Halo: Combat Evolved

It's a damn good thing that the gunplay is as awesome as it is, because the level design really hits the skids at the halfway mark. Such a shame, as the parts of Halo that were cutting edge back then still hold up today. The enemy AI and design is just really good and leads to a lot of tense and dynamic shootouts, and a wealth of weapons leads to a lot of options in combat...at least with the Covenant. The Flood and Sentinels are much more one-dimensional to fight, even if the in-fighting between all factions leads to some great setpieces. And although the music is surprisingly awesome and dynamic in its own right, the rest of the presentation is nothing to write home about, with a setting that only hints at a great wider story and otherwise features dialogue as stilted as any other game from 2001.

But it is the excellence of the game's combat which is testament to how much fun mulitplayer was. Both co-op and versus were the bee's knees back in the day, and it holds up near as I can tell. Other FPSes of the day had more solid campaigns, even stuff like Red Faction, but what Halo ushered in it did very well, even if the campaign has aged like milk.

10

Halo was something magical and mysterious when I had a PS2 and my friends got this new game they were obsessed with. The menu music had me so curious and I enjoyed the multiplayer, but I wanted to play the campaign. It wasn’t until years later I played the campaign and it lived up to the hype. Even the later chapters I loved because the gameplay was so good. It just has that feel that makes it so easy to return to… What really made it one of my all time favorites was the atmosphere, music, scale and charm. It just has that something special that makes it not only a groundbreaking fps for the time, but one that still is a joy to play. “Assault on Control Room”, “Halo” and “Silent Cartographer” are some of the best chapters in the series and the mystery and freshness of this game was never bettered. Oh, and the multiplayer was crack and was the next step for Goldeneye fans on consoles.

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This is where it all began for one of the greatest franchises of all time, it certainly holds up remarkably well thanks to its addictive gameplay and cast of fun characters.

The only negative I have for this game is how spacious the level design is, this was typical for early Xbox games as they wanted to showcase how advanced their technology was going into the 21st century. As such, I can see new players getting lost in some of the levels, however the landscapes are gorgeous to look at and there is a handy way point to ensure they don't remain lost for too long. While I can see people claiming this to be a half-life rip-off, I feel it does a ton of unique things to separate it from that franchise including having Cortana as your sidekick. She's an Ai that our hero acquires very early on who offers useful hints as well as witty commentary to ensure that our hero isn't completely isolated in these strange environments. There are two levels where she doesn't accompany you, however only one of them has him truly on his own with the other having him accompany another npc known as guilty spark, a robot that I'll just say has become infamous in the halo community for reasons. The story is really good thanks to the cast of characters, however it's the gameplay where this game shines as we have a vast array of weapons from both the human and covenant factions, some being better than others in order to spice up the different ways of taking out enemies which include the alien race known as the covenant and the parasitic faction known as the flood which is basically the Borg from the star trek franchise. This game also offers vehicles which was fairly uncommon for fps games back then, it's far more common now but it’s nice to see a game this old let you drive Jeeps and tanks and even alien aircraft. I should also mention to multiplayer as that too is a ton of fun, I'm more of a single player gamer and yet even I wasted countless hours as a kid playing against my friends on this game due to how great these matches tend to be.

It's a solid first entry into a great franchise that's well worth your time, check it out if you somehow haven't already.

This game is truly amazing! It was great back then and has aged beautifully. The story, enemy types, and weapon feeling are all perfect. Everything just feels right while playing, and it's hard to put into words how good it is. Even on the original Xbox, it runs smoothly and feels fantastic to play. It's truly remarkable. The only minor downside is the occasional repetition of levels, but they manage to make it more interesting by repackaging them. And the game also has an issue with Dialogue, Ingame it's super Quiet and not hearable, but in Cutscenes it's fine for some reason. Overall, this game is revolutionary and still holds even today.

[Mild Spoilers:]

Even if it isn't considered the best in the franchise by most, it is without a doubt the most revolutionary out of the Halo games. And that's not to be understated- you can probably trace back the influence of any modern FPS game to Combat Evolved. And that's not to say that there weren't any genre-defining FPS games released prior to this but the influence of Combat Evolved lies predominately with its popularity and platform.

