Resistance.Halo.Gears.Half-Life. Which is the better universe?

Before I begin, let me make it clear that this isnt a popularity contest about which main character you like best, and this certainly isnt a discussion about which game you think is the best (because we all know Half-Life would win :D). What I want to know is, which alien infested game universe you find the most appealing. And let me get something else out of the way, I didnt put Killzone in the mix, because the Helghast are human, and thus dont actually count as aliens and before you get on my case about Resistance, I know the origin of the Chimera is still up for grabs but for now, we'll just consider them aliens :P So which do you like?

Personally, I like the Resistance universe. I think the Chimera are the most aggressive and effective alien force in the video game world at the moment. Despite the name "Resistance" would lead you to believe, there really isnt much Resistance going on. Sure the humans are trying to cope, but the Chimera have basically taken over the entire world and most of the US. Think about it, in Resistance 1 they appeared in Russia, and then 3months later the whole of Europe was gone, with Brittain being the last human outpost. Now fast foward 2 years later, and practically the entire world apart from the US is gone! Now thats what I call relentless! What I like about the Chimeran invasion is that in this game, you actually feel as if humanity is overwhelmed. Its not like Halo where one guy can single handedly put a major dent in the alien forces. In Resistance even Nathan Hales great efforts seems quickly overshadowed by the next major Chimeran onslaught that completely obliterates humanity. Now thats interesting! A universe were humanity isnt just fighting a losing battle, they are fighting a long lost battle!

To all you Half-Life lovers, all I have to say is, while the actualy story is very interesting, the Univers it actually takes place in is rather dull. Its like we just jumped back to 1984 :? Now that wouldnt be a bad, if the whole Dystopia theme hadnt been done to death. :P

HL>Gears>Halo>Resistence

HL is very deep, Gears is just getting started but already has a very interesting world and story going for it, as well as characters. Halos is very evolved and deep now, comics, books, all sorts and all types of things going on.

Resistences sucks out right, some nobody main character, even Master Chief had a back story and interesting things about him, this Nathan whatshisstupidname is boring to look at and has nothing to him, theres very little to the world it's ju st set in world war 2 with some rip off locusts, rubbish. 

You know what's going to happen in this thread, right? All the PS3 fans will say Resistance and all the 360 fans will say Halo or Gears.

But anyway, I'd say Half-Life and Halo both have more interesting atmospheres than Resistance and Gears. Half-Life has this interesting Orwellian type of thing going on and Halo has a colorful/lush kind of look going on that instantly sets its universe apart visually.

To be honest, I find Resistance and Gears both quite generic looking, which automatically makes their respective universes uninteresting to me.

With video games, the universe has to be visually appealing for me to dig it.

half life I like the aliens in Resistance adn the world in Gears but everything else is a joke. Halo is just dumbMarloStanfield

The storyline in Halo is dumb as hell, but I like how the universe actually looks. It has color and lushness to it.

You know what's going to happen in this thread, right? All the PS3 fans will say Resistance and all the 360 fans will say Halo or Gears.

But anyway, I'd say Half-Life and Halo both have more interesting atmospheres than Resistance and Gears. Half-Life has this interesting Orwellian type of thing going on and Halo has a colorful/lush kind of look going on that instantly sets it apart visually.

To be honest, I find Resistance and Gears both quite generic looking.

Tragic_Kingdom7

HL>Gears>Halo>Resistence

 

HL is very deep, Gears is just getting started but already has a very interesting world and story going for it, as well as characters. Halos is very evolved and deep now, comics, books, all sorts and all types of things going on.

 

Resistences sucks out right, some nobody main character, even Master Chief had a back story and interesting things about him, this Nathan whatshisstupidname is boring to look at and has nothing to him, theres very little to the world it's ju st set in world war 2 with some rip off locusts, rubbish. 

CreepyBacon

 

The storyline in Halo is dumb as hell, but I like how the universe actually looks. It has color and lushness to it.

