Why it's ok to like Halo and Call of Duty

I remember waiting in line at midnight last September waiting to get my hands on the final chapter of the game that got me to actually appreciate first person shooter (FPS) games: Halo 3. I got it and “finished the fight” in a few days, and enjoyed very much the way it ended. Perhaps I am already a bit ahead of myself here…

I started as an XBOX gamer because of Knights of the Old Republic, the best Star Wars game in a long time, but perhaps in another entry. My brother in law decided that he needed to introduce me to Halo. I played it once, and fell in love with it. It was a great single player game (if not repetitive at the end) and it introduced me to local versus matches. Incredible. It was a good stand alone experience but did not spend much time in multiplayer.

Fast forward to the release of Halo 2. My love for FPS games has begun to grow a bit. I was not quite to the point where I could do a WWII FPS (which was all you got from CoD at the time), but my love was building for that strong single player FPS campaign. Shortly after its release, a friend and I decided we were going to use our church’s fellowship hall for an all-nighter. The church fellowship hall was the right place, because I was in geek Heaven. We played 16 players on 4 projection screens until 5 am the next day. A multiplayer fan was born.

Fast forward again to the launch of the XBOX 360. I picked up 2 shooters that day: Perfect Dark Zero and CoD2. I don’t think PDZ got out of the shrink wrap for almost a month. I was enthralled by the single player campaign on CoD2. I never did the multiplayer modes as I still held out on a Live subscription for almost another 9 months. Once I did sign up, I began the world that is online play. I’ve never been that great at multiplayer, and I still don’t play it often, but I appreciate when a game gives me a good online experience.

So now, let’s get to the point here. I had Halo 3 and began playing it online shortly after finishing the campaign. I absolutely loved it. The game types, the weapons, customizing the characters. All of it was incredible, and don’t get me started on theater mode, forge, and bungie.net.

Then a month later CoD4 releases, and suddenly all my friends were gone to that game. I held off on my purchase of CoD4 because my wife wanted to buy that for me for Christmas. As I would chat with my friends online and at the forums over at xbox.com, I began to see more and more of this backlash against Halo. People saying it sucks, and its lame, and other forms of internet slander. I was confused. These were the same people I was in the trenches with in Halo less than a month ago. What changed?

Apparently, there is a mentality out there that has convinced people that we can only give our gaming hearts to one gal at a time, and most chose to give their hearts to CoD4. When I finally got my hands on CoD4, I knew what the big deal was about. It had everything out of a multiplayer mode you could ask for. Great game modes, the barracks system was fantastic, and you can customize several character classes with perks and by not having online achievements in there, it made for a better community. However, after nearly a month, something felt missing…
I put Halo 3 back in to play a little bit and enjoyed myself (though mother than once I dropped a bubble shield when I meant to reload, or zoomed in when I wanted to melee). Then the next day came along, and as I reached for my controller, I found myself faced with a huge dilemma. What do I play? This is a phenomenal problem to have. I remember the days of my youth where you may only get 2 great games in a year. Now I had 2 at the same time. That’s when I really started to wonder: “Why has a line been drawn in the sand? Why must I choose between these games?” Both games are great and different enough that they each scratch a different FPS itch, so why can’t I play both on back to back nights, or even in the same night? Why did I feel dirty for wanting to play both of these games, as though it were 2 relationships that I was trying to keep secret?

I've come to grips with the fact that it is ok to like both games. Why? Because they each set out to do something, and accomplished what they were after. Halo never pretends to be a realistic shooter, and Call of Duty never will give you ridiculous frags and matches that seem almost silly in their premise.

Both have incredible value, shelf life, and online communities. I could come clean with the games.
“CoD4 I want you to meet someone. Her name is Halo3. I love her, but I love you too. I think we can work this out.”

Let me propose an idea to all gamers out there who own both titles: If you haven’t played all the game types on Halo, why not give Rocket Race, Griffball, or for the more traditional experience, Team SWAT a chance? Then take your pics and pester your opponents with them.
Like these:

I completely fufilled my geek fantasy with a pic like this. It's from a Halo 3 Tournament that I am currently in.

If you have neglected CoD4, well, have you tried prestige mode yet? If you’ve flipped that a couple of times, then try one of Beezy’s patented TUFF modes? A headshot’s only match, or a knives only match. Both will make you a better player.
Which ever side of the debate you have taken, remove your prejudices. Come clean with the fact that you are a gamer, and admit that there are a lot of beautiful games out there who desperately want your attention, and that’s ok.