Halo: Combat Evolved

Author: Efrain Silva

What I perhaps liked the most about playing Halo was the addictive action nature of the whole game, especially when it gives players wicked cool moves like targeting and even pistol whipping. That’s right. It’s beyond addicting, the fact that you can ride a ghost vehicle and then sneak up on your opponent and take him out from the back. All it takes is usually two, and maybe if you’re really quick and lucky, one, pistol whip to the back of the head. And your opponent will be finished for good.

I also really, really liked the purplish ghost vehicles that you get to ride in, the same both in the story mode and in multiplayer. They’re fast, smooth, and they hover over the ground like nobody’s business. Master Chief John was also a one of a kind character you’d get to know more and more of, along with a host of other characters in the game. The Blood Gulch, in terms of amazing levels, is still one of the favorites of many players, including mine. “Zoom in and shoot, zoom in and shoot!” I remember I’d said that several times a day with my buddies as we would learn to toggle the navigation and commands, maneuvering the players field carefully and efficiently, and trying to leave no life forms alive.

Halo was also one of the very first games to feature a two - player story mode, making it extremely unique and sought after. It was created in a time in which such types of gameplay were practically unheard of or, at the very least, a very new thing. The chance to get to play with your best friend, or even a spouse or significant other, side by side, shooting aliens down and hijacking ghost vehicles, truly brought a sense of thrill and a feeling of adventure unrivaled altogether. And in fact, when Halo first came out, it was practically the only true, original, insanely awesome game that actually existed for Microsoft’s first console platform, the Xbox. No lie, people would buy an Xbox just to be able to play this game.

It was the only one that actually commanded attention and had dozens of players swarming around it, beating it over and over again and then talking about it with their friends, for months on end. And not too long after the game became officially “overplayed”, Halo 2 came out. But that, of course, is a story for another time. Anyhow, more on this game, you will also find that the memory, graphics, cut scenes, and processing speed of the whole thing truly outdid anything Nintendo or Sony had going at the time. It was exceptional. The capabilities alone made this Game of the Year.

In fact, the very soundtrack / score of the game has been, and still well remains, nothing less than absolutely epic in every sense. Especially the main theme of Halo, more so….it was so catchy that hundreds of hundreds of fans went and got the official soundtrack, based on the game. The main score, like the title, features a somewhat heroic, heavenly theme that is bold and inspires awe. You have to hear it for yourself to be able to truly know what I mean here.

The makers of the game, as a matter of fact, knew how popular their game and its musical score had become, so much so that they allowed for a CD soundtrack to be made. Case in point. The AR machine guns, in full variety here, are also a point very well worth noting, not to mention one of the main player’s favorite weapons of choice as well. So was the silver pistol we mentioned, which was light, accurate, and could even whip an opponent to death quickly from behind. Also, on this note, if you ever zoom in and target your opponent’s head, while with the pistol, you can kill him off with two rapid headshots.

Just remember not to miss, or have him move quickly and run out of the zoom targeting, for he’ll then likely be pissed and come right after you. The same has happened to me many, many times, I must admit. But you live and you learn. What else can a guy do?

The shotgun weapon is pretty cool, two, just remember that reloading can take a couple seconds, time enough in which your enemy can run up to you and kill you or shoot you with a weapon of his own. So that being said, hide while you reload, and be quick on your feet as you go back into action. That’s also what so many people have loved about this game, and what makes Halo unique in yet another way, the very fact that, all it takes is a second or two of carelessness or immobility for your enemy (or even you) to go down. So stay quick on those toes, soldier! You can count on your opponents doing the same….

Also, the levels in Halo 1 are as follows :

And on a side note : Unarguably, one of the things that sets Halo 1 apart from the rest, if not the main central thing, would be the weapons. "Extremely useful" and "wildly different" are four words most players have come to testify about the original Halo's weapons, which seems to have deviated as time has passed and other games have been made. Now, the weapons in other Halo games have likewise been original and fun, but there's just nothing like the original....the game that started it all. Halo 1's weapons, according to dozens of hardcore fans, are still the best weapons around. Period.

Anyways, that's our brief take on Halo. Check it out. Play it or re - play it to discover new things about this amazing game. Go, Master Chiefers!