910th played so far
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Platform: Xbox 360
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
It feels weirdly apt to cover an older Halo game now, as the anniversary edition has been recently released as I type this. It’s the last in the series that’s on the list, although Halo 3: ODST and Halo Wars were released after – we had some scheduling quirks there. Given that we played the first game roughly as far from the start as we’re near the end now, so it feels even more appropriate to try it now.
Our Thoughts
One of the big advantages of the Halo series at its best is its scale and colour – the way it takes on a large, green planet invaded by enemies, when something like Gears of War has a brown destroyed city landscape that is less inviting. Sure, it’s also not as much of a cover shooter, but for an FPS it creates a more pleasant world to move around it. The downside is that you spend a lot of time traveling from place to place, so these are often small set pieces that you don’t really get to know as well. I’ll be honest, similarly, the invasion of aliens on the halo world is as predictable, but it works quite well to keep you motivated through.
The gunplay itself is good – sometimes, I guess, with a few too many enemies, and I was caught out with the weapon scarcity once or twice. You spend a lot of time swapping out weapons you pick up from enemies. I know the scavenging is part of current (console?) games, but it was a bit frustrating to have to plan and move around for. Even so, the rest of the shooting feels good enough and so often manages to fulfill the power fantasy when you can take out a lot of enemies at once on your vehicles.
Final Thoughts
The Halo series under Bungie is deservedly loved and this entry holds up as well as the others. Halo 3 presents a nice world that feeds into the power fantasy that the series offers.