Halo: Setting the Standard

I remember the day when Steve Jobs unveiled Halo at the Macworld Expo in the summer of 1999. There had been some rumors and hype about the game, but none of it prepared me for the real-time demonstration prepared by Bungie Software. I had played Bungie’s Marathon, and while I was extremely impressed with the style and the story, I was not terribly impressed with the technical aspects of the game. So when I saw the real-time Halo demonstration, I was completely stunned. The demonstration exhibited all of Bungie’s signature style and artistic élan coupled with a state of the art 3D engine surpassing anything else available at the time.

However, 1999 was a long time ago and a lot has changed since Halo was first announced. At the Expo, Bungie announced the game for a 2000 release on the PC and Mac platforms. Since then, Microsoft acquired Bungie and Halo was retargeted as a launch title for the Xbox console. So the question is, after all this time and all these changes, does Halo still impress? I am happy to report without hesitation that the answer is a resounding yes.

You can’t control me!

Let me start first with the few issues that I have with the game. My biggest concern prior to playing the game was how well a first person shooter would control on a console. Clearly, a console controller could not offer the same degree of accuracy and precision granted by my favored keyboard and mouse combination. But for the most part, Halo does not require the same extent of controller performance. The game is designed such that the bulk of the action does not require you to rapidly adjust your viewpoint. As a result, I found the control setup to be serviceable and even intuitive, though only after a significant adjustment period.

The other main issue with Halo is the frame rate. Halo’s frame rate tops out at 30 frames per second. This is quite good for a variety of game genres, but for those of us accustomed to PC gaming, 30 fps is an astoundingly low figure. Now, why is this a concern? For me, a low frame rate is a concern because it induces motion sickness. When the visuals stutter unevenly, it induces dizziness and, over prolonged periods, a sense of queasiness and nausea. Fortunately, the frame rate rarely stutters in Halo. The game runs at a very consistent speed. However, 30 fps does not allow for very smooth movement when you’re moving the view around. You may think your eyes will adjust to the slight unevenness, but at least for me, I was unable to play the game for more than a couple hours without feeling dizzy and light-headed.

Tell me a story

The good news is that the control setup and the frame rate are the only two issues that I have with Halo. And depending on your perspective, these may just be minor concerns. Halo gets a whole lot of things right. A big reason why Halo is so compelling is its storyline. The background for the events in Halo centers on the conflict between humans and a coalition of alien races known as the Covenant. The Covenant is united by a religious zeal that mandates the extermination of humankind. In their quest to battle the technologically superior Covenant, the human forces created genetically enhanced cyborg super-soldiers. Unfortunately, all but one of these super-soldiers were wiped out in a Covenant attack. You are the last of these soldiers, identified only by your rank of Master Chief. In escaping the Covenant attack, the ship you were on jumped to a random location in space, discovering a mysterious ring-shaped structure called Halo. Unfortunately, the Covenant managed to follow your ship and send it crashing into Halo. You are left to unlock the secrets of the ring-planet and to find a way to handle the Covenant.

Welcome to the Real World

Halo’s story and visual presentation provide a level of immersion that is rarely found in games. People often tout the immersion of Half-Life. In my humble opinion, Halo was able to capture my imagination to a degree far beyond Half-Life. I found Half-Life’s story to be rather bland and its presentation a little crude. Halo is a very cinematic experience and a highly polished one at that. The in-game cutscenes feature dramatic camera angles and a high sense of visual presentation. The story is not highly original, but the artistic presentation is top-notch. Just like the stylish look of the Matrix and Star Wars elevated mediocre stories into fascinating experiences, the visual designs in Halo are extremely compelling. The human forces in Halo clearly draw inspiration from the movie Aliens. Some of the vehicles and weapons in the game are almost direct knock-offs. The Covenant is an intriguing blend of Star Trek and Predator, featuring a variety of aliens armed with energy weapons, tough body armor, and even invisibility shields. And the environments in the game are just stunning. The outdoor landscapes are huge and not in the endless rolling hills sense. Each landscape is believable and populated with distinctive scenery like trees, rocks, and streams. Impressively, these outdoor landscapes seamlessly connect to labyrinthine alien structures. The indoor environments are very stylish, but also rather repetitive, paling in comparison to the freshness of the various outdoor areas. You will see the same basic rooms over and over again. They all look good, but they do get old.

