there weren't decent console FPS games
Bullshit. All of the following are from before or slightly after Halo CE's release: TimeSplitters, Red Faction, Ghost Recon, Enclave, Metroid Prime, No One Lives Forever. All of them did a better job pushing the genre forward.
Meanwhile, brilliant strides were being made on the PC:
Unreal, UT & Quake III Arena, Half-Life, Rainbow Six, CS, Thief, Deus Ex, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty
Or a stick for camera and a stick for movement?
If you believe Halo innovated WASD/mouse emulation via the sticks, you don't have a clue what you're talking about.
Combat Evolved followed in the footsteps of
DOOM,
Marathon
The two weapon system is fun
It catered to the lack of enemy types. Limiting choice is only enjoyable to a masochist. You know what was fucking fun that came out eight months before Halo CE? Serious Sam.
Consoles on FPS games would never be as popular as they are without Combat Evolved.
Good. I'd love to return to a boutique industry that catered to hobbyists and allowed experimentation/fuck-ups. The average console owner is a moron with no taste; publishers have forced developers to follow suit. The same phenomenon happened in Hollywood: market was flooded with inane superhero movies for idiots that only read comics.
Were it not for consoles holding us back, we'd have incredible shooters by now. Halo stymied the development of modern FPSs as much as Windows hindered personal computing. Go Microsoft!
As for the AI, I think that Elites that charge you when your health is drained, and jump from grenades and vehicles, and go for their own vehicles when you're on foot is pretty good
Most of this was smoke & mirrors through simple scripting. The actual combat Ai was moronic compared to seminal PC titles released at the same time, such as Operation Flashpoint.
DOOM also borrows heavy inspiration from Alien
It really doesn't (ignoring the fact that you play as a nameless "Space Marine" with zero dialog, the setting & characters are based on Christian mythology). Further, id's games weren't about stories--they were tech showcases for Carmack's wizardry.
it's your opinion against mine.
I'm older, I've played more games, and I can see beyond bias; you're an ignorant fanboy.