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By Kyle Johnson & Kevin on December 2nd, 2001
Introduction Kyle
Halo. One of the best first person shooters (FPS) since the Goldeneye/Perfect Dark era on the Nintendo 64! Most will say that Halo is exactly what the Xbox needs to make it in the console wars against Sony’s PlayStation2, and Nintendo’s GameCube. Whether or not it’s the killer app that the Xbox needs will soon be decided, as people pick up their Xboxes, and decide which games to get. Most people will be getting an Xbox just for Halo. Some will wait and see if it’ll still release on the PC/Mac formats. It is still undetermined by Bungie, if there actually will be a PC/Mac version of Halo. You can only wish for one if your not an Xbox fan, but want to play Halo, otherwise, you must make a decision. Get an Xbox and play Halo, or don’t get an Xbox, don’t play Halo, and don’t play the best-damned first person shooter game ever!
Kev
It seems that all of us have been in our cryo chambers for some time, cyborgs that have been forced to play the same types of games over and over from the same types of genres. Fortunately , this game, spawning from the likes of the FPS genre, has come to claim the crown and to destroy what we once knew as linear "shoot-em-ups". So why do we speak so highly of Halo? Why do we give into the hype of this incredible peice of work and show a confident statement to all of its glory? We’ll tell you why. Halo, being the newest of the FPS family, gives gamers not only something new to play, but something fresh to remember. This game, which leaves a mark in stone, revolutionizes what we once though of "point and shooters" and shows us what real combat is and how its really done. The true beauty of Halo doesn’t lie in its graphical quality (though impressive, to say in the least), but in the combat itself. Implementing a superb A.I. to each enemy and ally and adding rich, detailed, interactive environments help Halo become more than an FPS, but a strategy, and even an adventure. Decisive combat skills must come into play in order to play Halo, extreme measures to protect your allies or destroy your nemisiss are needed to further go on, and a damn good eye with a little bit of wit is required to stay alive. In addition to all these things, a well thought out story with some exciting twist is something else to look forward to. Halo gives you something to look foward to and remember till you’re old and dead. Unless you get your ass killed in battle, that is... Presentation Kyle
When I first heard that Bungie was coming out with a first person shooter for the Xbox, I was a little suspicious on how the controls of the game would work. I, like many other gamers, prefer the good old keyboard and mouse when playing first person shooters. Well, now that the Xbox is here, along with Halo, I have realized that a keyboard and mouse is not needed for a first person shooter. A lot of times, developers won’t really pay attention to how well the game is put together, unlike those companies, Bungie did pay attention. Halo is one of the few, but many, games that does not look like the developer that had a low budget for the game. Halo is the game, like many others, that look very high production, and it looks like Bungie had the money to ensure Halo would look like the money they had, beautiful! When going from one of the game menus, to the cinematic, it’s pretty obvious that they are perfect fits in the transition between the two. Of course, you wouldn’t expect the two too look exactly identical, but they work perfectly together in Halo.The music played in games is important to many people. Well, Bungie did what they could to ensure that all the music in the game fit in the exact place as on screen. And did they do an excellent job of doing so! I didn’t notice any piece of music that was misplaced, or wasn’t “on-time” for it’s spot in the game, when they action on screen got more intense, the music followed through as well!
