An Xbox gaming weekend - Halo vs. Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis

Kodos · 12-15-2003, 01:39 PM

While taking a break from my usual football games this weekend, I fired up both Halo and Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis for the first time. Maybe it was all the hype, but Halo didn't seem as great as everyone has made it out to be. It was fun, but didn't seem like a contender for the best game I've ever played. Even more surprisingly, I am enjoying the poorly-rated Jurassic Park game more than I am Halo. I had a lot of fun working to improve my Island and building up the ratings for my park. And I learned a valuable lesson. Two T-rexes in one pen = one dead T. rex sooner or later.

kingnebwsu · 12-15-2003, 02:43 PM

Halo is great for many reasons, one of which is that it came out at a launch of a system. Under that deadline, a lot of games suck. Plus being able to play the co-op through the whole mission is fantastic. And being able to system link 4-player split screen on 4 Xbox'es (16 players total) has yet to be matched by any FPS on the Xbox. It's the reason why Halo is still the biggest game at Xbox LAN parties (aka Halo parties). You really need at least 4 people to enjoy the multiplayer the way it was meant to be played (cuz of no bots). A lot of people say Halo is overrated, but I strongly disagree.

MikeVic · 12-15-2003, 03:22 PM

I don't have an XBox, so take this for what you want...

I played Halo a few times for extended periods on a friend's XBox. Four-player action too. I found it ok, but nothing to "Wow" at. I can see how people like it, and the achievements it made, though. So it was one of the better games last year.

I don't like playing FPS on consoles either, so that took a lot away from Halo. I can't use controllers as well as a mouse and keyboard. For realism, I play Counterstrike. For anything else I play UT2K3. When UT2K4 comes out with vehicles, it'll be even better.

The thing I enjoyed most about Halo was the co-operative 2-player mode though. Don't really hear much about it, but that was more fun for me than multiplayer.

dawgfan · 12-15-2003, 04:24 PM

The other big plus for Halo that I haven't seen mentioned yet is how smoothly integrated driving vehicles is in the game - at the time it came out, I can't think of any other FPS that so nicely integrated driving/flying of vehicles. There may be others now that do the same thing, but in most respects Halo pioneered this and set the standard for how to do it.

I know that many veteran PC FPS players have a thing against playing FPS on consoles, and I understand why, but if you give it some time and play against similarly skilled users (or on the easy setting in the campaign) you'll eventually get used to the controls and really get into it.

The only complaint I have about Halo is that near the end of the campaign, there's a little too much repetition on the maps and levels, where you feel like "Didn't I just do the same thing on the last level?"

The ultimate though is multiplayer LAN games - we played it here at work from the time it came out until about a month ago, when we started playing Counter Strike and Rainbow Six.

Sublime · 12-15-2003, 04:37 PM

Me and our "Halo Group" get together everytime we all come home from college, only once have we got up to 16 ppl, w/ 4 teams, but it was sooo much fun! NO doubt when i come home for X-Mas break we'll get together a few times.

SackAttack · 12-15-2003, 04:55 PM

keep in mind that quite a few games have aped Halo in the meantime, so it's maybe not as innovative as it originally seemed if you're only just playing it for the first time. You may have played one of its copycats in the meantime.

Kodos · 12-15-2003, 06:52 PM

I've never played an FPS on a computer. My other shooters have been TS, TS2, and Red Faction, all on the PS2. I don't know. I just wasn't wowed by it. Even the graphics didn't seem as great as they were cracked up to be, but that is probably due to my setup: a regular TV with an S-video connection. I was just surprised to see little jaggies in the game (even though I don't really care about them). Probably I would have been more impressed if I had never heard all of the hype. Anyhow, I'm not saying it's not a good game - maybe it just isn't quite as great as some folks think. Of course, I've only played it in single player so far. I'm sure it'd be fun with a bunch of players on a LAN.

Edit: I also hate the driving controls for the car with the gunner in the back. It could definitely use some work.

dawgfan · 12-15-2003, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kodos
Edit: I also hate the driving controls for the car with the gunner in the back. It could definitely use some work.

I didn't like the driving at first, but then I got used to it and realized they'd made the jeep rather slippery to drive.

Airhog · 12-16-2003, 01:31 AM

Shame on you kodos, you should be working on the nominations

Vince · 12-16-2003, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kodos
I've never played an FPS on a computer.

