Review!

 

 

Half-Life?! HA! We have a new FPS king!

 

Sets the Xbox apart from the competition!

Think Xbox is just a “low-spec PC in a box”? Well think again! It’s a dedicated games machine and Halo just shows how far ahead of the competition it is! When it comes down to launch games they aren’t showing what a console can do, but Halo just shows what Xbox can do! From the gobsmacking graphics and atmospheric sounds to the superb gameplay and gripping storyline, Halo just shows why Xbox is miles better than any other console available! If there was any one reason just to own an Xbox this is it! You can keep your Final Fantasy’s and Metal Gear Solids, when we Xbox owners have Halo, we don’t need those games! Just like was said in the Halo ad #2: “Sets Xbox apart from the competition!” And it really does!

 

 

Gripping, freaky storyline!

Halo is a FPS but not along the lines of Quake, think more along the lines of Half-Life as Halo is a story driven game and here’s a brief description of the beginning. Your character (Master Chief) is awoken from cryo-sleep to find the ship you are on “The Pillar of Autumn” is under attack by Covenant after making a “blind-jump” to lead them away from the human colony world of “Reach” (Want to know what Reach is? Then buy the official prequel book “Halo: The Fall of Reach” by Eric Nylund) so the Covenant don’t find out about Earth. The reason Master Chief is awoken is to take care of “Cortana”.

Cortana is a program that contains information about Earth and you must not let the Covenant get a hold of er…“her” so they don’t find out about Earth and invade it (Why do I refer to Cortana as “her” well Cortana has a hologram of a rather attractive woman made entirely of data and the voice too.). Your first mission on the first level is to safely take Cortana off the Pillar of Autumn and land on the alien Ring-world “Halo”. And from then on the story will have more twists than a tightly coiled spring. The story will grip you like a vice and is more freaky than a bearded lady!

 

 

 

“Bloody hell! Look at that!”

That’ll be what you’re going to say when you see Halo in action! From the amazing intro to the ultra-realistic water and ice effects you’ll be struggling to keep your jaw off of the floor! The screenshots on this page don’t do the graphics justice! You have to see the game in action! In the screenshot above (the one with the beach) you can see how good the water looks, but you really have to see it move! It looks just like REAL water, when you see the waves coming onto the beach moving you’ll be seeing water effects never before witnessed. As well as great looking water there is great looking textures in the game, everything looks so real from an individual blaze of grass to the trees, to the rocks, to the cliffs, if you squint a bit it’ll look real! As well as these great textures the Xbox shows it’s power for lighting effects when you use the flashlight, especially on the alien ships, you’ll look at the floor on the ship, it’ll look just like a normal texture but switch on the flashlight and be amazed! If you look at the floor and spin around you’ll see the way the light moves around the bumps on the floor, just like in real life! While on the subject of the flashlight let me mention just how good the beam itself looks! When you see it on a surface it looks like a real torchlight would look, it’s not just a blob of light that’s the same light in a circle, some parts are dimmer where the shape of the light-bulb is, just like a real torch. While we’re on this subject of lighting effects you should look at the sun and walk past a tree while looking at it and the sunlight will filter through the leaves on the tree and it looks absolutely amazing! Also let me tell you about the lighting effects of the plasma guns the Covenant use, when a Covenant is charging a blast from the plasma pistol you can see the green glow from it reflecting on nearby walls. When you see the fire and explosion effects prepare to be gobsmacked again as they look brilliant too! The human models in this game are very impressive, each human has intricate movements like blinking and finger movements, you can see this in great detail if you zoom in on their faces with a weapon with a zoom feature. You’ll see a great amount of detail on the faces of each human in the game, but more on them later. As well as the human characters looking great the Covenant characters also look fantastic! Whenever you kill one you can’t help but have a look at them, they look very interesting and good to look at because of all the detail.

 

 

 

The Marines and the Covenant

I have decided to dedicate this part of the review to those great characters from the game - The Marines and The Covenant. I have decided to because not only are the models for these characters great but I would like to explain a bit more in depth why these characters are so important. The Marines are basically reinforcements that are at your disposal, while most of the time they are just cannon fodder it’s good that they can help you out when things get too hectic. Each marine has his own personality and character model with intricate movements such as blinking (you can see this if you use a weapon with a zoom feature to zoom in on their face) and highly detailed faces with marks and distinguishing features like scars and stubble. Each Marine also has their own personality and voice and you can tell where each Marine’s accent is from, you’ll hear accents from Latin America, USA, Australia and even some English accents are in there. When Marines are about and helping you in battle you’ll hear them shouting stuff and the Sergeants dishing out orders and as they are Marines you’ll expect a bit of foul-mouth from them every now and then.

