Halo Zero

"Zero fun"

I remember on April Fools Day 2005 when Gamespot joked about Halo 3, stating that it's rumored to be a RTS. They probably didn't fool anyone, but it wasn't long before a Halo game that didn't stick to the series' traditional first-person view would be released. Although it was never “officially” released, Halo Zero quickly became one of the most popular Halo mods, despite being a 2D side-scroller similar to the Half-Life 2 mod: Codename: Gordon.

The style might be completely different than the two best-selling XBox games, but the game still has that Halo feel to it. It takes place before the first game and tells a story that's very similar to that of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach. All of your favorite weapons from Halo are present (unfortunately none of the ones exclusively in Halo 2 are included), such as the assault rifle, shotgun, pistol, plasma rifle, and so on. You'll be up against grunts, jackals, elites, and hunters, and on several different maps, including versions of your old favorites, such as Blood Gulch. Hell, this is Halo!

Unfortunately that's the only thing the game does right. It might feel like Halo, but it's a short, linear and easy experience. Halo isn't a tough game, but you often need to come up with plans and strategies to win and outsmart the enemies. None of that is necessary here. Now Master Chief can jump three times as high as he normally could, and it's very easy to simply jump your way through the game. You can win without even fighting a single battle; just jump over all of the enemies and you'll be done with the game in no time while losing few, if any lives.

Even if you do decide to fight for a moment the game won't be a challenge. The enemies deal very little damage, and even if you screw up there are health packets lying on the floor in every other room. The game isn't long, either. If you use the “hopping” method it will take you no more than twenty minutes to complete, but if you actually decide to fight every battle it'll only take around thirty minutes. The game's too simple and linear that there's no reason to play it again, and I would rather play the awesome Halo 2 than this any day.

There actually is an online multiplayer mode, but it isn't anything worth trying. It takes forever to get on and play, and once you finally find someone (you can't find a game and join, you have to find someone else interested and manually type in the IP address and everything) you're only limited to a one-on-one deathmatch. Since the single player is only thirty minutes and you'll spend more time connecting and finding someone for multiplayer than actually playing, Halo Zero isn't worth your time. It has the awesome Halo presentation and is absolutely free, but it is short and just not fun.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/06