If Xbox gamers don't have these games yet, it's about time they get all three of the best games on the Xbox.
There hasn't been that much fate in the console of Microsoft since it has been announced. But ever since Halo: Combat Evolved came to the light, people were starting to think different about the Xbox.
Halo is a exceptional first person shooter that has been a thrilling tour ever since it has been released in the year 2001. Before I’ll go in any other detail, I’ll explain the story of this unbelievable great game.
Halo takes place around the year 2551. The outer space colonies of Earth have been destroyed by a alien union called, the Covenant. Even the surface of the military planet of Earth, called Reach, has been destroyed like the defense was nothing. And now, they’re heading for Earth. You, a special trained soldier of the MJOLNIR Spartan program are one of the last soldiers of you’re kind. You’re Spartan 117, John the Master Chief. There were many others like you, but they got killed by the cruel Covenant. You’re special cause of the suit you wear. The Mark V suit. It’s a robotic suit that has a energy shield over it to protect you against any gunfire and whatsoever. It also has a inbuilt radar to detect any allies or enemies with the range of 15 meters. I’ll more in detail with the suit later.
At the battle for Reach, you joined the old space ship called the Pillar of Autumn. And you fled with it into slip space, but you got followed by one Covenant capital ship that’s more than fifty times the size of the Autumn. As you fled, you’ll find a strange looking circle with a diameter of ten thousand kilometers. The name of it, Halo. As the Covenant attacks your ship by invading the Autumn with many Covenant soldiers, you’re the only hope of the crew and marines on the UNSC ( United Nations Space Command ) ship. But it takes too much damage and it’s about to crash. Cpt. Keyes will try to land the ship on Halo to fight the Covenant from there. And you’ll flee with all other marines and crew men to Halo with escape pods. As soon as you land, the real fight begins, and you’ll find strange things on Halo that you never thought of… A new enemy and more…
As for the gameplay of Halo: Combat Evolved, it’s very original for the FPS genre. The use of a HUD ( heads up display) have never been created this realistic. Since the Master Chief has its MJOLNIR armor, it’s very realistic to have a HUD with all kinds of features. You’ll be able to track down your allies and enemies on you radar indicator and to see how many clips of ammunition is left for your current drawn weapon. Also, Cortana, the Autumn’s board AI and now your guide and friend will lead you through the game. She’ll show arrow indicators to guide you to the right place to be. Since the story of Halo gets more unique during playing, it just absorbs you into this beautiful ring world. You’ll get to drive awesome vehicles of both UNSC and Covenant and you’ll also get a hand on the weapons of both sides to kick some alien butt. No only that, Halo also has a cooperative mode that let’s your friend join you in the single player action to fight along side you. You can also play with three other players for the very detailed and also original multiplayer mode. If four players isn’t enough, then just use the system link cable to add other Xbox consoles to play with up to sixteen players. Let the slaughter begin!
Like I just said, Halo just absorbs you into the beautiful ring world. It makes use of the highest texture level on the Xbox and shows all little details on ever part you can imagine in this game. Same goes for the light effects. The water reflects to sun light on to your armor so it becomes even more shiny than it already was. Although, Halo only has a resolution of 480p and can’t run on 60Hz, it still has one of the best graphics you’ve ever seen. But luckily Halo isn’t all about graphics.
Breathtaking. That’s what I’m talking about when I hear the gunfire in Halo. It’s not only very realistic in every way, but you’ll hear sounds you wouldn’t even think of when playing a video game. Like the sounds of a little rock falling against a tree and then in the water. That might not be special, but it is special when you won’t hear those sounds twice after trying fifty more times. As for the gunfire, the MA5B Assault Rifle, the main weapon in Halo, has a very ordinary sound for firing. And that’s not a bad thing. It doesn’t have that idiotic standard M4 sound like in many FPS games. No it has it’s very own unique sound you’ll never hear in any other games, unless they just stole it. As for the music: Oh my gosh. The soundtrack of this game isn’t some stupid techno music that just pumps up the adrenaline in your body. No it’s adjusted to the situations and surroundings of the game. When you’ve beaten the game, you’ll know what I mean.