Tragic_Kingdom7

Well, Resistance 2 is very colorful in sunny California and swampy Louisiana. But I wasnt all talking visually. Halo is a treat to look at but I dont like how it sort of comes out like a cheap B-rated movies at times, such as when the small covenant units are used for comic relief and the cheap 1 liners MC throws out every once in a while.?II_Seraphim_II

Well, to be fair to Resistance, I am basing my opinion on the first game, which I find intensely borring visually.

I really don't get how you can discount visuals when talking about the universe of a video game. The visuals are a primary building block of a game's universe.

Half Life has the best setting for me . Resistance copies a lot of Half Life, gears' story is a joke and Halo HAD a story in part 1, but it ended when those end credits rolled .

However, the resistance universe scores lowest when compared with the other three . It just doesn't work for me . Half life has a scary universe , Halo has a cool universe and Gears floats somewhere in between .

If I had to put in order it would be

Half-life then resistance. Even though Resistance 1 felt another WW setting the second one had great settings and beatiful visuals. I also love the chimara design. Just wish the character devlopment was better. This is just my opinion of course.

[QUOTE="II_Seraphim_II"]Well, Resistance 2 is very colorful in sunny California and swampy Louisiana. But I wasnt all talking visually. Halo is a treat to look at but I dont like how it sort of comes out like a cheap B-rated movies at times, such as when the small covenant units are used for comic relief and the cheap 1 liners MC throws out every once in a while.?Tragic_Kingdom7

Well, to be fair to Resistance, I am basing my opinion on the first game, which I find intensely borring visually.

I really don't get how you can discount visuals when talking about the universe of a video game. The visuals are a primary building block of a game's universe.

I would say Half-Life for me. Out of all of those, it's the one that I think really puts you in the shoes of the character. You're not some super soldier, you're just a human scientist. Other characters around you even add to the story, showing you the desparate state of the world, and out of those games that I've played (Can't comment on Resistance though) it's the only one where there are actually civilians around that can help you, and that aren't in just one portion of the game. So, for me, It goes Half-Life, Halo, then Gears and Resistance tie because I have't played Resistance enough to know the full story.Legendaryscmt

Halo...sorry but the novels and all the stuff that has gone into expanding this universe is just beyond the other 3 IMO.... Half Life Gears of War Resistance Half Life isn't so much about its great lore...as its lived more off the great story telling and how immersive the games are.......Gears of Wars universe has alot of potential...the story telling just isn't up to snuff. Resistance universe....well meh...whatever to that one... I expect alot of Halo Ignorance in this thread....so don't dissapoint :)jg4xchamp

Umm gears and Resistance are also getting comics and novels to.

[QUOTE="jg4xchamp"]Halo...sorry but the novels and all the stuff that has gone into expanding this universe is just beyond the other 3 IMO.... Half Life Gears of War Resistance Half Life isn't so much about its great lore...as its lived more off the great story telling and how immersive the games are.......Gears of Wars universe has alot of potential...the story telling just isn't up to snuff. Resistance universe....well meh...whatever to that one... I expect alot of Halo Ignorance in this thread....so don't dissapoint :)finalfantasy94

Umm gears and Resistance are also getting comics and novels to.

You are right about visuals being very important, I misspoke :P I meant to say visuals arent the only factor. Halo is probably the best looking visually, but the characters that inhabit the world, the alien race, the people of earth and so forth arent exactly all that great. Half-Life has great characters but the world is so drab and boring. Half-Life world is what Resistance 1 world was, dull and boring, it just happens to have a good story which Resistance doesnt.II_Seraphim_II

Well, IMO, Half-Life is not so much drab and boring as it's "sterile" looking. I thought the sterile look was artistically effectiv. With Resistance 1, I felt the game simply didn't really have a sense of style. I feel vindicated in thinking that simply for the fact that Insomniac attempted to give the world of Resistance more style and more of a sense of individuality in the sequel.

Half Life, one of the most well realised game universes there's ever been.  Halo has a well expanded universe, but not exactly an interesting one, the other two haven't had enough material to be considered "universes" yet.

The human world in HL under a Fascist Alien government is quite interesting I think.

