Halo... Is it Combat Evolved? I think it is for console gaming!

Author's Rating:

Pros: graphics, intersting enough story, multiplayer, controls, good level design

Cons: only if you hate first person shooters

The Bottom Line: 
Hard to find a reason not to like this game. The only people who shouldn't buy this are those that hate first person shooters!

Author's Review
You read many of my reviews... and likely a few of scattered gaming reviews I've posted. I got my XBox on release day after finishing the graveyard shift at the hospital. No lines and no preorder. I got a XBox in less than 10 minutes after I entered the ToysRUs in New Jersey. I bought Dead or Alive 3 for my first XBox game and two days later, I bought Halo since I got rather bored with DOA3. The only other console first person shooter I've played is Unreal Tournament on the PlayStation 2. I won't count all the 1st person shooters I've played on the PC.

So now, what do I think of Halo: Combat Evolved? I think in my first 30 minutes of playing, my jaw dropped. I was absorbed into playing the game with its better than average story and rather tight controls. This title was a lot better than I would have expected from a 1st person shooter and may be the best game for the XBox currently (although that isn't saying a whole lot).

Now I'm not going into how the game uses system resources... I just go into what I think is important.

Graphics

Stunning graphics for any first person shooter than I've seen on any console gaming station (the PC is not a console gaming station in my view). Now, if you wanted the most stunning graphics showcase for the XBox... get Dead or Alive 3 or even games like Project Gotham Racing or NFL Fever 2002. Ok... get Dead or Alive 3 if you want to show everyone else how great the XBox graphics can be. Otherwise, Halo holds up it own on the XBox and I don't have any major complaint with it. Graphics are smooth and enemies and non-player character are responsive to actions on the screen. Everything moves fluidly and nothing look overly blocky. Lighting effects are well done... light from lasers... plasma grenades... all this in the first level!

Controls

Although I not a big fan of the XBox controller... it really works well in Halo. The two analog sticks with two shoulder buttons and six regular buttons works a bit better than the Unreal Tournament setup on the PS2 (I know that the overall button layout for both games are very similar... but the controller layout of the XBox seemed to fit better than the PS2 controller layout.) The default setup has the left stick to move forward, backward, strafe sideways. The right stick controls your turning left and right as well as look up and down. The two shoulder buttons fire your weapon and toss grenades. The six regular buttons control jumping, action button/reload, melee attack, flashlight, and next weapon. Pressing the left stick down also has you crouch (although moving while crouching is a bit difficult). Of course you can change the layout to your preferences as well as the analog stick sensitivity.

This is one of the few games that I enjoyed using the XBox controller... I certainly hated using it for Dead or Alive 3.

Sound

Extremely good... could still be improved here and there but explosions, direction of shots, and footsteps can all be heard in glorious 5.1 surround sound. That is way cool! It felt like I was playing a 1st person shooter on my PC... The sounds lent a heavy dose of atmosphere to the game and ranks up there in the console department. I think very few people will be disappointed.

Gameplay and Story

Unlike many other 1st person shooters, the story isn't there because it's an afterthough. You have the feeling that you are playing through the story and have an active role in determining its outcome. It's a nice feeling... similar to the experience you have in Half-Life (for those of you who are familiar with this game). You do feel like you're advancing your own storyline to a certain degree.

The quick intro into the story is that an alien race known as the Covenant has been wrecking havok on Earth's small intergalactic empire... the story is set on the battle cruiser you happen to be cryogenically frozen on. The ship is attacked and you are let out of the freezer early to help combat the Covenant. That's all I'm telling you...

Enemies are quite responsive to individual situations. Some have shields and will go toe-to-toe with you. Grunts will flee if they are by themselves or hide until your back is turned to them. Some aliens will make a last lunging attack if they are about to die... and if they are close enough to you. The AI is pretty decent for the game and offers enough of a challenge... and will tax your ammo supply too! IGN stated that you would be lucky to have 1/3 of your ammo hit a target... I wish I was that lucky. Often I had to come out with a pistol or even the butt of my assult rifle to battle the aliens.

Some of the cooler gameplay aspects is the use of vehicles... when playing cooperative or team play modes, one player can control the vehicle and the other can independently control the vehicle turret. I don't know about you, but I find that way cool! And there are several vehicles for you and your fellow players to utilize... heh!

Levels are large and there is a loading time before starting a level can take several minutes but overall, the loading times are almost nil after that. 1-5 secs of loading within a level is the most I've seen so far.

Game Modes

There is story mode, cooperative play story mode (I'm unsure if you can have more than 2 in cooperative play story mode... I haven't played with that yet), team mode, deathmatch mode to name a few. Up to sixteen players can be hooked up through 4 TVs and 4 XBoxs linked up. 4 players per XBox. I am still playing with the deathmatch and team modes (because I haven't had a chance to invite that many friends over and their XBoxs yet). Cooperative story mode is very interesting however. You are playing the same game as single player but being able to coordinate attacks is rather nice (I know it's not new but I had fun with it on the XBox). I don't know what else to same about the game modes other than... other 1st person shooters have been there and done that already. So no surprises to the already 1st person shooter initiated!

Overall

Halo was a surprising game to me... I don't like 1st person shooters all that much compared to Computer Role Playing Games, but I found myself playing Halo for hours on end when I didn't have to work. It's an excellent game for the XBox and will spawn sequels if the system does well. The only people who will want to stay away are the 1st person shooter haters and those that get easily motion sick. Halo is a hoot for single players and even better when your friends join you. Go ahead... drive the jeep around Halo while your friend lays down heavy fire... that definitely one of the times you'll say that you're glad you brought this game.