Halo Zero

A screenshot of Halo Zero's gameplay.

Halo Zero is a fan made 2D PC game, made with the help of neither Microsoft nor Bungie, based on the Battle of Reach before Halo: Combat Evolved takes place. The current game version is 1.8.6.3. On May 31, 2009, the official site and therefor server of Halo Zero was deactivated due to a lack of money to continue to keep the site running. ^[1]

Requirements for Installation

1GHZ Processor
256MB of RAM
22MB free disk space
A Keyboard & Mouse
A high speed Internet connection

Gameplay

The game has a Campaign mode and Multiplayer mode. Campaign mode chronicles Master Chief on Reach, as the Covenant lay siege to it. A few key objectives are rescuing Vice Admiral Whitcomb and later teaming up with Staff Sergeant Johnson, who will later help you in the levels. Warthogs are drivable and all weapons found in Halo: Combat Evolved can be used except for turrets and the Fuel Rod Cannon. Campaign mode has five difficulty settings, Easy, Normal, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic. However mythic is a difficulty must be unlocked.

The keyboard arrow keys are used for movement, and the mouse acts as a free look, while the left mouse button and the right mouse button shoot and throw grenades, respectively. All other functions such as Melee, Switch Weapon and Jump are subject to be changed by the user, but the mouse's controls are unchangeable.

Multiplayer maps are based off of existing Halo Multiplayer maps such as Zanzibar and Blood Gulch.

Notably, the gameplay has many bugs, and the game has many misleading concepts, such as the fact that the game doesn't shoot where the cursor is, but where the Master Chief is aiming at, and that headshots don't do more damage. Many problems in collision detection occur, such as Jackals being hard to hit due to their shield absorbing the first hit they take (unless hit by a rocket) making a melee attack the most efficient way to take them out, or Grunts only being damageable from their head and below. Other problems notably exist.

Weapons and Vehicles

Human Weapons

M6D Pistol
MA5B Assault Rifle
M90 Shotgun
S2 AM Sniper Rifle
M19 SSM Rocket Launcher
Frag Grenade
Pelican turret (Only on the Pelican in the last level)
M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun (Only on the levels where you drive a Warthog)

Covenant Weapons

Plasma Pistol
Plasma Rifle
Needler
Energy Sword (if you kill a Zealot Elite after you beat the Mythic mode)
Plasma Grenade

Vehicles

The vehicles available to the player are listed below:

Warthog- UNSC Light Reconnaissance Vehicle

Opponents

Campaign missions

Reach Complex
Forest Crash
Warthog Carnage
Generator Room
Dangerous Canyon
Truth and Reconciliation
Castle Entrance
Rescue Mission
Perilous Escape
Final Way

Multiplayer maps

Blood Gulch
Derelict
Zanzibar
Icefields
Timberland
Chiron TL34
HangEmHigh
Death Island
Danger Canyon
Battle Creek

Unlockables

Beat the game on all four difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, Heroic, Legendary) to unlock the Mythic difficulty.
Beat the game on Mythic mode and you will be able to use the Energy Sword when you kill a Zealot.

Sources

^ [1]