Halo: Combat Evolved

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Halo: Combat Evolved is a first person shooter (FPS) science fiction video game. It was created by Bungie Studios; which was at that time a subsidiary of Microsoft Game Studios. It was released for the Xbox on November 15, 2001 and is backwards-compatible with the Xbox 360 (going as far as being available for download in the Xbox Originals-service). It is one of the most popular video games for the Xbox, with over 5 million copies sold world wide, with sales only rivaled by its sequel, Halo 2 and later Halo 3. The PC version of this game was released in 2003, ported by Gearbox Software, and featured an add-on known as Halo: Custom Edition that enabled the user to easily modify the game, create unique maps, put in AI and, if an expert with the system, make new weapons. A trial version of the game is available on Microsoft.com

Characters

Main Characters

• John-117 - a.k.a Master Chief/Spartan-117, the apparently last known remaining SPARTAN-II Super soldier alive during the game time period.
• Captain Jacob Keyes - Pillar of Autumn's Captain, father of Commander Miranda Keyes.
• Cortana (AI) - Artificial Intelligence made to capture a disabled Covenant vessel (designed from Dr. Halsey's brain). She also helps John-117 (Master Chief) through a majority of the campaign.

Forerunner AI

• 343 Guilty Spark - Artificial Intelligence construct in the form of a hovering spheroid of Forerunner origin, and the Monitor of Installation 04 who betrays the Master Chief to get the index.

Minor Characters

United Nations Space Command

• UNSC Marine Corps
• Sgt. Johnson
• Carol "Foehammer" Rawley

Covenant

• Elites
• Hunters
• Jackals
• Grunts

Forerunner

• Sentinels

The Flood

• Infection Forms
• Combat Forms
• Carrier Forms

Gameplay

The only disadvantages to gameplay in Halo are the Mark V's slow shield recharge rate, as well as its inability to track two weapons at the same time.

Summary

Halo's gameplay was characterized by several features which set it apart from less acclaimed first-person shooter games at its time.

• Storyline execution: Halo's gameplay and storyline have been known for being tightly interwoven, delivering a convincing manner being consistent with the flow of the game.
• Vehicular Incorporation: Despite being a first-person shooter, Halo includes the option for players to control multiple vehicles, both ground and air.
• Weapons system: Halo's new weapons system was unique in two major respects; the first being its allowance of only two weapons to be carried at any given time (forcing the player to make trade-offs as they progressed throughout the game), and the second being its implementation of a separate button used for the throwing of grenades.
• Artificial intelligence: Halo's AI was quite sophisticated for its generation. With a brand new, advanced AI system, actions performed by the AI such as panicking after the death of a superior, diving out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, or even taking cover from explosives or suppressive fire, helped Halo stand out from the rest of the first-person shooters being released at the time.
• '"First Person Differences:"' Halo is one of the rare first person shooters that have something most lack; Space and Freedom. The player can move virtually anywhere, while most other FPS's are far more linear. The only exclusion is the aptly named "invisible walls", though many can be broken through.

Movement and Aiming

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The Heads-Up Display of Halo:CE.

Movement in Halo is similar to other first-person shooters (FPS), allowing the player to move forwards, backwards, and strafe left and right independently of their aim. On the Xbox, moving and aiming are normally divided between the two joysticks; on the PC, it is between the mouse and the keyboard. It can also be noted that you can change the stick layout to either "Southpaw," where they are reversed, or the "Legacy" layout, similar to Goldeneye 64 for the Nintendo 64.

Halo also allows the player to crouch and jump, although jumping from a high ledge will often result a death or injury. Damage from falling can be reduced or negated entirely with a well-timed crouch right as one lands, or landing on a slope and sliding down. There is also a choice of the normal look option or the inverted looking plus 10 levels of sensitivity, or the speed of which you turn when moving the right thumbstick/mouse.

