Halo: Combat Evolved (Halo 1)

Read about the Storyline

Summary

Halo's game play was characterized by several features which set it apart from less acclaimed first-person shooter games at its time:

Storyline Execution: Halo's gameplay and storyline are tightly interwoven, delivering a convincing manner being consistent with the flow of the game.

Vehicular Incorporation: Despite being a first-person shooter, Halo includes the option for players to control multiple vehicles, both ground based and air types (although in third-person view.) This third-person vantage brings a welcomed sense of immersion and enhances the specific points of gameplay, again setting Halo apart from contemporary FPS games.

Weapons System: Halo's new weapons system was unique in two major respects. The first is allowing players to carry only two weapons at a time, forcing the player to make trade-offs as they progressed throughout the game. The second is a separate button for throwing grenades.

Artificial Intelligence: Halo's AI was quite sophisticated for its era. With a brand new advanced AI system, actions performed by the AI such as panicking after the death of a superior, diving out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, or taking cover from explosives and suppressive fire, helped Halo stand out from the rest of the first-person shooters being released at the time.

Movement in Halo is similar to other first-person shooters (FPS), allowing the player to move forwards, backwards, and strafe left and right independently of their aim. On the Xbox, moving and aiming are normally separated between the two joysticks; and on the PC, between the mouse and the keyboard. Halo also allows the player to crouch and jump, although jumping from a high ledge will often result in death, or at least major fall damage. Damage from falling can be reduced or negated entirely with a well-timed crouch right as one lands. Additionally, if one crouches at the peak of his jump, he will be able to land on something slightly taller than if he were to jump without crouching. Also, if the player is jumping from a cliff, he can make sure he is touching the wall periodically while he is falling. This will count as if he is touching floor, and every time the player touches the wall, the damage counter goes to zero.

Levels Of Difficulty

There are short summaries that describe the difficulties.

Easy: Your foes cower and fall before your unstoppable onslaught, yet final victory will leave you wanting more.

Normal: Hordes of aliens vie to destroy you, but nerves of steel and a quick trigger finger give you a solid chance to prevail.

Heroic: Your enemies are as numerous as they are ferocious; their attacks are devastating. Survival is not guaranteed.

Legendary: You face opponents who have never known defeat, who laugh in alien tongues at your efforts to survive. This is suicide.

Damage System

Health: The player in Halo has limited, non-regenerating health, which can be fully restored by picking up health-packs. This aspect of the game was changed in Halo 2. Running completely out of health will result in death, but having lower health does not impede player actions. A player's health can be reduced only if his shields have been depleted. If the player's health is at minimal levels they will faintly hear John 117's heartbeat. When the non-regenerative health idea was abandoned in Halo 2 the med packs disappeared completely.

Shields: Master Chief's MJOLNIR Mk. V armor has a built-in shield, which protects all parts of his body from damage. The shield will decrease in strength every time it is hit by a weapon and will fail after taking too many hits. The amount of shield drain depends on the attacker's weapon but will quickly regenerate if it is not hit for a brief period of time. The shield represents a marked departure from most first-person shooters, in which one's health bar is basically augmented by picking up "armor". It is possible, in the single-player campaign at least, to have insufficient health points to survive the next section of game-play. Halo players, on the other hand, have a more-or-less permanent buffer of health at their disposal (assuming they manage to find time to regenerate the shield), making it less of a disaster to take hits in combat.

Power Ups

There are three power ups available in Halo:

Health Pack: (White octagon with red cross) Fully restores the player's health.

Active Camouflage: Drastically reduces the player's visibility for approximately 45 seconds, making all but a faint outline of him transparent. This effect is reduced or void if the player is holding a skull (in multiplayer), hit by weapons fire, fires their weapon, or when time runs out.

Overshield: An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which is two times, (three times on enemies) the strength of the normal one. The overshield functions on top of the regular shield; when it is active, the normal shield does not take damage. In the single player game, the overshield is reduced only when the player is hit, while in the multiplayer game, it weakens gradually over time. One fully charged Plasma Pistol shot can take out the overshield and regular shield entirely. Additionally, while the over shield is charging, the player is completely invincible against almost every type of damage. The player can still be killed by assassination, however.

Enemies

The A.I. in Halo was superior to many other games at the time because the A.I. was sophisticated enough to attack other enemies in the vicinity, not just the Master Chief. If there is another faction in the area, the A.I. will engage it in the same way as they would fight the Master Chief.

