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.
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.