Damage System

Main article: Health

• "Health:"' The player in Halo has a finite, non self-regenerating health that can only be fully restored by picking up health-packs, which are small white boxes with a red cross on them. 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 or her shields have failed or have been penetrated. If the player's health has one bar left (full health has 8 bars), he/she will hear the Chief's heartbeat faintly in the background, though this is completely cosmetic.
• '"Shields:"' The player is equipped with a shield that protects all parts of his/her body from damage. The shield will decrease in strength every time it is hit by a weapon, and will utterly break and fail after taking enough damage (plasma weapons, due to their magnetic nature, will deplete the shields more quickly than other weapons), but will quickly regenerate if suspended from inflicted damage for a period of time. The shield represents a departure from most first-person shooters, in which one's health bar is basically augmented by picking up "armor" or some other protection, and it is entirely possible to simply lack the necessary health points to survive the next section of gameplay. "Halo" players, on the other hand, have a, more-or-less, permanent buffer of health at their disposal (assuming they manage to find time to regenerate the shield), making it less of a disaster to take hits in combat. Depending on what level of difficulty you play on, your shield will regenerate faster. Easy being slowest and legendary being fastest.

Powerups

There are three types of power-ups available in Halo

• Health Pack: Fully restores the health of the player.(Not the shield)
• Overshield: An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which is three times the strength of the normal magnitude. 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 weakens gradually overtime. In both Multiplayer and Single-Player campaign, one fully charged Plasma Pistol shot or a grenade can take out the overshield entirely. In addition, for the first few seconds whilst the overshield is charging, the player is completely invincible against every type of damage, including a charged plasma pistol shot.
• Active Camouflage: Drastically reduces the player's visibility for approximately 45 seconds. It renders the player all invisible; all but his outline (and minor shading on the armor) is transparent. The player is invisible to friend and foe alike. This effect is reduced if the player sustains any sort of damage or if he or she fires a weapon. Unfortunately, it, like the shields, will quickly fade, given time. It is interesting to note that if a player picks up the Flag or the Skull in a Capture-the-Flag or an Oddball game, respectively, the Active Camo, as it is often abbreviated, will decrease in functionality for around 5 seconds, then disappear altogether. The color is a lighter version of the armor color with which the player spawns.

Enemies

The A.I. in Halo (unlike many other games at the time) was sophisticated enough to attack other enemies in the vicinity, not just the Master Chief. If there is another faction in the area, they will engage them in the same way they might fight the Master Chief.

Three types of enemies are encountered on Halo:

• The Covenant: The Covenant, whose Fleet of Particular Justice was led by the Supreme Commander (the future Arbiter), are an alliance of different species, including the weak, cowardly Grunts, the weak but better Jackals with their visible energy shields, the tough Elites with their personal energy shields that mirror your own, and the massive, intimidating, brutish Hunters with their nearly impervious body-armor. The Covenant mostly carry plasma weapons of varying power. They also make extensive use of vehicles.
• The Flood: The Flood are parasitic life forms encountered in 3 forms: the lowly Infection forms themselves, consist of a single bloated body about the size of a large ball, and have a few tentacles which serve as a means of mobility and have a special tentacle which digs into the human and alien races neck - when shot they explode, meaning a one-hit-kill and the resulting explosion may also set off a chain reaction destroying their allies. Carrier forms, explode when shot, punched, or fall over when you come close which causes splash damage and releases infection forms. Finally, combat forms are aggressive flood that take over a host, usually an Elite or Human as Grunts and Jackals are used for Carriers, via the hosts nervous system, they will either use Human or Covenant weapons or may flail their arms at you and charge in a suicidal attempt to kill you. Proto-Gravemind is a lifeform created from a numerous amount of The Flood fusing together. The only one seen in the entire game is the one infused with Captain Keyes to pilot the Truth and Reconciliation on the level, Keyes.
• Forerunner Sentinels: Part of Halo's defense system, the Sentinels are led by the Monitor 343 Guilty Spark, are hovering robotic drones, who indiscriminately attack the Flood, Covenant, and, from the beginning of the level Two Betrayals, the Master Chief. Although possessing a powerful beam weapon, they are particularly vulnerable to plasma weapons. A fully charged Plasma Pistol is able to take them down. Some of the more advanced Sentinel models had low-strength energy shielding.

Weapons

Main article: Weapons

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

Most Covenant weapons are better suited for reducing shields, and usually 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 (except the Needler) if used in sustained fire, after which they must be given time to cool down and vent exhaust before they can be used again.

Human weapons, on the other hand, require both ammunition and constant reloading. They are better suited to reducing health, and do not overheat. However, on easy and normal difficulty level settings the difference is often negligible.