Who doesn't like a government killing its opposition by sending capsules of headcrabs on their villages?  

 

Personally, I like the Resistance universe. I think the Chimera are the most aggressive and effective alien force in the video game world at the moment. Despite the name "Resistance" would lead you to believe, there really isnt much Resistance going on. Sure the humans are trying to cope, but the Chimera have basically taken over the entire world and most of the US. Think about it, in Resistance 1 they appeared in Russia, and then 3months later the whole of Europe was gone, with Brittain being the last human outpost. Now fast foward 2 years later, and practically the entire world apart from the US is gone! Now thats what I call relentless!

 

II_Seraphim_II

In the HL universe, the Combine conquered Earth in 7 hours.

Owned:P

Unquestionably Half Life

There is so much to the universe we are yet to learn, and things like the combine make it much more interesting, and add loads of scope.

Though I do like GeOWs universe quite a bit... it has grown on me, purley because its the humans who really seem like the agressors and 'bad guys'... The Locust really are the natives of the planet - the humans have been waging war, and drilling for imullsion...

As others have said Halo has better lore, however I think Half Lifes universe is the best realised by a huge margin.

Half Life is overrated garbage. Look at me, I'm Gordon Freeman, everyone has a bone over me, I unrealistically don't talk at ALL either, and the ENTIRE game is from my BORING non-talking perspective. That's what they used to call lazy storytelling back in the day... now it's called innovative and fresh... puleeeze.ScoopyMcScoop

This may come as a shock to many but I'm going to say:

Halo ! :P :lol:

This may come as a shock to many but I'm going to say:

Halo ! :P :lol:

SecretPolice

Its not like Halo where one guy can single handedly put a major dent in the alien forces. II_Seraphim_II

Before I begin, let me make it clear that this isnt a popularity contest about which main character you like best, and this certainly isnt a discussion about which game you think is the best (because we all know Half-Life would win :D). What I want to know is, which alien infested game universe you find the most appealing. And let me get something else out of the way, I didnt put Killzone in the mix, because the Helghast are human, and thus dont actually count as aliens and before you get on my case about Resistance, I know the origin of the Chimera is still up for grabs but for now, we'll just consider them aliens :P So which do you like?

Personally, I like the Resistance universe. I think the Chimera are the most aggressive and effective alien force in the video game world at the moment. Despite the name "Resistance" would lead you to believe, there really isnt much Resistance going on. Sure the humans are trying to cope, but the Chimera have basically taken over the entire world and most of the US. Think about it, in Resistance 1 they appeared in Russia, and then 3months later the whole of Europe was gone, with Brittain being the last human outpost. Now fast foward 2 years later, and practically the entire world apart from the US is gone! Now thats what I call relentless! What I like about the Chimeran invasion is that in this game, you actually feel as if humanity is overwhelmed. Its not like Halo where one guy can single handedly put a major dent in the alien forces. In Resistance even Nathan Hales great efforts seems quickly overshadowed by the next major Chimeran onslaught that completely obliterates humanity. Now thats interesting! A universe were humanity isnt just fighting a losing battle, they are fighting a long lost battle!

To all you Half-Life lovers, all I have to say is, while the actualy story is very interesting, the Univers it actually takes place in is rather dull. Its like we just jumped back to 1984 :? Now that wouldnt be a bad, if the whole Dystopia theme hadnt been done to death. :P

O don't gimme this bs. It's not BECAUSE of Half Life we have storytelling in shooters. That's the BIGGEST crock of fanboy crap I've ever heard. Are you sleeping with an executive at the company or something? Take your pills today. "He is not supposed to talk he is transparent." That doesn't give near good enough reason for why he never says anything and unrealistically makes me feel like I'm a cardboard cutout. People like you need to read a good book or something because it makes me sick to think that Half Life's storytelling is considered good in this entertainment medium because it's character is, as you say, "transparent," aka, in the real world, COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC and IMPOSSIBLE to connect to. The word transparent should be replaced with shallow is more like it. Half Life is overrated, PERIOD. Give me a flawed character that TRIES over a character that is supposed to say as much as the turkey I ate on Thanksgiving in order to preserve a "never-was-there-in-the-first-place" immersion factor. Get over yourselves and off your high horses Half Life lovers. The games were good. Not genre OR life defining... some people would seriously sleep with Gordon Freeman if he were real I swear it's sick how much you people appreciate this poor excuse for characterization and storytelling... LAZY is what it is.ScoopyMcScoop

Why bother replying to this, there is enough information out there that covers my response.
Writing a proper response to you, isn't going to do you any favours, and doing so is a complete waste of time.

