Since we have started talking about overrated games, let's talk about the biggest and most grotesquely overrated game and now franchise of our time: Halo. When Halo released on the Xbox back in 2001, it was praised as the Messiah of the Xbox, and it quickly became the "best" FPS ever made. For that time period, Halo was the best FPS on the home console market. Is Halo a good shooter? Yes, it is, but it's not the greatest FPS now or was it back when it first released.

Halo gets all this hype and high praise mainly from the media. Every single time a high profile FPS gets released it is instantly dubbed the "Halo Killer." Surprisingly, no FPS has ever taken away the crown from Halo. The biggest competition Halo has seen on the home console scene is from Killzone and the Call of Duty series. So, what does Halo have that these two franchises don't? The original Halo had a great single-player campaign and the levels were very memorable. The AI was topnotch, and the graphics were a marvel for that time. Halo's multiplayer brought what GoldenEye and Perfect Dark brought to the N64, but it was that option of the system link that really helped it take off with massive groups. Allowing for up to 16 players' battle it out against each other, Halo quickly became a great multiplayer game for college kids and gamers as a whole. All sounds good. For the time, it was great.

Halo 2 soon launched, and it left a sour taste in many gamers mouth. The single-player was absolutely awful and the only saving grace the game had was the multiplayer. This time gamers were able to hop online and battle against the world. The Halo 2 multiplayer was remarkable and had millions of players shooting it out for years to come. As for Halo 3, it sold millions because of the name, but it was an average single-player experience and more refined version of the Halo 2 multiplayer. All well and good if that's what you were expecting out of it.

There was another FPS lurking in the shadows on the PC front that many home console gamers never heard of. This mysterious PC title did everything that Halo did but better. This game was known as Half-Life. Half-Life, to this day, is one, if not, the best FPS ever crafted. Featuring a massive arsenal of unique weapons, a great sci-fi story, and intense shooting action, Half-Life was everything Halo was and then some. Unfortunately, no one cared about Half-Life, because it was a PC title and home console owners hardly interact with PC games. It was eventually ported to the home consoles, but it wasn't the same.

Half-Life 2 released in 2004, where it was received with great reviews and critical acclaim. Half-Life 2 also appeared on the Xbox, but it was a gimped version lacking the online multiplayer feature found on the PC. The real package came when the Xbox 360 and PS3 received The Orange Box with Half-Life 2, both expansion packs, and multiplayer title Team Fortress 2. Finally, gamers of all kinds could bask themselves in the warm loving glow of the Half-Life franchise. The Orange Box was very well received on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 when it was released.

This isn't to say that titles like Call of Duty or Killzone lack in certain departments, but they didn't capture the essence that Half-Life did back then or does now. Call of Duty features a remarkable multiplayer with a variety of options. World at War and Modern Warfare are superior to Halo 3 in terms of customizable options, aside from Forge mode, though. Killzone just hasn't found itself, yet. It has great graphics and solid gameplay, but it lacks its own unique identity. Until Killzone finds its own identity and truly sticks out on its own, it'll forever stay as just another good FPS.



Half-Life may never get the proper recognition it deserves for being the first truly amazing FPS title that it was with all the unique features, story, guns, and overall package it delivered. Much like Halo will never find itself the worthy competition to be crowned the Halo killer. Halo made the FPS popular for more mainstream gamers, while Half-Life pleased the true FPS fans on the PC front. If you liked Halo, then play Half-Life. You may be surprised at how much you like it.