Halo: Combat Evolved

"A Cornerstone of the Gaming World"

For the longest time, FPS games have been one of my favorite genres to play on my PC. I've been playing them since the original Quake and Duke Nukem 3D. I've become very accustomed to keyboard and mouse FPS controls and I was never really a big fan of dual analog controls for FPS games. Due to this, I wrote off many console exclusive FPS games simply because of the Dual Analog interface.

A few years ago, my friend forced me to borrow Halo and Halo 2 for Xbox. He assured me that if I didn't like them, that I could keep them and sell them for my own profit. I took him up on his offer and started playing Halo on my Xbox. Shortly after I started playing, I ran into my first problem with the game…………….I couldn't stop playing it. Looking back, I'm not even sure what hooked me so much about it, but for some reason I kept playing, and played the game all the way through in three days.

After I finished Halo, I threw Halo 2 in right away and went through that as well. Despite the dual analog controls, I was able to play through both games and really enjoy them. While I still prefer keyboard and mouse controls for FPS games, Halo will go down in my personal gaming history as the single game that proved to me that not only can dual analog sticks make FPS games work on consoles, but they can work well.

I recently decided to re-live this cherished moment of my gaming life and re-played Halo, with much gusto. I'll give a brief rundown of the game for those that are not familiar with it.

In Halo, you will play as Master Chief. Master Chief is the only remaining Spartan-II soldier, who has been taken out of cryosleep to battle the Covenant. The Covenant is an alien race that is hell bent on destroying humans and the planet Earth. Master Chief resides on the Pillar of Autumn, which is a ship in the humans' fleet. The Pillar of Autumn gets attacked and boarded by the Covenant and it's up to Master Chief to stop the Covenant, find out why they are attacking, and put an end to the war.

Early on in the game, the humans discover a large, ring like object floating in space. The ring, named “Halo” by the humans, seems to be of great interest to the Covenant, and Master Chief will eventually land on Halo itself and explore this wondrous phenomenon.

Your objectives will be given to you by Cortana, who is the AI of the Pillar of Autumn. The objectives usually consist of gathering information or getting to a certain location. Nothing too ground breaking, but during your missions, the resistance from the Covenant brood will keep you on your toes.

The game has human and Covenant weapons which you can use, multiple vehicles which you can commandeer, and human marines that will help you during certain missions. Your battles with the Covenant will wage on human spaceships, on Halo itself, and on Covenant cruisers as well. The game has a wide range of locations and areas to explore.

Halo is a game that is presented very well, and it's apparent from the first level on. Bungie really paid attention to detail when making the game. I was completely blown away by Halo when I played it a few years ago. Let's see if it had what it takes to impress me years later.

Graphics 9/10

Halo was originally released along side the Xbox, so there have been many Xbox games in the interim that have eclipsed it graphically. However, when Halo was first released, it really was a marvel to look at, and the graphics still hold up well today.

Once you exit the Pillar of Autumn and land on Halo, you will be treated to some incredible areas and very artsy looking landscapes. Peering up at the sky will allow you to see some beautiful scenery, like eclipses, solar flares, shooting stars, and the ominous ring of Halo which seems to stretch to the heavens.

The game runs at a constant 30 frames per second and only lets up when there is a lot of action on the screen. The enemies are all animated well, and the laser blasts from their guns almost look real.

While driving the vehicles, they all demonstrate some pretty good physics, especially the Warthog, which is a jeep type vehicle. Taking the Warthog over a hill sideways will cause it to topple over and you will be thrown out. The Warthog is a bit floaty the way it controls, but everything from the tires spinning, to the mud that it kicks up looks great and really shows the amount of detail that Bungie has included in the game.

The weapons have a good bit of variety, and they all are well defined graphically. The rocket launcher will cause huge explosions, and the shotgun will not only knock your enemies back, but will put holes in the wall behind them as well.

The graphics is Halo really do hold up well for its age. The only problem I had was the occasional slow down when things got really heated. Other than that, I was completely content with the graphics.

