Halo (2001) (VG)

Director:

Joseph Staten

Writers:

Joseph Staten (writer) and
Brannon Boren (additional writer)

Release Date:

6 November 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Combat Evolved

Plot:

You play a space marine who must battle multiple alien menaces on a colossal ringworld.

Plot Keywords:

The Covenant | Alien | Planet | Space | Master Chief

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Jen Taylor	...	Cortana (voice)
Pete Stacker	...	Captain Jacob Keyes (voice)
Tim Dadabo	...	343 Guilty Spark (voice)
Steve Downes	...	Master Chief (voice)
Tawnya Pettiford-Wates	...	Foe Hammer (voice)
Jeff Steitzer	...	Announcer (voice)
David Scully	...	Sergeant Johnson (voice)
Mike Madeoy	...	Private Bisenti (voice)
Mark Dias	...	Private Mendoza (voice)
Chris Wicklund	...	Private Jenkins (voice)
Andrew McKaige	...	Private Chips Dubbo (voice)
Ken Boynton	...	Sergeant, Tutorial Guy, Crazy Marine (voice)
Todd Licea	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Brian Morden	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

Blam! (USA) (working title)
Halo: Combat Evolved (USA) (alternative title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:M | Australia:MA

Company:

Bungie Software

Trivia:

Was introduced at Macworld Expo in 1999 by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs set for a release on the Macintosh. Then Bungie was bought out by Microsoft.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the game, the UNSC are heavily based off the US military. So assuming this is true, Echo 419 is the incorrect way of identification for herself. She says "Pelican Echo Four-Ninetenn" when she should be saying Papa Echo Four One Niner. Same applies to the other Pelicans.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Captain Keyes: Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?
Cortana: I think we both know the answer to that.
Captain Keyes: We made a blind jump. How did they...
Cortana: - Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach, at lightspeed my maneuvering options were limited.
Captain Keyes: We were running dark, yes?
Cortana: Until we decelerated, no one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace. They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet.
Captain Keyes: So, where do we stand?
Cortana: Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket, nothing serious. But I've located approach signatures for multiple CCS battlegroups, make it three capital ships per group.
Captain Keyes: Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: The Sack (#1.18)" (2005)

Hands down, the best multi-player console game to date.

Let me preface this review by saying that when the next generation consoles (PS2, XBOX, Gamecube) arrived, I purchased my PS2 with the intention of not purchasing another console. Like many, I was skeptical about Microsoft's leap into the console fray and Nintendo's N64, while at times great, left me feeling like they just weren't trying to get anything good onto their system that wasn't a first party title (with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark being glaring exceptions to that). Halo was 75% of the reason for me to purchase an XBox. With that said, I get the feeling that some of the less friendly reviews of Halo stem more from contempt towards Microsoft, the XBox, and the idea that Bungie "sold out" when Microsoft purchased the company than any problems with the game itself.

Now, when I first saw Halo, my jaw dropped. The graphics are amazing. While I do tend to focus on graphics (especially in reference to clean animation) I don't necessarily hold it as equal to game play and it certainly isn't more important. But, one look at Halo and I thought "This is the most beautiful game I've ever seen." To this day after almost a full year of playing the game, I'm still prone to getting capped in the back of the head while enjoying the serenity of the blades of grass in Blood Gulch, or the majestic cliffs and water of Battle Creek. Lighting, shadowing, color, effects...just beautiful.

Sound...basically everything I said about graphics, you could change the context and apply it to sound. Nothing totally immerses you in the Halo experience quite like hearing a sniper's bullet whiz dangerously past your head only to hit the Warthog behind you with a loud "plink" while in "System Link" play.

The single player game play is good. It isn't the most entertaining game I've played but it holds its own. The story is good (and although I don't know first hand, I have heard talk of unoriginality...seems the Bungie guys "borrowed heavily" from another story) wherever its origin. The characters, mainly the enemies you fight against, are great. Nothing is quite as satisfying as sticking a plasma grenade to the face of an unsuspecting grunt, only to watch him flee in terror into the arms of his doomed comrades...KAPLOOIE!!! The sound, graphics, story, enemies and their AI, and control make the game a joy and had I never experienced multi-player Halo I might think more highly of the single player game.

Multi-player Halo: God's gift to the XBox gamer with friends...especially friends who also have XBoxes. I've saved this part for last because this is where the game truly shines. Multi-player Halo comes in several forms, a fact that in and of itself is impressive.

-You can play the single player game with a buddy. While this can be highly entertaining and is a great concept and much appreciated, it does suffer from serious frame rate reduction at times. If Bungie had designed this feature to be compatible with the "System Link" style (more in a minute) of play, it might have reached its apex.

-In "Split Screen" mode, as the name implies, you and up to 3 other Spartan Cyborgs can go head to head. Well, maybe head to head trivializes it. There are a myriad of game types and customizable options that leave multi-player Halo something to be tweaked and experimented with for months (but for the pending release of Halo 2, I would dare to say years) after you first play the game.

-"System Link" is the most novel feature of Halo. It is no longer just a game. It truly becomes an experience. You (with the expensive list of equipment in your inventory - 4 televisions, 4 copies of Halo, 4 XBoxes, and 16 controllers) can potentially play with up to 16 players! That's right, 16 players on a console game, with the work split up with 4 players at each XBox. While I've never played with more than six people at any one time, I still find this the most enjoyable way to play. Having an entire 27"+ screen to enjoy a multi-player console title this beautiful is a treat beyond explanation. The weapons selection and vehicles available become most appreciated in this style of play. Which brings me to another point: while the selection of weapons is varied, it isn't vast. Not that I'm complaining. Between the space marine and alien plasma weapons, there is plenty to work with. I should also note, that other than 4 grenades of each type (plasma or fragmentation) you can only carry two weapons at a time(i.e. a combo of two weapons which you can use one at a time, switching between them at your leisure). The genius of the game play becomes very apparent when you start to realize how well balanced and important the weapons you select can be.

I cannot say enough about this game. It is obvious that the people at Bungie really knew what they were doing and they really knew who they were making this game for. If you have an XBox and you don't have this game, you're missing out.