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What ever you think? I think this game kicks tutu!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: October 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game has everything a Hardcore Gamer that likes shooters want. Weapons, stuff to kill and a car to drive!! You can like shoot while the a computer player drives your car!! You can also let your friend drive it for you!! Buy it as soon as it comes out!!

My fingers were getting numb, the story was stale, and my eyes were bored.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 16
Date: October 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Nearly seven years after the birth of the X-Box I found myself in line at a local video game retailer buying a used box for a fraction of the original cost when it was released. I don't know what got into me, but I had to give this system a try. I have been an off-again, on-again gamer ever since my father got me the original NES when I was in grade school for making all A's. Over the years, cinema has become my new favorite hobby, but occasionally I crave for that ability to blow something up (the perfect de-stressor to the corporate world). I must begin by saying that I am the college generation of "Goldeneye" for N64, so I place the bar pretty high when it comes to any FPS that teeter on the thought that they are "the best ever". I remember when "Halo" was released, causing a rift in the gaming world. People couldn't seem to get enough of this game, addictions ran high, and Halloween costumes of Master Chief seemed to be popular. That was back in 2001. It is currently 2006 and last night (after two months of random playtime), I beat this game - and let me be the first to say this (although I am not) - I was not impressed.

"Halo" begins flawlessly. With big guns ablazn' you play as Master Chief, a dutiful soldier that is taken out of hibernation to do what the rest of the military cannot, stop the Covenant. Similar to "Goldeneye", you have the unique ability to pick up weapons, use the terrain as your shield, and literally, blow everything up. The excitement of this game comes when you realize that you have the mighty grenade in one hand, with a choice of two weapons in the other. The weapons are creative, but nothing spectacular, and as the game develops further, it adds to the painful repetition due to the fact that as you progress, no new weapons become available. Thirty minutes into the game, you can pretty much count the weapons you will get to use in one hand. "Halo" attempt to keep the player's attention by changing scenery as much as possible, giving the Covenant some impressive A.I. ability, as well as slowly introduce a better arsenal of weapons used solely for the enemy. This game at times reminded me of the television show "G.I. Joe" because while Cobra definitely had the best weapons, the Joe's would always be victorious - I could never quite see the math behind that. Quickly, I would like to apologize about my constant critique of the weapons of the game, but for me, a person that wants to be able to pick up anything and constantly want to upgrade the arsenal, the weapons seemed cheap and dull. I think even Master Chief was getting bored with the lacking arrangement of weapons...

Just when a level of comfort settled in, the developers decide to throw some new enemies in which does allow for some hectic moments mainly because these new enemies, the FLOOD, fight anything that moves - even Covenant. This means that grenades are flying everywhere, or you can be like me and duck for cover and watch the destruction happen from the comfort of a corner. Just like with the weapons, you have the ability to ride in vehicles for both good and evil. Let me be the first to say, I hated the Warthog. Who could control this beast? I was surprised I was even able to get to the ship at the end of the game, because I was cursing the engineers that developed this vehicle. Apparently, you needed a special driver's license to operate this machinery and my Master Chief could not properly study. I couldn't control it, and it caused me to further lessen my enjoyment of this game. Yet, and I don't mean to point fingers, but the Covenant's choice of vehicles were easy to use, well equipped with weaponry, and fun. Why couldn't our team's stuff be more like that (yet again eluding to my Cobra reference from above)? Slowly, the annoyance factor because to erupt...

"Halo" did have one plus to its name, and that was the controls. Outside of driving the Warthog, I felt that the controls were relatively easy to learn and use. By the end of the first mission, I thought that I could easily evade any baddies along the trip. But, no matter how easy the controls were, where "Halo" suffered the most was in the development of the story and scenery. This game was exciting for the first two-three missions, but after that, we just fell quickly into the world of repetition. The background felt like it remained the same, the evil-doers jumped out of the most normal of places, and eventually I got to the point where I just wanted to finish the game because I was getting bored. "Halo", the game that defined the X-Box, literally bored me. My fingers were getting numb, the story was stale, and my eyes were bored. If I could use one sentence to summarize my "Halo" experience, it would be the previous one. I expected more because of the hype surrounding this game, but I never got it. Visually, it started out well, but eventually it just became old ... very very quickly.

Overall, I think everyone should give "Halo" at least one shot. I didn't go too deeply into the multi-player aspects or the team play because honestly, I play games for the story and adventure. "Halo", for me, needs to get better for me to enjoy the entire series. I am looking for a stronger story in "Halo 2", as well as more captivating bad guys, a stronger score (for those that speak highly of this ... watch Akira, you can find the same music there), and more weapons. If I can get one request across it is to loose the Warthog, the worst vehicle ever developed. I am on the fence. I thought it was good, but not the greatest FPS ever created. I will still put "Goldeneye" on the top of the list as being the forerunner in this category. Oh, I nearly forgot, what also annoyed me about "Halo" was the ending. I thought it was rather cheap for the amount of time that I put into the game. I want strong, money spending development from beginning to end. "Halo" pulled some cheap shots, and now, six years later ... it feels dated.

