Did Halo revolutionize console shooters/online play?

Besides the control scheme, all it did was already being done on PC and for years at that. What about the console space though? Did Halo revolutionize console shooters and/or online play? Online focus, custom maps, content delivery before it was cool, etc, all of that on a console.

What are your thoughts?

Halo 2 100% did. Matchmaking, friends list, basic ass invite system, proximity chat, all the basics that Xbox live standardized was shit Halo 2 did. Microsoft’s team basically aped Bungies UI.

MP games prior were more about server browsing n shit. The control scheme is part of it, but it’s more inside baseball stuff that put halo over. Because we had dual analog prior, even in time splitters.

Halo just had generous hurt boxes for enemies (tall and wide enemies for starters) and a healthy balance of hitscan weapons that were appropriately strong.

Champ is right, it was Halo 2's online that started it all.

Most people don't realize that the floaty feeling and two-weapon limits (with an easy to use grenade button) are really console improvements from Halo: CE. Halo would have been a mediocre PC shooter at best with a fantastic story, it has neither the scale nor the gameplay to compete with other PC shooters of the era. (Crysis on the other hand put more efforts on the PC shooter) And I say that as a huge Halo fan myself. I can tell you now that Halo CE wasn't important to most PC gamers, that honor still goes to Half-Life.

With all that said, I grew up on Xbox/Halo CE and I didn't get into gaming PC until 2007 Crysis era happened. I was always under the impression what Halo CE did was show that you could do FPS well on consoles while playing a well-balance controller. Besides that, if you wanted to play FPS, you had to play PC with KB/M was always the correct way to play FPS. Halo CE came along and was a good example of what could be done on a console all thanks to Xbox.

Correct me if am wrong but did halo introduce the 2 weapon maximum and separate melee and grenade buttons, all I can remember before hand was the likes of doom/quake/Duke etc which allowed you to carry an army of weapons?

Halo might have been the console game that adopted common PC stuff first and best. If you want to call that "revolutionary" is up to you. I wouldn't as it sounds silly. Definitely an evolvement though.

It certainly did revolutionise the console FPS gaming space but did nothing PC shooters hadn't done for years prior. before COD4 (2007) FPS games used to be reviewed at a much lower standard on console than PC.

which is why Halo 2 got 95 MC on XBOX but 72 on PC.

likewise Halo got 97 on console but 82 on PC. PC had higher standards back in the day.

I'll just rundown what Halo CE gave us:

• Regenerating shields/health.
• Carrying two weapons instead of everything, inventory management.
• Relegating melee to a button instead of a weapon.
• Varied, well balanced and fun vehicle sections. (4x4, tank, hovercraft, plane)
• Actual functional auto-aim - bringing to consoles closer to PC, for better or worse.
• Powerups that aren't incredibly arcade, even though they fulfill the same purpose.

But what I can tell you however is Halo 2 introduced on-the-fly dual-wielding - which used to be relegated to a separate weapon or as an "final upgrade" to weapons. This really refined the tactical nature of weapons in Halo game, but it didn't make that big of an impact on the industry as whole, but rather cemented Halo CE's influence as commonplace. I used to love duel-wielding Needlers since Needler weapons were a force to be recon with. I never understood why Bungie took that away when Halo 3 (and after Halo 3) released? I guess it was too much of a gimmick? Who knows why.

On console id say it did. I remember playing Halo on PC and thinking "this doesn't feel like a console shooter" and later read it was originally developed for Mac or something and it all made sense. I never rated the game personally, first half of it was ok and coop was fun at the time. IMO Goldeneye did as much if not more for console FPS than Halo did though.

Goldeneye was not even close to Halo when it comes to gameplay. goldeneye was dated when it was released especially when we had Quake and Half life in same years. Halo plays better.

but on other hand if talking about console shooters

This is absolutely the best console FPS of all time. underrated masterpiece and deserve far more praise than Halo or goldeneye. this was only console/Xbox exclusive FPS that actually put many PC FPS to shame. no other console FPS ever did before.