UNSC Weapons

• M6D Personal Defense Weapon System - The M6D Personal Defense Weapon System, or M6D Pistol, is a powerful, accurate weapon that can be used up to 122.5 meters, has good ammo capacity, a 2x scope for sniping, and its bullets create a small explosion on impact. It requires only 3 head shots to kill a Spartan under normal circumstances. It is not completely accurate.
• MA5B Assault Rifle - Standard Issue Assault Rifle for most UNSC Marines, the MA5B usually the default weapon you start off with and is the only weapon the player is seen wielding in cutscenes. Assault Rifles are fully automatic weapons with a rapid rate of fire. It has low damage per hit and deplorable accuracy. This weapon is good for close and medium ranges (and against Flood infection forms, along with camouflauged Elites as well, as they do not carry personal energy shields.)
• M90 Mk.I Close Assault Weapon System - the M90 Shotgun is the player's best friend when it comes to picking off combat forms and carrier forms and usually kills them in just one hit. It's bullets separate to spray a maximum of fifteen pellets, causing enemies in close range to be completely decimated in less than a second. Medium range is moderately effective, and long range is basically useless altogether. Its close range capabilities are what makes it so effective against the Flood and other enemies.
• SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle - the S2 variant of the Sniper Rifle features a night vision enhancement to the scope, which plays an essential part at the start of the Truth and Reconciliation Level, and can be used to see invisible enemies. It's devastating power and range make it a formidable part of your arsenal. It carries 4 bullets per magazine and can pick off most enemies instantly, depending on their rank and the difficulty the player is playing on. The Sniper Rifle will never harm a Flood because of their liquefied insides.
• M19 SSM Rocket Launcher - The rocket launcher is a devastating piece of equipment when used right. There's nothing like sending a Hunter or Elite to his doom with a well-placed HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) missile. The Rocket Launcher will kill almost anything in one shot, as long as a direct hit is made. It can cut-out from vehicle with one shot too, so be careful when you encounter a player with rocket launcher in multiplayer. Beware of its splash damage too, as you can most certainly harm yourself if used in close range. The weapon is also nicknamed the SPANKR because of the letters on the side of the tube.
• M9 HE-DP Grenade - The M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade, more commonly known as a Frag Grenade, will slay almost anything without a shield with ease. Its "bouncy" nature gives it the edge in distance over the plasma grenade, as you can throw it around corners, as well as possessing quite a magnitude of force, which means it is better for grenade jumps. But be careful with that, the grenade can kill with one explosion if you are unshielded.
• M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun - The LAAG is always equipped on the back of a Warthog, it serves purpose in the fact that it eliminates enemies and vehicles quickly and effectively, and can rotate on xyz axis, making it capable of firing anywhere. Note that it literally has infinite ammo, and never has to reload.
• M7057/Defoliant Projector- a powerful flamethrower that is usable only in multiplayer in Halo PC. It can cause massive amounts of damage by spurting forth streams of napalm, but is very much a short range weapon. It is easy for an inexperienced player to commit suicide with this weapon by walking forward when firing the weapon, running into his/her own trail of flames. It's lethal to people who have no shields on.

