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| Title |
Halo: Combat Evolved |
8 |
| Publisher |
Microsoft |
| Developer |
Bungie |
| Genre |
FPS |
| Players |
1-16 |
| Version |
UK PAL |
Remarkable feat
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Halo: Combat Reviewed
The incredible hype surrounding Microsoft?s virginal entry into the console market was mainly caused by Bungie?s space combat odyssey, Halo: Combat Evolved.
The gigantic, hyperactive rush of sensationalist articles immediately followed after Halo was released, spawning mostly perfect review scores and giving hardcore Xbox devotees something to talk about for years to come.
Is Halo the perfect circle (excuse the pun) everybody wants you to believe? Make no mistake, Halo is a wonderful game ? yet it has some design flaws that many reviews have failed to mention on several occasions, an obvious impediment of any sort of truthful opinion about the game. I didn?t write this review in order to ?expose? Halo; I wrote it in the good intention of creating an honest review of a much hyped game. Let the alien decimation begin!
Halo places you in the role of the ?Master Chief?, an engineered semi-android soldier with a taste for killing. A strong alliance between alien races, the ?Covenant?, is seemingly hell-bent on destroying mankind?s stellar fleet as man reaches further and further into the galaxies. In a brave maneuver to lure the aliens away from their warpath towards planet Earth, the Pillar of Autumn is shot down, placing the player in the ring shaped planet of Halo. Not only has a massive war between the surviving humans and the Covenant begun, but the hunt for the secret of Halo.
The story in Halo is not of great importance. Even though there is a plot-twist here and there, the fact remains that Halo is an all-out action oriented first person shooter that has no need for a proper plot. Instead, Halo presents the player with what seems like an integrated environment. There are divided missions, yes, but still the environment feels open and most importantly of all, free. Unlike other typical first person shooters where the powerful weaponry is placed in the hands of the player at the end of the game, Halo almost presents you with all the weapons available in the entire game from the beginning. However, you can only carry two weapons at a time, spawning intelligent and tactical thinking on your part. Do you really need a rocket launcher for close quarter combat, or would the alien plasma weapon be more suitable? Playing Halo, you are often faced with these sorts of choices, which deepen the experience considerably.
The combat in Halo is quite spontaneous, something missed in today?s first person shooters. Level structure is linear, yet the combat within this structure isn?t. The Covenant artificial intelligence is good and poses the perfect opponent ? a purposely devised ?semi-smart? intelligence that is fun to play against.
Mainly set either on the outside or inside of Halo, the locations that the game puts you through aren?t varied, yet does this really matter? The main focus of Halo is the combat, so this isn?t important, while it is probably evidence of lack of time (discussed later).
Technically, Halo is impressive, even to most of the GeForce 4 PC generation of gamers. Taking full advantage of the Xbox?s secular lighting and bump mapping capabilities, Halo boasts profound visuals. What stands out the most is how the graphical style feels integrated into the game world, and not as a mere ?bonus? to the game itself ? Halo?s visual flair stays faithful throughout every graphical detail featured.
Although graphically potent, one of Halo?s most spectacular uses of the technology present has to be the vehicle/weaponry physics engine. The wheels of the Warthog jeep absorb shock and suspend force with perfect animation, enemies soar through the air after experiencing a grenade detonation, empty bullet casings roll down hills after being ejaculated from the side of the Master Chief?s rifle, and the sun refracts beautifully when viewing it through branches from the alien trees ? the calculations involved behind these physics add to the dynamic, spontaneous presentation of the Halo world. It?s a shame then that with all these detailed nuances, Bungie left out advanced physics ? including ?rag doll? physics of characters, as they are featured in games like Hitman: Codename 47 and Unreal Tournament 2003. ?Rag doll? physics is a term coined to describe the calculation behind a ?dead body? ? for example the perfect representation, with limb displacement, of a dead body falling down a flight of stairs, and seeing the impact of an explosion rattling through a Covenant in perfect motion would have added to the spontaneity. This is a hardly vital feature for a game, yet with all the other immense detail put in to the more unimportant aspects of Halo, the standard looking death animations of the Covenant feel out of place ? perhaps suggesting that the team behind Halo were severely pressed for time, trying to make that all important Xbox deadline.
This lack of time to round off the final product is not only apparent in the lack of this nuance ? it is also obvious in one of the most important parts of the game ? the levels.
The first part of the game is diverse. The missions are varied, the scripted sequences interesting and the general feel of war is astounding. Suddenly, however, about halfway through the game, the levels start repeating themselves. This isn?t the most annoying fact that ? the levels are populated with brainless enemies that have no artificial intelligence whatsoever. They come at you in masses. Sadly, these will be the enemies you face for almost the rest of the game, which is a fatal design flaw as the intelligent Covenant are sorely missed. The essence of Halo, being tactical combat (?combat evolved?) is from that point on destroyed, although the final level structure manages to entice the player once more. This lack of single player levels severely stunts Halo?s review score, as it?s the main gripe the game possesses.
Bungie?s stressful time to complete Halo is noticeable throughout the entire game. It feels as if it is fifty percent complete, plus the ?secret? of Halo is the brainless A.I, although I won?t say more ? you?ll have to find out for yourself what this new enemy is.
After completing Halo you feel that the single player experience is somewhat lacking, and you?re left with either completing Halo again on a harder difficulty setting, or going for the multiplayer mode. Halo has an impressive array of different multiplayer modes for you and your friends to enjoy; the two player cooperative mode being the most enjoyable. The cooperative mode puts you and your friend in the single player campaign, and this works out surprisingly well, one of Halo?s stronger points.
To sum up, Halo is a flawed game, but nonetheless brilliant. If Bungie would have had a bit more time to develop it (possibly Microsoft?s fault), Halo could have become one of the best first person shooters of all time. So is it better than the rest? It certainly stands out, and it?s a must have for any Xbox owner, yet people shouldn?t see it as ?the ultimate reason? for getting the actual console it?s currently exclusive for. The major flaw of Halo rears it\'s ugly head all too often in the form of repetition, and this is why I just can\'t score Halo as high as many others do.
Halo 2 has recently been announced, and this time Bungie will have the time to get it completely right, and a PC conversion of Halo is currently being developed by Gearbox Software. The future is bright for the Halo franchise ? this first entry into the franchise almost being a true classic. Almost.
8 out of 10
Henric Swahn |
| Second Opinion - Seth Powell |
While I have my grievances with the XBox controller, I didn\'t let this stop me from trying to enjoy this game. There is no denying the hype this game received and in a lot of ways I feel it deserved it. The levels are expansive and beautiful and the scenery is gorgeous. The AI of the computer grunts is also something to have some fun with, but for me this wasn\'t as fun as was toted.
Having only played it on co-operative multiplayer I found the delights to be had but the actual mission levels where you were forced underground to be repetetive and boring. Entire sections and rooms were recreated time and again, and the textures used were bland and unimaginative. It made carrying out the inside parts of the game more of a chore than an enjoyable experience, and it hindered the fun here for me.
That being said, it is definately a must own for the XBox and despite it\'s few flaws a great game in itself. I feel like the minority for not giving this game the perfect 10, but for me, the score is justified.
My score: 7 |
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