Halo: Combat Evolved - Retro Review

Has the legendary Xbox title stood the test of time? Is it still just as epic and fun as it was back in 2001? Well, join me as I jump back in time and revisit this old classic, let me tell you my ups and downs while playing it, and whether or not I still recommend you try this epic space adventure.

The Gameplay:

Halo still feels unique and oddly satisfying to play, with it's lowered reticle and low gravity jumping/slower movement. This game still plays very differently from the vast majority of first person shooters, giving itself a signature gameplay feel, no other game has been able to replicate (unfortunately the modern 343 Halo games fail to capture this uniqueness, applying more traditional controls such as sprint and aim down sights for every gun). Not being able to sprint and slide your way through levels and passed enemies, makes encountering combat a real challenge. Unlike most games, where I can easily outrun everyone without trouble, Halo forces you to move much slower and carefully, making it's shootouts more of a puzzle than a mindless rush of adrenaline. Every enemy from grunts to elites feel strategically placed, in order to make every encounter feel like a game of chess. It goes without saying, Halo isn't a game you can easily speed run (especially on harder difficulties) as it is pretty much required that you eliminate every enemy in each arena to progress through the game, as checkpoints only trigger when all the combatants are defeated. This can lead to a lot of frustration, when you have to repeat sections after death, with the possibility of rushing each area being completely out of the question! The game is very unforgiving if you mess up and die, it's difficultly honestly rivals that of Dark Souls in my opinion. Although the gunplay is fantastic and (thankfully) you'll be doing this 90% of the time in Halo, the driving unfortunately hasn't aged half as well. Although it can be fun driving around the open world levels of Halo, the vehicles clunky controls become a massive problem the moment you have to drive down a tight tunnel or avoid a hundred obstacles, it just becomes a nightmare of constantly crashing, slowly reversing the jeep, stopping and starting, flipping the vehicle over and getting out to tip it back up, all the while a hundred enemies are shooting at you, it's honestly torture. To be fair, I only felt this frustrated with the jeeps, the quad bikes and flying vehicles are either too small, or up in the sky to avoid having to dodge a million obstacles. Yet any time you enter a big land vehicle in Halo, you're going to crashing and reversing a lot! It's not very fun.

The story:

Not only does Halo have fantastic game play (for the most part), but its story is honestly just as brilliant. You'll still be shooting enemies throughout the majority of Halo, but in-between levels you'll be treated with a great plot told through many cut-scenes. The Halo Ring the game takes place on, is actually a weapon of mass destruction, capable of destroying large parts of the galaxy and it is up to you, Master Chief, and your faithful AI companion, Cortana, to destroy this ring before it can be used by The Covenant or (as later revealed) The Flood. A whole war history between the humans and Covenant will be revealed within this story, and then when we meet the terrifying Flood (capable of mutating other species into horrific abominations much like The Thing), we learn they are an ancient race of fungi, who seek to destroy everything else in the galaxy and are so sentient to the point where they can even communicate with both humans and Covenant. Yet, it seems they only seek to invade without mercy, much like the Darleks from Doctor Who, only somehow far more horrific and disturbing with their zombie like virus, that can turn everyone against eachother. Both Master Chief and Cortana are lovable protagonists, that have a lot of banter in cutscenes and gameplay, often commenting on what's happening in-game (without being annoying). Halo offers an epic space adventure, that will push you through it's challenging game play.

Conclusion:

Although Halo's game play could be frustrating, it was a game that kept me thinking and on the ball, considering every action I made to get through it's strict campaign. It's one of those games where you'll be shouting at the television in anger, only to cheer in excitement the moment you beat that unforgiving boss, horde of Flood or challenging shoot out arena. It's a game I truly felt relieved to finish, leaving a huge smile on my face, knowing I had just escaped an impossible situation, making me feel like a legendary hero whilst doing it. Halo's difficulty does a fantastic job of immersing you in the game, making you feel like Master Chief himself, saving the whole galaxy from certain destruction! Unfortunately the driving was more frustrating than fun, and appears to be the only thing that feels too dated in my opinion. Some of the Flood encounters were long winded and repetitive, so the game isn't perfect, but still a fantastic time I'd recommend you still play, maybe just on a lower difficulty than Heroic or Legendary. Halo: Combat Evolved is a 4 star game in my opinion.