Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox) review " The XBOX- claimed to be the world's strongest console. The boys at Bungie tried to prove this by making a FPS, that uses every ability of the ''Box'', and then some. In my opinion, they did one hell of a job. "

The XBOX- claimed to be the world's strongest console. The boys at Bungie tried to prove this by making a FPS, that uses every ability of the ''Box'', and then some. In my opinion, they did one hell of a job.

General Story- Your Master Chief the most highly trained soldier in the universe. Your ship gets shot down by the Covenant, and you land on a undiscovered planet named Halo. Your thus thrown into the game, with lots of things to figure out on your own. Luckily you have a robot to help you out from time to time. Elites and Grunts are a small portion of the Covenant army, and at a later point in the game you come across a new enemy named The Flood.

Graphics- Using the XBOX's raw processing power, and NVIDIA graphics chip, Halo is one of the slickest looking games ever. From the minute you start the game you begin witnessing, the XBOX's power. Whether it be the magnificent explosions coming head on, or the trail of bullets left when your firing at the ground, the true beauty shines through. Your flashlight will light up walls around you, and reflects off of almost every surface, and grenade explosions are so well lit you just want to throw all your grenades and watch them explode, rather than use them. The in game graphics are literally amazing, and the only noticeable difference between gameplay and FMV graphics is the letterbox form for FMV's.

Sound- Luckily the XBOX has its own audio chip, resulting in high quality sound, and Dolby Digital surround sound. Halo takes advantage of this sound ability to produce some of the best sound in a game ever. You can hear the Grunts chattering just around the corner, and the Elite's scream with you shoot him. And if your lucky enough to own a surround sound system Halo, will amaze you even more. Turning in a circle results in hearing the bullets hit the ground from all the speakers in the order you spin. The voice acting is superb, and exceeds that of MGS on PSX. Hearing the shards from the Needler exploding on your armor is incredible, as is the reloading of the Rocket Launcher.

Gameplay- Great graphics and superb sound mean nothing if the gameplay is horrid. Fourtanely Halo is extremely addictive. From the moment you start playing the game, your automatically thrown into the action, with the Covenant attacking your ship from the start of the game. The first level is kind of a training map, with you learning all the controls, the storyline, and how the enemy act. Back to the story part; the story is very intriguing with many twists and turns. At one part you will think you have the story figured out, and that its going to end pretty soon. The one major twist in the game will totally throw off your thinking.

Controls- Controlling Halo feels almost natural. I came from Unreal Tournament on DC with mouse and keybaord, and have always played FPSs with mouse and keyboard. But jumping into Halo felt as if i had done it all my life. Looking around and jumping and insanely easy, and require not thought. Switching weapons is a breeze and so is reloading. I still can't find a thing wrong with the controls even though its on a pad.

Replay Value- With 4 different difficulty levels, you have plenty to accomplish. Theres also a very fun Co-Op mode, with a friend getting to help you in the single player game. Not to mention the Multiplayer mode with up to 16 players on 4 XBOXs, or the online play. Multiplayer and Online mode are extremely addicting, especially with 4-16 players. You will never get tired of this game, unless you find another game. Your in for an adventure this fall, if you own a XBOX.

Overall Rating-98/100

Community review by faktor (Date unavailable) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.