The Covenant also have their own voices although the Elites all sound alike, most of the Grunts sound alike, the Jackals sound alike and so do the hunters, they all have the same model too, but some look different, some Covenant are different colours from others of their kind, and the invisible Elites look amazing, think Predator style invisibility, not quite completely invisible as their shape disturbs the look of surrounding atmosphere when you look at them. You can’t help but look at the corpses of the Covenant after you’ve killed them, as they look fantastic.

Here are some high-quality pictures of the Marines and Covenant.

 

It’s all about atmosphere.

“Aaaww aaaawwwaaaaawww aawaawaaaaaaw aww aww aww aaaawww…” OK, so that little quote doesn’t really show you how good the theme tune sounds, but I’m kind of trying to give you the picture (and failing)

Anyway, the music for this game is very very good. From the theme tune to the tension mounting moments the music won’t let you down. There is very little “in-game” music, most of the time it’s quiet so you can only hear sound effects of Covenant in the background and this can create a tense atmosphere when you can hear them, but can’t see them. Sometimes there is music when there’s a lot of action going on, like the beginning of the “Silent Cartographer” level where you are straight into the action and you don’t need to have to be keeping a keen ear on listening for Covenant noises (more on that later). Other times in the levels music will start after you have done a certain thing, like activating a switch or wiping out a swarm of enemies, only to have more appearing and raising the tension. A good example of tension building is on a certain part of the level “Guilty Spark 343” I won’t tell you exactly what happens but the music along with the cut-scene you’ll see will build the tension extremely high and is one of the greatest moments in the game.

 

“He’s unstoppable! Run away!”

Before playing Halo you’ll be expecting a very serious game and attitude, but when you first start to play the game you’ll can’t help but laugh at the behaviour of the Covenant Grunts, as they talk English you’ll hear their hilarious voice shouting stuff like “He’s unstoppable! Run a-way!” and “He’s gonna kill us all!” as well as a few other quotes and screams. If they kill you however, then they will say something quite different like “Huh? Yay! Me! Me! It was me! I got him!” and “I get his gun!” whatever they are saying, it’s hilarious. Also the screams when you kill/melee attack them are funny. Whenever you’re killed and an Elite is around they will laugh and their laugh is quite funny it’s like “Har har har!” in a funny strange voice, but when you kill an Elite their death scream is funny too! The screams of ALL Covenant are hilarious when a grenade blows them up and they fly through the air in a comical fashion. One thing you should try with ANY Covenant is sticking a plasma grenade to them, as they scramble desperately to get it off they sometimes run into a group of their own and kill them all, plus what the Grunts say when you stick it to them is funny, they say stuff like “Not again!” and “Get it off! Get it off!” you really have to hear it.

 

Who needs a keyboard and mouse now?!

I know what you may be thinking by now “It looks great and sounds great, but that means nothing if it doesn’t play well. FPS are best played using a keyboard and mouse!” well due to the well-designed Xbox controller it plays wonderfully! With an easy to use move and look system using the two thumbsticks to replace the mouse and keyboard this is the best control system for a console FPS EVER! Once you’ve gotten use to the controls you’ll be running/strafing/shooting with ease since the triggers are the attack buttons. You won’t find it difficult to reach all the buttons needed at once, you’ll be able to switch on the torch (with the white button) and switch between normal and plasma grenades (with the black button) easily. Jumping (A button) and melee attacking (B button) are easy and switching weapons (Y button) and reloading (X button) are easy to reach and since only 2 weapons can be carried at once you wont need to go through all the weapons you don’t want to use to get to the one you want. Since only 2 weapons can be carried at once if you wanted to pick up another weapon you’ll have to sacrifice the one you have in order to pick the other one (done by holding the X button), so a bit of strategic thinking is needed. Crouching is needed sometimes and is done by pushing in the left thumbstick and pushing in the right thumbstick does zooming in with a weapon with a zoom scope. Suffice to say, this is the best FPS control system outside of the Mouse/Keyboard combo.

 

The Weapons and Vehicles of choice.