Three factions of enemies are encountered on Halo:

The Covenant: The Covenant, whose Fleet of Particular Justice was led by the Supreme Commander Thel Vadam (the future Arbiter), are an alliance of different species, including the cowardly Grunts, the Jackals with their visible energy shields, the Elites, master tacticians with their personal energy shields, and the huge, tough Hunters with strong armor composed of some unknown alloy. The Covenant mostly carries plasma weapons of varying power. They also make extensive use of vehicles.

The Flood: The parasitic Flood are encountered in 3 forms: the Infection Forms themselves, which usually die from a single shot or the Master Chief's energy shield; exploding carriers, which cause splash damage and release Infection Forms; and combat forms of former humans and Covenant whose nervous systems have been taken over by the parasite (the toughest of the three types, often carrying a human or Covenant weapon).

Forerunner Sentinels: These ancient constructs are controlled by the Forerunner AI 343 Guilty Spark, who is tasked with the defense of the ring against possible threats and to control the Flood infestations.

Allies

UNSC Marines: The Pillar of Autumn's complement of Marines assists the player often in the game. They are helpful, but on higher difficulties they are easily killed by enemies. They wield a variety of weapons, including the MA5B ICWS Assault Rifle, the SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, the M90 Shotgun, the Needler, and the Plasma Rifle. Marines armed with MA5Bs will occasionally throw M9 HE-DP Grenades. The Marines will ride in Scorpions and Warthogs with the player and use the M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun on the Warthog while the player is driving. The only Covenant vehicle that Marines can drive is the Ghost, which they pilot only briefly. They appear in every level until The Library . When Marines are near death they will go into a berserk state, attacking every visible enemy.

UNSC Naval Personnel: The crewmen of the Pillar of Autumn appear briefly as allies in the game. They are armed with M6D Pistols, but occasionally appear in combat unarmed. They have lower health than Marines and are prone to retreating and cowering in battle. They only appear in the levels Pillar of Autumn and Halo.

Forerunner Sentinels: Part of Halo's defense system, the Sentinels, led by the Monitor 343 Guilty Spark, are hovering robotic drones. They attack the Flood, Covenant, and eventually the Master Chief. Although possessing a powerful beam weapon, they are not particularly resistant to damage (their shields are especially vulnerable to Covenant weaponry and explosives), and can be destroyed relatively easily. They help the player in the levels 343 Guilty Spark and The Library, but are enemies from Two Betrayals until the end of the game.

Weapons

All usable weapons in Halo belong to either the Covenant or the UNSC. The player can carry two weapons and up to 8 grenades (four fragmentation grenades and four plasma grenades).

Covenant weapons are better suited for reducing shields, and typically fire slower than human weapons. With the exception of the Needler, they do not require ammunition or reloading. Instead, each weapon comes with its own battery. Once the battery is depleted the weapon must be discarded. Covenant weapons can also overheat (except the Needler) if fired for too long, after which they must be given time to cool down before they can be used again. There are a total of five Covenant weapons in the Campaign, three of which are usable by the player: the Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, and the Needler. The two weapons the player can't use are the Energy Sword (it dissapears after you kill the Elites using it) and the Fuel Rod Gun. There are two additional weapons in the multiplayer mode of the PC version only , the Fuel Rod Gun and Flamethrower (the flamethrower is human). Covenant weapons fire slower moving projectiles than human weapons.

Human weapons, on the other hand, require ammunition and constant reloading. They are better suited to reducing health and do not overheat. However, on easy and normal difficulty settings the difference is often negligible. There are five human weapons (not counting Fragmentation Grenades) usable in the campaign and six in the multiplayer of the PC version.

Vehicles

This image shows vehicle-on-vehicle combat a tactic that is repeated throughout the game.

The vehicles available to the player in this game are listed below:

M12 Warthog LRV - UNSC Light Reconnaissance Vehicle. The Warthog sports a .50 Cal. M41-LAAG Ground To Air/Ground Gatling-type rotary autocannon turret.

M12A1 Warthog LAAV - UNSC Light Anti-Armor Vehicle. The M12A1 is another variant of the Warthog with a triple barreled 102mm Rocket Launcher. Note: it shoots three rockets before reloading. Available only in Multiplayer on the PC version of Halo: Custom Edition.

M808B Scorpion MBT - UNSC Main Battle Tank. It has a powerful cannon fixed to the top of the body. It also features a machine gun on its base.

Ghost - Covenant Reconnaissance and Rapid Attack Vehicle. Its twin Plasma Cannons complement its high speed and agility, allowing the user to blast enemies with the guns and run them into the ground.