Covenant Weapons

• Energy Sword (Non-usable) - A deadly weapon, used by Zealot and Stealth Elites. It can kill the player in one hit, so it is advisable to dispatch the wielder quickly. It is deadliest on higher levels where higher ranking Elites (normally Zealots) wield it, because they are very difficult to kill. It is not usable in the game, due to a built-in failsafe.
• Plasma Rifle - It is a common light weapon in the Covenant army, primarily wielded by Elites. The Plasma Rifle has a high rate of fire and deals out a moderate amount of damage (Mostly to deplete the player's shields.).
• Plasma Pistol - The Plasma Pistol, like the Plasma Rifle, is a directed energy weapon that fires bolts of superheated ionized gas (i.e. plasma) instead of traditional Human ballistic ammunition. The Plasma Pistol also has a slight "tracking" ability and may turn to hit its target. Its ability to instantly and completely deplete shields regardless of strength make it an invaluable weapon in multiplayer as well as in campaign against certain enemies, especially Elites, Jackals, and Sentinels. In multiplayer you basically spawn with a Plasma Pistol. This is the key part in the noob combo.
• Needler - The needler fires semi-homing crystal shards that explode approximately ten seconds after being launched and ignore most forms of personal energy shielding. While one explosion produces fairly light damage, 7 crystals exploding in succession can multiply the damage to fatal amounts, and even more crystals in the same enemy will produce a large explosion, damaging enemies and allies if nearby.
• Fuel Rod Gun (only usable in Halo PC Multiplayer) - The Fuel Rod Gun is used by both the strongest and weakest of the Covenant species. It's carried on the shoulders of many SpecOps Grunts as well as some Majors, a modified version is directly attached on the right arm of Hunters and a variant is installed as a secondary weapon on Banshees. It fires in an arc meaning it is possible to fire over ledges and into the middle of groups. Both hand held versions are not usable in Campaign, due to a "dead man's switch" and can pose a major threat to anything in its blast radius as its explosion can set off grenades.
• Plasma Grenade - The Covenant plasma grenade is one of the more clever weapons in the game. Once activated, its outer layer converts to plasma (looks like a blue fizzing), enabling it to fuse to enemies and vehicles and a mechanism allows it to tell the difference between foes and the environment. Once this device has fused itself to a character, that character has three seconds before the device explodes and kills it. The only enemy capable of surviving a direct hit from the grenade is a Hunter.
• Shade - A stationary gun turret, manned in third-person like a vehicle. They consist of a stand and a floating mobile turret-like seating with control gun systems. It fires a trio of purple-red energy blasts simultaneously, and is effective against shields and light vehicles, although the energy blasts do break off at long range and dissipate, so the Shade is not ideal for long range firing and some medium range.

Vehicles

File:4wiki.jpg

This image shows vehicle-on-vehicle combat, a motif that is repeated throughout the game.

The vehicles available to the player are listed below:

UNSC

• M12 Warthog LRV - The UNSC's primary Light Reconnaissance Vehicle. The Warthog has on its back a 12.7mm (.50cal) M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun, used primarily in eliminating hostile targets. In the PC version of the game, a variant of the normal Chain Gun Warthog, is available. This is the slang-termed "Rocket Hog", specifically a Warthog with a multi-barreled rocket launcher mounted in the back. Although its ammo is unlimited, it has a clip of three rockets with an inordinate reload time. The rockets travel around the same speed as a rocket fired from a rocket launcher, however if you look in any of the map files, you will see it travels faster. The warthog carries a crew of three. 1 gunner, 1 passenger, and 1 driver.
• M808B Scorpion MBT - The UNSC's primary Main Battle Tank. It has both a 90mm Main gun and a 7.62mm Coaxial Machine Gun. It can carry a crew of 5 people including you. 2 on each side.

Covenant

• Ghost - Covenant Reconnaissance and Rapid Assault Vehicle

The ghost carries one driver, it's armaments consist of a double plasma cannon.

• Banshee - Covenant Aerial Assault Aircraft

The banshee has 1 driver, it's armaments are a double laser cannon, and a fuel rod cannon. the fuel rod cannon needs to cool down after every shot.

Note that the Banshee is unavailable in multiplayer in the Xbox version. It can, however, be used in the PC version.

There are also several vehicles that are not player-controllable, like the UNSC Pelican dropship, the Covenant Spirit dropship, and the Covenant Wraith Tank. The single strategically interesting of these vehicles is the Covenant Wraith Mortar Tank, which fires large plasma bombs in parabolic arcs towards its enemies. The arc of fire for a Wraith is limited; if the target is too close, the plasma bomb typically will not do any damage unless the splash damage (if say, the plasma bomb hit a nearby wall) was great enough and near enough to inflict damage. However, if a direct hit is scored, these bombs will often kill a Spartan if he/she is not equipped with an overshield, even if he is in a vehicle. They can be taken down most effectively with explosive weapons such as the Scorpion's main cannon, the rocket launcher, or the Banshee's fuel rod gun. If those are unavailable, it is possible to just ram the Wraith with the Scorpion, as sometimes they do flip over. However, the Scorpion's main cannon is often desirable in comparison to ramming, and as such, ramming enemy tanks is not usually a viable option.

