This game has a few problems that prevent if from matching the masterpiece that it is based on, but the foundation is so strong that it doesn't really matter. My biggest gripe is that they based it off of the inferior PC port from the time, but that doesn't stop the game from being incredibly fun.
After 15+ years, I always believed I had finished Halo: CE on PC back in the day. After replaying it, I don't think that was ever true. My main vivid memory of playing Halo on PC were the custom multiplayer mods and maps. Playing Slayer on Hyrule Field with all of the weapons from Ocarina of Time will probably be engrained into my brain.
Regardless, my memory was at fault in regard to finishing Halo CE's campaign and after finishing it a few days ago, it's way better than I remembered. To start, the graphical upgrade thanks to the anniversary edition makes this game feel like a recent release. I also loved being able to freely toggle the anniversary graphics and the original Xbox graphics. I have a soft spot for the old graphics and, in some areas, I prefer them, but the leap in graphic fidelity is astounding.
Gameplay-wise, this classic still holds up well. Gunplay is still exciting and fluid, the pacing of the campaign is solid and never dull, and the story is pretty good sci-fi. The plot points don't tread new ground, but it sets the foundation for the later games quite well as there are multiple opportunities to expand on multiple plot points. I played the game solo on Heroic and found that difficulty perfect. I was dying a decent amount, but nothing seemed unsurmountable.
I definitely recommend putting the time into finishing the first Halo as I really enjoyed my play-though. It was really fun re-familiarizing myself with the game as well as making sure I was paying attention to the story so I could understand where it is going to go for the sequels.
Regardless, my memory was at fault in regard to finishing Halo CE's campaign and after finishing it a few days ago, it's way better than I remembered. To start, the graphical upgrade thanks to the anniversary edition makes this game feel like a recent release. I also loved being able to freely toggle the anniversary graphics and the original Xbox graphics. I have a soft spot for the old graphics and, in some areas, I prefer them, but the leap in graphic fidelity is astounding.
Gameplay-wise, this classic still holds up well. Gunplay is still exciting and fluid, the pacing of the campaign is solid and never dull, and the story is pretty good sci-fi. The plot points don't tread new ground, but it sets the foundation for the later games quite well as there are multiple opportunities to expand on multiple plot points. I played the game solo on Heroic and found that difficulty perfect. I was dying a decent amount, but nothing seemed unsurmountable.
I definitely recommend putting the time into finishing the first Halo as I really enjoyed my play-though. It was really fun re-familiarizing myself with the game as well as making sure I was paying attention to the story so I could understand where it is going to go for the sequels.
new graphics takes away from the experience in some areas
Switching between past visuals and updated ones at the press of a button blew my mind
Anyone who knows me is under no illusions about my thoughts on Halo: I like my least favorite Halo more than 95% of games that exist. And for a long time, I maintained that CE is in my top 3 Halo titles. Having just completed my third playthrough - I feel like I need to complicate this perspective.
CE is often criticized for its repeated interiors that seemingly stretch on forever, the same textures stretched floor to ceiling for room after room, even in the Anniversary remaster. This is doubtlessly archaic but focusing on the texture work is a misdiagnosis of the accurate level design frustration. The checkpoint system is entirely broken and so many levels are too long. Why does Guilty Spark have to open 10 doors in The Library. Why couldn't it have been five? Or three?
The repetitious environments only grate when the arbiter of random chance assign a checkpoint to Chief when he's down to a single bar of health and facing down waves of Covenant that wind through a corridor that, sure, LOOKS like every other corridor, but also locks you within it in this odd checkpoint-induced, stage-padded purgatory. Nearly every level in CE could stand to be a few encounters shorter with checkpoints anchored to a precise set of coordinates.
I found the game longer in the tooth this time than I have in the past and downright frustrating at times. But here’s where things get interesting - although I was less impressed by CE on the whole this time, I became even fonder of its best missions. There is no shortage of effusive praise for The Silent Cartographer but it really does exemplify everything that makes CE a benchmark FPS. The island’s looping structure is a microcosm of the overall adventure, which begins aboard the Pillar of Autumn and ends there, too. You come to care for the fragile Marines who charge up the beachhead alongside Cheif, splintering the Covenenant’s line as you weave between generously large projectile-based gunfire.