Both the humans and the Covenant have their own type of weapons, some work better than others in certain situations and some weapons will suit some people rather than others. For example a person who likes an Assault Rifle might not like the pistol and will swap the pistol for another weapon that he likes, like the plasma rifle for example. Also the humans and Covenant have their own type of grenades, while human forces have fragmentation grenades the Covenant have plasma grenades and each has it’s own strategic value. Each side also have their own type of vehicles and while human vehicles are more or less indestructible, Covenant vehicles can be destroyed (So much for advanced alien technology!) but most of the Covenant vehicles can be stolen/hijacked and taken for a ride but be careful the vehicle doesn’t get too badly damaged or you’re in trouble.

Below I have a small gallery of the weapons from each side.

Human weapons and Vehicles

MA5B Assault Rifle: Standard issue assault rifle for Marines. This is a useful gun throughout the whole game.	M6D Pistol: Standard issue pistol for marines. Has a zoom scope on it which is useful for dealing with grunts doing a headshot, can also bring down a hunter in one shot if you get a clear shot at their weak spot.		M90 Shotgun: An extremely powerful weapon for close range combat and good for taking down more than 1 enemy in 1 shot. A weapon you should keep if you find it.
S2 AM Sniper Rifle: A very useful long-range gun, which can be used to take out Elites and other Covenant in one shot from far away. Headshots are a must.	M 19 SSM Rocket Launcher: A weapon that fires rockets and useful for tough enemies like Hunters. Good for destroying Covenant tanks. Also useful to blow up many enemies at once. Reloading is slow and ammo is sparse.		Master Chief firing rocket at Covenant Tank.
M 12 LRV Warthog Jeep with attached M41 LAAG: The warthog jeep is a useful all terrain vehicle and can carry 2 passengers (one is gunner) and 1 driver. The M41 LAAG chaingun mounted on the back is very powerful and good at taking out enemies you might have missed when you drive by.		M808B Scorpion MBT Tank: The ultimate vehicle in Halo, the main gun is 90mm HV (High Velocity) and extremely powerful. Secondary gun is a 7.62mm AP-T (Armour Piercing, Tracer) machine gun that can be used while the main gun is reloading. Can carry 2 crew (or 1 cyborg) and can carry up to 4 on the sides. Indestructible and powerful.	Master Chief showing how a tank should be used.

Human weapons not pictured:

M9 HE-DP Grenade: A powerful explosive useful for taking out a group of enemies quickly, a well-placed throw is extremely effective.

Human vehicle not picture here:

Pelican: A vehicle useful for carrying reinforcements into battle and can also good for transporting Warthog jeeps. Cortana keeps in contact with the “Foe hammer” ship and calls for reinforcements, pick up and Warthogs every now and then. A picture of the pelican is on the page.

 

Covenant weapons and Vehicles

Plasma Pistol: Standard issue weapon for Covenant grunts and Jackals. Can charge up a homing blast or can fire short rapid blasts. Useful for taking out Jackal’s shields. Will overcharge if fired to quickly and will overcharge if homing charge blast is used. Specs: Core power output: 100-150Kv @ 2-3 dA Overcharge power output: 1.5Mv @ 2-3 dA	Plasma Rifle: Standard issue weapon for Covenant Elites. Fires short rapid bursts and is useful at taking out Jackals shields. Will overcharge is fired too quickly. Runs out of ammo quickly and will need regular replacing. Specs: Core power output: 100-150 Kv @ 2-3 dA Rate of Fire: 420 to 600 RD/MIN
Needler: Sometimes used by Grunts or Elites. Fires small homing shards of glass that explode after embedding themselves in target. If many shards hit target this will cause an isolated explosion on target and can affect nearby targets. Useful against Elites to get rid of their shields quickly.	Plasma Grenade: Covenant standard issue grenade. Will stick to target and explode after a few seconds. There is a wide spread of plasma on explosion.
Ghost: Standard reconnaissance and rapid attack vehicle. Has 2 front mounted plasma cannons (110-250 kW range). Hovers over ground. Speedy, but can flip easily and can’t take too much damage.	Banshee: Standard ground assault vehicle. Fast flying vehicle and extremely manoeuvrable. Has 2 Plasma cannons and 2 Fuel rod cannons. Small arms fire can disrupt or disable pilot.	Covenant Tank (Wraith): Heavily armoured ground vehicle. Hovers above ground. Fires large plasma rounds into air at angle and although slow moving, can cause damage if fired at the right angle and hit nearby. Not indestructible like human tank. Can’t be driven by humans.