I agree with Champ on the UI stuff Halo 2 did and how it revolutionized matchmaking and the overall experience. PC gaming at the time was still using the clunky menus and archaic matchmaking and chat systems. Halo 2 really brought those features out of the Stone Age.

@ghosts4ever said:

@pelvist said:

On console id say it did. I remember playing Halo on PC and thinking "this doesn't feel like a console shooter" and later read it was originally developed for Mac or something and it all made sense. I never rated the game personally, first half of it was ok and coop was fun at the time. IMO Goldeneye did as much if not more for console FPS than Halo did though.

Goldeneye was not even close to Halo when it comes to gameplay. goldeneye was dated when it was released especially when we had Quake and Half life in same years. Halo plays better.

but on other hand if talking about console shooters

This is absolutely the best console FPS of all time. underrated masterpiece and deserve far more praise than Halo or goldeneye. this was only console/Xbox exclusive FPS that actually put many PC FPS to shame. no other console FPS ever did before.

Before goldeneye console shooters were very poor, Zero Tolerance and Turok were probably the best one I remember. The only good shooters on consoles were ports of PC games like Doom. It wasn't until Goldeneye that console shooters were even good. I could argue AVP on Jag too but no one had a Jag to appreciate it except me. HaloCE was practically a PC port.

What champ said, Halo 2 did.

Props goes to Xbox live too, best console online by a country mile at the time.

Revolutionized the controls and online multiplayer. But in 2021, they can't even release the game with coop and forge, even tho they have a much bigger budget and had six years.

For consoles yes.

PC was already doing stuff like Mplayer, which is also arguably a precursor to stuff like discord used now.

It cut almost all the bullshit you'd get from hoops, had ranking systems, pseudo-achievements, groups, chat-rooms etc...

Pretty fucking great, until Gamespy happened.

Halo 2 got a 72 on PC because the port was straight garbage. One of the worst ports I can think of, even for the time which had more awful ports than good ones.

I guess I’ll say yes, at least for me it certainly did. I played very little of the genre prior to Halo. Played a scant few before mainly on the PC. When I played Halo that was really when I fell in love with the genre, especially on consoles.

Say Darksouls and GTA IV were far worse ports.

They still got up scored because reviewers were more interested in jerking off to their reputations than seeing reality.

Gamespot wuved them. Wow!

@ghosts4ever: Goldeneye N64 was the best movie license of the time, it pave the way for the N64 & Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was the best comic book adaption game when it came out. That said, N64 had FPS access exclusive on the console during the N64 era.

The reason why Escape from Butcher Bay didn't get the hot praises is the fact the movie itself flop so bad, it foreshadowed the Xbox exclusive and yes, it was a great game I'll give you that Ghost.

Hmm, I don't really remember too much from 20 years back but the best pc fps games back then were doom, maybe COD, counterstrike. These were all great but theres no doubt that halo pushed the industry.

For me though, golden eye 64 was what made me first love the fps genre. I think for consoles, golden eye really started things but halo took the formula and ran with it. And yeah, while you can't really say halo did it first or better than what was already done on the PC, I think for golden eye, when it was released in 1996 you could argue that it was better than even the best PC fps games.

@davillain-: honestly the n64 should have thrashed the ps1. Having the analogue stick was a game changer, and something that the ps1 didn't have. It's the reason that fps games didn't take off on the ps1. Had nintendo not been stubborn and just went with a cd drive instead of cartridge, the Playstation brand itself might not even exist today.

Dual stick control schemes were done before in PS1 games like Alien Resurrection and Quake 2... And technically on GoldenEye with the 2 controller scheme 😅

Halo added the shield system (probably inspired by action RPG games with recharging health mechanics like Hydlide) and checkpoints though which were impactful because previously FPSes had you hunting for medkits and using quicksaves instead of checkpoints.

As for online, Halo didn't revolutionize anything. They took their cue from xbconnect which did it on Xbox before MS, and on PC there was battle.net, and qspy. Friends lists, chat, letting you match up with others online to play a game together. But as a console game Halo did take the natural evolutionary step by automating the process of joining a game which was helpful for a streamlined console experience though.

Basically this was a process that gaming in general was involved with, both developers and users contributed.

