13 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Halo Is Quite Possibly The Best FPS Gamers Have Seen In Years!
Date of Review: Jul 3, 2002
The Bottom Line: If you buy an Xbox for any one game, this is definitely the title you are going to get.
Introduction
Through out the history of video games, certain genres have been more popular than others. In many cases these genres have also been better developed and presented as well. In my opinion a genre that most definitely falls in this category are First Person Shooters. These games typically have better levels, interesting weapons, and in some cases well thought out plots.
But if I had to pick just one game out of the many great FPS titles available on the market and off, it would probably be Halo. This game features the best of all the genres, from a well-scripted plot to cutting edge graphics and A.I., as well as spectacular enemies and weapon variety. If the hundreds of promising reviews haven?t convinced you to go and try Halo, perhaps my two cents will persuade you otherwise.
Plot
A quick note to readers out there ? due to the intricate plot associated with Halo, I have had to write a very long description just to give its terrific plot justice. If the story doesn?t interest you much, then I suggest scrolling down past the plot. Otherwise, enjoy!
The year is 2552. Planet Earth still exists, but overpopulation has forced many of her former residents to colonize other worlds. Faster than light travel is now a reality, and Earth?s unified government, through the United Nations Space Command, has put its full weight behind the colonization effort; millions of humans now live on habitable planets in other solar systems. A keystone of humanity?s colonization efforts is the planet Reach, an interstellar naval yard that builds colony ships for civilians and warships for the UNSC?s armed forces. Conveniently close to Earth, Reach is also a hub of scientific and military activity.
Thirty-two years ago, contact with the outer colony Harvest was lost. A battle group sent to investigate was almost completely destroyed; only one badly damaged ship returned to Reach. Its crew told of a seemingly unstoppable alien warship that had effortlessly annihilated their forces.
This was mankind?s first encounter with a group of aliens they eventually came to know as the Covenant, a collection of alien races united in their fanatical religious devotion. Covenant religious elders declared humanity an affront to the gods, and the Covenant warrior caste waged a holy war upon humanity with gruesome diligence.
After a series of crushing defeats and obliterated colonies, UNSC Admiral Preston Cole established the Cole Protocol: no vessel may inadvertently lead the Covenant to Earth. When forced to withdraw, ships must avoid Earth-bound vectors ? even if that means jumping without proper navigational calculations. Vessels in danger of capture must self-destruct.
On Reach, a secret military project to create cyborg super-soldiers takes a newfound importance. The soldiers of the SPARTAN-II project rack up an impressive record against the Covenant in test deployments, but there are too few of them to turn the tide of the war.
Existing SPARTAN-II soldiers are recalled to Reach for further augmentation. The plan: board a Covenant vessel with the improved SPARTAN-IIs and learn the location of the Covenant home world. Two days before the mission begins, Covenant forces strike Reach and annihilate the colony. The Covenant is now on Earth?s doorstep. One ship, The Pillar of Autumn, escapes with the last SPARTAN-II and makes a blind jump into deep space, hoping to lead the Covenant away from Earth.
As you can see, Halo sports an impressive plot, which I haven?t seen in a video game since... Well, I can?t remember when. Bravo as far as the story line goes.
Game Play
Halo?s game play is most definitely above average, sporting some of the best controls and overall features I have seen in just about any game. I will begin with the enemies and weapons. They are superb. Enemies are well designed and organized, and have an organized ranking and statistics to help you determine a suitable strategy on how to confront them. There are four enemy races: Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and Hunters. These are named in the order of least to most powerful.
Weapons are innovative and unique. They are divided into two categories ? human and Covenant. Human weapons are a Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, and Rocket Launcher. Covenant weapons are a Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, and Needler. Each race also has a different type of grenade ? Humans possess a fragmentation grenade, while Covenant forces use Plasma grenades. The different weapon types let you add more depth to your game than to just run in and shoot anything that moves.
Halo also has pioneered new depths of A.I., creating computerized characters that will have you wondering if they are computer or human. I have heard speculations that BETA testers couldn?t tell the difference between human playing habits and that of the computer. These are comments I wish I heard about every game ? unfortunately, only a few select games have that kind of craftsmanship that can create this type of game play.
Another excellent feature of game play is the addition of vehicles. Bungee studios could have left the game without vehicles and gamers would still rant and rave about the game, but they took the extra step and bumped combat up a notch. Vehicles are operated by one stick manipulating the camera, and another accelerating. Vehicles range from flying vehicles to ground terrain vehicles, and many are equipped with numerous weapons. Running over things also works nicely?
Controls are very good. Nothing is very special, which can be a good thing. I would rather be neutral than hate the layout. But if you aren?t satisfied with the default control settings, there are numerous preset control options you can choose on the settings screen. So overall, controls are very good. I would definitely recommend them. Controls are good, game play is good, all that?s left are the graphics!
Graphics & Sound
Speaking of graphics, Halo really makes use of the Xbox?s power. You can see light reflect off numerous surfaces, textures ranging from grass to dirt to marble, and the sun reflecting off the glass of your scope. When you turn on the flashlight, some areas will be more illuminated than others. Plasma shields waver when hit, and alien and human skin has a realistic look to it.
Sound is very good, from a bullet ringing off a soldier?s helmet to the clunk of a gun connecting with an alien skull. Splashing sounds can be heard when moving through water, and dirt slides down hills with an almost grimy sound. The great visuals and sound really add to the already amazing experience Halo already provides, which makes this game all the more intriguing,
Conclusion
In conclusion, Halo is an amazing game, and really highlights the great power the Xbox possesses, and it is truly a rare surprise to see such an amazing game out on a console release date, or on any date what so ever. So please take my advice, and get Halo today. You won?t regret it!
