Halo Month has been a journey for us at XBLG, not as great a journey as Bungie and 343 Industries undertook to deliver us with a game series that we have dedicated an entire month of content to.
This article is looking to encapsulate and highlight what the writers at XBLG thought about the Halo games to date and what the highs and lows of every iteration were.
Halo: Combat Evolved
The beginning of Halo was a fairy tales come true for Microsoft and the launch of their brand new Xbox computer games console. The large and open FPS was set in a compelling environment with a full story in the game as well, a feat that was not easily pulled off back in 2001. The new console was the most powerful contender in that console generation, though going up against the successor to the PlayStation was never going to be easy. The Xbox would have to have a great line up of games to get it off the ground and taken seriously as a gaming console and not just a fling by Microsoft into the home console market.
Halo introduced us to Sierra 117, otherwise known as the Master Chief. A super soldier harnessed within green armour that was seemingly invincible and protecting humanity from a mysterious alien nemesis known simply as The Covenant.
Where most shooting games of its time were set pitting the players against Nazi’s during the Second World War, Halo had us fighting something new and unknown; giving us new foes and weapons to combat them with.
The Spartan soldier would not be alone in this fight though, players would be guided by Cortana, who Chief is actually commissioned to keep safe as UNSC protocols dedicated on-board AI’s have not to be captured. The pair make for great in game chemistry and allow the player to have an invisible guide throughout the game.
The entire game takes place on the mysterious Halo ring which is believed by the Covenant to be a religious and holy place, when in fact it is a super weapon designed to destroy all organic life. Master Chief decided that the Halo ring is too dangerous to be left and tasks himself to destroy the Halo ring.
The games massive levels were obviously a major part of the overall appeal, the Xbox hardware also allowed the game to produce higher quality graphics on top of the gameplay. The use of the local multiplayer features allowed gamers to system link Xbox Consoles together in a PC fashion and play massive multiplayer games on consoles before Xbox Live was even a feature.
The games first outing was a massive win for Xbox and secured the game series a sequel at least. The series had made a foothold in the gaming market and it was not going give any room, if anything it climbed and climbed.
Halo 2
3 years had passed since the release of Halo: Combat Evolved, developer Bungie had been extremely hard at work and released their next Halo game. 3 more years with the Xbox hardware had paid off, the game looked better, ran smoother and was more grand on every sense of the word.
Master Chief returned as the protagonist, his side kick Cortana was with him every step of the way. The destruction of the Halo ring was a massive morality boost against the Covenant though it only proved to anger their enemies and cause further bloodshed and war.
The progressions of the story in Halo 2 was incredible, actually giving players control of a Covenant Arbiter for half of the game diversified the game play and story in a whole new way.
A more in depth to the Covenant was a major feature of this game, their lifestyle and social structure are displayed more prominently than their last outing in Halo: Combat Evolved.
New weapons and features were added to the game such as sub-machine guns and dual wielding weapons. This added to the amount of weapon combinations available in the game and also allowed players unparalleled destructive abilities on the battle field.
The journey of John 117 starts orbiting earth just before a Covenant attack, the game’s opening set piece is John delivering a Covenant bomb back to their ship by jumping between ships in space unassisted.
This set the tone for the game, from there is only got bigger and bigger. The game would go from earth back to another Halo ring and also a breakdown of the Covenant hierarchy where the loyal Elites would be replaced by Brutes as the soldiers of the Prophets.
The story of Halo 2 intertwines between the games 2 playable characters and lets the player experience both sides of the war and what the inner workings of either faction are. The main focus of the game is how the 2 enemies are forced into the same place in time by the hand of fate and somethingmuch larger than either one of them alone.
The games multiplayer also launched the Xbox Live service by allowing players to now battle worldwide with players. Allowing people to face off against unknown opponents was the next step for games consoles. Players would pay a monthly subscription to use the Xbox Live service and allow them access to this new phenomenon of online console gaming.
Halo 3 (by none other than Andy Manson)
With the release of Halo 5: Guardians last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the franchise as a whole recently. You can read my thoughts on what made Halo: Combat Evolved so special for me here. I’m here today though to tell you why Halo 3 is arguably still my favourite game in the franchise, eight years after its initial release.
To Be Continued
Ok, so this one could be taken as a negative, and I wouldn’t argue with you, if you took that stance. Halo fans were forced to wait three long years to get rid of those blue balls and learn what happened after the events of Halo 2 and, whilst some were unhappy with how Halo 3 concluded the arc, I was just happy that it got that conclusion.
H(alo)D(efinition)
Halo and Halo 2 were both great-looking games in their own right and for their time. However, by the time Halo 3 was ready to hit shelves, I was dying to see Master Chief – and, more importantly, those fantastic sky boxes that Bungie always produced – in glorious 720p (come on, it was 2007). It certainly didn’t disappoint. It took the Halo franchise’s well-established aesthetic and applied a level of sheen that the original Xbox just couldn’t produce. At the time, it was truly remarkable.