Of course there is the small but purpose-built arsenal, each weapon occupying a unique role in the combat sandbox, alongside the Warthog which you can charge across the sand in - a vehicle put to even better use when you’re bouncing across the rolling Pacific Northwest hills of mission II. The gameplay is as simple as it is exquisite. And the tension just continues to ratchet up with the introduction of the Flood, who overwhelm and explode in equally impressive measure. As you begin to double back towards the end of the game, and the Covenant begin to fight the Flood as well as Chief, this sense of heightened chaos and environmental storytelling reaches a new pitch. The man versus army versus army trope complication is a ton of fun, best demonstrated by missions like Keyes.
And I feel like I better appreciated the eccentricies of the narrative this time. Guided by one of the medium’s absolute best scores, music stitches camp to macabre effortlessly, keeping the adventure contiguous despite how often it shifts tone. The Library, for as weak as its level design is, best exemplifies how extremely unique the tone here is. As Chief lays waste to countless Flood, death never more than a moment away, Guilty Spark lazes around the facility, spouting off facts like a college tour guide. This is all before Cortana pops up as the smartest one in the room to reprimand Himbo Chief for being so gullible and poke holes in the weasely facade of 343.
I feel about Combat Evolved the way I feel about Avatar or Star Wars (1977). There is a magic to seeing someone create a brand-new universe in front of your eyes, building on the work of their predecessors to create something informed by the past but totally unique and built for the future. I love the world of Halo. As I journey through my series replay this holiday I will likely find a new home for CE in my ranking, probably just beyond that top three, solely becuase of those aforementioned structural issues. But to begin where I began, just as CE does itself, my least favorite Halo game is still one of my favorite games of all-time. And CE is far from the bottom of my ranking, even after this more mixed replay.
CE is often criticized for its repeated interiors that seemingly stretch on forever, the same textures stretched floor to ceiling for room after room, even in the Anniversary remaster. This is doubtlessly archaic but focusing on the texture work is a misdiagnosis of the accurate level design frustration. The checkpoint system is entirely broken and so many levels are too long. Why does Guilty Spark have to open 10 doors in The Library. Why couldn't it have been five? Or three?
The repetitious environments only grate when the arbiter of random chance assign a checkpoint to Chief when he's down to a single bar of health and facing down waves of Covenant that wind through a corridor that, sure, LOOKS like every other corridor, but also locks you within it in this odd checkpoint-induced, stage-padded purgatory. Nearly every level in CE could stand to be a few encounters shorter with checkpoints anchored to a precise set of coordinates.
I found the game longer in the tooth this time than I have in the past and downright frustrating at times. But here’s where things get interesting - although I was less impressed by CE on the whole this time, I became even fonder of its best missions. There is no shortage of effusive praise for The Silent Cartographer but it really does exemplify everything that makes CE a benchmark FPS. The island’s looping structure is a microcosm of the overall adventure, which begins aboard the Pillar of Autumn and ends there, too. You come to care for the fragile Marines who charge up the beachhead alongside Cheif, splintering the Covenenant’s line as you weave between generously large projectile-based gunfire.
Of course there is the small but purpose-built arsenal, each weapon occupying a unique role in the combat sandbox, alongside the Warthog which you can charge across the sand in - a vehicle put to even better use when you’re bouncing across the rolling Pacific Northwest hills of mission II. The gameplay is as simple as it is exquisite. And the tension just continues to ratchet up with the introduction of the Flood, who overwhelm and explode in equally impressive measure. As you begin to double back towards the end of the game, and the Covenant begin to fight the Flood as well as Chief, this sense of heightened chaos and environmental storytelling reaches a new pitch. The man versus army versus army trope complication is a ton of fun, best demonstrated by missions like Keyes.
And I feel like I better appreciated the eccentricies of the narrative this time. Guided by one of the medium’s absolute best scores, music stitches camp to macabre effortlessly, keeping the adventure contiguous despite how often it shifts tone. The Library, for as weak as its level design is, best exemplifies how extremely unique the tone here is. As Chief lays waste to countless Flood, death never more than a moment away, Guilty Spark lazes around the facility, spouting off facts like a college tour guide. This is all before Cortana pops up as the smartest one in the room to reprimand Himbo Chief for being so gullible and poke holes in the weasely facade of 343.
I feel about Combat Evolved the way I feel about Avatar or Star Wars (1977). There is a magic to seeing someone create a brand-new universe in front of your eyes, building on the work of their predecessors to create something informed by the past but totally unique and built for the future. I love the world of Halo. As I journey through my series replay this holiday I will likely find a new home for CE in my ranking, probably just beyond that top three, solely becuase of those aforementioned structural issues. But to begin where I began, just as CE does itself, my least favorite Halo game is still one of my favorite games of all-time. And CE is far from the bottom of my ranking, even after this more mixed replay.
"you know what the original halo was missing?"