Grade: **1/2 out of *****

Not up to par

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 16
Date: January 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am veteran Halo player from the XBOX version of the game. I got the PC version so I could play with more than 4 people on the multiplayer portion of the game. The PC version was a great dissapointment. For some unknown reason PC Halo is not compatable with some AMD chipsets, mine being one of them. After spending a week searching for drivers that might fix the problem I got the game to work, but it was incredibly unstable. Typical game play was with poor graphics that would usually crash my system after about 20 minutes. The moral of this story is.....if you have XBOX Halo you are better off getting XBOX live than spending $50 on the PC version.

I Know this game will be promising....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: October 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Forget all you computer NERDS out there who are so OBSESSED with First Person shooters on your PC. You should stop thinking that consoles dont have the "right stuff" for that type of game. Well the point is Halo will be the first person shooter game of the year, no question.

Imagine Grand Theft Auto, except not fun

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 27
Date: March 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Everyone told me about this game before I got an X-box, they were foaming at the it trying to tell me that this was the best game I'd ever play in my entire lifetime, so naturally I was excited when a friend let me borrow his copy. I played through it and I have to ask you guys, is Microsoft paying you to say this crap is playable, or even entertaining? This game is so insanely bad I had to perform cleansing rituals over my x-box.

Ok for a first try.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 24
Date: December 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well this is gonna disappoint some people...but Halo isn't as great as everyone says it is. I bought the XBOX and Halo a week ago, and within the week I've already beaten the game on the normal difficulty setting. It's not that I've been playing the game nonstop either...I have a full time job (and by no means am I an "expert gamer"). The graphics are good on this game (as you would expect) and the story is ok, but the game-play itself gets a bit boring and quite repetitious. A third of the way into the game and the level layouts begin repeating over and over (sure they change the darkness a bit and add a little snow, but it's still the same layout). Enemies start becoming very predictable and easy to beat especially the Flood...the shotgun (to shoot the big guys) and machine gun (to take care of the little annoying ones) are the only two things you need to beat them. You essentially have to play this game defensively and that becomes too boring. Don't get me wrong, I own an XBOX and hope that Microsoft brings out good games so that it does not go the way of the Dreamcast, but I have to say that I'm a little disappointed at this effort. If this is any help to people, I found Goldeneye to be more challenging and entertaining to play than this game. Also the gun selection on Halo is very limited, some are outright useless, and you can only carry two of them at a time plus 8 grenades. My advice to those considering this game is to go out and actually play it somewhere, don't believe all the reviews you read. I can't comment on the multi-player aspect because I have yet to play it in that mode.

As good as Quake...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This shooter game adds combat vehicles and other elements that require the player to do more than just blast his way from level to level. As Quake is used as a benchmarking tool in PC gaming, Halo will be used on the XBOX.

You play as a veteran trooper thrust back combat as the ememy attacks humans crashed on a alien ringed world. You must use a variety of weapons, enemy flyers, all-terrain vehicles, tanks, etc. to battle aliens (and more) on a large ringed planet.

The combat takes place outside as well as in dark interior hallways and ramps. The outdoor settings are amazing. The graphic power of the XBOX really shines. The indoor scenes are well crafted; using textures, colors, and good map building skills to create a maze of tunnels, hallways, valted ceiling, as well as dripping goo.

For a game in the center of so much pre-release hype, some might complain that it does not live up to the hype. Does anything live up to the Microsoft "Marketing Machine" hype? It is still an outstanding game.

The graphics are very detailed. The design of the game has little touches that may be easily overlooked, but make for a more entertaining game. While playing, you can see and interact (kill) enemies that are so far way they can hardly been seen. The lighting effects are very realistic. The sound is great. You can hear the sound effects as you move in and around a large waterfall early in the game. Enemies don't spawn from out of thin air. They appear from air ducts, nearby rooms, from alien camps, or even landing alien spacecraft.

If you like the Quake series on the PC, Goldeneye 007 on the N64, or Syphon Filter series on the PS1, then you will love this game.

Great Launch Title

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ah, Halo, I must say even though I'm not even an Xbox fanboy, this game rules out all. The graphics are nothing short of suburb, the gameplay is godlike and the quality of the game is nothing short of amazing. Everything about this game will beat up the competition, watch out Nintendo and Sony, it looks like Microsoft is gonna be putting up a strong fight this season. Keep up with games like this and I might go buy an Xbox, but until then, I'll stick with my Gamecube :P

This is the Xbox's "KILLER APP"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

What more can I say that hasn't already been said about this epic game? If there's only one game you play or buy for the XBOX, make sure it's HALO.