Get On The Scene, Like A Death Machine
As the years have passed by, and my reflexes have dulled with age, my multiplayer prowess has dwindled like leaves on a tree in the autumn. In 2007 though, I could more than hold my own, and Halo 3 offered more ways than ever for me to prove it. Thanks to a plethora of various modes, Halo 3 had something to offer at all times, and not dying every ten seconds meant that I enjoyed it more than any multiplayer first-person shooter before it (not named Goldeneye) and most since.
Set It And Forge-t It
I’m not a terribly creative guy, so when it comes to the many games to offer up tools to let you create your own levels and maps, I’ve never really bothered. I’m much happier to enjoy the fruits of other people’s labour. So, you may wonder why I enjoyed Forge Mode on Halo 3 so much, being – as it was – a map creator. Well, I always considered Forge to be more of a sandbox in which to try some seriously dumb stuff. Me and a mate would spend hours just tooling around with it, doing things like seeing how far away we could snipe each other from or testing how far we could fire a Mongoose across the map with a man cannon (answer: not very far). Some of my favourite gaming memories came from such sessions, so Forge will always hold a special place for me.
Of course, now everyone can experience Halo 3 for themselves through the Master Chief Collection, so the question is does it hold up? Thankfully, the answer is yes! Although Halo 3 is, in many ways, the black sheep of the collection, seeing as it’s the only one of the original trilogy which hasn’t received a remaster, it’s still a surprisingly fine-looking game (a testament again to the style that Bungie imbued the game with) and the gameplay is in its purest refined form (Halo 4, of course, saw a move towards catering for more players with the addition of alternate Call of Duty-style control schemes and in-game perks), making it perfect for pick-up-and-play sessions in which you don’t have to worry about progressing your character or unlocking another gun.
It may not have the long-term hooks of a Destiny or the all-out anarchy of a modern Call of Duty or even the dolled-up visuals of other games in the Master Chief Collection but, in many ways, Halo 3 is all the better for it. Purity is an underrated concept in modern shooters, and Halo 3 has it in spades.
Halo 4 Review (By our very own Neil Duncan)
Halo 4’s narrative focuses mostly on the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana as well as featuring a much stronger attempt at making John 117 a more human character than had previously been seen in the series, this focus is particularly highlighted in the pre-release promotional materials which often involved developers discussing humanising the Master Chief. The increased focus on Master Chief and Cortana’s relationship, and the conflict that her descent into Rampancy provides does much to contribute to his new more human characterisation with the Master Chief often shown to have doubts and to be visibly emotionally affected by the events around him – this is a stark contrast to the head sure and almost robotic Chief of the original Halo trilogy. This addition of emotion to the Master Chief was a bit of a different approach to the character from 343 and is definitely one of the strongest elements of the game, however although the game mostly succeeds at its attempt at humanising John it falters on a number of other points throughout its narrative.
Halo 4 also has much too strong a reliance on outside sources, such as the Halo book series, for its core narrative plot points. References to franchise multimedia is generally becoming more and more common within AAA games and can be a great way for die-hard fans of the series to feel like they have an extra level of understanding. However, these references should mostly offhand or in the form of Easter eggs instead of being very to understand the plot or character motivation. While the relationship between the Didact and Librarian, humanity as an ancient space faring civilisation and the concept of the Mantle of Responsibility had been established within the franchise for quite some time, they had not been covered within the main story of the series. For this reason a number of the plot developments within Halo 4 could be confusing to more casual fans of the series with some elements of the story seeming to come completely out of left field.
Halo 4’s multiplayer component, like most of the game, is a very mixed bag. The solid gameplay carries over from the campaign and engagements in multiplayer feel very much like Halo should feel. However, the problem is mostly in the inclusion of character load outs and a reward system for calling in heavy weapons. Depending on game type players can choose from a number of weapons and armour abilities to spawn with, this is a feature that has become very common in modern multiplayer games and ideally gives the player a greater sense of control and customisation over their experience. Based on player success and timers the player can also sporadically call in heavy weapons that will be dropped onto the map beside them. On their surface these features may not appear particularly bad but they do break some of the foundation of what Halo multiplayer is and what makes it stand out in a crowded market place. Map control is no longer the main priority in a Halo multiplayer match and players do not necessarily start on an even footing due to the range of load outs available. These changes are not cardinal sins but they do remove some of that particularly Halo flavour from the multiplayer.
Halo 4 is a strange beast, while it certainly fails to deliver on a number of points it is still a very engaging and enjoyable experience. Although aspects of the narrative and multiplayer have faults they do try to evolve Halo and move it forward. Ultimately Halo 4 is a solid but flawed game and 343 have certainly tried to do something a bit different with the Halo franchise and it will definitely be interesting to see what the future holds for Microsoft’s flagship title.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our own individual thoughts on the games in the Halo series, well the ones featuring chief anyway. Do you agree with what we have said? If you have anything you would wish to share then leave a comment and let us know. Big thanks to Andy Manson and Neil Duncan for helping put this article together.
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