"destroying the original atmosphere with excessive amounts of lighting"
"destroying the original atmosphere with excessive amounts of lighting"
À faire après Halo: Reach, franchement sympa pas mon préféré mais force est de constater qu’il a apporté sa petite pierre dans l’histoire des fps
The Flood is the best enemy in the Halo series, period. Awesome game
if i were making a remake of halo i would attempt even a little to capture in fancy new graphical detail even a hint of what makes the original games aesthetic look so unique, but thats just me i guess. thankfully they let you swap between the original and remake graphics at any time with a single button press, which is a fantastic feature i wish all videogame remasters had to include
anyway cant speak for the gameplay, i was kind of carried by the friend i played with but had a good time even with my extreme lack of familiarity with the genre. all the levels were way longer than i expected, but were pretty cool, and looping back through them backwards was a fun way to reuse levels, i respect an upside down castle any day
anyway cant speak for the gameplay, i was kind of carried by the friend i played with but had a good time even with my extreme lack of familiarity with the genre. all the levels were way longer than i expected, but were pretty cool, and looping back through them backwards was a fun way to reuse levels, i respect an upside down castle any day
Played solo, first playthrough.
Halo CE holds up quite well, it's just tough enough at times to take some grit, the ambiance and sound design is fantastic, level design is pretty solid though it gets repetitive at times. The weapons are a bit underwhelming, and certain enemies (the Flood) can be a gigantic pain in the ass, but for the most part it's a solid experience all the way through.
Halo CE holds up quite well, it's just tough enough at times to take some grit, the ambiance and sound design is fantastic, level design is pretty solid though it gets repetitive at times. The weapons are a bit underwhelming, and certain enemies (the Flood) can be a gigantic pain in the ass, but for the most part it's a solid experience all the way through.
I respect it for what it had done for shooters, and I think it is an incredible game on paper. Its music goes hard, its setting is fun and it was funnier then I expected it to be.
However, I found the gunplay to be unpleasant and the level designs to suck. Many levels simply had you doing the same objective multiple times in very same-y, complex rooms. If I wasn't playing with a friend who already had experience with the game, I'd reckon I would have had a terrible time.
Overall, that was SURELY Halo 1.
However, I found the gunplay to be unpleasant and the level designs to suck. Many levels simply had you doing the same objective multiple times in very same-y, complex rooms. If I wasn't playing with a friend who already had experience with the game, I'd reckon I would have had a terrible time.
Overall, that was SURELY Halo 1.
Refreshing. I had never played a Halo game before and combat evolved does not disappoint. I liked the mechanics, the guns each feel unique and the vehicle combat is very fun. I liked the visuals of this remaster but i understand why people prefer the original's better.
This review contains spoilers
This was my first time playing through Halo: Combat Evolved in its entirety. I've booted this sucker up a few times over the years since I got the Master Chief Collection but only ever played the first couple levels. I have a hard time appreciating games that were revolutionary when they first released because I was but a wee babe at the time. So how does Halo: Combat Evolved hold up in the year of our Lord 2023? It’s alright. Halo: CE has moments when it's quite good but It’s definitely not good from the get go. Once you get past the halfway point the game actually starts to get fun and interesting. But man, that first half is boring.
Pros:
-The music is the real star of the show here. Whenever it came on during the first half of the game it managed to trick me into thinking I was playing an actually engaging game.
-Being able to swap between the original look of Halo CE and the remastered version all in a single button press is really cool. I would like if more remasters of really old games had something like that. I played primarily on the original look.
-Enemy AI is reactive and quirky
-Mission 6: 343 Guilty Spark. The story picks up dramatically and the introduction of the Flood actually makes the game fun instead of mind-numbing.
-The Flood make you have to think a bit more about your positioning so combat becomes more engaging.
Cons:
-Up until Mission 6 the combat is unengaging and repetitive. Hold forward, hold RT, repeat.
-The audio mixing is garbage. Can't hear what characters are saying half the time because the music is blowing it out.
-The Warthog and Scorpion tank
-The game is dark. So dark that it is a pain in the ass. It being that dark doesn’t even serve a purpose until you get to Mission 6. After that point I am much more ok with it but still find it a bit annoying at times. Even with the flashlight.
-A lot of the levels in this are just not good. Most of the game is just copy and pasted hallways which really wouldn't be an issue if there was some sort of consistent waypoint or clear path to take. Unfortunately the waypoints only ever pop up after a certain amount of time spent struggling or if the game purposefully gives you one. They even acknowledge this in the remastered style of the game by putting literal glowing arrows on the floor to show you were to go.
