Is it too late to get into Halo?

[Simpler Simon]

Yes, I've never played Halo. My only gaming platform last generation was Gamecube, so I had no reason to see what the craze was about. But I finally have an xbox now, and I feel I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't see what Microsoft's flagship title was all about. Kinda like buying a Nintendo console and not playing any Mario titles, or Genesis without touching Sonic.

So given it's like 6-7 years later, what should I expect from the first installment? Obviously not cutting-edge graphics, but do they still look decent? What gameplay innovations were first featured here that I should be on the lookout for?

And as much as I could skip Halo 1 and go directly to Halo 2, I somehow figure that would be a disservice as well, since Halo 1 had to be popular enough to spawn Halo 2. And apparantly Halo 1 has the stronger story of the 2.

[Kurokawa41]

Play all the Halos' story modes, from 1 to 3. Then play 3's multiplayer.

[SNS]

So given it's like 6-7 years later, what should I expect from the first installment? Obviously not cutting-edge graphics, but do they still look decent?

I feel they still look decent. I mean I can even go from playing Halo 3 to Halo: Combat Evolved without it feeling awkward.


What gameplay innovations were first featured here that I should be on the lookout for?

Shields for one. Instead of just having a health system like most games before it, it has a shield that recharges when you take cover (a lot of games after Halo have since adapted this). This rewards stealth.



And as much as I could skip Halo 1 and go directly to Halo 2, I somehow figure that would be a disservice as well, since Halo 1 had to be popular enough to spawn Halo 2. And apparantly Halo 1 has the stronger story of the 2.


That's a good idea because you would miss out on a lot of the story if you skipped Halo: Combat Evolved. To understand the story further I suggest getting the novels (Halo 3 even makes some direct references to them).

[JohnCrichton]

I'm no HALO fanboy, but the game is just awesome. Possibly the best co-op experience I've ever had in a video game.

Worth getting into and playing with a friend.

[cartoonboy]

agree w/John

Get started with some lan parties or one on one matches with some friends.

Jumping into the online community even with the rating system can be unforgiving sometimes and downright discouraging.

[Simpler Simon]

Hmm...I guess the other thing I forgot to mention is that I'm generally not a big fan of online-multiplayer, just something I never got into. Does this change anyone's recommendations?

[cartoonboy]

If your're not that big into online/multiplayer games, then why force yourself into it? Like I said, see how you like the lan parties. When I use summers @ one of the Hydro offices when I was a student, we would play Duke Nukem & Half-Life over lunch hour. Didn't play for years until Halo2 and played that for maybe a year, and haven't played online in close to 2 years.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Hmm...I guess the other thing I forgot to mention is that I'm generally not a big fan of online-multiplayer, just something I never got into. Does this change anyone's recommendations?

Even if you're not into online multiplayer, get some pals to come over and play it splitscreen. I remember having a lot of fun playing Halo and Halo 2 this way when they were out at a relatives house. Getting Halo and just playing the single player modes is really missing out on most of the best parts of the game.

[danreyes1]

I'm not interested at all in Halo or Xbox in general, but as far as I'm concerned, it's never too late to get into any franchise. I myself just picked up Castlevania over the summer and I love the whole series.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Well I've been playing Halo since the first Xbox game but I think it's pretty easy to get into. If you want to see the story then you obviously should start with the first one but if you want to play multiplayer then go find yourself an Xbox 360 or a friend that has one to mooch off of and play some Halo 3. It's good times.