I do not think enough praise is given to how impressive the enemy AI is. 22 years later and it is honestly better than the AI of some of the modern games I've played. They know when to flank you, when to instinctively dodge your bullets and grenades, and when to retreat to safer positions. The covenant enemies always kept me on my toes and I had to be creative with my strategies. And each enemy type has its unique quirks too. Like grunts running away when they're losing. Small things like that really gave this game flavour.
The story is straightforward. This was back when Halo was a relatively small sci-fi adventure, before it expanded to the lore filled franchise it is now. I loved the tongue-in-cheek dialogue between Master Chief and Cortana, and the small comical scenes they had.
Of cause this was on top of every other great aspect of this timeless masterpiece; the fluid gunplay, the amazing soundtrack, the variety ofweapons, and my personal favourites; Driving the Warthog and the Banshee.
I have two grudges with this game; First, the repetitive level design. So often you would defeat enemies in one room, move to a corridor and enter another room that looks exactly the same as the last one, with the same enemies. At some points, I was wondering if I’m moving in circles. Then in later missions you have to go through the same maps but in opposite direction.
The 2nd may be a bit controversial; The Flood. When they're introduced halfway through the game, I felt this went from being a fun sci-fi shooter to a generic zombie game. Every good thing I said about enemy AI is thrown out of the window. All they do is just run toward you in hordes and your only strategy is to spray bullets and lasers at them.
Then there is the infamous 'The Library' mission. That combines both my criticisms into one long gruelling level.
As for the anniversary remake...well it's alright. The graphics update isn't a significant improvement. At least compared to Halo 2 anniversary. I assume they were limited by the game engine itself, since this isn't a remake from scratch, just updated texture over the original game. But I'm so glad that you can toggle between original and remake graphics with the click of a button. So often I see remakes that don't give that option. Worse, when they replace the original game on Steam with the remake.
My favourite addition is the new terminals cinematics. They provide some much needed exposition between the missions and explore the lore. For someone who has been on and off from this franchise, I found them to be very informative.
All in all, this is a fantastic game on its own and they did a decent job with the remake. If you haven't played this iconic piece of gaming history already, then gear up and start your GREAT JOURNEY
RATE: 8/10