swanton00's Full Review: Halo: Combat Evolved for Xbox
A little less then a month ago, my mother bought an Xbox for me and my father. With it she bought an extra controller, Halo, and SSX Tricky. First off, I played Halo. I had heard all great talk about the game and knew I would love it. Halo has become my favorite fps (firstpersonshooter) to date. Halo was released for computers by a company called Bungie then Microsoft had bought the name and released it for Xbox. Microsoft made a great move doing that in my opinion. With huge detailed levels, smart enemies and many cool weapons, Halo is going to be a classic for sure.
Story
At the start of the game, your on a ship called the Pillar of Autumn which is attacked by an alien race known as, the Covenant. You escape the ship and land on the planet Halo which is the home of a secret super weapon that the Covenant are trying to get. You are unaware that you weren't the only crew of the ship that survived before it was shot down. Once you find Captain Keye's the story develops much including the introduction of another alien race. I won't spoil it for you though.
Gameplay
Halo is a First Person Shooter game. That means you see from your characters eyes directly ahead. All you'll see of yourself is your hands and your gun. Throughout every level there was no loading except for an occasional loading for a part of the level which would last as long as the blink of an eye. PS2, try that one. I have not noticed any slowdown, pixels or choppy moving. Halo is my favorite FPS every played and has long lasting replay value.
Throughout the game you'll encounter 4 types of Covenant monsters. Each come in multiple colors. First off, there's Grunts. There small, annoying and easy. They usually carry plasma guns put can sometimes carry plasma grenades which can easily kill you. Next are, Jackals. They are a little bigger then grunts and carry shield with plasma guns. Best strategy is to wait until they are blocking and run up to them for a whack with your weapon. Elite's come next in line. These come in three forms. The standard blue form which carries usually plasma rifles and have a body shield which allows them to take much punishment. The red ones are faster and harder to hit. They carry plasma pistols I believe and also have body shields. Last is the yellow ones which are the toughest. They carry plasma swords which kill you in one hit and they move very fast. I don't think they have body shields like the others though. Final for the Covenant is the Hunters. These things are fight and a half. They are the strongest of all Covenant and can take much punishment. They never appear alone and there will always be two of them when encountered. Try not to get up close to them because they will do a tackle like move to you and it will do much damage. There gun is a plasma type gun which can be charged up to a powerful blast which will take away just about all of your life if hit right. They are tough and are best to be taken on with a rocket launcher or plasma rifle.
What's a futuristic fps without the futuristic weapons? There's many vehicles and guns to kill Covenant with. You can pick up pistols with sniping, automatic rifles which are the main weapon, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, plasma pistols, plasma rifles, and shotguns. Fragment grenades and plasma grenades, which can stick to enemies, can be found all over the place as well. When on the battle field you can find more advanced toys like jeeps, tanks and even enemies flying things. Jeeps are the first of the vehicles you'll find. You can jump in any part of the jeep including; drivers seat, passengers seat and gunners seat. Get in the drivers seat and stop next to a marine. They'll get in the gunners seat and shoot at any Covenant. Find another marine to get in the passengers seat and shoot at enemy with there gun.
Multiplayer
What's a great game like Halo without a multiplayer? Play 2-4 players with two different modes. First off, there's the cooperative mode which takes you and your friend(s) to one the level you select and battle the covenant. The level will be just like playing it in the one-player but spilt screen and a partner. This mode works great in my opinion. In many times during the game you won't have any marines with you, this way you can have help all the time. Would you rather kill each other? Well, the next mode is where you and the other human player(s) battle each other where the winner is the last man standing. Dislike split screen? Link up multiple Xbox's and Tv's with Halo's for better play. When Halo can be played online, go out on the battle field for an 8 player battle!
Graphics
Excellent, a great part of Halo. Everything looks so real. The water is see through and has those sort of swirly like things we see in real life. The grass looks just like grass. The outdoor parts looks simply amazing. The indoor parts aren't the greatest looking however as there a little basic, but still look good. Look at an enemy or marine or even a vehicles, see the detail and realism. No pixels or anything! Some people would expect slowdown when there's the war parts going on with more then 10 characters on the screen at once, bullets and explosions going around everywhere. Bodies flying, ships speeding.........no slowdown or choppy play. It may slowdown a slight bit, but it won't really be noticeable. No slowdown, no choppy play, great and realistic graphics, Halo takes advantage of the Xbox's power for sure!
Sound & Music
Explosions, screams, gunshots all crisp and clear. The sounds are amazing. The music damn well fits the game. At parts when there's a horde of enemies coming or during a battle, the music is more fast paced and heavy danger sounding. It sounds like sci-fi music and works great. The voice acting is also great. It don't get old with all talking characters saying multiple things. The Grunts are the only covenant that will talk which they say pretty stupid but not dull things. Throw a grenade at them, they'll run away and scream stuff like "grenade" or "were all going to die!" Your marines talk as well. They'll scream when shot, trash talk enemies, and say many other things! It never gets old as there's a wide variety of things they say.
Final Comments
Halo is my favorite game of all time. If you haven't played it yet, then your missing out on something great. Definitely a must have for any Xbox owner!
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