The game audio is also highly polished. After years of living in the dark ages, voice acting in video games has finally reached a golden age. Allies and enemies alike are convincingly portrayed. In fact, the weakest link in Halo’s voice acting is probably the voice of the Master Chief himself. That’s not the say that the Master Chief’s voice acting is bad. Rather, the stereotypical tough and gruff voice of the Master Chief is just relatively weaker compared to the excellent voice acting of the other personas in the game. Music in Halo is used sparingly, but effectively. The game features a very dynamic score that serves to add drama and tension to key moments.

Guns, lots of guns…

Unlike most other first person shooters, Halo limits the number of weapons you can carry at any given time. Instead of allowing your character to be a walking armory, the Master Chief can only carry two guns and eight grenades. This adds a great deal to the strategy and suspense of the game. You will be very wary of conserving ammo and you will have to make tough choices as to which armaments you carry. As you play the game, you’ll discover that certain weapons are more effective in certain situations. The pistol is relatively weak, but is very accurate with great range. The assault rifle has a rapid firing rate, but lacks accuracy. The shotgun is deadly up close. The sniper rifle is lethal from afar. The Covenant energy weapons are effective against aircraft and Covenant shields. What weapons you are carrying will dictate to a great deal how you can handle the game’s situations. If you run out of ammo for one of your weapons, you can scavenge the weapons of fallen enemies. The Covenant weapons run on batteries and cannot be recharged. When depleted, you’ll just toss it away and scavenge for another gun.

The enemy AI really makes weapons management a critical element of Halo. If you blast away with abandon, you will quickly find yourself facing an army of Covenant with no weapon but the butt of your gun. There are many types of Covenant, but there are no unique “boss” Covenant. The basic Grunts are small and cowardly, often fleeing if confronted in a one-on-one situation. Jackals will pester you with their plasma pistols as they hide behind a frustratingly resilient shield. The Elite are tall, fast, agile, and shockingly accurate with their grenade tosses. The Elites are the smartest of the Covenant, dodging your weapon fire and utilizing strategic cover. Hunters are the tanks of the Covenant force. They carry a powerful energy cannon along with a near impenetrable metal shield. Fortunately, they are more predictable than Elites, giving you some degree of an advantage. Each Covenant type is divided into ranks denoted by their AI, armament, and color. The combat AI of the highest-ranking Covenant is really quite amazing. The Gold Elite AI is the most effective and challenging I have ever witnessed in a video game. I will say no more so as not to spoil your initial experience, but I am confident you will be impressed. You will face additional enemies over the course of Halo, but I take the fifth with regard to this as well in order to avoid discussing any spoilers.

I need some backup!

Aside from having a ton of weapons and fighting a ton of tough enemies, you also have the opportunity to pilot a number of vehicles. Just as with the weapons in the game, you will have an opportunity to commandeer both human and Covenant vehicles. In my opinion, the human vehicles are more fun, under the caveat of cooperative play. The human vehicles provide space for additional passengers. If you’ve seen any commercials for Halo, you’ll have seen the Warthog. The Warthog is essentially a jeep mounted with a big gatling gun. Operating the weapon requires a dedicated gunner, but unfortunately, in single player mode, you will not have the option of being the gunner. It’s rather disappointing but a necessary evil, I guess. I may sound like a broken record, but I’m not going to say any more about the vehicles either. Yes, it’s for your own good. Part of the fun of Halo is the novelty of what you are able to do and what you are able to drive.

Overall, Halo is just a spectacular game. Bungie has demonstrated that they know how to make a great game, regardless of platform. I know that I’ve left out a lot of details about the game in this review, but Halo is such a cinematic storytelling experience, that I would rather err on the side of being too tight-lipped than giving away too many elements of the game. I will give this one warning, however. After the first scene, you may find Halo to be a little slow. Just be patient. It takes a while for the story to get started, but once it gets going, the game is a total trip. Halo is the perfect Xbox launch title. It looks great and it plays great. I didn’t think the Xbox would be successful, but if Microsoft can continue to get developers to crank out titles like Halo for the system, then the Xbox has nothing but a long and lustrous future.