Gampeplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J64Gn60y1o4&index=1&list=PLebpytFvkBzvMlypgiChn9bUthdFXcQwf&t=473s (Uses the PC port that was released in 2005)
Description
The Halo series is one of the flagship titles of the Xbox and this was its very first game, released in 2001. There have been 5 games in the main series to date, along with several spin-offs and remakes. This is about the original game that was released in 2001 and not the 2011 Anniversary version, which comes with additional features and improved graphics.
The game opens in medias res. You are in the middle of a war between humans of the future and more technologically advanced aliens. From the very beginning, the situation is already bleak. As a super soldier, you are tasked with an important duty of not dying or being captured and explore the strange structure that you have found yourselves stranded on, the titular ring world of Halo.
Elemental Tetrad
Aesthetics
Due to the game being released in 2001, the graphics cannot compare to today’s ones. Even the anniversary version, which had updated graphics, is still very underwhelming compared to the newest game Halo sequel. However, the reason why I chose the older version despite the fact that there was a newer updated rerelease was because for all intents and purposes, the aesthetics served their purpose well. Humans are very identifiably humans and the aliens even more so. There is a very clear distinction between them and throughout the game, it is always evident that humans are on your side and everything else isn’t.
The music, even today, is still top notch. The title screen, the first thing you see when you boot up the game, already sets the mood. You are treated to a spanning view of the titular ring world and given ominous music that hints that the world has many mysteries that are not all good. The title sets the tone that this will be a dark and serious game. Then in the very game itself, the music sets the lows and highs of the game very well. When you are hiding in the shadows, shying away from the overwhelming numbers of the enemy or from the zombies known as the Flood (shown on the right), the music is creepy and scary. I remember as a child that while at first I was afraid of the aliens known as the Covenant, they could not at all compare to the Flood, which are nightmare fuel in their own right that I always attempted to kill as soon as possible. The music was what cemented that experience. Imagine listening to this while being chased by a wave of zombies and desperately shooting everything you have. The only reason why it is not evolve to an outright horror game was because you were still capable of fighting back, which the music also enforces.
Technology
As this game was originally released on the Xbox, it used the capabilities of the Xbox as much as it could. Most buttons were mapped in as intuitive a manner as possible, such as the right trigger being used to fire your weapon. The Xbox controller’s ability to vibrate was used to emphasise a lot of the things happening on screen. The Xbox was also one of the stronger consoles of its time, contesting with the Playstation 1. This was made use of by pushing that to its limit, creating a large and beautiful world that one could explore and discover using 3D graphics.
Mechanics
Halo is a first person shooter game, and thus that makes it straightforward. Find a weapon. Point and shoot. I felt that all of its weapons had their own unique characteristics that none of the other weapons shared. For example, the weapon that the Master Chief, the main character, uses in the cover is called the Assault Rifle, which is very simply a machine gun that one just holds down the button to continually spray bullets until one has to reload. The pistol, on the other hand, serves a very different purpose, capable of zooming in and serving as a good long range weapon as well because of its ability to down most unshielded targets in a single headshot. The alien weapons that use plasma serve well to take down shielded enemies, on the other hand. The plasma pistol in particular is capable of taking down a single target’s shields with a charged shot, something which was taken advantage of as the difficulty increased.
Story
The story is also one of the hooks of Halo. While at first, the player is thrown into a world without any prior information, a lot of the game goes into revealing more about the world, as well as the titular Halo. The all important war between the humans and the aliens known as the Covenant is a mere backdrop to the horrifying Halo and its secrets. The Halo was built by an even more advanced race than the Covenant known as the Forerunners, who had one day suddenly disappeared from the universe. All that was left was their technology and their AI, of which most notable in this game was 343 Guilty Spark, otherwise known as the Monitor of Halo.
The Lens of the Character Web
The main character in this game is the Master Chief, the armoured superhuman who we are never able to see the face of in-game. He is stronger than all the other humans and essentially the most important human in the series. The player gets to play as him, living a legend as he single-handedly brings victory to the human race.
However, this game does not focus on just this. The characters around the Master Chief never outright tell the Master Chief that ‘You are the most important person here’. Actually, the Captain of the ship is the most important in story. But the player gets the feeling because every time the Master Chief appears on scene, the characters react immediately to him. The humans thank him profusely for appearing and helping them out of a pinch, rallying behind him without hesitation. The Covenant fear him and the smaller mooks cry out in dread when faced against him. Some even run away the moment the strongest aliens in their squad (aptly named Elites by the humans) get defeated. There is also Cortana, the AI who accompanies you for much of the game, giving off snarky commentary when she can, lampshading and highlighting many of the aspects of the game and providing a nice contrast to the mostly silent Master Chief.
The interactions of the character around him is what solidifies the Master Chief, and by extension the player, as a person of importance and makes the player feel good playing as him.
The Lens of Pleasure
The goal of a first person shooter is simple. Give the player an ability to shoot things and kill them in a satisfactory manner. In that way, I believe Halo has succeeded tremendously. As mentioned before, its many different weapons provide different ways to kill enemies. But that is not the only thing it has. It also provides a satisfying way to kill enemies through a melee attack to the back if the enemy is unaware of the player. Then there is also sending an enemy off the cliff and letting them fall to their death. Of course, there is the way of sticking a sticky Plasma Grenade onto an enemy and watching it struggle to get it off before exploding in a satisfying explosion of blue plasma. Then, there is simply driving over an enemy with a vehicle of choice. I believe Halo has brought much variety to the different ways to kill enemies, which entertains the player sufficiently until the very end.
The Lens of Skill
As my first game on the Xbox and technically my first video game ever, I can safely say that I possessed no prior ability with first person shooters. Halo was well made in that it rewards players for being skilled while still having a low learning curve. If you don’t know what to do, you are provided a default weapon capable of just holding down the trigger to pepper your enemies with a constant rain of bullets. However, as you grow more skilled, the default sidearm, the pistol, gives you the ability to one-shot most enemies with a headshot. The ability to melee attack is also well implemented, due to its ability to interrupt any action you are currently performing to perform a melee attack, thus allowing you to constantly be doing something and not be stuck in a reload animation while facing down an enemy. Skilled players who are able to get behind enemies are also rewarded by being able to melee attack them and thus kill in a single attack. The grenades also provide skilled players with the ability to put a well placed grenade to take out most enemies. The plasma grenade has the capability to ‘stick’ onto enemies, which means that a well placed plasma grenade ensures that enemy’s death. There is not much randomness in this game except for shot deviation, thus allowing players to improve their skill very easily.
The Lens of Curiosity
Halo has a large map for its time, and curiosity for exploring the map is rewarded a lot of the time. Sometimes, it is merely a hidden Medpack (which restores health) or an Overshield (which gives one more layer of shielding). However, at other times it is a stronger weapon or an easter egg.
This lens is expanded even further in the sequels, as more easter eggs (including the soon well-known Skulls) were added.
Conclusion
I think that Halo was a great game and a game of my childhood, which was why I chose it.