Halo: Combat Evolved wasn't my first dip into an old classic I never played as an itty-bitty slav. That honour belongs to Gaben's child, Half-Life. But, playing both helped me realize one thing - there is something intrinsically beautiful about playing an "outdated" game by modern standards, only for its gameplay to dazzle me and prove its excellence.

Coming over from playing Halo: Reach, Bungie's last Halo game, I needed some time to adjust to playing their first. A couple of things stood out like a sore thumb; Covenant enemy variety is lacking, the level design is often nauseating, and the story is piss poor. But, it's a product of its time, so context matters. And while the technical side can be absolved of its sins, the boring and uninteresting story can't. There is very little to no in-game lore, and everything is either not explained or left for the player to ponder over. Who are the Covenant? Why do the big blue alien dudes constantly yell: "Wort, wort, wort!!!"? And was the Pillar of Autumn once a racing track?

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678287077

So many important questions, but nothing to help us answer such questions. But, I made peace with the story about three minutes in, and so should you. Thus, I recommend we don't dillydally any longer and dive straight into what makes Halo: Combat Evolved so great - the shooty shooty bang bang.

The roots of the series excellent gameplay stem from here. No future instalment made any radical departures from this formula. And just like Half-Life, the gameplay here still stands the test of time. I did find the lack of Covenant enemy variety and the small weapon selection pool a tad irritating, but the guns are jacked to the gills and deliver extinction with ease, so all is forgiven. As you Indiana Jones your way through the mysterious halo ring, you'll be given a choice of using human and Covenant weapons. The Covenant plasma-based weapons are great at taking down shields, while the human arsenal is adept at dealing damage to the alien bastards exposed skin, but does low damage to their shields. My personal favourites were the pistol and needler, followed by the always trusty shotgun. The pistol is pretty self-explanatory, but due to no other gun having both ample ammo and good accuracy, it's advised to carry one on you at all times. As for the needler, well, it shoots needles at enemies, that make them go boom! And the shotgun...well, it's a damn shotgun! But it's also a pretty good long-range weapon for some reason...

It's the gunfights where the fun begins. Always action-packed and full of misjudged enemy positions and regret after seeing Chief's body twerk upon death. But while the AI isn't spectacular, I found it pretty balanced on Heroic, heck, even on Legendary, compared to later entries. They can still smack you pretty hard if you underestimate them. Enemies are aggressive and will push on your position often while trying to use numbers to overwhelm you. The grunts can especially be problematic due to their sheer number and fondness for chucking plasma grenades your way. And attempting to dodge their sweet glowing gifts, while trying to strip the shield from the Elites or sniping the weak spot on Hunters made these encounters fun and challenging.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678252820

Unlike some of its subsequent successors, Halo: Combat Evolved utilizes health packs. The only thing that regenerates is your shield. Personally, I like this approach more. It reminded me of the olden days of FPS games, where mistakes have a price. Thus, you can't just sit behind cover for a few seconds and magically get your bullet wounds healed. It added another layer to the gunfights, where you now had to weigh the risk vs reward of acting like a maniac. Sometimes it works. Sometimes...not soo much.

And while the majority of your playtime will be spent on foot, trotting around, killing things that want to kill you, there are also plenty of vehicles to splatter enemies with. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the controls, at first. One might expect to manoeuvre vehicles with the movement keys, but Bungie was like: "We don't do that here!" and instead, you use your mouse as the steering wheel, with W/S used for accelerating/breaking. But trying out new things is part of life, so expect it to feel weird at first and oddly comfortable later.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678440011

But while I liked the world the game depicts, the Covenant and their weapon design, and just the overall vibe, the level design was atrocious. It will repeat...a lot. The most egregious are the Library and 343 Guilty Spark. They felt bland and were endless repeats of the same rooms and corridors, showcasing the games crucial flaw - mission length. Having to traverse the same areas, over and over, for an extended period, slowly nurtured a sense of fatigue in me. And things don't get better from here, with the last three levels reusing some of the previous level layouts, with only minor changes. Out of the 10 levels in the game, only one - The Silent Cartographer was fun, and it's also my favourite. You are dropped on a small island and left to your own devices where to go. And, besides the Mombasa Streets in Halo 3: ODST, this is the only other open-ended level in the entire series. So seeing Halo Infinite go open-world has me excited.

