The title of this entry isn’t entirely rhetorical – I really do wonder why I’m enjoying Halo 3 as much as I am, when I never liked Halo 1 or 2 (other than a bizarre compulsion to disagree with Rasu, maybe). In so wondering, I have come up with several possible answers which I shall now proceed to list.
I’m playing it on console. Back when I played Halo 1, I played the piss-poor PC port. The game was really not calibrated for that sort of interface – it felt “thin”, lacking weight and impact. I also played it too long after it was released for consoles – by the time I played it, Halo 1 had no features that stood out to me, which was a massive disappointment especially given the hype. The only thing that initially attracted me to the game was the pretty, colourful surroundings, and by the time The Flood was introduced, I completely lost interest and stopped playing.
The level-design is quite open. Okay so it’s not Deus Ex or The Elder Scrolls. The levels are overall quite linear and take you from point A to B. It’s not a railroad, however, it’s more like a string of arenas. Halo 2 felt very constricted in terms of level design. There were a few branches, but it seemed like a much more traditional linear shooter than Halo 1. I find that I enjoy Halo 3′s level design more than I enjoyed Halo 1′s, let alone Halo 2′s. In Halo 3, you move into an arena full of enemies to tackle, and when you’re done, you move on. It’s a very simple formula, but it’s pretty effective. Without the other factors listed, it wouldn’t be enough to win me over though.
I’m playing it in co-op. This is the big one. Halo 1, I played in singleplayer. Halo 2, I largely played in singleplayer except a few select portions I played with friends until losing interest. Halo 3, I’ve played in co-op with Nick and for a while today also Larry. Co-op makes all the difference. Instead of driving a car, I’m driving a car while my friend is up back gunning. Instead of charging forwards with crossed fingers, I’m hanging back, providing cover for the two twitch gamers up front. Occasionally, magic happens, such as when Nick drives me up behind an enemy Wraith-tank so I can board it and take it out, or when I provide a distraction so Nick and Larry can flank a shielded enemy position from different directions. We haven’t had an opportunity to ride 3 players in one Warthog yet, but I can’t wait to try it out.
I’m playing it on higher difficulty. In by far most games I have, the lowest difficulty is perfect for me and provides lots of fun. In the Halo games I need to play on at least Normal to enjoy it. Higher difficulties turn the game from a dumb rush shooter to a more tactical, cautious experience. Halo 1 and 2, I played on the easiest setting. It was very easy and may have contributed to my not enjoying those games. In Halo 3, I played Normal on my own, Heroic with Nick, and Legendary when Larry joined in. Legendary would be amazingly frustrating playing solo, but when there are three players, one can simply hang back and serve as a mobile spawn point. Furthermore, when you’re playing co-op, death is far less frustrating and more – hilarious.
I’m a sucker for achievements. Halo can be played in a linear or nonlinear fashion. Like Call of Duty 4, there is a level menu where you can choose which mission to play, but unlike CoD4, Halo 3 lists the highest difficulty you’ve completed each level on in SP and in co-op, and rewards a complete playthrough on each difficulty level with an achievement. This plays to a sort of collector’s instinct that makes me really want to complete every mission on Legendary, and thanks to the inclusion of up to 4-player co-op, that’s actually an attainable goal, unlike the idea of 5-starring every song on Expert in Guitar Hero 3.
There’s no doubt that the co-op really makes the difference. Thanks to co-op, I can play Halo 3 on the hardest difficulty without having a heart-attack, and I can enjoy the Warthog the way it was meant to be played. And the Xbox’s built-in voice chat is the final touch that seals the deal, making Halo 3 co-op the perfect social gaming experience, easily rivalling Guitar Hero’s or even Gears of War‘s brilliant co-op.
Oh and the dual-wielding system is bloody ace.
It would appear your post has been ASSIMILATED.
Also, yeah, coop is fun.
Stupid spam bots. I am this close to disabling ping-backs
I haven’t played Halo 3 yet. Personally I felt the first few levels of Halo 1 were good, when your fighting the Covenant, but as soon as The Flood makes an appearance it just becomes dullsville. Also I played it on PC first and as you pointed out, it was a poor port.
Halo 2 I haven’t played in English yet (IIRC I played with Italian speach and French subs (don’t ask)) but I’m told it didn’t make any sense even if you did have it in a native language. It was however an immensely enjoyable game, particularly the co-op and deathmatch.
I haven’t played Halo 3 yet as I still don’t have a 360 (…one day I will have money and the world will be mine mwhaha… er…). I will probably go back at some point and play the first two again. Hopefully by that point there will be a trilogy edition or something.
Apparently you also have to read the books for the story to make sense. At least I’m told the end of Halo 2 and the beginning of Halo 3 don’t line up at all because the void between them is filled by one of the books
I have played some Halo 3, only in coop, and I generally enjoyed it more than Halo 2. So, Halo 3 has coop over the internet? Now I may have to buy an XBox
Yeah up to 4 player co-op over XBox Live.
So not only an Xbox, but also a Live subscription…. hmm, tempting…. But I’ll probably won’t.
I was very reluctant to subscribe to Live in the beginning, especially because I didn’t really have any good MP games on the console, but it’s actually pretty cheap. Guitar Hero 3′s Live-enabled co-op and versus battles won me over.