Halo: Combat Evolved
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- "Halo: Combat Evolved! Buy one! Heck, buy two! That's an order, soldier!"
- — Sergeant Johnson after the player completed the Halo: Combat Evolved demo.
Halo: Combat Evolved is a first person shooter science-fiction video game, created by Bungie Studios, which was a subsidiary of Microsoft Game Studios at that time. It was released for the original Xbox game console on November 15, 2001, and is backwards compatible with the Xbox 360 by downloading a free code patch on Xbox Live. It was also released for PC and Mac and it is one of the most popular video games for the Xbox with eight million copies sold. Its sales are rivaled only by its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3. This game is considered a classic even though it was released in 2001.
Halo: Combat Evolved has been made available as an Xbox Original game title for Xbox 360 since December 4, 2007 for download on Xbox Live Marketplace for 1200 Microsoft Points.[1]
Campaign
Halo's storyline is linear; there is a single ending in contrast to other first person shooters such as Deus Ex that could have several different endings. 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.
Halo: Combat Evolved Campaign consists of 10 levels:
- The Pillar of Autumn - "Escape intact as Covenant forces board your ship."
- Halo - "Seek out surviving Marines and help them fight the Covenant."
- The Truth and Reconciliation - "Board a Covenant ship in an attempt to rescue Captain Keyes."
- The Silent Cartographer - "Search for the map room that will lead you to the secrets of Halo."
- Assault on the Control Room - "Defend the Control Room against wave after wave of Covenant troops."
- 343 Guilty Spark - "Creep through a swamp to meet the only enemy the Covenant fear."
- The Library - "Fight your way through an ancient security facility in search of the Index."
- Two Betrayals - "Re-activate the weapon at the heart of Halo... and learn the truth."
- Keyes - "Stage a one-cyborg assault on a Covenant ship and bring back the Captain."
- The Maw - "Destroy Halo before Halo destroys all life in the galaxy."
Brief Summary
Halo, like Bungie's previous releases such as the Marathon series, has an intricate plot:
The Template:UNSCship emerges out of Slipspace to find a huge ring—a "halo" floating in space. The main character, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, is aboard the Autumn when the ship comes under attack by the Covenant, an alliance of aliens and the arch-enemy of humanity. John-117 evacuates the doomed ship for the surface of Halo to protect the Autumn's artificial intelligence, Cortana. She carries highly sensitive military information, which would prove disastrous if she were captured by the Covenant. With the UNSC Marines by his side, Cortana providing direction, and his assault rifle ready and loaded, the Master Chief sets to finding out the mysteries of Halo and defeating the Covenant.
Game Plot
The first few levels of the game deal with an attempt to reach Halo's Control Center to uncover its purpose. It is soon discovered that during an attempt to take control of a research facility, both human and Covenant forces have accidentally released something: The Flood, as a result of the battle. The Flood is a parasitic race which received their name because of the way they swarm over all resistance. Free for the first time in thousands of years, the Flood sweeps across Halo, devastating Human and Covenant forces alike. The release of the Flood prompts 343 Guilty Spark, the eccentric Forerunner artificial intelligence, to activate Halo's defense systems. Most obvious among these are the Sentinels, flying robots equipped with beam projectors, but Halo's most powerful weapon is much more subtle and far more dangerous. Halo can fire a pulse that will wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy. As sentient life is the Flood's food, the Flood will not be able to survive, and will therefore perish. Technically the Installation only has a maximum effective radius of 25,000 light years, but the pulse would trigger other installations as well. This system is designed to stop the Flood from spreading through the universe if they escape confinement from Halo, by starving the Flood of any life source large enough to sustain them. This is the only possible solution to the destructive parasite.
Naturally, this would wipe out Humanity as well as the Covenant, and so the final levels of the game revolve around the Chief's attempt to destroy Halo before it fires.
The game leaves the story open to further developments, with the revelation that there are several Halo ring worlds in the galaxy, due to Halo being numbered Installation 04 by 343 Guilty Spark, the Monitor of the Installation. It is revealed later in Halo 2 that there were seven Halos before Installation 04's destruction.