And lastly, we have the music. It's fricking great. The entire soundtrack has a certain chadness to it, especially the orchestral parts, but at the same time, a pinch of tranquillity during the more awe-inducing moments. My favourite track is the one that plays during the Warthog run. It got me pumped up during the game's ending driving gauntlet, as you race against time and try, against all odds, to elude cessation. Also, the game's theme is phenomenal. I'm sure even if you haven't played any Halo game like me, you somehow heard its majestic theme somewhere. But, besides the great soundtrack, the enemy and gun sound effects also play a pivotal role in delivering crucial information to you amidst the chaos in battle. They not only let you know when an enemy is charging your position, but you can immediately distinguish what weapon the enemy has, even if you can't see them, by just listening to the sound it produces.

So while dull level design and piss poor excuse of a story may make the start of your Halo journey turbulent, the fun gameplay loop of shoot thing before thing shoots back will carry you through this flawed, but great, first-person shooter and into its magnificent sequel.

If you enjoy this review, come and read more wisdom from the Gospel of Sv. Prolivije.

[i]Halo: Combat Evolved[/i] wasn't my first dip into an old classic I never played as an itty-bitty slav. That honour belongs to Gaben's child, [i]Half-Life.[/i] But, playing both helped me realize one thing - there is something intrinsically beautiful about playing an "[i]outdated[/i]" game by modern standards, only for its gameplay to dazzle me and prove its excellence. Coming over from playing [i]Halo: Reach, Bungie's[/i] last [i]Halo[/i] game, I needed some time to adjust to playing their first. A couple of things stood out like a sore thumb; Covenant enemy variety is lacking, the level design is often nauseating, and the story is piss poor. But, it's a product of its time, so context matters. And while the technical side can be absolved of its sins, [b][i]the boring and uninteresting story can't[/i][/b]. There is very little to no in-game lore, and everything is either not explained or left for the player to ponder over. Who are the Covenant? Why do the big blue alien dudes constantly yell: "[i]Wort, wort, wort!!![/i]"? And was the Pillar of Autumn once a racing track? https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678287077 So many important questions, but nothing to help us answer such questions. But, I made peace with the story about three minutes in, and so should you. Thus, I recommend we don't dillydally any longer and dive straight into what makes [i]Halo: Combat Evolved[/i] so great - [b][i]the shooty shooty bang bang[/i][/b]. [h3][b][i]Notify his next of kin cause they're next![/i][/b][/h3] The roots of the series excellent gameplay stem from here. No future instalment made any radical departures from this formula. And just like [i]Half-Life[/i], the gameplay here still stands the test of time. I did find the lack of Covenant enemy variety and the small weapon selection pool a tad irritating, but the guns are jacked to the gills and deliver extinction with ease, so all is forgiven. As you Indiana Jones your way through the mysterious halo ring, you'll be given a choice of using human and Covenant weapons. The Covenant plasma-based weapons are [b][i]great at taking down shields[/i][/b], while the human arsenal is adept at [b][i]dealing damage to the alien bastards exposed skin[/i][/b], but does low damage to their shields. My personal favourites were the [i]pistol[/i] and [i]needler[/i], followed by the always trusty [i]shotgun[/i]. The pistol is pretty self-explanatory, but due to no other gun having both ample ammo and good accuracy, it's advised to carry one on you at all times. As for the needler, well, it shoots needles at enemies, that make them go boom! And the shotgun...well, it's a damn shotgun! But it's also a pretty good long-range weapon for some reason... [b][i] It's the gunfights where the fun begins.