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Greg Kasavin Executive Editor, PC Games |
Now Playing: Halo, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Counter-Strike, Soldier of Fortune II (test), Dungeon Siege, Heroes of Might and Magic IV Will Halo Come Out for the PC: Yes, according to Microsoft. When: Don't ask. Is It Worth Waiting For: Not when you can play it right now. |
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Halo's 10 Commandments
Though there are plenty of good reasons to get an Xbox, Bungie Software's superlative shooter, Halo: Combat Evolved, is still the best. With all due respect to classic console launch games such as Super Mario 64 and Super Mario World, I wouldn't hesitate to name Halo as my single favorite system launch game of all time. Ciao, Combat. Step aside, Safari Hunt. Move it, Mario. Catch you later, Keith Courage. Avast, Altered Beast. Scoot over, Soul Calibur. Yeah, that's right. Countless glowing reviews have tried to convey just how great of an action game Halo truly is--by now, most everyone already knows. I could gush on about it as much as the next guy, but I wanted to understand precisely why the game is so good--this was brought on by the sudden urge simply to play it a lot more. This lengthy article contains my findings: the 10 specific qualities that make Halo the exceptional game that it is. In listing these qualities, I overlook some of the obvious facts--the fact that Halo looks amazing, controls responsively, and generally plays great. Instead, for now I'm more interested in some of the subtler things that the game accomplishes. Without further ado, I think Halo is a textbook case for superior game design for the following reasons:
1. The Setting
Halo's sci-fi setting is original and memorable, but it draws on some popular conventions to make it seem familiar right off the bat. It's easy to get caught up in the action from the get-go. There's a war between space-age humans and the zealous alien faction, the Covenant. The game begins when a human warship discovers an enigmatic planet-sized, ring-shaped object floating in outer space: Halo. The visual design throughout Halo is on par with what you'd expect from a good Hollywood science-fiction movie. Everything in the game looks slick, and there's a consistent visual design to human technology vs. that of the Covenant. I knew I was really into Halo's fiction when I found myself never picking up any of the alien weapons on the battlefield--despite their effectiveness, I found the thought of using the Covenant's weapons offensive. I'm not using that alien garbage, those bastards.
 |  Master Chief is my hero. |
The soft-spoken, coolheaded Master Chief, whom you control throughout Halo, is like a male version of Metroid's Samus--enigmatic and all business, yet with enough of a personality to be endearing. The Master Chief's well-honed combat skills are evident in the game's excellent animations--the way he effortlessly loads shells into his combat shotgun and the way he throws grenades like fastballs rather than like water balloons all help make the Chief seem like a real tough customer. Master Chief is an experimental supersoldier with a specially designed combat suit, and this justifies why he can withstand so much damage, so much that you don't have to suspend your disbelief, as in other shooters. Chief's recharging energy shields also provide an innovative twist to the gameplay--as long as you can avoid taking damage for a few seconds, your shields will charge back up to full, letting you continue the fight. Having to recharge your shields will force you into many a strategic retreat while playing Halo. So while you're incredibly powerful, to be sure, you never feel invulnerable, and you'll always keep an eye out for places where you can duck and cover if you have to.
3. The Sound
Halo's excellent musical score cues up at key moments in the gameplay, the sounds of all the weapons are terrific, and the voices for friendly marines and enemy aliens are all superb--though the Covenant's grunts are perhaps too much in the way of comic relief. One of the best details is that the marines even have different accents. I especially love the weapon effects, though. Master Chief's melee attacks already look painful, but you can hear, as well as see, the power of these stunning attacks. Each weapon has its own distinct, heavy-sounding thud for when it strikes a target. In general, Halo's audio enriches the entire gameplay experience. It's as integral to the game as any of the other items on this list.
|  Your marine buddies are pretty good shots, but they'll need your help to stay alive. |
Halo has some of the best artificial intelligence of any shooter. That doesn't mean the Covenant is impossible to beat--it means they really seem alive as you're fighting them. The Covenant's elites deftly leap out of the way of grenade blasts and use cover effectively. They have shields, much like you do, and they'll seek cover to recharge them if they take damage, just like you will. The elites come across like the well-trained, savage warriors they're supposed to be. One of my favorite touches is that if you're killed by an elite, he'll take a couple of potshots at your lifeless body, laughing arrogantly. You're not always fighting them alone--some of Halo's best scenes are the ones in which you're shooting alongside your fellow marines, who will capably take on the Covenant themselves. These moments bring out the best in Halo's artificial intelligence, because it's here that you realize that the game's battles aren't scripted, like in most shooters. If you don't help the marines, they'll probably be killed, so you'll have a tougher battle ahead of you. You can lead them into the fray or hang back and help them out. At any rate, Halo's large-scale battles truly play out differently each time, which is the ultimate testament to the game's AI.
|  That assault rifle won't do you much good against a Banshee, but a rocket will turn it into a heap of rubble. |
One of the best things about Halo is the underlying physics engine. Fans of Bungie's Myth games will be quick to notice that Halo's physics, as in the Myth games, create some visually stunning battles as well as some key tactical considerations. The effect of grenade explosions in Halo is incredible, as they send your foes (or their corpses) flying every which way, sometimes straight toward you. The sight of the Warthog all-terrain vehicle tearing across the uneven surface of Halo, its independent suspension working overtime, is extremely impressive as well. And one of the greatest pleasures in the game is picking off one of the Covenant's Banshees, their flying strike craft, using a rocket launcher. The heavy, smoldering remains of the craft come crashing down, obliterating anything in the area of impact. I happened to be standing in the crash zone the first time I shot one down, and it was the best death I've ever experienced in a shooter. Halo's excellent physics make you feel like you're in a real battlefield.
