Ratings and viewership matter, and Halo Season 1 was far from a failure. It did well with the critics for its action sequences, cast, and visual effects, but it was also criticized for alteration from the source material.
Gamers, in particular, were very critical of the Halo series, especially since most first-person shooter gamers refer to Halo: Combat Evolved as the game that revolutionized modern shooters. This demographic particularly disliked the humanization of their video game hero, and some are even glad that it was canceled.