Kev
Xbox gamers were generally sceptical on whether or not the Halo would live up to its hype. The previous information about the framerate drops, total ignoring of the bots, and other little negatives here and there gave gamers a second thought on this title. Fortunately, when Halo was released, it showed to be more than even the hype itself claimed it to be. To be brief, the opening movie was a detailed and good impression of things to come. Reading gamers for not only a game, but a great action movie with plenty of popcorn to spare. And when I say this I don’t mean wide and veried cutscenes throughout the game. Sure, there are a few awesome in-game, realtime cutscenes here and there, but it’s not as involving as the gameplay and the action itself. Most of the story is actually told WHILE you’re playing, which makes Halo even more enjoyable to play than watch. Trust us, your freinds won’t just want to sit there while you blow the enemy to bits and peices. Once they catch their eyes on things and listen they are mezmorized to pick up the controller and join you in a fun filled and bloody Co-Op mode. While the first level is just above average, featuring a few good fire fights and less than impressive explosions, it’s a nice intro to what will later become an all out war of gameplay, action, and great story. Graphics & Sound Kyle
People claim that a game that was created in less than a year, must have a lot of glitches. When in fact, I have yet to see a number of them within Halo. Sure, I’ve been able to spot a couple points within the game, where it seems like it skips a beat, but nothing major. I’m sure with all the debugging that Bungie did before Halo went gold, they weren’t able to fix all of them, with the short time they had to get Halo out to retailers, so people can pick up their copy on or before launch. And no matter what part of Halo you are currently playing, you’ll be able to notice, that the artwork that went into the scenery of Halo, is absolutely amazing! The one thing I do suggest to the people who doubt the scenery in Halo, is pick up a sniper rifle, zoom in to 10x, and look at the grass! Yeah, I now, your looking at it in full zoom of a gun that can zoom in pretty far, but when you do it, you’ll know automatically that Bungie took their time with even the smallest details! If what the grass looks like isn’t important to you, then you might be impressed with the character models in the game! The only game I’ve seen so far on the Xbox that has better character models, would be Dead or Alive 3. The character models in Halo are absolutely stunning, and will pretty much raise the standards for character models in games for the Xbox. Not only are the character models stunning, but also so are the animations! With all the animations, such as people’s mouths moving, it makes you wonder if there’s now a way to input humans into games. With the mouth movements, it seems to me that Bungie took the time, and recorded, via drawings and possibly mini-movies, people saying what they wanted the characters in the game to say, and used that information to build the character’s mouth movements! No matter how they did it, Bungie did it, and that’s what counts! Just like every aspect of a game, there’s it’s good parts, and bad. I just hit the good parts, now; it’s time for some of the bad. Now, even though the mouth movements look excellent, there are some points when the characters are talking, that they don’t have real good mouth movements.I’m sure there are some of you out there debating on whether or not to get an Xbox. If you’re concerned about how the graphics and everything move, especially in Halo, don’t be! Halo’s graphics and animations pretty much move flawlessly throughout the entire game! While playing the game, I didn’t run into big animation movements. Although no one is really sure what the final frame rate is for Halo, people are guessing it’s between 30-60 fps (not first person shooter). Really, that’s not all that bad for a console game. Yeah, I’m sure there’s games out there that run faster, but the truth is, the faster a game runs, doesn’t mean the better it is! If Bungie were to have made Halo run at 90FPS, I’m almost certain the quality of the game would have gone down drastically. Which would not have been good for the game. Okay, enough talk on the graphics, time for the games sound! Overall, pretty good sound. On my pretty old TV with very crappy speakers, I was pretty impressed with the sound! It was very clear, and no static what so ever! Just like the graphics, the sound does have it’s bad sides as well. I can clearly remember, while playing the game, I was in the middle of receiving my new orders from the Captain, when the sound cut down drastically. I knew it wasn’t the TV, because I tried it on different TVs, it was the game. It didn’t last very long, only about 15 seconds! When I tell people about the sound in Halo, I am always proud to tell them that the game wouldn’t be the same without the music and sound it uses! It sets the perfect mood and setting for the game! You can always tell when something big is about to happen, because the music will get real heavy and intense! Without the music and sound that Bungie put it, the experience of Halo would not be the same! The music and sounds are very well composed and put together! No flaws what so ever that I can tell for the music! With the music that was put into Halo, I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard music put into a game, that actually belongs there, and not there to just occupy space on the game. Bungie literally took the music, created it, and put it in Halo in the places it belongs! Whether it’s in intense situations, or just driving the warthog heading to your next objective point, the music will set the mood of the moment! If you actually listen to the music enough, it may annoy some, others will love it, and it’ll catch on quickly! No matter how you are when it comes to music, this music is very well composed, and is definitely great music in a game!
Kev
The framerate drop turned off many gamers when Bungie announced it a few months ago. Though the framerate was to be constant, a wopping 30fps was taken off to insure more detail and vastness in the game. This little cut, though extreme to some gamers, isn’t even noticable. The only time where it even drops by a few frames is during the last level (which we won’t spoil for you) when there are literally thousands of things on screen at a time. And this is only once in the whole game. The detail given to Halo is incredible. Even the textures on the trees give off the appearance of real bark and edges along the leaves. There wasn’t an ounce left out in any of the graphics or models presented. The animations are clear and solid, though they may get edgy at times in the fray of battle. The only bland animation would probably have to be the explosions. In the early to mid game they come off as solid yet very bland, but you don’t really notice them while in combat. Possibly the most pointed out and well done thing in Halo is the overall sound quality. On 5.1 DD it is absolutely the most realistic combat game you could ever imagine. The voice acting, music, and sound effects are all top notch. Each charachter has their own lines, voices, and personalities that fit well with everything around and about them. Each little sound of wind, guns firing in the distance and even the snow flakes landing on the ground (okay...maybe not that far) is heard and sounds as realistic as any game is alowed to get. Gameplay Kyle
The game play is superb! I have not seen a game run so flawless since Goldeneye was the best game out there! Bungie took their time, and made sure the game play was even better than the graphics! Sure, people look at graphics for games, but for Halo, I recommend looking at both graphics and the game play! Both are top of the line!If you’re worried about the controls for Halo, don’t be! The controls are perfect, no need for a keyboard and mouse for this first person shooter! The controller has enough buttons, not too many, but enough, to handle the controls!
