Review: Halo
Great launch titles make selling new hardware platforms much easier, and with Halo in its arsenal, the Xbox's job just got easier.
Halo's gripping tale begins as a spacecraft fleeing the Covenant (Earth's alien enemies) stumbles across Halo, a mysterious ring-shaped world. Playing as the Master Chief, a cyborg soldier so advanced that even the Covenant are awed by him, you fend off the Covenant and explore Halo, uncovering vast secrets that?won't be spoiled here.
Like Half-Life, the story meshes beautifully with the gameplay-even controller configuration happens in-game as the Master Chief is blearily defrosted from cryogenic sleep. Halo's ten huge levels pack in thrilling action that ranges from a D-Day-like beach assault to stealthy sniping to vehicular combat, and stellar A.I. makes every moment tense and exciting. Crafty enemies fight intelligently, circling around to flank you or taking cover to recharge their shields, while your fellow Marines back you up like pros, requiring no orders or direction. Halo's controls feel immediately comfortable and natural-only the twitchy vehicles are a handful at first, but practice eventually makes perfect.
Halo is the kind of landmark, epic game that will lure droves of gamers to the Xbox. It's easily one of this year's best, providing a compelling reason to fork 300 bucks over to Microsoft.
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