Room 101: Halo

These aren't the best of games, these aren't the worst of games. No, the following titles have put a blight upon video games, laying down laws and setting trends that we can never turn back on. Isn't it a shame that shit sells?

Part 1:

Topping my list is Halo and all of its ungainly offspring. Fair's fair, I'll give credit to the first game: while it was as generic as the later titles, at least its single-player campaign was well-made. That, however, is no excuse for its sequels, which have gradually become worse and worse, leading to the mess of Halo 3. Usually you can tell the overall quality of a video game - as with most forms of art - from its opening. Think of Super Mario 64 and the playground of Peach's castle or the atmospheric opening to Metal Gear Solid 2 - they both set stunning foundations for what's to follow. Halo 3, on the other hand, has to have one of the worst opening levels ever made - for a high-profile title anyway. You are plonked down in a jungle and then must lead out men across a confusing, linear path. It all looks the same. The developer, Bungie, knew this. That's why there's an arrow leading in the right direction at every turn. Half-decent games do not resort to this. Either it is clear where you have to go next, or you are provided with a realised world to explore (see Fallout 3 or Bioshock for examples of the latter). Thankfully, Halo 3 does improve, ironically by making the second level like every dark, narrow and gray series of corridors you've ever seen in a sci-fi shooter; and resulting levels stick to this template. By its end, I did not loathe the game (it's average, nothing more), but I was pretty critical of the hype and of its overall effect on the industry.

Only a generation ago, first-person shooters were a welcome genre. They gave you a visceral thrill that's hard to achieve with an an over-the-shoulder perspective. And they were always innovative: GoldenEye for stealth and multiplayer; Half-Life for a compelling story; Metroid Prime for its atmosphere. Now, though, you see a market flooded with legions of by-the-numbers FPSs, eating up the talents of developers forced to make games that will sell. It may be slightly unfair to solely accuse Halo for this disappointing aspect of modern gaming, but there is no doubting its influence. Its continued success - despite its generic and flawed gameplay - has seeped into the heads of the money men and most disappointingly, the minds of gamers. Before, the industry leaders were the Marios and the Sonics of this world. What a shame that Halo is the new bench mark - a game without the character of an italian plumber, or a hedgehog who defies the laws of nature.

We can be thankful then, that Bioshock 2 is around the corner, along with progressive titles like Heavy Rain. The day is coming, the day when Master Chief no longer dictates...