Kev
Remember playing all those other FPS? The ones where you could carry any weapon, all weapons, and unlimited amo galore? The ones where you were pretty much "God of the World" and could kill anything? Well say goodbye to that. Halo introduces real time combat, logical combat, difficult enemies, and helpful allies. In Halo you are only alowed to carry two weapons at a time, amo is scarce and your enemies are everywhere. There is no more leaping out in front of an opponent while he sits there trying to aim his gun right at your head. Oh no, they leap, duck, and jump to get out of the way or in your face. The A.I. for both sides (the marines and aliens) is amazing. Your marines will literally back you up in battle, take control of vehicles while you cover their flanks, and jump in front of one another to save a comrade. The Covenent (aliens) do the same on their sides while trying to kill you in the process. The controls are fairly evened out among one another. Each is important and offers something that is needed in the game. You have your basic firing and grenade throwing controls nicely placed in the back, with your close combat, flashlight, and jump button properly placed in the front of the controller. Each vehicle and weapon has its own atributes and weaknesses. To limit your strength the heavy weapons are very rare to find and the weapons themselves must be used for only certain things to insure their quality in the game. Overall the gameplay is what makes Halo shine from other FPSs. This is the main reason it’s in a category of its own... Lasting Appeal Kyle
With Halo, there’s good, and bad when it comes to its multiplayer capabilities. For starters, when you’re playing multiplayer with friends, that’s it, it’s you and your friends, and there are no bots in the game. So forget your ability to “train” yourself, and get better against the computer. That’s not the only disadvantage with Halo’s multiplayer. The other is the fact that there is no online coding within Halo, so you can’t play online. So, if you had plans to take your friend from another state on in a Halo death match, don’t expect that too be happening for a while. There are a lot of advantages in the multiplayer area of Halo as well. For starters, there are a lot of different types of multiplayer “games”. Another advantage to the multiplayer, is something that no other system has included. System link. That’s right, you have the ability to play up to 16 players in a multiplayer game, using up to 4 Xboxes, with all 4 using 4 people. No, you don’t have to use one TV; you have to use 4 TVs. So no worry about smaller divided blocks.A lot of people, when they beat a game, pretty much put the game in a collection of previous games they’ve beaten, and don’t play it again. Well, with Halo, that pretty much won’t happen. There’s always something new to do in Halo. With 4 difficulty settings, including easy, normal, heroic, and legendary, you can always go through the game in those. You can also call for friends and family to come over, and you can enjoy beating them down in multiplayer! Any way you want to do it, Halo is one of those games that can and will bring you hours upon hours of fun.
Kev
Besides the already hacked way to acess a very crude online network to play on, Halo offers a great multiplayer experience as well. Playing Co-Op mode in each level with a freind is intense to say in the least. Backing one another up and controlling a WartHog (jeep) both at the same time and right next to one another is something to remember. If you like going hunting with freinds you’ll really like killing a squad of Covenent by rolling over them with your jeep and plummeting them into hell with a huge ass assault cannon. And that’s not all you blood thirsty recruits. Try multiplayer against one another in attempts to see who can outmatch the other in an intense battle of bullets and sweat! The only problem with the multiplayer mode is that it tends to be less detailed and more choppy than mutliplayer, but the gameplay stays the same and so do the multiple and endless environments to choose from. Conclusion Kyle
Bungie, as well as Microsoft, knew what they were doing when they announced this game for the Xbox in January! They knew that they could make a first person shooter work on a console, and Halo is proof that it can be done! If you’re a fan of first person shooters, then you should pick up a copy of Halo, if you have an Xbox, if not, then pick up an Xbox while your picking up Halo! You’ll be happy you did! Even if you’re not a fan of first person shooters, then give Halo a try; you’ll be surprised that it’s unlike any other first person shooter!
Kev
This is definately a "Game of the Year". Never before have I been so emersed into an FPS. Never before have I continued playing each level over and over just to see new results and better myself. Never before have I been obesessed with such a game. Halo is it soilder. Now get your ass to your local software store if you don’t have this game. Do I make myself clear Marine! |
