Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo box art

Halo: Combat Evolved is a video game in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, created by the Microsoft owned Bungie Studios.

Introduction

Halo is a bestselling game for the Xbox, considered by many to be that platform's "must-have" game. Many consider Halo to be one of the best first-person shooters of all time. For example, the usually harsh Edge magazine gave it a full score of ten out of ten. Nevertheless, Halo has its weaknesses; some criticise its gameplay as too repetitive.

Prior to Bungie's takeover by Microsoft, the initial release of Halo was planned for the Mac OS and Windows platforms; in fact, the game was first previewed at the Macworld Conference & Expo, New York, in 1999. It was also originally planned as a real-time strategy game.

Following the takeover, Halo was released exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox game console on November 15, 2001.

Almost two years later on September 30, 2003 a port of Halo for Windows was released, followed by a release for Mac OS X on December 11, 2003.

In the Windows version, however, some problems existed, largely stemming from its porting. While the plot and content remained the same, the engine was not optimized for the higher screen resolutions most computers run at, and the multiplayer experience lacked basic features, such as being able to kick team killers. With ordinary TVs running at less than 500 horizontal lines, and most PC games running above that, the PC port of Halo suffered low frame rates when scaled up. The size of the player's HUD as well some other issues common to console-PC ports also existed. Still, the game's overall quality shone through many of these problems, and a patch could fix problematic issues.

Gameplay

Summary

Halo's gameplay is characterized by several features which set it apart from less acclaimed FPS games:

• Storyline execution: Halo's gameplay and storyline are tightly interwoven, and delivered in a convincing manner which is consistent with the flow of the game. This contributies greatly to the player's suspension of disbelief.

• Vehicles: Halo incorporates many vehicles into its single and multiplayer games, including flying ones.

• Weapons system: Halo's weapons system is unusual in two respects. First, it allows one to carry only two weapons at any given time, forcing the player to switch weapons often and make trade-offs when choosing which weapons to carry. Second, Halo has an independent button for throwing grenades, making this action much more accessible than most FPS games.

• Artificial intelligence: Halo's AI is quite sophisticated for its time. More cowardly types of enemies will run away screaming in terror if the player detonates explosives near them, while even the more hardened enemy troops will take cover. Underlings will scatter and panic if their commanders and more elite forces are killed. Other touches include enemies diving out of the way when the player tries to run them over in a vehicle, and the way some enemies continue firing at the player's last known position when they lose sight of him.

Movement and aiming

Movement in Halo is similar to other first-person shooters, allowing the player to move forewards, backwards, and strafe left and right independently of their aim. On the Xbox, strafing and aiming are normally separated between the two joysticks; and on the PC, between the mouse and the keyboard.

Halo also allows the player to crouch and jump, although jumping from a high ledge will often result in death.

Damage system

• Shields: The player carries a shield which protects all parts of his body from damage. The shield will decrease in strength every time it is hit by a weapon, and will fail after taking enough hits. The shield will quickly regenerate if it is not hit for a period of time.

• Health: The player in Halo has a finite, non self-regenerating health which can be fully restored by picking up health-packs. Running completely out of health will result in death, but having lower health does not impede player actions. A player's health can only be reduced if his shields have failed.

Powerups

There are three types of powerups available in Halo:

• Health packs - Fully restore the health of the player.
• Active camouflage - Drastically reduces the player's visibility for a period of time, making all but a faint outline of him transparent. This effect is reduced if the player is hit by weapons fire.
• Overshield - An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which is twice the strength of the normal one. The overshield functions on top of the regular shield - when it is active, the normal shield does not take damage. In the single player game, the overshield is reduced only when the player is hit, while in the multiplayer game, it also weakens gradually with time.

Enemies

Three factions of enemies are encountered on Halo: the Covenant, the Flood, and the Sentinels.

• Covenant: The Covenant appear to be an alliance of different species, including the cowardly Grunts, the weak Jackals with their physical shields, the Elites with their sophisticated energy shields, and the huge, tough Hunters with strong armour. The Covenant mostly carry plasma weapons of varying power. They also make extensive use of vehicles.

