Review: Halo
Aug. 28th, 2007 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalSummary: YOU are the Master Chief, John Spartan, a genetically engineered warrior designed by Earth scientists to fight the Covenant, a powerful alien race seeking to wipe humanity out. After discovering (and crashlanding on) the mysterious and huge ringworld called Halo, you must find your fellow survivors and (along with your faithful AI computer implant, Cortana) discover the secrets of Halo and stop the Covenant from releasing a horrible terror upon the galaxy.
Without nuking all life in said galaxy at the same time.
Okay, I realize I'm coming in about four years late with this, given that Halo 2 has been out for over a year already, and the game that set the X-Box as the PS2's primary competitor is already an aknowledged classic. But I'd like to take a few moments and look at why it's a classic.
The Good: Actaully, the reason I played this game so obsessively for the past week is actually for the story. Halo is a good, if by necessity basic, sci-fi tale. In summary it can be best thought of as Starship Troopers Meets Ringworld. Halo in the story is the classic Big Dumb Object, though with thirty years hindsight it's actually a hair more scientifically plausible than Larry Niven's original Ringworld, occupying a stable L1 point between a large moon and a gas giant, and being 'only' 10,000 km in diameter. Meanwhile the protagonists are good guys, with few if any shades of grey as they face down the threat the Covenant (and later The Flood). It's only action movie deep, but it's a good action movie. Everything moves along at a nice pace, and you never get bogged down in pointlessly complex puzzles or jumping games to reach your goals.
The Bad: The level designs, by comparison, are a mixed bag. The programmers don't really take advantages of the wide open environment that having such a large playing field represents. Aside from a couple of beach sequences, the outdoor levels are cramped, set in deep canyons, leaving little room for just exploring and admiring the view (though if you have the time to look up you can see some spectacular views of the ring's structure arcing over your head.) Worse, the interiors of Halo tend to be depressingly repetitive concrete hallways with little variation except for the lighting, aside from a couple generic Big Spaces that conviently dissapear into foggy darkness. The most creatively designed levels, ironically, are at the beginning and ending onboard your starship, the Pillar of Autumn (including a spectacular, roller coaster driving sequence in the ship's implausible huge service spine.
Also, after the Flood are introduced, the opponents you face tend to be very repetive. There are no big "Boss" monsters to beat, just the same six or seven members of the Faceless Hordes (though the weak but numerous Grunts tend to be very amusing as the flail around in panic).
Conclusion: Halo is a good game. Maybe not a great game, but a good one that's saved by solid, mostly logical storytelling. I'll be buying Halo 2 as soon as its price drops after 3 is released.
Without nuking all life in said galaxy at the same time.
Okay, I realize I'm coming in about four years late with this, given that Halo 2 has been out for over a year already, and the game that set the X-Box as the PS2's primary competitor is already an aknowledged classic. But I'd like to take a few moments and look at why it's a classic.
The Good: Actaully, the reason I played this game so obsessively for the past week is actually for the story. Halo is a good, if by necessity basic, sci-fi tale. In summary it can be best thought of as Starship Troopers Meets Ringworld. Halo in the story is the classic Big Dumb Object, though with thirty years hindsight it's actually a hair more scientifically plausible than Larry Niven's original Ringworld, occupying a stable L1 point between a large moon and a gas giant, and being 'only' 10,000 km in diameter. Meanwhile the protagonists are good guys, with few if any shades of grey as they face down the threat the Covenant (and later The Flood). It's only action movie deep, but it's a good action movie. Everything moves along at a nice pace, and you never get bogged down in pointlessly complex puzzles or jumping games to reach your goals.
The Bad: The level designs, by comparison, are a mixed bag. The programmers don't really take advantages of the wide open environment that having such a large playing field represents. Aside from a couple of beach sequences, the outdoor levels are cramped, set in deep canyons, leaving little room for just exploring and admiring the view (though if you have the time to look up you can see some spectacular views of the ring's structure arcing over your head.) Worse, the interiors of Halo tend to be depressingly repetitive concrete hallways with little variation except for the lighting, aside from a couple generic Big Spaces that conviently dissapear into foggy darkness. The most creatively designed levels, ironically, are at the beginning and ending onboard your starship, the Pillar of Autumn (including a spectacular, roller coaster driving sequence in the ship's implausible huge service spine.
Also, after the Flood are introduced, the opponents you face tend to be very repetive. There are no big "Boss" monsters to beat, just the same six or seven members of the Faceless Hordes (though the weak but numerous Grunts tend to be very amusing as the flail around in panic).
Conclusion: Halo is a good game. Maybe not a great game, but a good one that's saved by solid, mostly logical storytelling. I'll be buying Halo 2 as soon as its price drops after 3 is released.