Environments

Halo features a wide variety of environments in which combat occurs, including both human and Covenant Starships, ancient buildings on Halo itself, and expansive outdoor climates. The first level, Pillar of Autumn is fought entirely on the human starship of the same name; the next level, Halo, takes place in a temperate highland climate with open-air Forerunner structures scattered about. Truth and Reconciliation begins in a rocky desert, but the setting changes to the titular Covenant cruiser about one-third of the way through. The Silent Cartographer occurs on a tropical island, with substantial combat both outdoors and inside futuristic Forerunner installations. Assault on the Control Room takes place in a snowy, icy area of towering cliffs and underground tunnels as well as high-tech suspension bridges and oft-repeated Forerunner structures built into and through cliff walls.

343 Guilty Spark is a significant departure from these majestic environments, with combat in gloomy, exotic swamps and equally gloomy underground complexes that host the player's introduction to the Flood, The player is then teleported to the second of three entirely-indoor levels, The Library, encountering repetitive, forbidding hallways and massive elevators. Master Chief returns to the snowy climate of Assault on the Control Room for Two Betrayals, visiting almost no new areas but, interestingly, traveling in the opposite direction. Keyes occurs in the same rocky deserts and the same Covenant ship from Truth and Reconciliation, albeit now heavily damaged, but this time the Flood are present in huge numbers. Finally, The Maw is set on the Pillar of Autumn with three major differences: the presence of the Flood, the heavy structural damage, and access to the Engineering section and service corridors of the ship, which were previously off-limits.

In total, six of the ten levels feature a substantial amount of combat outdoors.

Multiplayer

Up to 4 players can play together using the same-console split screen mode. It is also possible for up to 16 players to play together in one Halo game over a local area network, using Xbox's and/or Xbox 360's that have been connected through an Ethernet hub, but also can be played on Xbox Connect which is a way of tunneling a connection via a PC. The game's seamless support for this type of play, as well as a small number of large maps that can comfortably hold up to 16 combatants, was a first for console games. Since the game was released before the launch of Xbox Live, mainstream online play was not available for this title. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved officially adds online play, also new vehicles (The Banshee and the never-before-seen Rocket Warthog), weapons (The Fuel Rod Gun and the never-before-seen Flamethrower) and maps (see list below) for multiplayer. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved does not support split screen multiplayer.

4 Screenshots of in-game Multiplayer action.

Team Slayer match on Chiron TL-34.

Multiplayer maps in Halo: Combat Evolved:

• Battle Creek
• Sidewinder
• Damnation
• Rat Race
• Prisoner
• Hang 'Em High
• Chill Out
• Derelict
• Boarding Action
• Chiron TL 34
• Blood Gulch
• Wizard
• Longest
• Death Island (Exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
• Danger Canyon (Exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
• Infinity (Exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
• Timberland (Exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
• Ice Fields (Exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
• Gephyrophobia (Exclusive to the PC/Mac version)

Graphics

Back in 2001, when Halo: CE was first released, the game was highly praised for it's graphics. Compared to other games released then, Halo's graphics were far superior, as well as it's engine's capability to display such graphics.

Halo's cutscene graphics use a real-time engine, without the use of pre-rendered cutscenes at all.

Storyline

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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. The Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved allows one player to play the campaign alone, as well as allow two players to play through the campaign in split screen. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved allows only one player to play through the campaign, unless the Halo Custom Edition program is being used, in which case, the campaign is disabled completely by default, but can be restored through a custom UI and the necessary campaign maps. This also allows for the playing of custom campaign levels.

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Halo Art

Halo Combat Evolved Campaign levels:

• Pillar of Autumn
• Halo
• The Truth and Reconciliation
• The Silent Cartographer
• Assault on the Control Room
• 343 Guilty Spark
• The Library
• Two Betrayals
• Keyes
• The Maw

Brief Summary

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

Master Chief, the protagonist of the game, awakes in the Human Starship UNSC Pillar of Autumn. He, along with Cortana, a female sentient AI, evacuates the ship. Master Chief crash-lands on Halo, an ancient alien (Forerunner) artifact found in space. Few UNSC forces survive and gather up. The UNSC forces accidentally misinterpret the ring as a sort of a weapon, and believe that the Covenant is trying to use it as a weapon against the humanity.

From this point on, the UNSC forces start a guerrilla war on the Covenant forces on the ring. Suddenly the Flood, a virulent race that infests all sentient organisms, is accidentally released by the Covenant forces. When Covenant manages to contain them however, UNSC forces accidentally re-release them, mistaking the containment room as a weapons cache.