Covenant weapons not pictured:

Stationary Gun (Shade): A stationary gun that fires a large spread of plasma. Effective against enemies at close and long range, but there is no protection for the gunner at the sides or rear. It’s hard for the gunner to escape if a well-placed grenade is thrown near Shade since it takes him a couple of seconds to dismount.

 

4 Xboxs, 16 conrtollers, 15 mates, 1 mutliplayer rammy!

Another great feature of halo is it’s brilliant multiplayer game that is capable of up to 16 players using Ethernet cables and a LAN hub. Of course if you don’t have 3 other mates that have an Xbox and a copy of Halo as well as all the extra pads and mates then you can just play the standard 2-4 players game on 1 Xbox or if you do have one mate with an Xbox get a link cable and you can have up to 8 player Halo matches. There are 5 standard multiplayer modes: Capture the Flag (CTF), King of the Hill, Slayer, Oddball and Race.

Here are the objectives of each mode:

 

Capture the Flag: The object of this game is to capture the enemy flag as many times as is needed. This game is best played in teams.

King of the Hill: The object of this game is to get to certain locations on the map and stay in the target zone while keeping the other players out. The game ends when 1 of the players gets the pre-set amount of time for occupying the target zone.

Slayer: This is a classic deathmatch style game where the object is to kill all the other players and the winner is the one with the most kills.

Oddball: The object of this game is to hold onto the skull (Oddball) for the allotted amount of time while trying to avoid every other player.

Race: The object in this game is to “tag” all the objective points that appear to win the race.

 

If the standard default game modes are not enough for you, you can go into multiplayer edit and make your own CTF, KOTH, Slayer, Oddball or Race style mode with your own choice of weapons and rules. All the modes are great fun and a great way to spend time with up to 15 of your friends… or enemies! Halo tournament anyone?

The multiplayer also has a 2-player “co-op” mode that will allow 2 players to battle their way through the entire game while helping each other out. This mode is great fun and a good laugh.

The only thing that the multiplayer lacks is an online mode, but that’s probably because Xbox isn’t online yet, expect an online mode in the sequel.

 

Work up to the ultimate goal – Legendary!

Halo like most games has varying difficulty levels and for the best Halo players the challenge is to complete the whole game on the hardest setting – “Legendary”. After completing the game in Easy, Normal or Heroic, Legendary will be the ultimate challenge! You may get through the game in Normal without too much trouble and also Heroic might not prove too hard but Legendary is by far miles harder than Heroic! Heroic may seem tough but Legendary is at sometimes near impossible and requires repeated tries of the same situation over and over until you’ve got passed it. Sometimes you have to rely on pure luck (or running away like a big girl) to get past. The game is very hectic with no or little reinforcements coming in (they get slaughtered within seconds) and every enemy in the room shooting your ass off within a few seconds, you won’t last very long, all the enemies, even the grunts are super hard and need Jedi-like reflexes and/or strategic thinking to get past without being killed! Each Elite requires almost 1 full Assault Rifle clip to be emptied into them to beat them and weapons that didn’t seem too good in earlier skill levels seem to be much more useful. The enemies are a pain in the arse to kill and move and shoot much quicker as well as being physically tougher. No wonder the designers said this about the setting: “This is suicide!”

What do you get for completing the game in this nigh-on impossible setting? A longer ending sequence. Worth doing it for? Well, kinda… lets just say it’s funny (I have done it)! But if you do manage to beat the game in Legendary, be proud! For you will be one of the greatest Halo players there is!

 

The Game Overall!

A fantastic game and surely the BEST FPS EVER! A must-have for any Xbox owner! The campaign mode, co-op mode and up to 16 player multiplayer mode are fantastic and ensure months of fun and replayability, frankly this is the only reason needed to buy an Xbox. I seriously urge you to buy this, then get your fiends to buy it, then you can all get 4 pads each for your Xbox’s, a hub, and a few link up cables then play 16 player multiplayer matches.

The Bottom Line – BUY IT!

 

The Mark!

 

Barry the SuperScot

 

* Alert * for spoiler click here!

 

 

 

Pictures courtesy of Bungie.com, Bungie.net, Xbox.com and GamesDomain.com