Is anyone still genuinely surprised to see the original Halo on a list like this? Surely by now we've all come to terms with it, haven't we? Of course, out of respect, we still spit and pound our fists against our chests, we shake our cages violently and fling our poo at heretics who dare the blasphemy of taking Master Chief's name in vain. But deep down we know the truth, and most of us have quietly accepted it in our hearts: the start of Bungie's formidable Halo franchise had a few cracks in its supposedly immaculate veneer. None which significantly damage its place in FPS history, but enough to tarnish the perception that Halo is the eternal pinnacle of shooter perfection. For the millions of Xbox gamers who frantically snapped up a copy of the game at launch, Halo is considered to console shooters what Mario is to platformers - not genesis as such, but the game which kicked up so much of a fuss that it's still held as the blueprint for the development of the genre. It's praise which Bungie has earned outright. But it's also worth noting that a number of the supposed innovations had been done elsewhere before, albeit in a less pronounced form. Gameplay advancements aside, haters had derogatory things to say about the sometimes uninspired level design, jaded space saga narrative and a visual style that didn't appeal to everyone - a little too colourful; a little too "generic space army" for some. A lot of the hate thrown Halo's way was shallow scorn from Playstation fanboys, but these issues are definitely enough to make us question if the first Halo is the quintessential console shooter that we claim it to be. But Bungie had hit their stride by the time the Xbox 360 exploded onto the scene, forging Halo's place as one of the most loved - and furiously defended - franchises in gaming history.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