[/i][/b] Always action-packed and full of misjudged enemy positions and regret after seeing Chief's body twerk upon death. But while the AI isn't spectacular, I found it pretty balanced on Heroic, heck, even on Legendary, compared to later entries. They can still smack you pretty hard if you underestimate them. Enemies are aggressive and will push on your position often while trying to use numbers to overwhelm you. The [i]grunts[/i] can especially be problematic due to their sheer number and fondness for chucking plasma grenades your way. And attempting to dodge their sweet glowing gifts, while trying to strip the shield from the [i]Elites[/i] or sniping the weak spot on [i]Hunters[/i] made these encounters fun and challenging. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678252820 Unlike some of its subsequent successors, [i]Halo: Combat Evolved[/i] utilizes health packs. The only thing that regenerates is your shield. [b][i]Personally, I like this approach more[/i][/b]. It reminded me of the olden days of FPS games, where mistakes have a price. Thus, you can't just sit behind cover for a few seconds and magically get your bullet wounds healed. It added another layer to the gunfights, where you now had to weigh the risk vs reward of acting like a maniac. Sometimes it works. Sometimes...not soo much. And while the majority of your playtime will be spent on foot, trotting around, killing things that want to kill you, [b][i]there are also plenty of vehicles to splatter enemies with[/i][/b]. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the controls, [i]at first[/i]. One might expect to manoeuvre vehicles with the movement keys, but [i]Bungie[/i] was like: "[i]We don't do that here![/i]" and instead, you use your mouse as the steering wheel, with W/S used for accelerating/breaking. But trying out new things is part of life, so expect it to feel weird at first and oddly comfortable later. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2678440011 But while I liked the world the game depicts, the Covenant and their weapon design, and just the overall vibe, the level design was atrocious. It will repeat...a lot. The most egregious are the [i]Library[/i] and [i]343 Guilty Spark[/i]. [b][i]They felt bland and were endless repeats of the same rooms and corridors[/i][/b], showcasing the games crucial flaw - [b][i]mission length[/i][/b]. Having to traverse the same areas, over and over, for an extended period, slowly nurtured a sense of fatigue in me. And things don't get better from here, with the last three levels reusing some of the previous level layouts, with only minor changes. Out of the 10 levels in the game, only one - [i]The Silent Cartographer[/i] was fun, and it's also my favourite. You are dropped on a small island and left to your own devices where to go. And, besides the [i]Mombasa Streets[/i] in [i]Halo 3: ODST[/i], this is the only other open-ended level in the entire series. So seeing [i]Halo Infinite[/i] go open-world has me excited. And lastly, we have the music. It's fricking great. The entire soundtrack has a certain chadness to it, especially the orchestral parts, but at the same time, a pinch of tranquillity during the more awe-inducing moments. My favourite track is the one that plays during [i]the Warthog run[/i]. It got me pumped up during the game's ending driving gauntlet, as you race against time and try, against all odds, to elude cessation. Also, the game's theme is phenomenal. I'm sure even if you haven't played any [i]Halo[/i] game like me, you somehow heard its majestic theme somewhere. But, besides the great soundtrack, the enemy and gun sound effects also play a pivotal role in delivering crucial information to you amidst the chaos in battle. They not only let you know when an enemy is charging your position, but you can immediately distinguish what weapon the enemy has, even if you can't see them, by just listening to the sound it produces. So while dull level design and piss poor excuse of a story may make the start of your [i]Halo[/i] journey turbulent, the fun gameplay loop of [b][i]shoot thing before thing shoots back[/i][/b] will carry you through this flawed, but great, first-person shooter and into its magnificent sequel. [quote]If you enjoy this review, come and read more wisdom from the [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40407656-Gospel-of-Sv.-Prolivije/]Gospel of Sv. Prolivije[/url].