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 Plus 10s >>> by Lizard (07.07.2005)
To be honest, I didn't think much about Halo till a friend of mine showed me the game. After a few hours (about 5 or 6), he had to get me to go home or I'd continue playing on their couch well into the next day. So what hooked me?
GAMEPLAY
HALO at its time was different. Though it was a shooter it was different, at its time. I think it was the fact that I had to use the controller instead of everyone's standard mouse & keyboard configuration. Even if you're comfortable with a keyboard and mouse configuration, using the controller is surprisingly easy to learn and master. But mostly, I believe that it was because that you didn't have to switch to a melee only weapon to club someone. After a while at the controls they became very natural to me and I was blasting or giving Covenant aliens massive head trauma. That is if the enemy AI lets you. The AI here is one of the best I've seen, though there are some stories where I can say otherwise. My friends and I agree that the harder the setting you put it on, the more fun it becomes as our playing styles change from "The invincible Master-chief" in the easy difficulty to the "Craven coward Master-chief" in the Legendary difficulty.
Also, HALO sported vehicles, something most FPS (First-Person Shooters) didn't have at that time. From the Human's all-terrain vehicle the Warthog, their 60+ton tank the Scorpion, to the Covenant's hover-bike the Ghost and their single-manned aircraft the Banshee. Admittedly fun rides all of them though disturbing that no matter how many grenade shots or rockets a human vehicle takes it will never explode. The passengers all die, but the vehicle doesn't go *pop*, only the Covenant vehicles explode when abused.
In addition to these features which were new at that time was the addition of the shield generator. Most of the Covenant adversaries, as well as yourself, sport a personal shield generator which can save you from most fire. When I say most fire don't expect to survive a direct hit from a rocket, a grenade, or a close up blast from a shotgun to the head. Yes, the immortal shotgun of all FPS games is here too.
STORY
It takes a lot of intuition to glue together most of the story before the game starts, it is quite easy to piece together as the standard war story of resisting against extermination takes a sharp turn upon the discovery that Halo isn't what the humans thought it was (a gigantic weapon of mass destruction).
GRAPHICS
In one word: amazing for its time. To think that Halo was an early release for the Xbox! From the effects such as falling snow to the bullet holes created by your assault rifle on the wall to the debris sent flying by a frag grenade that just detonated close by to the dirt kicked up by doing a hard turn in a Warthog. Even the light from the Chief's flashlight looks good. These are some of the small things you'll almost not notice due to the graphics being just so. amazing. for its time of course.
AUDIO
All I wish was that I had access to a surround sound system as I played this. I would have been so happy to hear and feel the explosions and blasts. To hear the bullets flying across the room through the speakers. joy. To add to the enjoyment you don't face a speechless enemy or your fellow marines being mute. Marines pipe up with phrases including my all time favorite of "get up so I can kill you again!" Most of the Covenant forces use their unintelligible gibberish to taunt you or scream in pain as they die or flee in terror or shout in surprise "It's the demon!!!"
Aside from the speech there are also the little, almost unnoticeable things like the splashing of shallow water from your running, you can even hear the crickets.
LONGEVITY
With varying difficulties each with a different reward in the cut-scenes, large stages, varying multiplayer arenas and game types, and LAN connectivity will keep Halo a rather popular game running for quite some time till the next great game, namely Halo 2.
VERDICT
Even after Halo 2, this game is still a refreshing visit. It is still a solid game having all that you can be hyped up about. Even my friends agree that even though its age, it can still make us play it for over 6 hours straight. It would be a shame if I didn't mention the music in the game being another factor that keeps us coming back to this great creation.
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