Which scifi series do you prefer more:Halo, or Mass Effect?

Since both series have a trilogy now, I began wondering which people preferred.

Ignoring the obvious gameplay differences, as far as story goes which do you prefer?

I like Halo's theme a little better. It's a classic Human vs Alien war, and those are always cool.

EDIT:Please do not use this as an excuse to complain.

edited 31st Mar '12 1:17:38 PM by TheProffesor

Never played Halo, so my answer is obvious.

Firefly.

Metroid.

Mass Effect just barely beats F-Zero for me, but Halo's pretty low on the list. Neither Halo nor Mass Effect really appeal to me too well.

I'd go with Mass Effect, though admittedly because the only things I know about Halo's story is from what was told in the games; which weren't that story heavy.

I'm a fan of Mass Effect, myself.

I prefer Mass Effect.
It created a universe that was much more... alive.
Not to mention the fact that everything that wasn't human didn't try to kill you. I understand Halo's take, but I don't particularly like it.

Really though, just seeing this massive universe that BioWare created and how much of it they showed you, it just came off so much better. Halo had an expansive universe, too, but the games only tried to show the player the smallest fraction of what was there to see.

Pretty much what Zero said. Mass Effect's universe seemed so vast and detailed.

To be fair, so is Halo's but you need to be willing to read the books.

Which is bad writing, in my opinion.

Yes, Mass Effect has books, too, but you don't have to read them.

I gotta go with Halo, for the reasons the Mass Effect nominations said against it.

You don't see the whole universe; only a small part of it. Which helps to really beat the idea that you are but one man into your head. Yeah, you're good at killing things. Really good at it. However, the universe is much bigger than that. It's bigger than you can control and comprehend.

That is what I love about Halo's theme. Not only is it Humans vs. Aliens, but it is about a lack of control and understanding. That causes fear. And that fear drives me as a player.

Mass Effect for me. Mainly due to the scope, diversity, rich history, and the fact that multiple species are (roughly) working together against a common goal. Plus, I like hte gameplay style more.

Mass Effect deffinitely.

Pretty much because it has a better story (which you dont need to look into the extended universe to understand everything), more memorable characters.

And Mass Effect has blue alien babes, which is clearly the most important factor here.

Half Life.

Half Life is a good game with an engaging story, but you really don't know jack about its universe aside from what you experience directly. Which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't much.

Mass Effect. There's something cool about having a Universe where humans are just another species trying to get along...

Oh, and like Mark said, blue alien babes.

True that! That's one big reason why I like the Mass Effect series. Humans are portrayed as another space-faring race trying to get along as well as survive.

edited 31st Mar '12 2:44:36 PM by Delvarian

Halo, because the ending of the third game doesn't suck unlike Mass Effect.

More seriously, Halo wins because it has a vastly constructed world to it and is not afraid to put story over technology. Especially since Halo's subplots (including Reach's) indicate the reach of the Forerunners was vast and that the Flood were more devious than the Reapers could possibly be (and had a better reason for being omnicidal than the Reapers: they were hungry and everything tastes good/allows them to reproduce, not this cartoony we kill all life because it's life). Additionally it felt grounded in as mentioned the one man effect. You couldn't win the Human-Covenant War on your own despite your best efforts, you needed your Red Shirt allies story-wise and they played hell with the enemy story-speaking. It wasn't the Chief or Noble Six who destroyed 4 Covenant capital ships at Installation 04 before the Autumn set down, it wasn't the Chief that shot 15 14*

edited 31st Mar '12 3:24:35 PM by MajorTom

Yes it does. It just sucks less.

Mass Effect 1 alone has more story and world building than the entire Halo trilogy. Trufax.

And Mass Effect's doesn't in regards to the Protheans?

The Flood more devious than the Reapers? Are we playing the same games? I might give you the Flood having better motivation since their's is simple but effective, but the Reapers are easily the more menacing and cunning of the two.

I forget, which trilogy had you playing as an unstoppable One-Man Army, and which trilogy had their second's story summarized as "Gather a squad to do what you can't do alone", and furthermore which one had the protagonist brought back from the dead not to magick away all problems but to serve as the rallying force for all of civilization?

edited 31st Mar '12 4:32:45 PM by Spirit

Mass Effect, love them both though.

That's some major dings against Mass Effect. You don't pull a Back from the Dead in sci-fi harder than MST 3 K.

Halo is peanut butter and Mass Effect is chocolate.

Half-Life at this point is Ex-Lax - old chocolate.

Mass Halo. Make it happen.

Shepard in ODST armor? :p