-Mission 7: The Library. How does Bungie decide to follow up the best level in the game? With the fucking worst one. The Library is horrendous. I don't know how they thought this shit was ok. They took some of the biggest issues the game has and bundled into one agonizing experience. Pitch black, never ending copy pasted hallways/rooms, super easy to get lost (mainly on the original version) because it's just one big dark and gray hallway, repetitive, tedious, and lasts far too long. Does it do a good job showing the overwhelming scale of the Flood and why they are such a threat? Yeah. Is it miserable to play? Also yeah.
I believe that had I played this growing up it would be one of my favorite games. But playing it for the first time in 2023 a lot of it dragged. I think that it redeemed itself quite a bit in the second half but still suffered from the same issues. Unfortunately, the final section being a timed Warthog run left my final emotions toward Halo: CE being those of incredible frustration.
Pros:
-The music is the real star of the show here. Whenever it came on during the first half of the game it managed to trick me into thinking I was playing an actually engaging game.
-Being able to swap between the original look of Halo CE and the remastered version all in a single button press is really cool. I would like if more remasters of really old games had something like that. I played primarily on the original look.
-Enemy AI is reactive and quirky
-Mission 6: 343 Guilty Spark. The story picks up dramatically and the introduction of the Flood actually makes the game fun instead of mind-numbing.
-The Flood make you have to think a bit more about your positioning so combat becomes more engaging.
Cons:
-Up until Mission 6 the combat is unengaging and repetitive. Hold forward, hold RT, repeat.
-The audio mixing is garbage. Can't hear what characters are saying half the time because the music is blowing it out.
-The Warthog and Scorpion tank
-The game is dark. So dark that it is a pain in the ass. It being that dark doesn’t even serve a purpose until you get to Mission 6. After that point I am much more ok with it but still find it a bit annoying at times. Even with the flashlight.
-A lot of the levels in this are just not good. Most of the game is just copy and pasted hallways which really wouldn't be an issue if there was some sort of consistent waypoint or clear path to take. Unfortunately the waypoints only ever pop up after a certain amount of time spent struggling or if the game purposefully gives you one. They even acknowledge this in the remastered style of the game by putting literal glowing arrows on the floor to show you were to go.
-Mission 7: The Library. How does Bungie decide to follow up the best level in the game? With the fucking worst one. The Library is horrendous. I don't know how they thought this shit was ok. They took some of the biggest issues the game has and bundled into one agonizing experience. Pitch black, never ending copy pasted hallways/rooms, super easy to get lost (mainly on the original version) because it's just one big dark and gray hallway, repetitive, tedious, and lasts far too long. Does it do a good job showing the overwhelming scale of the Flood and why they are such a threat? Yeah. Is it miserable to play? Also yeah.
I believe that had I played this growing up it would be one of my favorite games. But playing it for the first time in 2023 a lot of it dragged. I think that it redeemed itself quite a bit in the second half but still suffered from the same issues. Unfortunately, the final section being a timed Warthog run left my final emotions toward Halo: CE being those of incredible frustration.
Really good even without playing originally, one of the hardest on legendary difficulty
Me and my Co-op partner managed to destroy our banshees on Two Betrayals and had to back track to the starting area to get one. After one and a half hours of watching Youtube videos and attempting to get the banshee through the door that breaks. We did and screamed, clapped, and laughed.
Halo: Combat Evolved is that level of jank to the T, as a longtime player who was there for the first title, it feels just as wholesomely scuffed as it did so many years ago. Playing it with someone who hasn't experienced Halo before was a real treat. I got to be there for their first experience with the flood, their first melee teamkill, and their first time running through the library.
The first Halo is decidedly not perfect, but it is a great introduction to the greatest first person shooter franchise of all time.
Halo: Combat Evolved is that level of jank to the T, as a longtime player who was there for the first title, it feels just as wholesomely scuffed as it did so many years ago. Playing it with someone who hasn't experienced Halo before was a real treat. I got to be there for their first experience with the flood, their first melee teamkill, and their first time running through the library.
The first Halo is decidedly not perfect, but it is a great introduction to the greatest first person shooter franchise of all time.
É um jogo extremamente repetitivo e cansativo apesar de ser importante e moldar muito do que seria a saga Halo no futuro.
A história introduz bem muitos conceitos do mundo mas não fecha praticamente nenhuma trama que propõe.
Valeu a pena jogar pela boa introdução na saga mas não mostrou nenhuma qualidade no fator "replay".
A história introduz bem muitos conceitos do mundo mas não fecha praticamente nenhuma trama que propõe.