Backstory
The events 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. Noteworthy is its use of the oft-used battle between monoculture radicalism and free culturalism. 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: History of the United Nations Space Command
2160-2200: This is a period of brutal unrest in Human history in which National Governments and break-off 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 neo-communist Koslovics led by Vladimir Koslov and the neo-fascist Frieden based on the Jovian Moons, which attacked the UN Colonial Advisers on one of the moons, and UN-sponsored military forces began a pattern of massive build-ups which culminated in the Jovian Moons Campaign, the Rain Forest Wars and the first Interplanetary War. After the successful Marine attack on Mars, recruitment drives and propaganda tactics strongly bolstered UNSC forces. They defeated the Koslovics and the Frieden on Earth and crushed 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
In the year 2291, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) successfully developed humanity's first Slipspace drive, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. For the first time in history, the rapid colonization of other worlds was made possible. By 2390, 210 worlds had been occupied by humans, and were being actively terraformed to suit man's needs. These worlds were to become known as the Inner Colonies. By 2490, the UNSC's fledgling interstellar empire had expanded to over 800 planets throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. During this period, the planet Reach became the headquarters of the UNSC military, and was destined to become the most heavily fortified world under human control.
The SPARTAN-II Project
- Main article: SPARTAN-II Program
In 2517, several years before contact with the Covenant, 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 not be able to withstand the reaction times of the armor and die.
The Fall of the Outer Colonies
- Main article: Human-Covenant War
After first contact with the Covenant was made on the colony of Harvest in 2525, a series of brutal engagements followed. Admiral Preston Cole's fleet managed a victory at Harvest, but at a high cost - two thirds of his ships were destroyed. Despite significant tactical brilliance on the part of Human commanders, Covenant technology guaranteed a four to one kill/loss ratio in most space battles. One by one, the Outer Colonies fell below the onslaught, and by 2535, virtually all had been destroyed.
Fall of Reach
- Main article: Fall of Reach
By 2552, the Covenant had destroyed many of Humanity's Inner Colonies. 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. All of the Spartans except three are chosen for this mission, and, led by the Master Chief, 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 the human fleet is obliterated. 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, the Autumn makes a blind Slipspace jump, and emerges in the vicinity of an unexplored and remarkable world.
Arrival at Halo
- Main article: Installation 04
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. A Covenant fleet, however, is also present, and a subsequent battle heavily damages the Autumn. Captain Keyes initiates the Cole protocol 2 - all records of Earth's location are erased, the shipboard AI Cortana is given to the Master Chief to protect from the Covenant, and the Autumn is crash landed onto Halo. Cortana leaves the Autumn with John 117 in a Bumblebee escape pod which also crash lands on Halo.
Game play 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 side note, the ring, "Halo", borrows heavily from the Ringworld of Larry Niven and the Culture Orbitals of Iain M. Banks.
Main Characters
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Minor Characters
FeaturesFile:1220238670 Menu.png Halo PC main menu. SummaryHalo's gameplay was characterized by several features which set it apart from less acclaimed first-person shooter games of its time.
Movement in Halo is similar to other first-person shooters, allowing the player to move forwards, backwards, and strafe left and right independently of their aim. On the Xbox, moving and aiming are normally separated between the two analogue sticks; 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, or at least major fall damage. Damage from falling can be reduced or negated entirely with a well-timed crouch right as one lands. Additionally, if the player crouches at the peak of his jump he will be able to land on something slightly taller than if he were to jump without crouching. Also, if the player is jumping from a cliff he can make sure he is touching the wall periodically while he is falling. This will count as if he is touching floor, and every time the player touches the wall, the damage counter goes to zero. However, there is no visible damage counter during gameplay. Levels of DifficultyThere are short summaries that describe the difficulties in Halo: Combat Evolved.
