Half-Life vs. Halo

Even though I have never played the original Half Life (I have it on Steam), I own and have completed both Half Life 2 and Half Life 2: Episode 1. In comparison to Halo: CE and Halo 2, I would have to say that I enjoy the Halo series more. I cannot really find the words to describe what exactly makes Halo so enjoyable other than the fact that every time I play it I never get the feeling that I have done this before, which I guess is a testament to some great A.I. work by Bungie. One aspect I can find the words for is that the combat in Halo seems so much more satisfying in comparison to Half Life. I always find it rewarding to complete a section on Heroic or Legendary as the difficulty requires much more thought on how to engage the next batch on enemies.

 

I was (and still am) a HL fan. I spent many of nights and into the AM playing it but I found myself pulled more into the story and gameplay of Halo (especially Halo1). I voted for Halo but as for as Multiplayer goes I put many more hours on HL than Halo.

 

HL wins this in my book, for CS alone

 

CS? Way back in 2002 this thread was about "which game has a better single player experience."

 

You can't really add in mods. Counterstrike was developed by a separate team than the valve guys, so it's like saying UT2k4 is a great singleplayer game because of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

 

thats totally different...
plus, the original CS was made by a different team, but CS:S is made by the same team as HL2 and its included with HL2.
still, i would take HL over Halo any day.

 

Halflife, for the involved story, capitalizing on the dark scifi zeitgeist, the large scale levels and excellent action.

But Halo is close

Cheers

 

This is HL1 vs H1, not their sequals. And no, they aren't totally different. In both those cases, Valve and Epic simply created the tools for others to use. The actual multiplayer game that came with HL was HL Deathmatch, which I don't think is anything that special.

 

Wow, what an old thread! Nice console vs. PC battle.

I like both games a lot. When I first played HL I was in awe. It seemed to me Valve did everything right or close enough that I didn't care. I had the exact same feeling when I played Halo. Not even the Library bothered me because everything else was so good.

Having said all that, I voted for Halo. In the end, I feel the second-to-second combat experience in Halo's campaign was better.

But this should not be taken as disrespect for HL. HL and Halo are both important games because each served to set a bar for future games.

Besides, I don't find much use in comparing two great games because it's not like I have to choose only one of them. I thoroughly enjoyed them both.

 

single player i put HL. Halo H1>H2

i fnd it funny about H2, most of the people that Ive talked too that have played H2 have said they havent even touched the single player aspect of the game and that they just play multi play. actually i only know of a handful of people who even attempted to play single play let alone finish the game. the same can be said about HL if you take into account counter strike but HL as a standalone with out conterstrike most people that played HL played with the intent of finishing the single play

 

fair enough... in that case, i would say SP HL > Halo, but Halo > HL online. overall, i would still pick HL over Halo.

yes, it is totally different. if you buy UT2k7, can you play SC:CT? if you buy HL, can you play CS?

 

I think they are both great but I slightly prefer Half Life. But just slightly

 

*Looks at Steam Account* Let's see here... I have HL2: Episode One, HL2: Deathmatch, HL: Deathmatch and HL. No Counterstrike, no Day of Defeat, nothing else.

I could probably download it for free, but that is on a similar level to a Halo mod of Unreal Tournament or one of the many mods of Half Life (paintball, Brain Bread, etc.).

 

lets see here, i purchased Half-life retail and Half-Life 2 retail and with both you are able to play CS without purchasing another game. if you have HL, all you have to do is download CS 1.6 mod, but if IIRC, if you install HL2, it installs CS:S automatically.

 

Every Halo review I've read has spoken negatively about the level design and the backtracking, thus it can be considered universally acknowledged flaw.

 

CS was a third party mod. You can't use it in a discussion on Half Life and Halo any more than you should bring in Dystopia, Digital Paintball, Brain Bread or Final Fantasy Mod.

You can't simply determine how to classify a game based on how it is not bought...

 

I agree. Since the original post, from way back in the dark ages, was asking for a comparison of the single player experience, I'm sure he meant out of the box.

That said, HL still wins, and all you people that voted for Halo are wrong

 

Both are excelent games, but I think they focus on different things. Halo focuses more on combat and getting every aspect of it right, while halflife is also about puzzle solving, in-game narrative and memorable set-pieces.

If I could vote on this pole I would vote for Halo. Everything about the combat is so perfectly tuned, satisfying and plays out different every time. The second level in the game must be the best.level.ever! There are so many ways to tackle the different battles. Park the warthog and let the gunner lay down supressive fire while you flank, hide out in the cliffs and snipe, try to run over everyone with the warthog..etc. When playing co op even more options become available. Halo co op on legendary is IMO still the best gaming experience available. Although the second half of the game isn´t as good, the first half more than makes up for that. I can still play the game and its still fun after all these years. Can´t think of another actiongame I can say that about.

First time I played hl i was in constant awe, and the first time i saw the marines fight my jaw dropped. I like the design in hl, some kind of cheesy 50´s sci fi, but still cool. And the world just seemed so REAL. It took a playthru or two before halo stuck on me, but I dont feel any urge to replay HL as I have halo a million times.

 

Five year old threads are awesome.