Sounds and Music 10/10

I'm not a huge skeptic of music in games. For me to sit up and take notice, the music either has to be really good or really bad. With that being said, the music in Halo fits the game perfectly, and after a few short play sessions with the game, the gothic title screen music will make your hair stand on end. In game, the music goes from non-existent to frantically paced music that will put a smile on your face just hearing it.

The sound effects also hit the mark perfectly. All of the weapons sound great and explosions vary based on the weaponry which is being used. The sniper rifle will ring out into the hills when you fire it and you will hear the pump action of the shotgun after every shot.

There's nothing more to say here. The music and sound effects do a wonderful job of immersing you into the world of Halo.

Story 9/10

For an FPS game, the story in Halo is really great. It's told through movie like cut scenes which further the plot, and through Cortana, who will always be bringing you up to speed on what is going on around you.

There is a huge plot twist about mid-game that totally changes the flow and urgency of the game that keeps things fresh.

While the ending seems to tie things up well with this episode of the Halo series, there are still a lot of unanswered questions at the end, and the game does end somewhat abruptly.

Gameplay 10/10

There are so many things that Halo does right in the gameplay area that I could talk about it for a long time. I'll try to keep this as short as I can.

First off, the controls are extremely intuitive, and are simple to pick up and start using effectively. Having the R trigger for your primary fire and the L trigger for your grenades frees up your thumbs to perform any other tasks with ease. The controls just feel great, and even when you are driving the vehicles, the controls seem spot on.

You will be shooting your way through tons of Covenant resistance throughout the game, and the most impressive part of the game for me was the enemy AI.

The Covenant troops are a clever bunch. Their responses to your actions are often fickle and un-predictable. Not only will they take cover when you shoot at them, but they will run from grenades, they will fall back and return with reinforcements, and attempt to distance themselves from you if you get too close. This really makes for some diverse gameplay situations.

The next noteworthy thing about the gameplay is the sheer number of ways to accomplish objectives. While not as impressive as the Far Cry series, it still gives you plenty of ways to get things done. When you move to an open field with enemies on the opposite side, you can proceed on foot, with the support of your marine companions, you can pick up a nearby rocket launcher and attempt to take out their big guns first, or you can jump in a vehicle and take the enemies down with some vehicular tactics.

Your marine companions have good AI as well. When you jump in a vehicle like the tank, they will board it with you and pick off enemies as you progress. When you exit the vehicle, your companions will do the same and throw down some covering fire for you as you head in to take out the enemy. The AI really makes for some diverse gameplay, and ensures that the presumed path is not always your best option.

Halo also has some fantastic scaling difficulty. Any FPS veteran will be able to get through the Easy mode without many problems, but start scaling up the difficulty, and the game will put a hurting on you big time, but it just doesn't seem to matter in Halo. No matter how many times you die, you will just keep coming back for more since it's so fun, and the amount of ways to re-try is abundant. The higher difficulty levels will have you gleefully exasperated as you shoot through waves and waves of Covenant.

Halo also has a system where you can only carry two weapons at a time, forming a bit more strategy than other FPS games. Do you take the rocket launcher to take out the Covenant tank? Or do you take the assault rifle, sneak around the Covenant tank, mow down the soldiers, and then get to your objective. The game is full of split second decisions like this, which really adds to the tension in the game.

Halo is without a doubt one of the most fun FPS games I've ever played. I really wish I could go into more detail about the depth of this game and how Bungie did such a fantastic job with so many other aspects of the game, but I'll leave that for you to find out on your own.

Longevity and Re-playability 9/10

Halo has 10 missions to get through, some of which are very long. You can plow through the game pretty quickly if you devote yourself to it, but due to the different ways of accomplishing your tasks, this is a game that you will want to play again.

There are also multi-player split screen modes, LAN play, and Co-op modes, to round out what Halo has to offer.

Very few games go back in my pile of games to be played again, but Halo was one of them, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time through.

Conclusion

Halo has become a corner stone of the gaming world, and I think anyone who considers themselves a gamer should play this game. So if you have never played Halo, get yourself an Xbox and play this gem, which has stood the test of time, and has become one of the greatest FPS games I have ever played, PC or console.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/08

Game Release: Halo: Combat Evolved (US, 11/14/01)