EnemiesThe A.I. in Halo was superior to many other games at the time because the A.I. was sophisticated enough to attack other enemies in the vicinity, not just the Master Chief. If there is another faction in the area, the A.I. will engage it in the same way as they would fight the Master Chief. Three factions of enemies are encountered on Halo:
Allies
WeaponsAll usable weapons in Halo: Combat Evolved belong to either the Covenant or the UNSC. The player can carry two weapons and up to 8 grenades (Four Fragmentation Grenades and Four Plasma Grenades). Covenant weapons are better suited for reducing shields and typically fire slower than human weapons. With the exception of the Needler, they do not require ammunition or reloading. Instead, each weapon comes with its own battery. Once the battery is depleted the weapon must be discarded. Covenant weapons can also overheat (except the Needler) if fired for too long, after which they must be given time to cool down before they can be used again. There are a total of five Covenant weapons in the Campaign, three of which are usable by the player: the Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, and the Needler. The two weapons the player can't use are the Energy Sword, which disappears after you kill the Elite using it, and the Fuel Rod Gun, which explodes after you kill the enemy using it. There are two additional weapons in the multiplayer mode of the PC version only, the Fuel Rod Gun and Flamethrower. A plasma based weapon of the same type but with greater charge than the player's current one will appear as a swappable weapon. If the weapon has lesser charge, it is not swappable until the player's current charge falls low enough. Needlers automatically collect any ammunition from other needlers the player moves over. Needlers can also use some very rare individual packs of projectiles. Human weapons, on the other hand, require ammunition and constant reloading. They are better suited for reducing health and do not overheat. However, on the Easy and Normal difficulty settings the difference is often negligible. There are five human weapons (not counting Fragmentation Grenades) usable in the Campaign and six in the Multiplayer of the Halo PC. UNSC Weapons
Covenant Weapons
VehiclesFile:Halo banshee.jpg The Halo: Combat Evolved Banshee. File:Halo 1 scorpion tank.jpg Halo CE Scorpion Tank on one of Halo's most celebrated Multiplayer maps, Blood Gulch File:4wiki.jpg This image shows vehicle-on-vehicle combat a tactic that is repeated throughout the game. The vehicles available to the player in this game are listed below:
Several vehicles are not controllable by the player, like the UNSC Pelican Dropship, the Covenant Spirit dropship, and the Covenant Wraith Mortar Tank. The Wraith requires ballistic aiming, firing large Plasma Bombs in arcs towards its enemies, similar to artillery. These bombs, if they score a direct hit, will often destroy vehicles or kill a Spartan if he/she is not equipped with an Overshield. Wraiths can be destroyed with explosive weapons such as the Scorpion's Main Cannon and the Rocket Launcher. Note: both the Pelican and Wraith can be controllable via modding; the Wraith can be fired by the player, and features the M41 Rocket Launcher's targeting reticule. The Pelican can be flown, and if any Marines are alive and nearby, they may decide to hop in the player's Pelican. Also, it is very easy to splatter enemies in Halo: Combat Evolved because the game's physics engine cannot discern between a fast and slow-moving vehicle, thus making it so that a slight touch, even by accident, will kill it. This is especially frustrating on the level "The Silent Cartographer"'s LZ, as Marines tend to dive underneath the level's many Warthogs, and in multiplayer, since the player can easily be killed by unoccupied vehicles. EnvironmentsHalo features a wide variety of environments including human and Covenant star ships, ancient buildings on Halo itself, and expansive outdoor climates. The first level, Pillar of Autumn, is fought entirely on the human star ship of the same name. The next level, Halo, takes place in a temperate highland climate with open-air Forerunner structures scattered about. This level also contains the famous "Blue Beam Towers". 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. MultiplayerUp to four 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 and/or Xbox 360 consoles that have been connected through an Ethernet hub, or via Xbox Connect, which is a way of tunneling a connection via a PC. The game's seamless support for this type of play, and a few large maps that can accommodate up to 16 combatants, is 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 Halo PC|PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved officially adds online play, also new vehicles (Banshee and Rocket Warthog), weapons (Fuel Rod Gun and Flamethrower) and maps (see list below) for multiplayer. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved does not support split screen multiplayer. Multiplayer MapsMultiplayer maps in Halo: Combat Evolved include:
Exclusive Multiplayer Maps (PC/Mac)Damage System
Power UpsThere are three power ups available in Halo:
Marketing Promotions and ReleaseDemonstration
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. During this trailer there was still no active AI so all the Covenant was actually controlled by Bungie. This trailer was before the conversion to the Xbox as an FPS. Viral Campaign
ReceptionHalo was the main launch title for Xbox and is said to be the game that made the Xbox what it is today. It is widely renowned for saving the fledgling Xbox platform, as the Xbox lacked any titles to compete with Sony's PlayStation 2 or Nintendo's GameCube. Halo became an overnight success and managed to drive the platform from the brink of an early death. It went on to sell 8 million copies, in other words, 33% of all Xbox owners also owned Halo. It was also critically acclaimed. IGN gave the game a 9.7 out of 10 and stated it to be the best Xbox game of all time. X-Play gave it a perfect 5 out of 5. The game got a perfect ten from EGM, and was 2002 Game of the Year for IGN, EGM, OXM, and AIAS. It also got a 9.5 out of 10 from Game Informer, and an average meta-score of 97 out of 100, making it the most highly rated Xbox game of all time. It was also called the game that reinvented a genre. OXM rated Halo: CE Number 1 in a list of the 100 best games of recent memory, saying "The Xbox did not create Halo, Halo made the Xbox". Halo: Original Soundtrack
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. Original Halo TeamTrivia
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