Keep clinging to your opinion.

There is a big difference between being a fanboy and being correct, other than that your ignorance on the matter shines.

Half Life 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and the reason is simple.  The first time I played it I was in awe of the world I was presented with.  No other game had ever captured, for me, the claustrophobic feeling of the entire world being under alien control.

The first time I stepped out of the main City 17 building into the square my jaw dropped.  Through most of the game I truly felt like I was one of the only people on earth fighting the good fight and every step was tense and exciting.

...but the thing that pushed the lore over the top was the zombies.  I mean, not only did you have these creatures from outerspace but you also had your own people coming back to life and trying to kill you because of the head crabs.  Let us not forget that perhaps the greatest fps level in history is Ravenholme.

So I'm going with Half Life 2.

I've gotta say this.  I'm sorry but the Halo books aren't exactly high art and good prose.  I couldn't even get through the first one I tried to read.

Then again I'm used to George Martin.

:|

 

Why bother replying to this, there is enough information out there that covers my response.
Writing a proper response to you, isn't going to do you any favours, and doing so is a complete waste of time.

Keep clinging to your opinion.

There is a big difference between being a fanboy and being correct, other than that your ignorance on the matter shines.

skrat_01

I've gotta say this.  I'm sorry but the Halo books aren't exactly high art and good prose.  I couldn't even get through the first one I tried to read.

 

Then again I'm used to George Martin.

Xalaten

[QUOTE="skrat_01"]:|

 

Why bother replying to this, there is enough information out there that covers my response.
Writing a proper response to you, isn't going to do you any favours, and doing so is a complete waste of time.

Keep clinging to your opinion.

There is a big difference between being a fanboy and being correct, other than that your ignorance on the matter shines.

Shafftehr

I can argue Gordon's character is transparent, fact is his character is - he originally was not even supposed to have a visual representation - his character is purley game design for storytelling, and couple of these articles it runs over it, the rest run over the story telling techniques and how influential they are (whereas as the former poster claims them not to be so).

Sure my reply is arrogant as hell, what do you expect when you are replying to such a post? A sincere reply?

edit*

Ok I wont be a dick - after rummaging through book marks I found this article
Now even though its a GamesRadar article, its very very good, and pretty much runs over Gordons character, and what i am rambling on about, which saves me the job recycling it with my own words. Its a good read too.

This line pretty much summarises it: "Gordon Freeman will remain the ultimate example of "Less is more" in character design."

Well when somebody flames you, you arent exactly going to go to alot of trouble for a response. As for obscure sites? What? GamaSutra?..... its THE best gaming site out there.... and has massive ties to the industry...It probably the most respected gaming source out there (its features are fantastic)

 

I can argue Gordon's character is transparent, fact is his character is - he originally was not even supposed to have a visual representation - his character is purley game design for storytelling, and couple of these articles it runs over it, the rest run over the story telling techniques and how influential they are (whereas as the former poster claims them not to be so).

Sure my reply is arrogant as hell, what do you expect when you are replying to such a post? A sincere reply?

skrat_01

Yes, his character is transparent, but that's a far cry from making him anything but shallow. Does this transparency give him any depth? I don't see it. Half-Life is a well told story, but the aim of that story isn't to make Gordon Freeman a fleshed out character in any sense of the term. I think a lot of Half-Life fans get their general enthusiastic love of the series cloud Valve's intent and end result with the character... There's next to nothing to him. They never intended for there to be anything to him. The poster you responded to actually had a reasonable metaphor - he's like the Thanksgiving turkey that brings the family together for a great time. It's an ugly brown lump in the middle of the table that doesn't do much or have much to it on its own, but it's a great excuse for a good time with lots of friends. Gordon Freeman IS that turkey.