Before 2001, PC was the home of FPS games whether that was Valve's Half-Life or ID Software's Quake and Doom franchises. For an FPS to capture the attention of some many people yet be exclusively played on a console was quite bizarre for that time; especially considering it was released on the Xbox: a console without as much popularity as the monoliths that were PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Of course, there were others such as Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark which were both developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 however consoles still weren't seen as a platform where these kind of games thrived. Halo Combat Evolved set the foundation for multiple generations of shooter games developed on consoles and expanded the genre's popularity arguably past any other. You might be wondering why I've spent so long talking about the impact this game's had but it's important to understand the context for when reviewing the game itself.

Gameplay:
Combat Evolved has been praised time and time again for its gameplay; but what exactly makes it so unique anyway? To use previous examples, it's not as fast paced or exciting as Doom and Quake or as mechanically ambitious as Half-Life was a few years prior. However a key word sustains Halo's claim to great gameplay and that is simplicity. This was arguably one of the most satisfying combat loops from any FPS at the time and the design of the enemies complemented perfectly with the expansive roster of weapons. Many have made the comparison of it playing out like a chess game: each enemy had its strengths and weaknesses which the player was made sure to know. In return, the player is provided with all the necessary tools at their disposal to exploit the weaknesses showcased. A great example is the elites with their shields similar to that of Master Chief himself. The player will be pushed to experiment with multiple weapons due to only two weapons being able to be carried at all times and because of this will find out that plasma infused weaponry like a fully charged shot of the plasma pistol are much more effective at taking out the elite's shield. Sure, this may seem like a common game design choice but it's partly thanks to Combat Evolved that this approach to gameplay has been popularised in FPS games released after 2001.

Level design:
Two words: The Library. A level so notorious for its repetitive design that anyone replaying the Halo franchise dreads. And to be honest... It's not that bad. Okay, I agree; many of the levels in this game suffer from the reuse of assets and even levels altogether as backtracking is a very common theme throughout the whole of Combat Evolved. At least Bungie tries their hardest to make every mission feel unique despite the repetitive environments. An example of this is the mission 'Two Betrayals' which is basically an altered version of 'Assault on the Control Room' with extra areas and vehicles such as the Banshees. Despite all of this, I don't think the game suffers that much from the level design for two main reasons. One, the gameplay loop; the game is consistently fun and even missions like 'The Library' are tolerable as a result of the diverse weapon choice and interesting enemies. And two, every time the environment changes it doesn't cease to capture my interest. For a game made in 2001, it manages to visually impress even on second visits to some of these areas. Most notably, the mission '343 Guilty Spark' (even if it's not revisited later on). It creates this eerie atmosphere which the player wouldn't have suspected at all up until then. This is perfectly supplemented by Cortana's absence who had been Chief's main guide throughout all of the missions up until that point. It then also builds up to one of the game's best moments and purely because of moments like these, I won't be as harsh as maybe I should be on the level design here.

Graphics:
I won't spend as much time on this section as this review is already long enough. All I have to say is the game looks great for 2001. Not exactly Silent Hill 2 level but it stands up well against other titles released in the same era. One word of advice: If you're yet to play the game and are wanting to on the Master Chief Collection, I recommend the original graphics. The Remastered graphics are good for brighter levels such as 'The Silent Cartographer' where they really shine however more atmospheric and sinister levels like the previously mentioned '343 Guilty Spark' are much better with the original graphics. Take that however you will.

Story:
Last but not least, the story. Simply put, it's great. It contains all that you'd want from a futuristic sci-fi story set in space. Most of the game apart from the first mission takes place on a Halo ring and I've got to give it to them- it's quite the concept. The plot is intriguing, mysterious, filled with shocks, twists, a fitting end and a small but interesting list of characters. Master Chief and Cortana's relationship drive the game and although not as prominent and well executed as future games, it's definitely enough for the first in the series. Keyes is also a great character and is the only "normal" human in the entire cast. 343 Guilty Spark is amazing and what I consider to be the most interesting character in the game as he's linked to Halo's well crafted backstory with the Forerunners. And the four factions are all written very well. The UNSC poses questions as to how humanity got to where they are and what is the rest of humanity like; the Sentinels have an intriguing backstory as I've said before; the Covenant is a unique take on an alien threat to humans however isn't explored as much as compared to future Halo entries and finally the Flood. To avoid major spoilers, all I'll say is that it consistently remains one of the best crafted "alien" threats in gaming history.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, it's great. Play it and decide for yourself if it's stood the test of time. If you don't enjoy it, at least acknowledge its significance on the gaming world. It's far from being the best FPS ever made as it lacks in areas like level design. It does make up for with its satisfying gameplay and great plot however it doesn't necessarily amaze me in terms of what it has to offer and for that reason I can't call it a masterpiece.