This is how all First person shooters should be done. Not only have the graphics and game engine taken an evolutionary step, but the enemy/ally AI is so incredibly lifelike!

The sniper rifle has never been implimented so effectively the game as it has been in HALO. Your allies ACTUALLY cover you and proceed to mission objectives all while verbally communicating with you. The congratulatory remarks when you take out a difficult enemy with the sniper rifle help to immerse you in the game even more. The vehicles you can pilot are too cool for words...the sensation of flight is effectively conveyed with the Ghost ships.

There are a few drawbacks, but these do not in any way detract from HALO's legendary gameplay: Later levels can get monotonous. The Library and fighting wave after wave of the "Flood" gets repetitive. The later missions suffer from a lack of ally soldiers to assist you. The difficulty can be a little much for some players, but you can turn down the game's difficulty if it's too hard. The final level is somewhat frustrating and there is an instance where the framerate on that level slows to an absolute crawl--you can count the frame rate on your fingers--but thankfully it only happens in one instance and is over soon.

This is a great first effort. I look forward to HALO 1.5 and HALO 2!!

Nearly flawless

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Halo is the game that set a standard for all other FPS games to follow. The graphics may be somewhat dated, but the gameplay still holds strong. The usual XBOX FPS controls that you are familiar with today most likely originated from Halo in some (if not most) ways. If there are any real flaws in this game, I'm still trying to find them (I might think of one near the end of this review, but the chances don't look too good). It is also hands down my favorate split-screen multiplayer game, in story co-op and death matches (aside from Halo 2 anyway).

The story takes place around an artificial, ring shaped world called Halo, where most of the game is played. Humanity is at war with an alliance of alien races called the Covenant who consider Halo to be holy. The story is very good for the most part, though a war between humans and aliens isn't exactly a completly original setting, but I was constantly pressed through the game to find out more about the mysterious ring world (aside from the game just being darn fun). In the levels that take place on Halo, you can look up at the sky and see the other side of Halo looming over your head, giving you a strange feeling at the thought of your standing on the inside of a giant ring.

You are Spartan 117- a super soldier with special armor allowing you to take more punishment than any other marine on the battlefield (you will be fighting alongside many human marines most of the time). You also have an energy shield rather than actual health in a sense. If you take a hit, the shield will lose power slightly. If your shield gets taken out completly, you can be killed with a few well placed shots, but if you can find cover and keep from being hit for about five seconds your shield will recharge. This keeps the action going without wasting time wandering about the map searching for a health kit or something like that, while at the same time not being too generous about the power of your shield, leaving the challange AND keeping things going. Because this breed of super soldiers is in short supply, your allies will always be thankful to see you coming to stop the Covenant forces. This doesn't mean that your allies will just hunker down and let you do all the work though; they really seem to fight harder when you show up, and they are very good at it too. They throw grenades, use cover, man vehicles, ect.
Level design is good, and the levels are each massive, though it would be nice if they didn't repeat a few of the levels for seperate missions, but that's still not enough to throw me off. Checkpoints placed throughout each mission keep you from having to start all over every time you die and there are usually multiple paths to victory in the more wide open missions (actually, they're all like that).

The controls are perfect and very easy to get used to. You will never find yourself constantly looking down at the controler trying to figure out why you just blew away your troops with a grenade when you were trying to jump (unless you play The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind anyway...) or having to hold combinations of different buttons. Vehicles control amazingly well too (better than in some racing games).

The graphics were better than any other game ever made when Halo was first released four years ago. Much of it is still good compared to other games that came long after it, but character models are a little chunky looking and some environments look bland, but it's still not nearly bad enough to make me like Halo any less. Explosions and gunfire still look nice.

Now for the things you'll experiance in-game.
The weapons are plentiful and there are no copys of other weapons, forcing you to actually choose the right weapons for the situation rather than just grabbing the one that looks coolest. You can pick up any weapon you find lying on the ground in game (including Covenant weapons), but you can only carry two weapons and four of both type of grenade at a time, so you must carefully choose which weapons will go and which will stay.

Human Weapons:
Pistol- The human pistol is a handy weapon to have around in situations where you need an accurate shot at medium range... because of it's cute little scope. It may not do too much damage, but I always seem happy with one when I get one and it seems very popular all around (one of my friends killed one of our own men just because he wanted his pistol in 2 player co-op...) And it has a cool melee attack to top it off.

Assault Rifle- This will be your best friend for much of the game. It holds a large amount of ammo and it is clearly displayed on a small screen on your rifle allowing you to keep your gun filled while keeping your eyes on the action. It is also accurate at medium range and packs a nice punch. Great weapon all around.