6. The Weapons
Every shooter needs good weapons, and Halo's weapons are awesome. They're very well balanced--one isn't necessarily flat-out better than another, but certain weapons are better suited to certain situations. You can carry only two weapons at a time, so choosing the right weapons is an important tactical consideration throughout the game. Having to scavenge the battlefield for more weapons and ammo also helps further the sense that you're in way over your head against your foes. But my favorite aspect of the weapons is that you can use every last one of them to bludgeon your foes at close range. Master Chief's various melee attacks all look incredibly painful (and are suitably powerful), and being able to strike with your weapons besides just shoot with them makes them all feel much more tangible--like the deadly metal objects that they're meant to be. The grenades also deserve mention--Master Chief has an all-star throwing arm (and he's a lefty!), and the effect of grenades detonating is incredibly cool and never gets old. There's never been a shooter in which grenades were as useful, as in Halo. Part of this is due to the fact that, in another innovative touch, you can always chuck a grenade even when you have another weapon at the ready, unlike in other shooters.
|  Vehicles like the Warthog clearly distinguish Halo from the likes of other shooters. |
Considered by many players to be the single greatest thing about Halo, the four controllable vehicles in the game not only look great but also all have a uniquely realistic feel to them. Again, the vehicles make you feel very powerful, but not so much that you're invincible. One bad turn in a Warthog, and you'll flip it right over (though Chief's strong enough to flip it right side up). One well-placed rocket, and that Banshee is toast. The vehicles are exactly as they should be--invaluable support weapons that can traverse distances quickly and can deal serious damage as long as you keep them out of harm's way. The vehicles give a whole new sense of scale to the battles in Halo, making it more than just a first-person shooter.
8. The Level Design
From wide-open battlefields to claustrophobic corridor crawls, Halo runs the gamut of every type of successful shooter level, and they're often integrated seamlessly. It's true that the interior levels generally aren't as visually interesting as the outdoor ones and later on can get a bit repetitive. But the sheer variety of the levels in Halo is just terrific. The game's autosave system also means that you can keep coming back for more moments after you die, and the frequent checkpoints mean that you don't have to worry about manually saving your progress, as in most shooters. Some players complain that some of the levels involving the enemy known as the Flood are too repetitive. I say those Flood levels are the best depiction of the sort of desperate Night of the Living Dead-style zombie massacres I've ever seen. True to the Flood's name, you feel completely overwhelmed by these ugly-looking creatures.
|  Two is better than one. |
Halo is a refreshing reminder of the fact that all shooters should offer a co-op mode. Too many shooters don't. Halo is extremely fun if you play it through with a friend. Though the game's story is supposed to revolve around a single character, the designers didn't let that get in the way of Halo's great cooperative mode. The action is perhaps even more enjoyable when played with a friend. One can do the driving in the Warthog while the other mans the turret. You can go on strafing runs together in stolen Banshees. Cooperative Halo is awesome, and though not every shooter is going to be as good as Halo, every shooter should at least take a hint from it and bother to include a co-op mode.
|  Think you're good? Try it on legendary. |
All of the nine preceding elements combine to give Halo some real lasting value. It's not a short game by any means, but even after you finish it, you'll be compelled to keep playing it more. The best part: Halo is one of the only games that's well balanced through all its difficulty levels. Playing it in the legendary setting is a totally different, more frantic experience than playing it on normal. You could finish the game on your own in normal and then play through it again with a friend in legendary, and it'll be like two almost completely different games. Halo is a game of skill, so you can keep coming back to it in legendary. For good measure, there are a ton of standard (and not-so-standard) multiplayer modes available, playable either in split-screen mode or even online. Halo doesn't skimp on either its single-player or multiplayer modes.
All of these qualities are important to making Halo as fabulous as it is. Most other shooters hardly manage to beat Halo in any of these categories, and yet Halo delivers all of them and ends up as one of the single most impressive action games ever released. I don't know how Bungie did it. But games like Halo are what make me proud to be a gamer. I eagerly await a PC version of the game, which Microsoft has admitted will eventually be released. The PC version will probably look better--sharper and smoother than the original Xbox version. Also, the PC is still the perfect platform for multiplayer games. But until Halo PC is released, I'll keep playing the Xbox version. It's a truly spectacular game, one that just about any gamer ought to appreciate and just about any game designer ought to study carefully or at least be jealous of. Halo's not new anymore, but it's still as good as gaming currently gets.
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