With Halo 2 coming out this fall I thought now would be a great time to take a look back at the original game. Pulling the disk off my shelf I popped it in my trusty old Xbox and started her up. The splash screen appeared and I started by creating a new profile in the easy to use creation system that leads you in to the opening movie. I quickly picked up the controls and began to play; I was instantly sucked back in to the role of the Master Chief fighting against the evil hordes of the Covenant.
You play the Master Chief, a cyborg who we know almost nothing about, though everyone else seems to hold you in some kind of reverence. The story begins with waking up from a cryogenic deep freeze only to find the Covenant is attacking the ship you're on - the Pillar of Autumn. Shortly after awakening, you must make your way to the ship's bridge. There you meet Captain Keyes who then tasks you to escape the ship with the Ships AI, known as Cortana. You're forced to run from the Covenant - escaping with little time to spare. You land in a ring shaped world know as Halo. You find you must save the crew and learn what the Covenant are up too before its to late.
For those who are unaware, Halo is a First (Third in vehicles) Person Shooter with a involved single-player storyline and a fun, fast- paced multiplayer system. Halo was released in November 2001 and while by today's standards its graphics are a bit blocky, it is still quite nice. Its graphics combine for nice smooth gameplay with little framerate lag in both the single player and much of the time also in the multiplayer modes of the game. The user interface (UI) is quite similar to many other first person shooters with an area for ammo, health and radar and little more - which works perfectly since little more is needed.
The controls are where the game entrances or repels most players: those who do not like Halo generally point to it's unique control system as why they did not like the game - that it simply does not "feel right". Though the controls can be a bit awkward at first they are easily learned and give exceptional control when playing a FPS on a console - control often being the difference between life and death.
One of the most impressive aspects of Halo is the variation in levels. Each level has a unique look and feeling; from the ships halls with their corridors and hatches to the Halo itself with multiple environments including beaches, swamps and mountain streams. Each level adds more and more to the story bringing you deeper and deeper in to the origins of the Halo and its deadly secret. Perhaps my favorite level is a level entitled 343 Guilty Spark. It is on this level that you are tasked to trek though a swamp to rescue some marines trapped by an unknown enemy that is the only thing the Covenant fear! Here your dropped in the middle of this festering swamp where you must rescue Captain Keyes who's Drop Ship is crashed nearby. Moving further in to the swamp you surrounded by dense foliage and fog you must try and find the captain of the Pillar of Autumn (I'll not spoil the ending for you).
Another variation in Halo's gameplay over previous shooters is the ability to carry only two weapons at any given time. This not only makes sense in a realistic sense but also means that players have to think about what weapons they are going to carry as ammo and stopping power become real factors when you can just carry a limited arsenal around on your back.
Halo's ability for replay through its multiplayer capability is one of its greatest assets and lends to its longevity. It utilizes both a split screen multiplayer and a 4-person cooperative mode with 13 multiplayer maps. There are also quite a few styles of multiplayer gameplay, ranging from a standard frag mission to the ever-popular Rocket missions where everyone is armed with rocket launchers. While Halo isn't enabled for online it is capable with the use of a LAN of hooking up multiple Xboxes with multi-taps for up to 16 players. It's a lot of fun to get 4 TVs hook them together and play some 4-way battles.
It has been a blast to pull Halo off the shelf. I had nearly forgotten what sheer fun it is to play this game! Halo is perhaps the best first person shooter made for console yet and now seems to be the standard by how they are judged. Its only real weakness as a game today is its lack of Xbox Live capabilities - with these and the ability to mod the game it's unfathomable how far it could go. This however is being rectified in the long awaited sequel. To put it simply, if you have not played this game what are you waiting for? Go rent it or pick it up for a steal now that the sequel is coming. It is an incredible steal and will be possibly the best console game you will play hands down.
Raised in Massachusetts and made move to south of the Mason/Dixon line to the lovely state of MD. I have been working Desktop support for the last 2 years for Games Workshop. When not working for the Galactic Toy Company I am playing any one of 8 MMOs or Numerous console games.
