Halo: Combat Evolved
Encyclopedia
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter
video game developed by Bungie
and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise
, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox
gaming system
, and is considered the platform's "killer app
". With more than five million copies sold worldwide as of November 9, 2005, Microsoft released versions of the game for Microsoft Windows
(ported
by Gearbox Software
) and Mac OS X
in 2003, and the surrounding storyline was adapted and elaborated into a series of novels and comic books. The game was later released as an Xbox Original for download onto an Xbox 360
HDD.
Halo is set in the twenty-sixth century, with the player assuming the role of the Master Chief
, a cybernetically
enhanced super-soldier. The player is accompanied by Cortana
, an artificial intelligence
who occupies the Master Chief's neural interface. Players battle various aliens as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponym
ous Halo, a ring-shaped artificial world
. The game has been called "easy to learn", and has been praised for its "engaging story".
Many game magazines have praised Halo as one of the best and most important games of all time. The game's popularity has led to labels such as "Halo clone" and "Halo killer", applied respectively to games either similar to or anticipated to be better than it. In addition, the game inspired and was used in the fan-created Red vs. Blue
video series, which is credited as the "first big success" of machinima
(the technique of using real-time 3D engines, often from video games, to create animated films). Two sequels, Halo 2
and Halo 3
, a side game, Halo 3: ODST, and a prequel, Halo: Reach
, were released in 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010, respectively. A remake, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
, was released in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the original game's release.
during vehicle use for pilots and mounted gun operators; passengers maintain a first-person view
.
The player character is equipped with a damage-absorbing energy shield, in addition to hit points. The shield's charge appears as a blue bar in the upper-right hand corner of the game's heads-up display
. When the shield is fully depleted, the player is highly vulnerable, and further damage is applied directly to the character's health level. Critically, the shield will recharge if no further damage is sustained for a brief period.
Halo' s arsenal consists of weapons from science fiction
. The game has been praised for giving each weapon a unique purpose, thus making them useful in different scenarios. For example, plasma weapons need time to cool if fired too rapidly, but cannot be reloaded and must be discarded upon depletion of battery. In contrast, conventional firearms cannot overheat, but require reloading and ammunition. Players may carry only two weapons at once; thus, a strategy is required when using and selecting firearms.
Halo departs from traditional FPS conventions by not forcing the player character to holster their firearm before deploying grenades or melee-range blunt instrument
s; instead, both attacks can be utilized while a gun is still equipped, supplanting or supplementing small-arms fire. All weapons may be used to bludgeon enemies
, which allows the Master Chief to silently kill opponents without alerting other nearby enemies. The Chief can also carry up to eight grenades at a time: four fragmentation and four plasma grenades each. Like the game's other weapons, the two types of grenades differ; the fragmentation grenade bounces and detonates quickly, whereas the plasma grenade adheres to targets before exploding, sometimes with blackly comic
results.
, a group of alien species allied by belief in a common religion. Their forces include Elites, fierce warriors protected by recharging energy shields much like the player's own; Grunts, which are short, cowardly creatures, usually led by Elites, and who often flee in terror instead of fighting unless an Elite is present; Jackals, which wear highly durable energy shields on their arms; and Hunters, large, powerful creatures with thick armor plates that cover the majority of their bodies.
A secondary enemy is the Flood, a parasitic alien life form that appears in three main variants. Infection Forms, the true form of the Flood, are fragile and do little damage individually, but often travel in swarms of several dozen. Combat Forms result from humans and Covenant Elites who have succumbed to the Infection Forms, and have hideously deformed bodies. Bloated Carrier Forms are the result of an aged or unused Combat Form and serve as incubators for new Infection Forms; when wounded or near a potential victim, they explode to damage other nearby life-forms and to release their spores, thus perpetuating the life cycle. Battling the Flood, Covenant and human forces are the Sentinels, robotic drones designed by an extinct race called the Forerunners. Sentinels lack durability, but use powerful beam weapons and are immune to infection by the Flood.