Banshee - Covenant Aerial Assault Aircraft. Very maneuverable. Armed with two plasma cannons and a fuel rod cannon. The Banshee's armor is strongest in front and very weak on the sides and back. It can be destroyed in Campaign but mysteriously in Multiplayer the pilot only falls out of the craft. Unlike Halo 2 and 3, this model has no boost, and fires slower, making it an earlier, less effective model. The Banshee is unavailable in multiplayer in the Xbox version. It is probably the lightest vehicle as it can take less than a M6D clip before it blows.

Several vehicles are not player controllable, like the UNSC Pelican dropship, the Covenant Spirit dropship, and the Covenant Wraith Mortar Tank. The Wraith fires large Plasma Bombs in in arcs towards its enemies. These bombs, if they score a direct hit, will often destroy vehicles or kill a Spartan if he/she is not equipped with an Overshield. Wraiths can be destroyed with explosive weapons such as the Scorpion's Main Cannon and the Rocket Launcher. Also, it is very easy to splatter enemies in Halo: Combat Evolved because of the game physics that can't tell the difference between a fast and slow-moving vehicle, thus making it such that even touching the enemy by accident will kill it.

Environments

Halo features a wide variety of environments including human and Covenant starships, ancient buildings on Halo itself, and expansive outdoor climates. The first level, Pillar of Autumn, is fought entirely on the human starship of the same name. The next level, Halo, takes place in a temperate highland climate with open-air Forerunner structures scattered about. This level also contains the famous "Blue Beam Towers". Truth and Reconciliation begins in a rocky desert, but the setting changes to the titular Covenant cruiser about one-third of the way through. The Silent Cartographer occurs on a tropical island, with substantial combat both outdoors and inside futuristic Forerunner installations. Assault on the Control Room takes place in a snowy, icy area of towering cliffs and underground tunnels as well as high-tech suspension bridges and oft-repeated Forerunner structures built into and through cliff walls.

343 Guilty Spark is a significant departure from these majestic environments, with combat in gloomy, exotic swamps and equally gloomy underground complexes that host the player's introduction to the Flood. The player is then teleported to the second of three entirely indoor levels, The Library, encountering repetitive, forbidding hallways and massive elevators. Master Chief returns to the snowy climate of Assault on the Control Room for Two Betrayals, visiting almost no new areas but, interestingly, traveling in the opposite direction. Keyes occurs in the same rocky deserts and the same Covenant ship from Truth and Reconciliation, albeit now heavily damaged, but this time the Flood are present in huge numbers. Finally, The Maw is set on the Pillar of Autumn with three major differences: the presence of the Flood, the heavy structural damage, and access to the Engineering section and service corridors of the ship, which were previously off-limits. In total, six of the ten levels feature a substantial amount of combat outdoors.

Multiplayer

Up to four players can play together using the same-console split screen mode. It is also possible for up to 16 players to play together in one Halo game over a local area network, using Xbox and/or Xbox 360 consoles that have been connected through an Ethernet hub, or via Xbox Connect, which is a way of tunneling a connection via a PC. The game's seamless support for this type of play, and a few large maps that can accomodate up to 16 combatants, is a first for console games. Since the game was released before the launch of Xbox Live, mainstream online play was not available for this title. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved officially adds online play, also new vehicles (Banshee and Rocket Warthog), weapons (Fuel Rod Gun and Flamethrower) and maps (see list below) for multiplayer. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved does not support split screen multiplayer.

Multiplayer maps in Halo: Combat Evolved:

  * Battle Creek
  * Sidewinder
  * Damnation
  * Rat Race
  * Prisoner
  * Hang 'Em High
  * Chill Out
  * Derelict
  * Boarding Action
  * Chiron TL 34
  * Blood Gulch
  * Wizard
  * Longest
  * Death Island (exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
  * Danger Canyon (exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
  * Infinity (exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
  * Timberland (exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
  * Ice Fields (exclusive to the PC/Mac version)
  * Gephyrophobia (exclusive to the PC/Mac version)

Specific maps can be used for specific gamestates. For example, many Capture The Flag and Team Slayer games are played in the bigger maps, while single Slayer (or, in most games, every man for himself) are played on the smaller maps. A prime example of a good CTF map is Blood Gulch, which is the stomping ground for most new Halo players. A good Slayer or Juggernaut map would be Hang 'em High, since it is small enough, and targets are found easily.

However, depending on how many people are in one given game, the circumstances may change. For example, a 16-person Slayer game may occur on a large map, and a two or four player CTF game can be played on a much smaller map.

Walkthrough Guide for Halo 1 Levels

Halo Weapons

Halo Vehicles