• Flood: The parasitic Flood are encountered in 3 forms: the lowly parasitic spores themselves, which usually die from a single shot; zombified humans and Covenant, which are tough and may carry either human or Covenant weapons; and exploding carriers, which cause splash damage and release spores.

• Sentinels: Part of Halo's defense system, the Sentinels are hovering robotic drones, and will attack Flood, Covenant, and (depending on the point in the story) the Master Chief. Although possessing a powerful beam weapon, they are not particularly resistant to damage.

Weapons

NOTE: The below discussion of Halo's weapons pertains to specifically to gameplay; ie, how and when the weapons are to be used. For a more general discussion, see UNSC and The Covenant (Halo).

All usable weapons in Halo belong to either the Covenant or the UNSC (humans). The player can only carry two weapons at a time, in addition to up to 8 grenades (four fragmentation grenades and four plasma grenades).

Covenant weapons are better suited for reducing shields, and typically fire faster than their human counterparts. With the exception of the needler, they do not require ammunition or reloading; instead, each weapon comes with its own battery. Once this battery is depleted, the weapon must be discarded. Covenant weapons can also overheat if fired too often, after which, they must be given time to cool down before they can be used again.

Human weapons, on the otherhand, require both ammunition and constant reloading. They are better suited at reducing health, and do not overheat.

Human weapons

M6D Pistol

 Rate of Fire : Average, Semi-Automatic
 Damage per Hit: High
 Range: Medium to long
 Accuracy     : Very high
 Clip size    : 12 rounds
 Maximum Ammo : 132 rounds(including a fully loaded clip)

Advantages

The Pistol’s accuracy and high damage per hit make it ideal for eliminating covenant grunts and jackals. It can also be used against the flood, especially to take out the large, exploding kind; however, many players consider using the pistol against the flood to be a waste of ammunition.

Disadvantages

The pistol performs poorly against covenant shields; so taking on elites with only this weapon is ineffective. However, the pistol can easily kill an elite whose shield has already failed. In addition, the pistol performs poorly against covenant tanks and other fully armored vehicles.

Multiplayer Role

Many consider the pistol to be the best multiplayer weapon due to its flexibility. The pistol works well at medium and long ranges, in the hands of a skilled player, can even be effective when the target is close. Theoretically, three shots will provided a frag in any multiplayer game – two to disable the shield, and one headshot to kill. In practice, this feat may be difficult to achieve due to lag.

MA5B Assault Rifle

 Rate of Fire : High, Fully-Automatic
 Damage per Hit: Low
 Range: Short to medium
 Accuracy     : Low
 Clip size    : 60 rounds
 Maximum Ammo : 660 rounds(including fully loaded clip)

Advantages

When fired in short bursts to increase accuracy, the assault rifle is effective at killing unshielded opponents, even large groups of them. This includes covenant grunts and all variety of Flood. The assault rifle is also effective at destroying banshees, ghosts and other covenant vehicles.

Disadvantages

Like the pistol, the assault rifle performs poorly against shields. Unlike the pistol, the assault rifle is inaccurate, preventing it from being effective against both Jackals and Elites. In addition, the Assault rifle’s small clip size and high rate of fire require constant reloading.

Multiplayer Role

Since players in Halo multiplayer normally spawn with shields, the Assault Rifle’s effectiveness is limited. Normally, it is used because more specialized weapons are not available, or to destroy vehicles. However, when combined with the plasma pistol (which can destroy shields quickly), the Assault Rifle can be a powerful medium and short-range option.

M90 Shotgun

 Rate of Fire : Low, semi automatic
 Damage per Hit: High
 Range: Point-blank to Short
 Accuracy     : Low
 Clip size    : 12 rounds 
 Maximum Ammo : 72 rounds (including fully loaded clip)

Advantages

Since the shotgun fires 15 spreading slugs per shot, and since each slug does a significant amount of damage, this weapon can be devastating at short range. Its high damage potential makes it effective against any covenant unit except the Hunter – if the player can get close enough to render the gun effective. The shotgun can also be used against all manner of vehicles, and many players consider it the idea weapon with which to destroy banshees. In addition, this weapon is extremely effective against all forms of Flood at the short and medium range.

