There is a distinct smell in the air, of damp earth and electricity charges, of anxiety, excitement and anticipation. The calm before the proverbial storm. There's been a dearth of great games this year (if you want to be harsh, this century), particularly in shooters. I'm not talking about good games, I'm talking about true greatness, about the kind of experience that stays with you forever, and which is so depressingly rare.
But now we're on the cusp of what should be a new era. We're about to be shaken out of our tired routines and undemanding complacency. The leap is nearly here. I'm talking Half-Life 2 and Deus Ex: Invisible War, of course. So why should we give a damn about a console game released way back in ancient 2001?
You're Late It's been called one of the best games of all time, on any platform, by too many people to ignore. It's also by rights a PC game, stolen under our very noses to give Microsoft's console some proper street credentials. And boy was that a good move by them. Because the truth is that while Halo was an exceptional console game, it is merely a very good PC game; and one that loses its way so spectacularly towards the end that you may end up cutting it short and starting again.
You'd think being given the opportunity to play it with mouse and keyboard - which, no matter how well the console controllers are implemented, is the only way to experience any first-person game - would make it a better title. After all, this was the reason I gave up on the Xbox version after a while, knowing the PC one would be along some time in the future. But what it actually does is set it side by side with every other shooter on the PC.
And, while there is undoubtedly a multitude of truly great things about it, there is, in fact, very little that we haven't seen many times before.
In case you need some words of introduction to the whole thing, Halo takes place (for the most part) on a ring-shaped world full of aliens; the big draw being the massive landscapes, the use of vehicles and the large firefights where you team up with other marines. There's no stupid platform jumping, no ridiculous big bosses and no running around looking for keys to open doors.
It draws you in superbly - Bungie clearly following Half-Life's example in many ways. And once you're off the opening ship level and taste the fresh air of the planet, with large seas stretching out over the horizon and green hills rolling under a blue, starlit sky, you begin to see what all the fuss is about. There's something very satisfying about seeing dots moving in the distance and being able to drive right up to them, until their big, ugly alien faces are right on the end of your gun.
The outdoor levels are huge and spectacular, yet require amazingly short loading times. Once you're there, you occasionally get a "Loading..." message, much as you did in Half-Life, but it's over in a blink and you barely notice it.
The graphics are not state of the art by a long stretch, especially the character models, but one of the first niggles we face is the system requirements. Turn down all the graphical options and you might get away with the minimum spec, but even then the frame-rate is choppy. You need a grunting beast with one of the latest cards for real smoothness. Something you'd expect from Doom 3 maybe, not Halo.
Combat Unevolved Superb though the open spaces might be, the levels do become a tad repetitive, and they're complemented by rather flat and unimaginative interiors in bases and ships.
But one of the biggest praises of the game was always the enemy AI. They run away when a grenade is thrown, the little ones get scared if you impress them, they hide behind objects, run at you when you're reloading, co-ordinate their attacks. It is, in other words, all well and wonderful. The problem we had is it was all put in the brains of rather faceless aliens, and the best AI is the one that makes you feel you're playing against human opponents. These look like aliens and behave like aliens, and once you recognise their patterns, they're easy to predict and you soon get tired of them. The small grunts are particularly irritating, causing little damage and speaking squeaky cutesy English that doesn't exactly inspire awe or terror.
Now, you may want to skip this paragraph if you're obsessive about spoilers... but some way into the game another race of aliens is introduced, and the AI is thrown out the window. Suddenly, the orchestrated sophistication is forgotten and it's pure Doom-time. Very disappointing.
Motorhead By far the best part of the game is the vehicles, which, though they take some getting used to, are a pure joy. The Warthog jeeps bounce about while the gunman hangs on for dear life and whoops like a rodeo driver, and the tank is by far the most satisfying I've ever driven in a game. Sadly, there are not quite enough of them.
When they do appear, they provide a real tactical element, adding another option to what is already a very open approach to battle. Taking on a big fight with a hovercraft will be very different than going in with a rocket launcher or a sniper rifle. And, since you can only ever carry two weapons at one time, this tactical side is present throughout.
Halo Goodbye Saving is restricted to checkpoints, but you can save as many as you like (whereas you had a limit on the Xbox), and they appear so often that it's never really an issue. One console hang-up that's noticeable though is the massive crosshair, not exactly conducive to sharpshooting, and rarely providing you with a sense of skill when hitting an enemy.
At least the real reason for its PC incarnation, the online mode, is very playable and provides as much vehicle-use as you could want. Just don't expect Halo to live up to the hype. And with those PC heavyweights just around the corner and Halo 2 scheduled for spring next year on Xbox, this could soon become little more than an also-ran. Even if it is a very good one.
PC Zone Staff
// Overview
Verdict
Still great after two years, but not that great
Uppers
Massive levels Fantastic vehicles Good AI requiring tactics to beat Fun online
The most obvious missed opportunity has to be the chance of making a much bigger splash had it been released two years ago as a PC title. Besides that, I would have liked the vehicles to be much more integral to the experience, and the so-called twist when another race is introduced nearly ruins the whole thing. However, as a PC game, the biggest missed opportunity is the lack of a co-operative mode, easily the most enjoyable thing on the console version. Still, Gearbox is making sure the modders get busy, so there's still hope.
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Massive levels
