Tell me about Halo 3 or Halo Reach

[4ofus]

Alright moms of 10 yr old -ish boys.  My son discovered Halo 3 at a sleepover last night.  His friend is 12 & a member at our TKD school & an all-around-good-kid.  (or so he seems :))  Anyway.  Mine have never been allowed Mature games & we only have a couple of Teen games around (Mario Super Smash).  He discovered Halo 3 last night & came home asking for it today.  He has his own $$, I'm just not sure I'll permit the purchase.

 

Tell me what I need to know to decide if this is a hill for me to die on or not.  

 

Thanks :).

[SJ.]

I'm not familiar with it but you can read parent and kid reviews here: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/halo-3

 

 

[mom2bee]

My understanding is that that series is very very violent. There are no drugs or sex, like in Grand Theft Auto series and other series, but the games are gun happy and the violence/deaths are explicit and depicted fairly realistically.

 

There are mild curse words in the game, if I recall; d4mn, sh!t, and h3ll, I believe. I don't think anything more harsh than those words as far as offline, single player mode but I don't think that the online capabilities are rated because you can't tell what other people will say...

[4ofus]

Language isn't a huge issue for me.  Violence is.  

 

[NotSoObvious]

Language isn't a huge issue for me. Violence is.

Then Halo would be out for sure. It's extremely violent.

[NotSoObvious]

I just went to common sense media and was very surprised at how many parents said it was fine for 10 year olds.

 

Maybe I'm too strict. My husband plays Halo. My children do not.

[4ofus]

I just went to common sense media and was very surprised at how many parents said it was fine for 10 year olds.

 

Maybe I'm too strict. My husband plays Halo. My children do not.

 

 

This.

 

Before I came here I checked common sense media.  The reviews sounded like kids wrote them even though they were listed as parental reviews.  I decided I didn't trust them.

[NicAnn]

I mean basically it's a FPS, so violence is an issue. The real issue would be if they are playing online via Live or something. If so, every other world will be a curse world or derogatory.

 

I grew up with Halo, so for me I have a special spot for it. It was the first game imever preordered. :) But I also have a son now...

 

Good luck making a decision.

[SJ.]

This.

 

Before I came here I checked common sense media.  The reviews sounded like kids wrote them even though they were listed as parental reviews.  I decided I didn't trust them.

 

Eek, sorry!  Usually the site is spot on and I tend to be stricter than other parents in my circle when it comes to these things.  Perhaps I should have checked the site for this particular game before posting.

[4ofus]

Eek, sorry!  Usually the site is spot on and I tend to be stricter than other parents in my circle when it comes to these things.  Perhaps I should have checked the site for this particular game before posting.

 

 

Hehe, no worries :).  I find even when I feel like I'm a pretty relaxed parent, I still tend to be stricter than other parents in my circle.  I check CSM often. :)

[BarbecueMom]

On a violence/appropriateness scale in our household, I would rank the original Halo trilogy near most PG-13 alien/military action films. There's a lot of sitting in alien laser-gunned ships, running over little alien dudes and destroying things on buildings. At least it feels like that when I'm playing. Oh, then there's the Flood in the original game, which is like trying to kill exploding mashed potatoes. So not quite the same intense violence that you get in Call of Duty and GTA.

 

My kids recognize Master Chief, just as they recognize Batman and Superman, but they have yet to experience any of those movies or games, which around here is very odd (and maybe a bit sheltering) for a 5yo Kindergartener. I take that back, they've played custom games with us. There's a map generator called Forge where you can build racing maps, mazes, and make custom settings. They like rocket launchers with zero gravity and no weapon damage. Wheeee!

 

At 10 I will probably allow campaign only (no online multiplayer) for the original trilogy. I *think* ODST and Reach are a bit more violent because the focus is more on the human characters, and I have yet to play Halo 4 because I know a certain character death is coming and DH will make fun of me if I cry.

[msrift]

My boys (11, 8, and sometimes even the 6 yr old) have been known to play Halo. I'm not sure which ones we own as they are all packed up right now due to a move.

 

I was very, very hesitant to allow them to play a game rated Mature. When dh finally caved (he's the gamer in the family and the gate-keeper on things like this) I was surprised at how tame(?) it was. I was expecting scenes like in Mortal Kombat where they rip out the opponent's spine in a bloody mess. There wasn't anything gruesome like that. 

 

I agree that it helps that you are fighting non-human characters for the most part and that the blood sprays are minimal, not gory, and the blood isn't red but blue, green, etc.

 

 

[starwarsmomma]

This game makes me feel like a total hypocrite.  LOL

 

I am often accused of being a over-protective mom when it comes to tv/movies/games.  I don't allow violent movies AT ALL.  I have a kiddo that has nightmares for MONTHS if he watches scary COMMERCIALS!

 

However-- we do own Halo Reach and Halo 4.  

Halo reach, I make the younger kiddos (10, 8, 7) turn down the volume because of the language.

Halo 4 does not seem to have the language issues, so they are allowed (so far) to keep it normal volume.

 

I have not had any issues with nightmares in our home.  

These are kids that play airsoft, nerf, etc...  alot.

 

The violence is not bad.  I usually am in the room when they are playing and I have not seen anything that worried me-- and I"M OVERPROTECTIVE!  LOL

Neighbor mom -- who is more protective than I am-- lets her first grader play with my boys, and has watched the game at our home without any issues either.

 

I recommend you rent the game for a weekend and let hubby play it to see what ya'll think when you see it in person.

 

 

 

[freeindeed]

I allow my ds10 to play all the Halo games. They are not extremely violent IMO.

I draw the line at Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat...NO!

[AK_Mom4]

At 10 I will probably allow campaign only (no online multiplayer) for the original trilogy.

 

I checked with DS17 (my resident expert) and he said that the online multiplayer is full of 12-14yos swearing at each other and showing off their vocabulary of filthy words.  He said the campaigns are pretty tame but he won't do the online unless he is playing a game with just guys he knows. 

[BarbecueMom]

I checked with DS17 (my resident expert) and he said that the online multiplayer is full of 12-14yos swearing at each other and showing off their vocabulary of filthy words. He said the campaigns are pretty tame but he won't do the online unless he is playing a game with just guys he knows.

Yup. There is nothing more annoying than whiny, prepubescent smack talk. We actually have it set to where we can only hear people who are on our friends lists during matches and use Party Chat, but there was a problem with this setting not working in Call of Duty once due to cheating on certain game types. Still should work in Halo.