Disadvantages

The shotgun’s greatest limiting factor is its range, making it useless in many wide, open terrains. Ammunition for this gun is also sometimes difficult to come by.

Multiplayer Role

The shotgun’s effectiveness in multiplayer games varies depending on the terrain – indoors and in tight spaces, it is considered by many to be the best weapon. In the PC version of the game, it also serves to balance the flying banshee. Many players carry the shotgun and a long range weapon such as the pistol, thus making for a more flexible arsenal.

S2 AM Sniper Rifle

 Rate of Fire : Average, semi automatic
 Damage per Hit: Very high
 Range: Medium to long
 Accuracy     : Very high
 Clip size    : 4 rounds
 Maximum Ammo : 28 rounds (including fully loaded clip)

Advantages

The sniper rifle is designed to be used at medium to long ranges, and is equipped with a scope and night vision for precisely this purpose. With its 10x zoom and ability to penetrate Covenant shields, the sniper is useful against distant Elites. A headshot against any Covenant infantry results in an instant kill.

Disadvantages

The sniper rifle is ineffective at the short range, and has a fairly small clip size. It also has a steeper learning curve than most weapons, taking significant practice to master. Ammunition for this gun is also quite rare.

Multiplayer Role

Sniping, both moving, and from a fixed location (camping) is very popular in Halo multiplayer. Uses for the sniper rifle include base defense, teleport denail, and picking off enemy players in warthogs and tanks. Network lag is a serious problem for this weapon, as its accuracy makes a small error the different between a miss and a hit.

M19 SSM Rocket Launcher

 Rate of Fire : Low
 Damage per Hit: Very high
 Range: All
 Accuracy     : High
 Clip size    : 2 Rockets
 Maximum Ammo : 10 Rockets (including fully loaded clip)

Advantages

The rocket launcher spreads huge amount of damage over a large area. It is capable of taking out entire groups of targets at any range, and can destroy any vehicle with one shot.

Disadvantages

Several things counterbalance the rocket launcher’s sheer power. First, it fires and reloads slowly. Second, ammunition is often unavailable, and the player can carry only 8 extra rockets at once. Third, the rocket launcher can damage its own user if used at short ranges. And finally, the rocket travels slow enough to be dodged.

Multiplayer Role

Acquiring the rocket launcher in the multiplayer game may prove difficult, since it rarely appears in the spawn area. However, once acquired, this weapon can prove very effective for all the reasons mentioned above: it can take out a large group of enemies in one shot, and can eliminate vehicles.

Covenant weapons

Plasma pistol: Capable of quickly firing low-powered shots, or firing a single high-powered blast, which tracks its target to some degree.

Plasma rifle: Rapid fire gun which overheats quickly.

Needler: Something of an oddity - fires a series of needles which attach themselves to a target before exploding, often spectacularly. A magazine of 20 shots can be devastating against an Elite.

Vehicles

These are the Warthog M12 light reconnaissance vehicle, the Ghost reconnaissance and rapid attack vehicle, the Banshee ground assault aircraft, and the Scorpion main battle Tank. The player can use all of these.

Environments

Halo features a wide variety of environments in which combat occurs, including the human starship Pillar of Autumn, the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation, ancient buildings on Halo itself, and vast outdoor expanses of varying climates, including the temperate lands of level 2, the desert of level 3, the winter wasteland of level 5, and the spooky forests of level 6. About six of the ten levels feature a substantial amount of combat outdoors.

Multiplayer

16 players can play together in one Halo game over a local area network, using four Xboxes that have been connected through an Ethernet hub. The game's seamless support for this type of play, as well as a few large maps that can comfortably hold up to 16 combatants, is a first for console games. The PC version of Halo adds online play, and also new vehicles and weapons for multiplayer.

Storyline

Halo's storyline is linear; there is only one ending (in contrast to other first person shooters such as Deus Ex). It is presented to the player through an instruction manual, scripted events and conversations during the game, and a number of cut-scenes rendered using the game's graphics engine. This method of storyline delivery is common among modern video games.