The replay value of Halo, it just has no ending. If you haven’t beaten Halo on every difficulty yet, you could just do that with a buddy on your side and kick some alien butt. And if that doesn’t please you ( I can’t imagine that ), why not gather some more friends and connect all of your Xboxes and team up for some classic Team Slayer, Capture the Flag or any other game types in Halo. What I mean is, Halo has so many options of playing this game, it just keeps getting you back to stay absorbed in this world. It’s that good.
Halo is just one of the best games ever created. It’s been a while since Halo: Combat Evolved has been released, but I still play it alone or with a buddy. And I do have LAN parties once in a while. Cause of its unique storyline, appealing game options, awesome graphics and beautiful soundtrack makes Halo the best Xbox game ever. And I’m not the only one. The Halo community has been one of the largest ever since. Don’t be a fool, and just pick this game up, that’s all I can say to you.
Halo 2
Halo 2 is the sequal to the best selling Xbox game of all times, Halo: Combat Evolved. In Halo 2 you'll continue the fight against the alien union called the Covenant. This time, the Covenant reached Earth after the destruction of Reach and Halo, they headed straight for Earth. So this time you'll fight on Earth, but also in space, spacestations and, another Halo. ''Welcome back Master Chief!''
The gameplay had some changes, like the dual-wielding of onehanded guns. Just simply walk over a one handed gun with another onehanded gun, and press-hold the ''Y'' button, and you'll be able to fire both weapons with both trickers. There are also a lot of new other cool weapons. Only the sad thing is, there's no more MA5B Assault Rilfe. New is also the AI of the Covenant and UNSC troops. The UNSC marines can now drive any vehicle except the Scorpion Tank. The Covenant Elites and Brutes can also highjack your vehicle and kick you off it. So you can see them cruise away in your ride! But you can do the same of course, so just highjack another ride from a little Grunt or Elite or Brute. So there's tons of new things that make the gameplay perfect.
The visuals of Halo 2 are close to perfect, but, like any game, they aren't. Halo 2's superb at any point of it's great ringworld and space worlds full of great nature and other habitats. Also the light effects are great to look at. But within cutscenes, you'll see that the details of buildings, other surroundings and troops ( including the Master Chief ) need to be loaded in 2 seconds, and that can be irritating. Not only within cutscenes, but also in-game. Just take a look at a Ghost, and walk to it, and you'll see the shape changes.
The sound has always been perfect and it will stay that way. Just go outside and compare the sound of Halo 2 with the reallife sound, and then just go play Halo 2 again. And you'll hear no difference.
Value. Although Halo 2 has great new online multiplayer, and cool new features, the single player is a total let down for Halo fans and other single player lovers. So, in short, superb.
Tilt, Halo 2 was supposed to be the best sequal game ever to the best game ever, Halo: Combat Evolved. Things like highjacking, online multiplayer and dual wielding, Halo 2 is a hell of a superb game that has unique moments, and hardcore action. The single player was a total letdown, but it's fun to play it serval times with a buddy with the co-op play. But, to me, Halo 2 was a dissapointment...
Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
The 9 maps are now here for the ones that don't have XBL already. It's specialy for the ones that play multiplayer a lot with system-link or 4 players on the Xbox.
I'm not going to write a whole review about it, because it's not even a real add-on, just some new things that were supposed to be just content download. So, the new maps are on a disc for sale, that's fun for the ones that play Halo 2 a lot without Xbox Live but system link, but I don't really see the reason why they brought these maps on the disc. Yeah ''cause of the fans that don't have Xbox Live''. That was not a real good reason. According to me, I just think Bungie wanted to get more money out of it, but that's my opinion.
The maps are fun, they are very original, and look great. But I hoped for some more special things in the maps. Like the gate and brigde in Zanzibar. There are a few things, but not really impressive. I say, buy it if you really want it and when you play a lot of offline multiplayer! I only bought it cause of the cool cutscene about the ODST's.
Inoverall, this are just the best games on the Xbox yet. I doubt if there are people who don't have these already, but if they don't, it's a great way to start.
Good points
+All Halo games combined in one for a low price.
+The gameplay of Halo never gets old.
+Sweet multiplayer modes.
+Great fun with cooperative mode.
+Appealing storyline...
Bad points
-...that starts to suck in Halo 2.
-No new options or extras with the pack.
-Halo 2's best part is multiplayer only.