Xbox - Halo review

GAME FEATURES | Developer : Bungie A.) great co-operation play Publisher : Microsoft B.) A very long game. Your advantage, having a squad of your own. However these guys are only moral and if not careful, they'll die in front of you in the beginning. Released on November 15, 2001 C.) many cut scenes describing the story in a lot of detail D.) Four species of the Coveniant. The small guys are easy, but there are species that carry shields who are twice as big as you are. Type : First Person Shooter This game will be coming out for the PC in two months and will be Microsoft's giant Multiplayer, amazingly 3D, first person shooter. Only because it is Microsoft's only online first person shooter. Halo is already has some amazing co-operation both by squad members and extra players. This is what the developer, Bungie, hasn't forgot. When you die, the game is never over, you just sent back to the last checkpoint in the game. I find having the television volume up is the best way to stay alive. For example, you can hear your teammates saying commands or taunts over the radio. It's really helpful to hear what they have to say. In a lot of ways this game is a above average military (co-op action genre) game which so happens to be a first person shooter. STORY You and some remaining colonist have just survived the illnilation of a small planet and your ship called "The Pillar of Autumn" want some pay back. Halo isn't any name of a planet or commander of the alien army. Halo is ground zero for your launch of super explosive hardware on a small deserted asteroid belt. The Covenant are keeping you successfully planting a bomb in their mothership on Halo. Anyway these aliens already know where Earth is and want to destroy it so humans don't exist and wind out like many other alien species, extinct like the dinosaurs. And this spawned a trilogy of games, Halo (2001), Halo 2 (2003) and Halo 3 (2005.) The year is 2525 and we've only colonized space for a 100 years. 2001 Game of the Year In the game you pass some awesome scenery. Getting "The Game of the Year" in 2001 would have been already awarded when Halo came out. E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo in LA) holds "The Game of the Year" awards in October. Bungie would of easily stole that award for best action game of 2002 if Nintendo haven't released Metroid Prime. Both games are really good. Ahead of it's time in 2001. Probably the only honor achievement Microsoft had with the Xbox. I heard of this game a year ago and gamers have said that Halo was the game to own on Xbox. One year later I had a chance to played this game. It is good. The military tactics are realistic. Halo is a game that makes Rainbow Six look like a maggot. It has military tactics that the other Tom Clancy's Splitter Cell couldn't easily done. This would be over rating Halo because I've never tried Splitter Cell. Campain Mode and Multiplayer Mode(s) The game also has Multiplayer Modes. Almost all First Person Shooters have a Deathmatch mode. I've never tried Deathmatch. Halo also has Interlink cable where you can play 8 players in Deathmatch on four Xboxs. Halo is no different from other First Person Shooters, except that it has Co-op in the "campaign mode" The Co-op in campaign mode is splitscreen. The same idea Free Radical Design put into Timesplitters. Player 2 has the same armor and guns / ammo as player 1. Both go through the large levels in the game. In level 1 you landed on a deserted planet. Pyro (you) and selected squad members of the United Nations Space Command go towards and warp portal which you beam onto a alien ship. There you are surrounded with aliens who use guerilla tactics against your squad. Then Pyro needs to open doors / activate elevators without lossing teammates in the process. Very Easy is to Somewhat Easy. Easy is to good level. Normal is to hard. Hard is to Very Hard. Now for those of you who liked to drive --- The Jeep! ---- in Halo. The Jeep controls are as good as many driving games. Is it the power that makes you come back? Pyro can loose teammates in the process. However your squad doesn't feel as suicidal as Pyro does so they'll follow the red dots on Radar through out the game. Jeeps have machine guns mounted on top of it. So the right thumbstick controls the gun. It's easier firing at a distance then up close. Squad members don't get to drive Jeeps as much as you do. The point of this paragraph is driving Jeeps in Halo is fun! Which each new level you get new recruits. But like the 3rd level, you get to drive a Jeep, but your recon is lying dead somewhere just because the Covenant forces are to strong. Pyro must do eveything, including destroying the majority of the covenant. In level 4 when you crash into the mothership, but eracusally Pyro survives being rammed against the outshell. Inside is the covesant, and no recon. So it's up to you to go against really tough hunters with shields. Shields pertect them from everything including plasma grenades. Read this article from IGN.com. Summing up Halo Graphics 10.0 Halo has the Xbox hardware down packed. Like I said, this game won the 2001 Game of the Year award at E3. This game has a lot of particle effects to enjoy. Much like what guns look like in Unreal Tournament 2003. There are a lot of good looking enemies. The squad members have clarity in their faces instead of a washed out look that you'll see in games of this kind on Playstation 2 and Gamecube. Control 9.5 I like to say that controls are good. You can easily target the enemy. On the PC you'll get to play this game with a keyboard and mouse. The weapons can easily be sorted with the B button. A is for jumping. And naturally, the left and right triggers are for firing the weapon / tossing out grenades. Orginalism 10.0 Highly original. Bungie got the feel of some of those games that Red Storm Entertainment (developer for Tom Clancy's Splitter Cell, Rainbow 6 Raven Shield and DEUS EX) has. You can even include Perfect Dark and Goldeneye in this category. All are the leading military action games which require stealth a much as teamplay. Sound Effects 10.0 Halo is full of mature taunts and a radio with real military commands. Whether you follow them is your choice. Sometimes if you follow the commands of your squad, you'll see how valuable they are to you. The main point of this game is the weapon fire and the music. Yes, the gun firing sounds like a M-16 assault rifle or a double barrow 20 caliber sniper. The music is good and atmospheric for Halo. The game features futuristic industrial tunes. Replayibly 10.0 The main game is long. But what makes this an ideal xbox title was that it wasn't rushed in the production. The co-op game play was well thought out. The graphics are great. You'll have fun playing with a squad in campaign mode or deathmatch in multiplayer mode because of it's slick control.

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