Brief Summary

Halo, like previous Bungie releases such as the Marathon series, has an intricate plot.

The "Halo" in the title refers to an enormous artificial space habitat similar to a Culture Orbital discovered by the warship Pillar of Autumn, which the central character, the Master Chief John-117, is aboard. With the help of his fellow marines and the ship's artificial intelligence, Cortana, the Master Chief discovers some of the secrets of Halo while fighting off members of the Covenant, archenemies of humanity who, presumably, wish to find Halo's secrets for themselves.

Backstory

The events in which transpire in Halo's gameplay must be understood in the context of its backstory, created by Bungie and elaborated in several novels written after the release of the game. A summary of this backstory is presented below.

The Human Colonization of the Orion Arm

In the year 2291, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) successfully develop humanity's first faster than light drive, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. For the first time in history, the rapid colonization of other worlds is made possible. By 2390, 210 worlds have been occupied by humans, and are being actively terraformed to suit man's needs. These worlds are to become known as the Inner Colonies. By 2490, the UNSC's fledging interstellar empire has expanded to over 800 planets throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. During this period, the planet Reach becomes the headquarters of the UNSC military, and is destined to become the most heavily fortified world under human control.

The Covenant Wars Begin

On April 3, 2530, first contact is made with an alien race that refers to itself as The Covenant. On that day, a single Covenant Warship exterminated the surface population of the Outer Colony Harvest. Three UNSC battleships are sent to investigate this incident, engage the Covenant ship in battle, and are subsequently routed. Only one, the Hercules, manages to return to Reach badly damaged. By December of the same year, the UNSC has mobilized a massive fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Preston Cole, with orders to reclaim the Harvest Colony and stop the Covenant advance.

Covenant ships possess several technological features which make them far superior to their human counterparts. First, they have superior manuvering and tracking abilities when employing faster than light travel (ships in Halo, like many other science fiction titles, achieve faster than light speeds by moving through an alternate realm called "Hyperspace"). Covenant ships can exit Hyperspace at precise coordinates, unlike human ships, which can only emerge somewhere in the vincity of a star system.

Second, Covenant ships possess strong recharging shields which must be destroyed in order to physically damage the ship. While humans have managed to replicate this effect on a small scale (ie: protection for individual soldiers), they are unable to create shields large enough to protect an entire ship.

Third, Covenant ships employ more powerful weapons, including a form of guided plasma which can often destroy human vessels in a single hit. It should be noted that the Covenant also use plasma to exterminate the surface population of a planet (a process known as 'glassing').

The Fall of the Outer Colonies

Cole's fleet manages a victory at Harvest, but at a high cost - two thirds of his ships are destroyed. Despite significant tactical brilliance on the part of Human commanders, Covenant technology guarantees a four to one kill/loss ratio in most battles. One by one, the Outer Colonies fall below the onslaught, and by 2535, virtually all have been destroyed.

The Cole Protocol

To protect the location of Earth, the UNSC establish the Cole Protocol. When human forces are forced into retreat, they must not execute a Hyperspace jump in the direction of Earth, even if this forces them to jump without the necessary navigational calculations (a "blind jump"). If such a jump is not possible, and if capture is imminent, the captain must order a self-destruct. The onboard ship AI construct, normally imperative to navigation and tactical decisions, must either be destroyed or removed.

The SPARTAN Project

Seveal decades before contact with the Covenant was made, the UNSC military embarked on a secret project to create a group of elite soldiers that would deal with occasional unrest in the Colonies. Codenamed SPARTANs, these genetically enhanced troops were trained from birth into a life of battle, and became a great asset against the Covenant. While humans suffered defeat after defeat in space, they could almost always prevail with the help of the SPARTANs in ground engagements. The main character of Halo's gameplay, the Master Chief, is a veteran SPARTAN.