After the release of the Flood, Master Chief meets a Artificial Intelligence construct who calls himself 343 Guilty Spark. He claims that this installation has a security weapons system that can destroy the Flood in the installation. Master Chief helps 343 Guilty Spark until Cortana revealed that this installation cannot destroy Flood; Halo is made to cleanse the galaxy of Flood's source of food, all sentient life-forms including humans and the Covenant.

Master Chief attempts to foil Spark's plan by destroying Halo. He gets to the Pillar of Autumn crash site. There, he damages the fusion reactor engine core of the Autumn, causing it to explode. This explosion destroys Halo, along with all floods on the installation. However, Master Chief (with Cortana), few Covenant fleet stationed around the ring, and a small amount of UNSC forces make it out of the chaos alive.

Backstory

The events which transpire in Halo's gameplay must be understood in the context of its back story, created by Bungie and elaborated in several novels written after the release of the game. Noteworthy is its use of the oft-used battle between mono-cultural radicalism and liberalism. Also present, although less pronounced, is the likewise popular theme of blind religion (Covenant) versus free-thought secularism (UNSC).

A summary of this back-story is presented below.

Early Conflicts

Main article: United Nations Space Command

2160-2200: This is a period of brutal unrest in Human history in which Governments and Factions fight for control of Earth and its colonies.

As overpopulation and unrest mounted on Earth, a number of new political movements were formed including the left wing Koslovics led by Vladimir Koslov and the fascist Jovian Frieden (which attacked the UN Colonial advisers on Luna) and UN-sponsored military forces begin a pattern of massive buildups which culminated in the first Interplanetary and Rain Forest Wars of the Jovian Moons Campaign. After the successful Marine attack on Mars, recruitment drives and propaganda tactics strongly bolstered UNSC forces. They defeat the Koslovics and the Frieden on Earth and crush their remnants throughout the Solar System: both factions were defeated in the face of massive, unified UN military.

The Human Colonization of the Orion Arm

Main article: United Nations Space Command

In the year 2291, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) successfully develop humanity's first Slipspace 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 Fall of the Outer Colonies

Main article: United Nations Space Command

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 Spartan Project

Main article: SPARTAN

By 2517, several years 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 the age of 6 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 of the SPARTAN II project after an unfortunate failure of the first SPARTAN program. All SPARTANS were given special armor designated MJOLNIR, which can increase their strength and speed. They were the only ones who could wear it as those without upgrades would be thrown into convulsions and die.

The Battle of Reach

Main article: Battle of Reach

By 2552, the UNSC Outer Colonies have been ripped to pieces by the Covenant war machine. The Covenant now attack the Inner Colonies, the very places that the UNSC fought so hard to keep peaceful. In a move of desperation, 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 chosen 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.

This battle was the largest the war had seen so far. The UNSC Fleet (composed of hundreds of the best starships built) fought valiantly, but the planet is overrun and the fleet destroyed by sheer overwhelming numbers. The fortress world of Reach falls, glassed under the feet of the Covenant horde. Worse still, the Master Chief thinks that all of the SPARTANs but himself are killed on the surface of the planet. The (supposedly) last remaining SPARTAN, the Master Chief, escapes with the Pillar of Autumn. In accordance with the Cole Protocol (a military action demanded of all UNSC ships), the Autumn makes a blind Slipspace jump, and emerges in the vicinity of an unexplored and remarkable world.

Arrival at Halo

Main article: Alpha Halo

The Pillar of Autumn exits Slipspace to find a mysterious ring shaped space station 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 are erased, and the Autumn is crash landed onto Halo. The ship's AI construct, Cortana, leaves the Autumn with the Master Chief in a Bumblebee 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.

As a literary sidenote, the ring, "Halo", borrows heavily from the Ringworld of Larry Niven and the Culture Orbitals of Iain M. Banks.

In-Game Plot

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From left to right, the Master Chief, Cortana, and Captain Jacob Keyes in the Pillar of Autumns bridge.

The story is presented through an instruction manual, scripted events and conversations during the game, and in-game cut scenes. The game begins as the Pillar of Autumn exits slip-space near a mysterious ring-shaped space station, called "Halo" by the Covenant. A Covenant fleet attacks and heavily damages the Pillar of Autumn. Jacob Keyes initiates "The Cole Protocol", which denies any Covenant Pursued vessels passage to earth, a procedure designed to prevent the Covenant from learning the location of Earth. While Keyes prepares to land the ship on Halo, the Master Chief and Cortana escape via an escape pod, which crash lands on the ring.

