pyros7's Full Review: Halo: Combat Evolved for Xbox
I picked up Halo the same day I bought my Xbox - and I wouldn't trade it for any other game! Since there's so many other reviews of Halo out there, I'll keep this short.
Graphics 5/5
The graphics in Halo are superb. There's no way around it - they aren't quite as detailed as games like Spliter Cell, but the scenery on the alien worlds is beautiful. The levels are enormous, and really make you feel like you're on an alien planet. After loading a level the load times are minimal when you enter a new area, you probably won't even notice them.
The cut scenes are awesome, they're frequent enough to tell the entire story, yet not long enough to bore you to death. You won't find yourself reading any text based mission briefings (take that Time Splitters 2!).
Sound 5/5
The sound track is great. It picks up speed in all the right places - not like other games where the music shifts as soon as an enemy comes into sight (thank you Splinter Cell).
The voice acting is excellent - everyone sounds like real actors and not like they're janitors pulled in to read a script (a la Neverwinter Nights). Nor do the in-game characters repeat the same sayings over and over in inappropriate places.
Perhaps one of the things I love most about the game are these little tidbit sayings. After my jeep I was driving was hit by a gernade and I was thrown out to my death, a marine manning the chain gun could be heard saying "Oh great, now what!?"
The little alien grunts (for some reason they speak english) are simply hilarious. They remind me of the Ewoks from Star Wars without fur. Before they throw a gernade at you they can occasionally be heard yelling in a high pitched maniac voice "Every bady outta da way! Yahaha!"
AI 5/5
The AI is excellent for a first person shooter. Depending on the dificulty setting the smarter aliens will take cover behind rocks or trees to let their shields recharge. If you circle around the rock to get a clear shot, the will circle around the opposite way to come up behind you.
Small aliens will fire off a few shots at you, then turn tail and run screaming "Run aWAY! Run aWAY!!" back to their bigger allies in an attempt to get you to run into an overwhelming battle.
Your occasional marine allies are intelligent, they charge into battle with you ducking behind whatever they can for cover. While burst firing at the enemy, one will yell "Covering fire!" and you'll see those behind him advance to cover ahead of him, ducking low. Small things like this truly bring you into the game - making you feel a part of it.
Storyline 5/5
The story is as indepth as you can expect from a first person shooter. The game does an excellent job of making you feel as though you're doing something orignial - not like you're an actor molded to someone's pre-written script (Splinter Cell).
Control 4/5
Finally! A game that will lets you have all the control over your character you need! How long will it be before other console games will let you turn down the sensitivity of your thumbsticks!
You're allowed to chose between a few different controller options - not that you'll need to. After trying a few, the default is truly the ideal set-up for the game.
My only minor complaint is the interface.
Gameplay 5/5
The game plays wonderfully, very smooth, very realistic. This is a linear game - but that won't bother you. You won't be spending any time hunting down hard to find buttons, you won't be spending any time solving puzzles. You'll be running though a straight forward mess of alien scum to blast away at will however you want.
You have everything at your disposal from a pistol, to your trusty machine gun, up to a sniper rifle, rocket launcher, and a few alien guns.
The vehicles of Halo deserve their own mention. The control on them takes a few minutes to get used to, but after that you can have a blast spinning around, squashing aliens in a Warthog (think of a cross between a Hummer and a Jeep). Or if you like, the Scorpion (a battle tank), a Ghost (alien speeder), or my favorite, the Banshee (alien fighter craft).
Multiplayer 5/5
This is the most fun I've had on a multiplayer console game since Golden Eye. Unlike other multiplayer games, there aren't just 2 or 3 maps/gametypes that are any fun (I'm looking in your direction Mechassault). Any of the 10 or so maps in Halo are a ton of fun. System link up to 4 Xboxes with a hub for up to 16 players and you'll be in for a heck of a great time.
One option I'd love to see more in games is the co-op option. Playing through Halo with a buddy was really a blast, and added an entirely new aspect to the game. The ability to system link and play 4 person Co-op would have been a big plus - but probably would have made the game too easy. And a big plus - when you die in a co-op game, you respawn next to your partner as soon as he's out of battle. No sitting out til a checkpoint or the end of the mission (not that I'd knock Time Splitters 2 again).
Thumbs down for not being Xbox Live compatible.
Bottom Line
If you own an Xbox - there is no excuse for not owning this game! This is quite possibly the best FPS since Half Life.
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