Strategy Informer  

Well, the fact that it was a launch title for the Xbox definately had something to do with it. I remember when I first bought my Xbox, I got a copy of Halo with it for free; the idea being that one would play it, love it, and word of mouth would do the rest. The idea of playing online over Xbox Live was also a major factor in the game's success, if not the admittedly unoriginal story. I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend thre, four times as much time on the MP that I did on the SP (of which I completed all the game difficulties).

Halo was also the Xbox's only launch FPS, a genre that fits perfectly with the controller (in hinesight, this is pretty damn obvious, but back then it was difficult to imagine), so fans of CoD on the PC didn't have much choice if they wanted a FPS experience, not for sometime at least.

Finally, I think your decision to portray the game's "lacking originality" as one of the game's core obstacles is blowing things out of proportion; granted, a lot of games involve the 'alien invasion, one-man mission to destroy' genre, but that has one recently been the case because of Halo's success, and you gotta admit, the appearance of the Flood didn't half scare the crap out of you?

The only problem with Halo was that it was hyped out of proportion. We had all those console players telling us how it's the best game ever when in fact it was basically a standard FPS. I have nothing against Halo as long as it doesn't try to claim a place among the best games ever :).

I liked the first one.

I couldn't STAND the second for more than five minutes because of the retarded crosshairs, which were offcentered to the bottom.

Now I don't care at all.

Not a Halo fan myself. But it's more of a reason that I don't personally like sci fi shooters.

Halo 1 and 2 are the best!!! The rest is for the less.

I'll always have a lot of time for the Halo franchise, as it really got me into 'core' console gaming in the first place.

I have very fond memories of playing through the first Halo co-op with my brother, and as naff as the second game was on the single-player front, the multi-player (in conjunction with the proper launch of Xbox Live) re-defined online console gaming forever.

Obviously, it does ger overhyped quite a bit, especially consideirng it grew to become the poster child for the Xbox, and later 360.

Personally, I rather liked Halo 3, both in SP and MP and ODST was a great way of showing what 'else' the franchise was capable of. Reach... well, Reach wasn't the game I wanted, but it was still very well made and fune to play.

Whilst I welcome a Halo 4 and return of the Cheif (He's a much better character than Noble 6), commiting to a whole new trilogy seems a bit too soon for me.

The way I see it though, Halo earned the benefit of the doubt, so I'm willing to give 343 a chance.

Halo 3 was my second halo game. Halo 1 was my first. Halo 2 came a little bit after halo 3 for me. Halo is still a great series even with 343i making halo now.

Halo 1 was good, however you could easily complete the game in 12 hours. The rush to establish X-box as a game platform hurt the story development of Halo, making it weak and inconsistent with the Halo story. Too few missions or down loadable content (DLC) that continues to this day.
The Spartans were created to exceed human and later Covenant capabilities; yet in the game the Master chief is a wimp! Why were the Spartan's developed and what were the difficulties? Why is Cortana so special and an essential part of the Master Chief?
Admiral Keys, the Master chief and Cortana had a Primary mission: capture a Covenant ship get to the Covenant specie worlds and find a peaceful solution - how does it change? Why does the Chief know so much about the forerunner? Missions before Reach was attacked explain why.

DLC focused on Halo's Orbital Strike Team (OSDT) base would have been an ideal addition, as the Master chief had to rest and resupply somewhere! Why was the OSDT commander hostile toward Cortana and the Master Chief? Defending the OSDT base on Halo was critical to the Chief's mission and shows how covenant Stealth technology is detected among other things.
Additionally, the OSDT commander seeks personal gain by taking a sample Flood back to Earth for study along with a Covenant ship. Cortana and the OSDT AI develop a plan to capture a downed Covenant Cruiser to rescue the survivors when Halo is destroyed. The Master Chief and Cortana help the OSDT capture the covenant cruiser and repair it. However, when the OSDT commander's plan is exposed; most of the OSDT agree with their AI and Cortana: taking the flood infection back to Earth is insane. The OSDT second can't reason with her leader's insanity or escape the Covenant search parties and overloads the fusion core of the infected Covenant ship destroying it and their attackers.

How do they get back to Human controlled space? Another logical DLC.
The Master Chief and Cortana carefully evade Covenant patrols and find survivors in Halo's debris field, including “Master Guns”, some of Keys remaining staff, OSDT and another Spartan in Cryogenic suspension. Cortana skillfully hacks the Covenant communications between ships near Halo's debris field and quietly inspects their capabilities. A strategic plan is developed to board the Covenant C&C ship and use it escape the Halo system. Cortana uses electronic countermeasures to disable the Covenant ships and weapon systems. Then after taking control of the Covenant C&C modifies its weapons to destroy the other Covenant ships and their boarding craft. However, the hasty boarding action allows the Covenant C&C crew to sabotage engineering systems and Cortana is forced to move the C&C ship into a Gas giants gravity field to evade Covenant reinforcements. Cortana instructs the rather ambivalent Covenant engineer species to repair the ship and repair the Master Chief's armor and shields. Then instruct them to take the Master Chief to engineering where he can eliminate all the Covenant resistance and restart the reactor and slip-stream generator. Cortana studies the Covenant systems with the other human staff while the Chief is at work! She rewrites the Covenant slipstream drive to operate in an intense Gravity field which severely distorts space-time such that they arrive at Reach just as the Pillar of Autumn left Reach for Halo and watch as most of the Covenant ships follow in pursuit. They use the debris field around Reach to and dock the Covenant C&C with a human ship for its reactors and rail guns. Cortana's uses the combined power of two ships to modify the Covenant plasma into a tight beam while firing rail-guns. Her new slipstream calculations let her insert the chief close to Reach and then return to the debris field. The Master Chief rescues the Scientist that designed the Spartans as well as many Spartans and Reach Command personnel.

The Halo Ring itself is based on Larry Niven's "Ringworld", an enormous structure developed to support population growth far beyond a planet's capability, yet using far less resources. In Ringworld Engineers, the Forerunner species harnessed a rogue star to escape their entire population from a doomed solar system. They were able reposition the ring and harness the star's energy to defend the ring as it moved away from the Galactic Core. Thankfully most things that can wipe out life take many thousands of years, yet kill everything in their path.