Ok... so I caved and bought both of these two. And I certainly wanted to hate them both. I mean they both represent the lack of creativity by repackaging old franchises in order to make a buck. Same shooter, different maps, right?

Well yes and no. I really can't argue that they are a meaningful departure from the past. And they don't sweep you off your feet like the originals did. But it seems to me if you have copies of Halo (1-4 and Reach) and all of the Call of Duties (COD 1-4, MW 1-3, WOW, BLOPS 1-2) sitting in front of you, and you had to pick one to play multiplayer, I'd have to argue that Halo 4 and BLOPS 2 strike me as the best. I know its popular to bash Treyarch... and maybe that was deserved for WoW, but I think BLOPS 2 is an improvement (albeit slight) over MW 1-3.

Is that reason enough to pay more for these new games? Well, I suppose it all depends how you play and if you are genuinely curious to play new maps. I'm one of those guys, so it was worth it for me. But if you're still having fun with MW3, then no need. I happen to like the "Horde mode" type games, so the Zombies thing is a definite plus for me. I also am just amazed at how well Halo does with its lobby system. Everything else is just tweeks. Its fun to see how different armor abilities, attachments, perks, etc. all work together with all the weapons and maps. Its a discovery process. And that's half the fun for me.

The other half is being able to play with my buddies. There is a lemming mentality here. If I have a choice of playing Battlefield 3, I'll choose it every day of the week. But the majority of my friends still play other games. The opportunity to shit talk and interact with friends is a really big reason why I game. I can't enjoy a game without the social element, so paying $60 for me is like buying a couple rounds of beers for my buddies. Not that big of an expense when you look at the hours of fun you can have... but that's just me.

Would be curious if y'all agree or disagree...

I thought Halo 4 was pretty awesome.

CoD:BO2 is pretty solid as well and much better than the tired 5 hour long quicktime event that was CoD: MW2

Both are fine purchases.

There was a time when I cared about development companies. Today, I could give a shit. I buy games now because of how much I enjoy them or not.

I never liked the Fallout series, nor the Elder Scrolls games. I found the Gears of War and Assassin's Creed titles mediocre. In fact, I probably don't enjoy many of the "popular" series. I like my niche and tend to stick with it.

That being said, I still plan on buying BLOPS2 just because I like running around and killing people. Is it as fun as it once was? Probably not. But that's the double-edged sword of novelty.

Once the newness of Halo 4 wears off, I could easily see myself playing Reach just as much...the removal of Firefight in favor of Spartan Ops was a huge turn off for me, and I sorely miss the Invasion game mode.

Also, as for single player, fighting Covies all the time is better than the Covie/Promethean mix we get in Halo 4.

So yeah, technically Halo 4 is better, but I enjoyed the launch of Reach much more.

Also, I'd like to point out that the nominees for the 2012 VGAs were announced just now and neither one of these titles were nominated for Game of the Year...which makes me somewhat happy.

My Halo List:

Halo: CE
Halo:Reach
Halo: 4
Halo 3
Halo: ODST
Halo 2 - Rushed for launch, good, but the most overrated of the series.

I loved Reach and I really, really like Halo 4. Good pacing, good voice acting, the sound is incredible, Gfx are tops when it comes to consoles, control is spot on and I will always love the sandbox approach to the firefights and combat. I just wish the game was longer, which I hope 5 will be as they will have a long lead time.

Great 1st go by 343 Ind. I could tell they played it a bit safe but took some chances with the game-play where they could. They've proven themselves and will probably do more different things with the next installment. I gave the game 4/5.

I understand that. And there was a time when that stuff mattered to me. Now, I'm lucky if I have an hour a week to play any video game let alone worrying about who made the damn thing.

That's a good list, though I'm probably bumping Halo 3 up a few notches, but that's just me...

The acting (voice and mocap) was outstanding in this entry...ditto on the sound, as you mentioned (seems the last two have really stepped up in that regard).

343 can certainly hold their heads high, considering they did make some pretty big departures from the way a Halo story normally plays out...and for the one huge decision they made at the end.

For me it really boils down to who you get to fight in this game...Covies are great, Prometheans get boring to me.

#Truth

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@audioidkid