My friend, you definitely owe it to yourself to try an FPS game on computer...the freedom of mouse controlled view is amazing.

Kodos · 12-16-2003, 01:21 PM

I can't even imagine using the mouse as a controller. Me likes the Dual Shock.

And, yes, I know that I've just horrified computer FPS players the world around.

12-15-2003, 04:37 PM	#5
Sublime High School JV Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: NH/Boston University	Me and our "Halo Group" get together everytime we all come home from college, only once have we got up to 16 ppl, w/ 4 teams, but it was sooo much fun! NO doubt when i come home for X-Mas break we'll get together a few times. __________________ BU Hockey WHAT!

12-15-2003, 06:52 PM	#7
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	I've never played an FPS on a computer. My other shooters have been TS, TS2, and Red Faction, all on the PS2. I don't know. I just wasn't wowed by it. Even the graphics didn't seem as great as they were cracked up to be, but that is probably due to my setup: a regular TV with an S-video connection. I was just surprised to see little jaggies in the game (even though I don't really care about them). Probably I would have been more impressed if I had never heard all of the hype. Anyhow, I'm not saying it's not a good game - maybe it just isn't quite as great as some folks think. Of course, I've only played it in single player so far. I'm sure it'd be fun with a bunch of players on a LAN. Edit: I also hate the driving controls for the car with the gunner in the back. It could definitely use some work. Last edited by Kodos : 12-15-2003 at 06:54 PM.

12-16-2003, 01:31 AM	#9
Airhog Captain Obvious Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Norman, Oklahoma	Shame on you kodos, you should be working on the nominations __________________ Thread Killer extraordinaire Yay! its football season once again!

12-15-2003, 02:43 PM	#2
kingnebwsu College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Ohio	Halo is great for many reasons, one of which is that it came out at a launch of a system. Under that deadline, a lot of games suck. Plus being able to play the co-op through the whole mission is fantastic. And being able to system link 4-player split screen on 4 Xbox'es (16 players total) has yet to be matched by any FPS on the Xbox. It's the reason why Halo is still the biggest game at Xbox LAN parties (aka Halo parties). You really need at least 4 people to enjoy the multiplayer the way it was meant to be played (cuz of no bots). A lot of people say Halo is overrated, but I strongly disagree.

12-15-2003, 03:22 PM	#3
MikeVic Head Coach Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hometown of Canada	I don't have an XBox, so take this for what you want... I played Halo a few times for extended periods on a friend's XBox. Four-player action too. I found it ok, but nothing to "Wow" at. I can see how people like it, and the achievements it made, though. So it was one of the better games last year. I don't like playing FPS on consoles either, so that took a lot away from Halo. I can't use controllers as well as a mouse and keyboard. For realism, I play Counterstrike. For anything else I play UT2K3. When UT2K4 comes out with vehicles, it'll be even better. The thing I enjoyed most about Halo was the co-operative 2-player mode though. Don't really hear much about it, but that was more fun for me than multiplayer.

12-15-2003, 04:24 PM	#4
dawgfan Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Seattle	The other big plus for Halo that I haven't seen mentioned yet is how smoothly integrated driving vehicles is in the game - at the time it came out, I can't think of any other FPS that so nicely integrated driving/flying of vehicles. There may be others now that do the same thing, but in most respects Halo pioneered this and set the standard for how to do it. I know that many veteran PC FPS players have a thing against playing FPS on consoles, and I understand why, but if you give it some time and play against similarly skilled users (or on the easy setting in the campaign) you'll eventually get used to the controls and really get into it. The only complaint I have about Halo is that near the end of the campaign, there's a little too much repetition on the maps and levels, where you feel like "Didn't I just do the same thing on the last level?" The ultimate though is multiplayer LAN games - we played it here at work from the time it came out until about a month ago, when we started playing Counter Strike and Rainbow Six.

12-15-2003, 04:55 PM	#6
SackAttack Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Green Bay, WI	keep in mind that quite a few games have aped Halo in the meantime, so it's maybe not as innovative as it originally seemed if you're only just playing it for the first time. You may have played one of its copycats in the meantime.

12-16-2003, 01:21 PM	#11
Kodos Resident Alien Join Date: Jun 2001	I can't even imagine using the mouse as a controller. Me likes the Dual Shock. And, yes, I know that I've just horrified computer FPS players the world around.

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