No. It's an unreal clone. There is nothing revulutionary about Halo.

Maybe some revolutionizing. Definitely some evolutionizing. A whole lot of popularizing.

What a terrible idea.

@uninspiredcup: 🤣

All I can think or is two weapon limit and regen health, and I hate those.

I mean I get how Master Chief’s armor would recharge but a normal soldier? Nah, give me health kits and a level to explore.

@uninspiredcup said:

@girlusocrazy said:

Dual stick control schemes were done before in PS1 games like Alien Resurrection

What a terrible idea.

Someone wrote that?

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez...

@ghosts4ever: I completely agree on Riddick. That masterpiece deserves a remake, but people probably won't buy it.

Halo 2's party system started it all.

picking already established features on PC and bringing them to console....

I wouldn't call that revolutionary.

Was fun with splitscreen, until all my friends got PCs and we would just LAN :D

No

Normalized/popularized?

Evolved, not revolutionised. The Dreamcast already had a SegaNet online service that was popular for its time, with a larger peak user base than the original Xbox Live service (before the Xbox 360 increased the user base substantially). And the Dreamcast had online shooters like Outtrigger (hero shooter) and the popular Quake III, which was a big deal as it allowed PC and console gamers to play against each other for the first time.

In other words, the Dreamcast's SegaNet revolutionised online console gaming. And then Xbox Live picked up from where SegaNet left off, evolving console online gaming to the next level.

Halo CE campaign was way ahead anything on consoles and PC, and i had been a fan of the genre since Wolfenstein 3D. The scale, diversity and graphics were ridiculous for its time, especially considering you could play everything in split screen.

Can't coment on multiplayer, though. I was never a fan of Halo 2, and didn't play the series online until Halo 3.

Not quite sure why this is even being asked. Halo is The Godfather of online FPS shooters. It’s the pioneer, regardless of what garbage was on PC before it. It’s the reason why the Xbox is still with us today. I truly don’t believe Xbox would have lasted as long as it has without Halo. Halo was THEE console seller for Xbox for many years. Neither Sony or Nintendo has been able to duplicate its success. Sony tried with Killzone and Resistence, and while those spawned several sequels, they never sold as well, never caught on and had as big of an impact.

Sony’s best exclusive shooter was Socom, and you see what they did to Socom 4 and Sony’s failure to continue the series despite fans outcries. You also see how Sony has not attempted to create another “Halo Killer” since Killzone, Haze, and Resistance.

Halo is the original. It did it best for its time for several years. Now, after a long slumber, the king is back. Better than COD, better than Apex, better than BF, better than Overwatch, better than R6, better than Splitgate, better than all of them. And I have a feeling, like I have been saying, it’s here to stay.

halo 2 stuff. what everyone already mention.

Twenty years later it is being thoroughly discussed. That says something.

Half the statement you said is true to false. Half-Life was the truly one how we play FPS games to this day, but for the most parts, every FPS was on PC which was the proper way to play any FPS. Halo CE only revolutionized FPS on the console itself and PC FPS was always "been there, done that" type of thing. Halo Ce is the Godfather on Xbox console showing other developers FPS can be played popular on consoles.

And you are totally right. Even MS admitted without Halo CE, the Xbox as we all know it today would have not existed at all. Sony at the time didn't think MS/Xbox wouldn't last and boy, they prove them wrong. There's a reason why MS worship Halo to this day.

While Sony couldn't get their own FPS exclusive to call home, Killzone franchise did gave Halo a run for its money but that alone came from Killzone 2, it really gave Halo 3 a run for its money in terms of popularity. Nintendo only had Metroid Prime and that alone wasn't trying to go after Halo, Metroid Prime did its own thing and I like it as a good exploration FPS and not the military standard FPS. Metroid Prime will always have a place on Nintendo but Sony will never have its own FPS exclusive that isn't Halo.

All in all, I been with Halo since the beginning of Xbox and never left the series, I'm super hype for Halo: Infinite as it is.

Halo 2 did, sure.

Halo was the first FPS. This is a fact.

Short answer, yes.

Long answer, Yeah. :P