Keyes survives the Autumn's crash landing, but is captured by the Covenant. In the second and third levels of the game, the Master Chief and Cortana gather human survivors and rescue Captain Keyes, who is imprisoned on the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation. Once rescued, Keyes orders the Master Chief to beat the Covenant to Halo's control center and to discover its purpose. The Master Chief and Cortana travel to a map room called the Silent Cartographer, which leads them to the control room. There, Cortana enters the systems and, discovering something urgent, suddenly sends the Master Chief to find Captain Keyes, while she stays behind. While searching for his commander, the Master Chief learns that the Covenant have accidentally released the Flood, a parasitic alien race capable of spreading itself by overwhelming and infesting other sentient lifeforms. Keyes falls victim to the flood while looking for a cache of Covenant weapons, turned into a brainform version of the flood. The release of the Flood prompts 343 Guilty Spark to recruit the Master Chief in retrieving the Index, a device that will activate Halo and prevent the Flood from spreading beyond the facility.

File:180px-Halo master chief 343 guilty spark screenshot.jpg

The Master Chief (left) converses with 343 Guilty Spark.

After the Master Chief retrieves and begins to use the Index, Cortana re-appears and warns him against the activation. She has discovered that Halo's defense system is a weapon designed to kill all sentient life of sufficient biomass in the galaxy, thus effectively starving the Flood. When confronted with this information, 343 Guilty Spark states that the installation technically only has a maximum radius of twenty-five thousand light-years, but that its pulse would trigger other similar installations as well, killing all sentient life in the galaxy.

Installation 04 as it explodes as a result of the Pillar of Autumn's engine core rupturing.

While fighting the Flood, the Covenant, and 343 Guilty Spark's Sentinels, the Master Chief and Cortana attempt to destroy Halo before 343 Guilty Spark activates it. Cortana discovers that the best way to destroy Halo is to cause the crashed Pillar of Autumn to self-destruct. However, Captain Keyes' authorization is required to destroy the ship. By the time that they reach Keyes, he has been infected and turned into a Brain Flood. The Master Chief retrieves Keyes' neural implants directly from his brain, and Cortana activates the Autumn's self-destruct sequence. However, 343 Guilty Spark reappears and deactivates the countdown, discovering the record of human history in the process. The Master Chief manually causes the Pillar of Autumn's fusion reactors to begin to melt down, giving him and Cortana only 6 minutes to escape. The Master Chief and Cortana flee in an unnamed UNSC Longsword fighter just in time to escape the Autumn's explosion, which in turn destroys Halo, and all of the remaining covenant with the exception of a few Elites. The ending reveals that 343 Guilty Spark survives the destruction of Halo. The story is continued in Halo 2.

Halo: Original Soundtrack

Cover Art

Halo Original Soundtrack, composed and produced by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori for the video game Halo: Combat Evolved, is one CD comprising 26 tracks. Some editions include a bonus DVD with game trailers for Halo 2. Most of the music from Halo: Combat Evolved is present on the CD, although some songs are remixed and some tracks are intermixed with others in medley form. It was released in 2001.

Future Developments

The next episode in the Halo story, Halo 2, was released on November 9, 2004. [1] Like the previous fan-beloved Marathon, Halo 2 has a return of old characters, weapon advances, and new technology in attempt to further a complicated plot line, the object of which is to be deciphered by the end. Also with the release of Halo 2 was Xbox Live capability, increasing the multiplayer satisfaction of the game. The final installment of the trilogy, Halo 3 was released on September 25th, 2007. As the games before it, it has had map packs. It also includes balancing existing weapons, along with new enemies, and new weapons.

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.

Not only this mod, but many, can be found at various sites on the Internet at places like halomods.com, macgamingmods.com, and other sites. The customizable map option has become quite popular with the downloadable custom edition of the PC version, many maps can be found on these sites, ready to be opened and played. These maps can be made with 3D Studio MAX and the Halo Editing Kit.

Trailers

In 2000 at E3, Bungie showed off a trailer of the upcoming game to the public. This trailer featured Marines along with the Master Chief scouting out a Forerunner structure and the Covenant fighting them. This trailer was before the conversion to the Xbox as an FPS. Originally the game was to be a RTS as a computer game.

