I understand why this was so groundbreaking for its time, the soundtrack is beautiful, the combat is really fun, the lore is deep and interesting and the graphics in this remastered version are really well done, still keeping it true to its original form. However it does have some BIG flaws. The levels get very repetitive, you keep seeing the same rooms over and over, sometimes with confusing designs and it's very easy to get lost. But I was willing to ignore that cause I was having fun, I love all the different vehicles and using them in the open areas feels very ahead of its time. But then I got to the last levels... The library was already a chore to get through, and when I got to Two Betrayals I just couldn't deal with it anymore. There's no way to get more hp other than health packs and there are wayyyy too few. If you get stuck in a checkpoint with 1hp that's it, either restart the level or go all the way back until you find one. Which I did, but I still couldn't get past one of the checkpoints and I just gave up. I understand this is a product of its time but it's just bad game design when it gets so frustrating, so that's it for me. Maybe I'll catch up on the lore on youtube and try the second one

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

First time experience with the Halo series definitively and it was a pretty decent start despite some issues with level/enemy design...

The gameplay is really great for it's time, despite being a remaster, it's aged really well and some of the visuals (I played on classic) are still really nice to look at for it's time. I played a bit on the Anniversary graphics and honestly, Classic was just so much better. Certain levels captured the eerie atmosphere more in the latter half of the game than what the Anniversary version was doing, so I'd say Classic is very much the way to go.

However, I did have some issues that hold me back a little from giving this a higher rating. I felt that the game sort of fell off a little bit in it's second half, I did not enjoy the Flood enemy types, honestly the bane of my existance - especially the ones who were given rocket launchers for whatever reason, most of my deaths were because of stray rockets or an enemy dropping grenades. Anticipating being one hit obliterated by a grenade became common practice.

There was also a certain lack of direction. I've seen some people complain that Halo: CE has absolutely no sense of direction at all and to a certain extent, I agree but I also disagree. The game doesn't have a map or much of a waypoint system and, sure, this is definitely a problem... but not as much as you might think. In certain levels, the game will actually give you an indication on where to go with a very vague waypoint display on the screen by Cortana but you can also determine which direction you're supposed to take by looking at the display on your assault rifle. While it is not that precise, there is still at least an element of direction I felt that was enough for me to find my way even though in some cases I did admittely get lost.

As for the aforementioned Flood, I really liked the Convenant as enemy types. I think they had very good power balancing, making any given encounter either a challenge or just really satisfying to tear your way through. The Sword Elites were quite fkin anxiety inducing, being jumped by one is almost as terrifying as being jumped by a Licker in RE2R, but not for the same reasons of course.

Narratively, it's just... yeah. I don't think this is that heavy of a story based game, it very much relies fully on it's gameplay than it does on telling a complex story you might have expected from this franchise, which very much is true I assume for the later games in the series, but as a debut it's not offering much and I feel you shouldn't demand much either in that case, so it's not that big of a deal. Where the story lacks, the worldbuilding and lore more than enough makes up for it, offering another unique perspective on the sci-fi genre and perhaps (so far) the best in gaming.

Halo: Combat Evolved é um clássico, mas infelizmente desliza muito em sua qualidade. Com uma gameplay divertida, uma história bem legal, o jogo se perde muito da metade até o final. Quando você chega no nível do Flood, é rezar e chorar de tão chato que fica, as fases se tornam repetitivas e com pouca atenção, visto que eles só tacam qualquer tipo de inimigo e os cenários são completamente iguais. A última parte quase me fez desistir de tão maçante que estava. Acredito que as futuras instalações do jogo devem ser superiores, já estou ansioso para ver!

I feel like I am the inverse of what people like about this game since my friend who I played this entire thing with told me the Library level was widely hated and that level for me was the absolute highlight due to its strong atmosphere and more condensed level design. I really don't like how big and empty a lot of levels in this game feel, especially coupled with the ridiculously slow walking speed. I do think the game gets better as it goes on, starting with a good opener but then dropping you into a couple levels that I really did not like for aforementioned reasons but then coming around again towards the end in the last three or so levels. The music is really good throughout and the original look is great and that pussy ass Master Queef is funny but sadly I just didn't have a lot of fun playing it most of the time.