If you can't do anything but respond with arrogance and snide comments to him, explain to me why our speechless protagonist Gordon Freeman with no backstory other than that he's an MIT grad, who gives no reactions whatsoever to the animated world around him other than to shoot things, isn't a shallow character.  And do try and remember - Half-Life being a game with a well told story doesn`t come close to equating with having a well fleshed out character.  One of the definining European novels of the last century, The Man Without Qualities, goes a long way to proving that.  Actually, come to think about it, Ulrich reminds me a bit of Gordon Freeman...

Duh... What? Perhaps you'd care to tell me about at which point in my decade + of following gaming journalism I missed the memo telling me that GamaSutra was THE best gaming site out there and was the most respected gaming site out there? Well, thanks, I'm glad you got me up to speed on what I manged to *completely miss* keeping an eye on various gaming sites and forums for ten or so years now.

Yes, his character is transparent, but that's a far cry from making him anything but shallow. Does this transparency give him any depth? I don't see it. Half-Life is a well told story, but the aim of that story isn't to make Gordon Freeman a fleshed out character in any sense of the term. I think a lot of Half-Life fans get their general enthusiastic love of the series cloud Valve's intent and end result with the character... There's next to nothing to him. They never intended for there to be anything to him. The poster you responded to actually had a reasonable metaphor - he's like the Thanksgiving turkey that brings the family together for a great time. It's an ugly brown lump in the middle of the table that doesn't do much or have much to it on its own, but it's a great excuse for a good time with lots of friends. Gordon Freeman IS that turkey.

If you can't do anything but respond with arrogance and snide comments to him, explain to me why our speechless protagonist Gordon Freeman with no backstory other than that he's an MIT grad, who gives no reactions whatsoever to the animated world around him other than to shoot things, isn't a shallow character.  And do try and remember - Half-Life being a game with a well told story doesn`t come close to equating with having a well fleshed out character.  One of the definining European novels of the last century, The Man Without Qualities, goes a long way to proving that.  Actually, come to think about it, Ulrich reminds me a bit of Gordon Freeman...

Shafftehr

Again, Half Life both the first and the second are full of flaws and off quirks - I can point them out left right and center, and again ill repost my edit - that i reposted before you replied:

"

Ok I wont be a dick - after rummaging through book marks I found this article
Now even though its a GamesRadar article, its very very good, and pretty much runs over Gordons character, and what i am rambling on about, which saves me the job recycling it with my own words. Its a good read too.

This line pretty much summarises it: "Gordon Freeman will remain the ultimate example of "Less is more" in character design."

"

Gordon is supposed to be a clean slate, his bare bones background is reason for him being in Black Mesa; its the player who causes the catastrophe in the first,  and engages in the saga from start to finish. The player is there as gordon; Gordon has no voice, as it would not be the players, the players own actions define who Gordons character is, and effects on the game world, and story. Gordon is completely transparent in Half Life. He is not even a proper game character. He is there purely as a piece of game design, and Valve completely reinvented the 'silent protagonist', and the way games are presented and stories told.  

Now its not obvious, and lots of people hate it - and much rather alternative ways of storytelling, and a character that can represent them, and they can relate too but that's how 'Gordon' is.

It sure as hell is not bad, if it was Half Life would not have got the praise for being as innovative in storytelling as it is, however its sure as hell is not going to appeal to everyone...... 

Now honestly, i'm not acting like a gushing zealot fanboy, nor am i making things up, or giving undeserving praise. It just so happens that Gordon Freeman's character is 'transparent' and the storytelling in half life is innovative........

Now is what I have said a "bs", a " crock of fanboy crap" and a result of me "sleeping with an executive", or did I take my "pills today".
Again, originally, HOW am i going to respond to getting flamed like that? :|  I type the above because your reply or attitude is not THAT.