• Halo E3 2000 Trailer

Appearance on the Xbox 360

On December, 4 2007, Microsoft released Xbox Originals. This feature allows classic Xbox titles to be purchased with Microsoft Points, and downloaded onto the Xbox 360 hard drive. All Xbox Original games are identical in every respect to the original version released. Included in the introduction was Halo: Combat Evolved for 1,200 Microsoft Points, accompanied by a free Halo dashboard theme and a Halo-themed picture pack.

Trivia

• Halo was originally being developed for the Mac/PC prior to Microsoft taking interest in its development and purchased by Bungie Studios (therefore owning a promising video game to use exclusively with its upcoming video game console, the Xbox).
• Regardless of held weapons, the Master Chief will always carry a MA5B Assault Rifle during cutscenes.
• There are 8,087 lines of dialogs, most of them randomly triggered during combat.
• On the Halo: Combat Evolved cover the Banshees in the background are shown in their pilotless stance, yet they are still flying. The same mistake appears near the end of Keyes; the Banshees that land with the dropship seem to be pilotless. Towards the end of The Maw, the Banshees that shoot down Echo 419 (a.k.a. Foehammer) have their cowls up, and the Spec Ops Elites piloting them are clearly visible to the player's perception.
• The main menu plays music, but if left alone for a while then a video will come on, like a trailer.
• Halo was originally intended to be an real time strategy game similar to the now under development Halo Wars.
• At least 60% of all character movements are either done through AI behavior or playbacks.
• Originally there were 16 total weapons for Halo CE, but many were cut for the final game. Some of these, such as the Mauler, would find their way into later games.
• Bungie was not happy on how the M6D Pistol and the MA5B behaved in Halo: Combat Evolved. They complained that the M6D behaved more like a rifle and the MA5B behaved like an SMG. Thus, in Halo 2, the M6C, BR55, and the SMG were born. Robert McLees, a weapons designer in Bungie, commented, "Now we have a rifle that behaves like a rifle, an SMG that acts like an SMG and a pistol that acts like a pistol."
• The plasma rifle and the plasma pistol both share the same firing audio.
• All the weapon's pivot points are in the center of the weapon. You can make them spin if you shoot the front or the back of the weapon (doesn't work with sniper rifles). You can also put the weapon in fire (The level "The Maw" works best for this) and it will spin.
• It was originally planned to be a third person adventure with multiple Spartan IIs.
• It's codenames were Dance! Monkey Nuts and Blam!.
• Halo was also originally going to have animals in the scenery like wolves, goats, and dinosaur-like creatures.
• In the booklet that comes with the game, the blueprint for the Plasma Rifle has a blueprint of the Needler underneath.
• If you beat The Maw on Legendary, in the ending cutscene Johnson and an Elite will hug. This is only an easter egg, not actual canon.
• There was a planned Rocket Launcher Warthog until it was deleted. However, it was added in Multiplayer for Halo PC.
• There are some glitches from going through walls to escape multiplayer levels.
• People use the crouch button to perform Corpse Humping.
• It is possible (but not recommended) to hack the pc version and create things.
• Two more popular working titles were 'Covenant' and 'Red-Shift'. Other names were Pulse, Resonance, Age of Aquarius, Flare, The Crystal Palace, Provocation, Chaos, Hard Vacuum, Hostile Environment, Visionary, Freefall, K3 and Island One.
• Halo sports two different types of Grunt armor; the "curl-back grunt", and the regular grunt. It is unknown if this is differentiates between male or female, if it is just an older model of grunt armor, or for other reasons unknown

Platforms

• Xbox
• Xbox 360 (Backwards compatible and DLC)
• PC (Windows)
• Mac

Related Links

Internal

• Action Figures
• Halo: Combat Evolved Walkthroughs
• Halo Glitches and Tricks
• Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) patches
• Pre Xbox Halo

External

• Official site
• Halo 1 Easter Eggs
• Official Xbox.com site
• MobyGames' entry on Halo
• Halo.Bungie.Org Halo fansite and resource center
• Subnova.com Halo information & FAQs
• Halo for Mac OS X
• Halo Planet
• Halomaps.org One of many Custom Edition resources
• Reference.com
• Site with Halo: Combat Evolved mods