12
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:51
Ghost
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Baa Baa wrote...
B-b-but, Halo 1 and 2 had really awesome singleplayersDragoonlordz wrote...
Halo was bad SP game. Half Life were million miles better. Halo had good MP but just MP (imho).
Not ODST or Reach.
#14
Guest_Cthulhu42_*
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:52
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My only experience with Halo is playing splitscreen with my brother and getting killed repetitively.
#15
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:53
spirosz
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Jvolikas wrote...
I feel Halo and Mass Effect aren't really comparable. Halo is a fantastic series but it has very little player choice and instead guides you along the journey. In Mass Effect (until 3 at least), you got to make your own journey.
That is not the point of the thread... lol
#17
Guest_Arcian_*
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:54
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Quite the contrary, I am a big fan of innovation. And I am not expressing my own opinions of Halo in the OP, as that would make it very one-sided. The opinions are from reviewers.Jamie9 wrote...
Halo revolutionized the console FPS, and has a great story for a shooter.
Oh, and don't try to say innovation is bad. I'm going to point at the rise of indie games to prove you wrong.
#18
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:54
mumba
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Didn't even know it was possible to insult Halo, (Except for Reach)
#19
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:54
GenericEnemy
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Ghost1017 wrote...
Baa Baa wrote...
B-b-but, Halo 1 and 2 had really awesome singleplayersDragoonlordz wrote...
Halo was bad SP game. Half Life were million miles better. Halo had good MP but just MP (imho).
Not ODST or Reach.
I actually thought ODST's was pretty good.
Although maybe it was just because of the VA cast.
#20
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:57
Edolix
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When I saw the thread title I was ready to rip you apart ![=]](https://lvlt.forum.bioware.com/public/style_emoticons/default/sideways.png)
But I agree with you.
But I agree with you.
#21
Guest_Flog61_*
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:57
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NOTHING was better than da2!
.....lulz
.....lulz
#22
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:58
Dragoonlordz
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Baa Baa wrote...
B-b-but, Halo 1 and 2 had really awesome singleplayersDragoonlordz wrote...
Halo was bad SP game. Half Life were million miles better. Halo had good MP but just MP (imho).
Just my opinion, others might feel differently which is perfectly fine.
#23
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 07:59
Baa Baa
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Really? I thought 3 was the worst (singleplayer wise). I thought Reach wasn't that fun but had a good story.Mumba1511 wrote...
Didn't even know it was possible to insult Halo, (Except for Reach)
#24
Guest_Nyoka_*
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 08:04
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I think DA2 may be the most different game bioware has done in terms of not wanting to attract someone else's audience or copying this or that feature.
#25
Posté 09 septembre 2012 - 08:05
Irockz
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I love all the Halo games (aside from Wars, although it'd be good if it was on PC. It's an RTS for god's sake) and they have a great story, especially if you read the books.