The Battle of Reach

By 2552, many of Humanity's Inner Colonies have been destroyed by the Covenant. In a move of desparation, UNSC orders a secret plan to capture a Covenant ship using a SPARTAN task force and find the coordinates of their home planet. A group of SPARTANs, led by the Master Chief, are choosen for this mission, and board a specially outfitted ship known as the Pillar of Autumn (under the command of Captain Jacob Keyes). This plan, however, is interrupted when the Covenant launch a surprise attack on the fortress world of Reach.

During this battle, Reach is overrun and glassed, and the human fleet is obliterated. Worse still, all but one of the SPARTANs are killed on the surface of the planet. The last remaining SPARTAN, the Master Chief, escapes with the Pillar of Autumn. In accordance with the Cole Protocol, the Autumn makes a blind Hyperspace jump, and emmerges in the vicinity of an unexplored and remarkable world.

Arrival at Halo

The Pillar of Autumn exits hyperspace to find a mysterious ring shaped moon orbiting a gas giant. The ring, quickly named "Halo", is obviously artificial and teeming with life. A Covenant fleet, however, is also present, and a subsequent battle heavily damages the Pillar of Autumn. Captain Keyes initiates the Cole protocol - all records of Earth's location is erased, and the Autumn is crash landed onto Halo. The ship's AI construct, Cortana, leaves the Autumn with the Master Chief in an escape pod which also crash lands on Halo.

Gameplay begins in earnest with the Master Chief's escape from the Autumn, and continues upon landing. The player will soon discover the origins and purpose of this world - and uncover a threat that forces even the Covenant into retreat.

Characters

• The Master Chief: The only SPARTAN known to have survived the battle of Reach. He is the character the player assumes during gameplay.

• Cortana: The Pillar of Autumn's AI construct, removed from the ship by the Master Chief in accordance with the Cole Protocol. During most of the game, Cortana is connected directly to the Master Chief's neural interface, and acts to deliver tactical information and mission objectives.

• Captain Jacob Keyes: The distinguished Captain of the Pillar of Autumn, renowned for his tactical brilliance in key battles prior to the fall of Reach.

In-game plot

The first levels of the game deal with an attempt to reach Halo's control center to uncover its purpose. It is soon discovered that the Covenant have accidentally released the "Flood", a parasitic race which gets its name from the way it devastates potential hosts with sheer numbers. The Flood then sweep across Halo and devastate human and Covenant forces positioned on Halo. The release of the Flood activates Halo's defense system, a pulse weapon that, when fired, would wipe out all life in the galaxy large enough to be hosts for the Flood. Technically, that installation only has a maximum effective radius of 25,000 light years, but the pulse would trigger other installations as well, effectively killing all life in the galaxy. This system is designed to stop the Flood from spreading through the universe if they escape confinement from Halo by the only way possible: starving the Flood of any life source large enough to sustain them.

Naturally, this would wipe out Humanity as well, and so the final levels of the game revolve around the Master Chief's attempts to destroy Halo before it fires.

The game leaves the story open to further developments, with the revelation that there are most likely several Halo ringworlds in the galaxy, due to Halo being numbered "Installation 04" by a robot named 343 Guilty Spark, the Monitor of the installation.

Books

As of 2004, three books have been written based in the Halo universe.

• Halo: The Fall of Reach is a prequel to the game, written by Eric Nylund.
• Halo: The Flood is an adaptation of the game's story by William C. Dietz.
• Halo: First Strike is the story between the first game and its upcoming sequel by Eric Nylund.

Future developments

The next episode in the Halo story, Halo 2, is expected to be released on November 9, 2004. [1] Like the previous fan-beloved Marathon, Halo 2 promises a return of old characters and new technology in attempt to further a complicated plot line, the object of which is to be deciphered by the end user.

A free mod for the computer game series Battlefield 1942/Vietnam called Homefront features Halo-esque and original content for online multiplayer games with up to 64 players. [2]

External links

• Official site
• Official Xbox.com site
• MobyGames' entry on Halo
• Halo.Bungie.Org Halo fansite and resource center
• Subnova.com Halo information & FAQs
• Klik Gamers' Halo review
• Red VS Blue - Machinima using the Halo engine
• Halo for Mac OS X