Valeu a pena jogar pela boa introdução na saga mas não mostrou nenhuma qualidade no fator "replay".
A great game in it's own right, it's a shame that I'm too drunk on the brilliance of Reach to recognize this for all of it's strong suits.
for 343's first crack at halo not a bad start, but it completely ruined the style the OG had. and for some reason they used the pc port of CE which has worse lighting and style in my opinion. not bad but could be better
This review contains spoilers
por donde carajo empiezo este halo es el comienzo de una gran franquicia, que es un puto pilar de los videojuegos(en mi opinion) tiene un gameplay bastante basico pero bueno estamos hablando del remaster de un juego del 2001, una cosa que si odie es cuando enfrentas al flood al final del juego en esa parte es un dolor de huevos porque tienen spawn infinito en ciertas zonas del juego donde tenes puntos muertos y como no tengas la escopeta y el rifle de asalto para controlarlos se llega a complicar demasiado, hasta que llegas al final y tenes que sacrificar el rifle de asalto para usar los rpg para romper unas escotillas porque lanzarle granadas es muy jodido por otro lado esta la conduccion que bueno no se usa mucho en este juego pero la unica queja que tengo es el wartogh el cual se vuelve de goma y rebota cada dos por tres siendo bastante inestable pero eso solo pasa como 2/3 veces asique no es la gran cosa, y de historia diria algo pero los terminales llenan casi todos los huecos del momento danto mas lore (estos terminales no estaban en el juego original)
Halo Combat Evolved is a groundbreaking but flawed classic. When it hits it hits but then you have missions like the Library that are just a slog and a lot of reused levels. Not really much interesting to say. Fantastic game that had sequels and prequels that were simply better. Well some of them.
As for the Anniversary changes themselves, yeah it suffers from "let's make everything brighter!" and as a result sacrificing part of the tone and atmosphere. Letting you switch back to the old graphics while maintaining the upgrade in performance is still worth it though and I'd be lying if I said there weren't some changes I like better.
As for the Anniversary changes themselves, yeah it suffers from "let's make everything brighter!" and as a result sacrificing part of the tone and atmosphere. Letting you switch back to the old graphics while maintaining the upgrade in performance is still worth it though and I'd be lying if I said there weren't some changes I like better.
All they did was rip assets from Halo 3 and Reach and call it a day. The art style clashes with the original art direction, causing some parts of the game to just look bright and ugly. None of the choices made by Saber Interactive fits well here. Especially, and I mean especially, the use of mocap in every cutscene. It's so ugly it's annoying. Whenever you play it on MCC, just keep the graphics the same.
the origin of john halo
bitches be like I have a whole life ahead of me. no you don't the flood is coming
This review contains spoilers
It's cool playing one of the biggest video games of all time for the first time decades after it came out. It's very clear how many elements of this game were used by others in the FPS genre. There are moments that are absolutely exhilarating - tearing through the self-destructing core on the warthog comes to mind - but other levels are an absolute SLOG. Looking at you, Library. The story was pretty straightforward but painted a nice military sci-fi universe, and while the gunplay suffered from a lack of diverse enemies it was exciting enough to make me interested in the second game.
Gostei bastante, principalmente da jogabilidade…me surpreendeu!
*Jogado através da coletânea Halo: The Master Chief Collection
*Jogado através da coletânea Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Played on the Master Chief Collection and played Co-Op on Legendary. I had a good time with it, and I only had fun on Legendary when playing with one of my friends.
Probably my least favorite Bungie Halo to revisit. A lot of the campaign levels are repetitive. Nonetheless, still very good Halo music, gameplay, story, ect.
(Played via Halo: MCC)
It was okay. Can't say much negative about it, other than some of the levels being repetitive. The lore was a highlight for me. Really dislike the Flood, but that's kind of intended.
I think the final levels were a bit more entertaining than the earlier ones, but I played it a while ago so my memory isn't too clear.
Next playthrough, I'm using my Xbox ONE controller and the original graphics, and playing the game the way it was intended. :P
It was okay. Can't say much negative about it, other than some of the levels being repetitive. The lore was a highlight for me. Really dislike the Flood, but that's kind of intended.
I think the final levels were a bit more entertaining than the earlier ones, but I played it a while ago so my memory isn't too clear.
Next playthrough, I'm using my Xbox ONE controller and the original graphics, and playing the game the way it was intended. :P
I can now finally say that I have played Halo. After all these years, I can see now how this became an all time classic. It changed the game for shooters, and delivered a good story with one of the most iconic game characters of all time in Master Chief.
halo