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.

The game that started it all (redone in better visuals.) Out of all of the video games, Halo Combat Evolved is certainly one of them, however in 2001 it was the cornerstone of an ever changing first person shooter genre. Halo jumped into the scene as an atypical shooter, most FPS' at the time were more rooted in non-fiction or were extremely fast paced jump fests (Quake, Unreal Tournament) but what Halo offered at the time was something new that cut itself into the fold. Halo was a science fiction shooter with an emphasis on world building, captivating lore, and a multiplayer that lent itself to organic fun rather than a designed gameplay formula.

Multiplayer LAN's in Halo were some of the most fun I've had in gaming to this day partially due to how unique the maps were for a game at the time and how enjoyable the simple gameplay loop was. Getting an Assault Rifle/Magnum combo to start was awesome, and learning all the weapon spawns through repetitive play felt great. Vehicles in muiltiplayer were great and had not been done to that well of an extent in games previous (on a smaller scale game.) All in all, Halo was the first time that first person shooters simple felt "fun" to me, whether it was split screen combat or playing over the internet, Halo Combat Evolved has a multiplayer of pure "joy" more than hyper competitiveness.

The singleplayer was great for the time as well, however after replaying in 2021 clearly has some flaws due to repetitive zones and occasional unending hallways. Playing through the Library on Legendary is one of the least fun gaming experiences I've had in the past few years. Though I was just negative in those few sentences, I think it's a necessary game to play through especially to see its influence as a cultural powerhouse.