Shotgun- As typical with shotguns, it is very ineffective at long range but can take out just about anything with one good blast when you get right up to them.

Sniper Rifle- Deadly at long range with a double-zoom scope and can take out most units with one head shot or two shots to any other area on the body. However it only carrys 4 shots at a time, so you'll have to make your shots count or else your target may hide while you reload.

Rocket Launcher- Umm... well, it's a rocket launcher... annnd it launches rockets. Yeah. They make big explosions and send enemys and vehicles flying in all directions, as rocket launchers tend to do. Unlike rocket launchers in most other FPS games however, this rocket launcher holds TWO rockets rather than one, giving you a second chance if you miss the target, which you'll be doing a lot, as it doesn't have any homing capabilities, forcing you to time the shot very well and estimate the range of the target and where it'll be when the rocket hits. Challanging, but it is all the more satisfying when you tag a speeding enemy vehicle with a missile.

Fragmentation Grenade- The human grenade is just like the ones used today; pull pin, throw, explodes about 2 seconds after it hits something. Thus, this is a weapon that you will hold sacred, as this little pineapple 'o doom will save you many, many times from swarms of alien foes. And grenades aren't something that you have to cycle over to; the grenade button in Halo makes games that do not have one seem horridly slow and painful.

Covonent Weapons-
Plasma Pistol- A small pistol that fires ultra heated plasma bolts used by the Covenant. It can fire rapidly (only a quick trigger finger requiered) or you can charge up a powerful shot that will cause a good amount of damage, but will also cause it to overheat and be unable to fire for a few seconds.

Plasma Rifle- Rapidly fires plasma bolts and mildly stuns the target if it takes multiple hits. It is also fairly accurate at a range if fired in short controled bursts.

Needler- You'll either love this weapon more than any other or hate it more than your actual enemies. The needeler is the only Covonent gun that doesn't overheat. It fires pink, glass like spikes that move very slowly, but home in on any enemies that they come near. On impact with a target, they stick into it (think getting shot with a little pink, transparent arrow) and explode after a few seconds. One shot doesn't do much damage, but if you pile them up onto a target they will all explode at once and send the target flying through the air.

Plasma Grenade- The Covenant plasma grenade is very different from the human frag grenade. The frag grenade is just thrown into groups of enemies, while the plasma grenade is aimed. When it lands on a target, it sticks and garuntees a kill (save for Hunters). It doesn't do much nearly as much damage if it just lands on the ground however.

The AI is very good, finding and using cover when necessary and react realisticly to the constantly evolving situations in combat. As the Covenant is an alliance of multiple alien races, you will be fighting four very different varients of Covenent forces (actually, you will also encounter another race of alien adversaries later in the game, but trying to explain that would spoil the story! ;) and each one plays a key role in combat. They are listed below:

Grunt- As the name says, these guys are not very powerful, just grunts. They are short, bulkey little guys with a strange pointed hump for a back that rises above the back of their heads (I can't decide if this is actually part of their bodies or just a piece of their suites) and are really more of annoyances than actual threats (although if they stick you with a plasma grenade, you can kiss your butt goodbye). They are normally in small groups of three or more grunts, or led by an Elite. But if their forces are thinned or if the Elite they're being led by gets killed, they will panic and start running around screaming at the top of their little lungs. When this happens, just track 'em down and whack them with your gun a few times.

Elite- Elites are the backbone of the Covenant forces. They have energy shields that work just like yours and have very powerful melee attacks. They can often be seen leading grunts into battle. In combat they are generally hunched over some, but standing at full height an Elite is defenatly 7 feet tall.

Jackals- These aliens go into battle with a shield and plasma pistol. The shield is held in front of them, like conventional ancient shields, though it is an energy shield. They will usually hold their ground and getting through their shields can be a challange.

Hunter- These are massive enemies that can only be killed by shooting their small weak spots in their armor many times. They have a deadly fule rod cannon attached to their armor (the only weapon you cannot use) and will use a melee attack that will send you flying if you get too close.

The vehicles include:
Human:
Warthog- a three passanger buggy (driver, passanger, main
gunner)
Scorpion Tank- A large... tank. Has big gun and machinegun.

Covenant:
Ghost- A small hover-bike of sorts. Has rapid firing laser cannons.
Banshee- The games only usable aircraft. One passanger, armed with fule rod cannon and lasers similar to those on the ghost.

Overall, Halo is a wonderful FPS that is polished to prefection (nope, I still haven't thought of a problem with it). If you're looking for better graphics, try Halo 2 (I like multiplayer better in Halo 2 better anyway, though I like the single player story in Halo better than that of the second)! Even If that's the case, you still will probibly want to play through Halo to better understand the story elements. A very, very good game.

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