Existential Gamer Analysis #3: Halo 3

Halo 3 was one of the most over-hyped game ever in gaming history.

Angry yet?  Good.  Let’s move on.

I didn’t say that to rile you up.  I said that because really Halo 3’s hype-ness is what defines the game.

Some might argue it’s the excellent gameplay and epic story that really defines the game.  On both counts, I think they’re a stretch of the imagination and products of opinions shaped by hype.

Let’s start with the “epic” storyline.  I would agree with this point if the Halo storyline wasn’t so contrived and unoriginal: space marines, invading alien force, overly-masculine main character, etc. are all things not uncommon in your everyday sci-fi.

How about the gameplay?  Although good on many counts, can we really say that Halo 3 is the best FPS solely based on gameplay?  If we take it on its campaign merits alone, I think Halo 3 fails to live up to its legendary status.  Although just my opinion, I am sure I’m not the only one that feels this way.  When people talk about Halo, are they talking about the campaign mode?  Or are they talking about the multiplayer?  I’m willing to bet that when people talk about Halo, they think excellent multiplayer.   And I would have to agree.

What defines the Halo series since the first iteration is certainly is excellent multiplayer.  I would say that there is a certain magic to the multiplayer that makes it so wonderfully awesome.  I say “magic” because really I can’t fully articulate it’s gameplay wonderment.

At first, I figured that it must be the controls.  Then I realized that the same controls were present in an underwhelming single player campaign.  Then I was thinking it might be the maps that make it so enjoyable.  Then I realized when I play multiplayer, I don’t care what stage is selected.  Then I thought it must be weapons.  Then I realized my favorite weapon is the standard gun offered in the game.  I definitely know without a doubt that its not the other players online.  I love the game despite playing with adolescent assholes who like to berate me as being a fag.

There is something I cannot explain about Halo’s multiplayer that really stands out among the crowd.  It’s this unexplainable magic that really draws me into the game.

On a base, psychological level, Halo’s mystifying affect fuels mankind’s curiosity.  I feel people are curious and investigative by nature.  If we weren’t so inquisitive, the scientific advancements of mankind would not exists.  When such inquisitive minds stumble upon something magical, mystifying, and unexplainable, we become obsessed with it.  The obsession itself isn’t necessarily tied to discover what makes it tick but rather it’s enigmatic nature fuels our interest.

The multiplayer has been unexplainably fun since Halo 1 on Xbox.  Since then, the series has garnered a faithful following that helped create a hype so unimaginably monumental that Halo 3 is now defined by it.  Halo 3 has this legendary status that it simply cannot uphold.  Aside from better graphics and expanded multiplayer, Halo 3 doesn’t differ much from its predecessors.  That leaves hype as its main defining factor.  As for the multiplayer, it is what defines the series as a whole.

Now I know some of you might call BS for this analysis.  Some might say, I play Halo because it’s fun.  But then I would rebut with a question: “Why is it so fun?”  I tried to answer the question, and I came up short.

Sometimes it’s best not to ask the question and enjoy the game as it is.  When my existential mind asks “why,” I’ll respond: “Just because it is so.”

-E.G.

~ by jj on May 29, 2008.