Halo Zero is an excellent adaptation to a 2D side-scrolling shooter, but leaves much to be desired.
The game itself is surprisingly well-done for fan-created content. It succeeds in bringing the Halo experience into a classic 2D arcade-style shooter. Where it delivers well in one aspect, it lacks in another, however. Halo Zero's campaign turns out to be extremely short, and with not many other extras or unlockables included in the game, this leaves it with much to be desired.
Halo Zero is a prequel to the first game of the franchise, Halo: Combat Evolved, and follows closely to the book by Eric Nylund, The Fall of Reach. As a horde of Covenant warships engulf the planet Reach, "Le Master Chief" must rally and save as many fellow comrades as possible along his journey while trying to gain contact with Captain Keyes of the Pillar of Autumn, so that they can make their escape to safety from the besieged world.
From a gameplay standpoint, the game is solid. It has all of the classic Halo weapons that you've come to know and love. From the Plasma Rifle to the Rocket Launcher, it has a great arsenal to choose from. It includes all of the elements of Halo you would come to expect from the series, such as the swapping between two weapons, grenades, melee attacks, and recharging shields. On the contrary, some weapons such as the Sniper Rifle are a little inconvenient to control, Warthog driving missions seem too simplistic, and weapon balance is somewhat poor in multiplayer. Despite these minor inconveniences though, the gameplay is overall very high quality.
Graphically, Halo Zero is very stylish in the way that it presents itself. It still captures the Halo feel, yet with added cartoonish side-scrolling adjustments that are necessary for the game. Lighting effects were interesting with dynamic building lights and the sun's lens flare. Most of the sprites were designed well, but since some had to be designed by Dobermann himself, they lacked quality in comparison to the others, making the graphics a little bit less professional-looking. Certain parts of levels also looked somewhat sloppily put together as well, simply because of the way floor and wall graphics were assembled together. In general, the graphics were nice though.
The sound of the game is superb, as it uses all of the sounds from the original weapons, and uses all of the music from the original soundtracks. Some of the music seemed to be placed in unsuitable parts for the type of mood that they conveyed, so at times the game felt a bit awkward. Beyond that, all of the sounds from the original game are there, and it worked well altogether.
Replay value runs a little thin due to the short campaign that can be beaten in under an hour. There are also not very many extras or unlockable features to gain. The multiplayer will keep you busy for a little while, but ultimately since it isn't very stable and only allows up to two players per server, it won't hold your attention for very long. This can be understandable however, considering that the game was designed by a single independent developer.
Halo Zero is an excellent game that provides some insight on the events that took place before the first game, and delivers the gameplay that everyone would expect from the series. It is definitely worth the free download, but lacks a lot of necessary content to keep the experience lengthy and enjoyable.
Credits to: MiniSiets