The artificial intelligence
in Halo has been favorably received. Enemies take cover and use suppressive fire and grenades. Some enemies retreat when their superiors are killed. The player is often aided by United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marines, who offer ground support, such as manning gun turrets or riding shotgun while the player is driving a vehicle.
, online multiplayer games
were not officially supported. The game instead uses local Ethernet
or "system-link
" that supports a maximum of 16 players. This setup was a first for a console game, but was often deemed impractical by critics. As Halo lacks artificially intelligent game bots
, LAN parties
are needed to reach the game's 16-player limit. In addition to five customizable competitive multiplayer modes, two players may co-operatively play through the game's campaign. Halo' s multiplayer components were generally well-received by critics and is widely considered one of the best multiplayer games of all time.
Although the Xbox version of Halo lacks official support for online multiplayer play, XLink Kai
, GameSpy
and XBConnect's packet tunnelling
software provide unofficial ways around this limitation. The Windows and Macintosh ports of Halo support online matches involving up to 16 players and include multiplayer maps not in the original Xbox release. However, co-operative play was removed from the ports because it would have required large amounts of recoding to implement. On March 15, 2004, Gearbox Software
released Halo: Custom Edition for Windows, which enabled players to use custom-made maps and game modifications
.
travel have caused the human race to colonize other planets. A keystone of these efforts is the planet Reach, an interstellar naval yard and a hub of scientific and military activity. A secret military endeavor, dubbed the SPARTAN Project, was established on Reach to create an army of biologically engineered, cyborg
"super-soldiers". Twenty-seven years before the beginning of the game, a technologically advanced collective of alien races, the Covenant
, began to attack human settlements, declaring humanity an affront to their gods. The United Nations Space Command experienced a series of crushing defeats, and, although the super-soldiers of the SPARTAN-II Project fought effectively against the Covenant, they were too few in numbers to turn the tides of war.
To prepare for a mission to discover the location of the Covenant's homeworld, SPARTAN-II soldiers were recalled to Reach for armor upgrades. Two days before the mission was to begin, Covenant forces attacked Reach and destroyed the colony. A starship, the Pillar of Autumn, survived the onslaught with the lead SPARTAN-II, Master Chief
, onboard. The ship initiated a random jump to slipspace (similar to hyperspace
), hoping to lead the enemy away from Earth. The game starts with the Pillar of Autumn encountering Halo.
The titular Halo
is an enormous, ring-shaped artificial space habitat
/planet
, which (according to Bungie Studios) has a diameter of ten thousand kilometers. Halo sits at a Lagrange point
between a planet and its moon. Centrifugal force
created by the rotation of the station provides the ring's gravity.
is Master Chief Petty Officer John-117
, one of the few (see Halo: The Fall of Reach
and its sequels for more information) surviving super-soldiers of the SPARTAN-II project, and the main character of the story. Accompanying the Master Chief is the Pillar of Autumn' s feminine artificial intelligence construct, Cortana
, who resides in a neural implant connected to his battle armor, codenamed MJOLNIR Mark V. The Pillar of Autumn' s captain, Jacob Keyes, is also a major character, with Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson as a supporting character. Playing a mainly antagonistic role in the game's events is 343 Guilty Spark, an eccentric artificial intelligence responsible for monitoring and maintaining Halo's systems.
, the game opens as the Pillar of Autumn exits slipspace near a mysterious ring-shaped space station, called "Halo" by the enemy of the game, the Covenant. A Covenant fleet attacks and heavily damages the Pillar of Autumn. Captain Keyes initiates "The Cole Protocol", a procedure designed to prevent the Covenant from learning the location of Earth. While Keyes prepares to land the ship on Halo, the Master Chief and Cortana escape via an escape pod
, which crash lands on the ring. Cortana and the Chief are the only ones who survive the impact of the escape pod crash.
Keyes survives the Autumns crash landing, but is captured by the Covenant. In the second and third levels of the game, the Master Chief and Cortana gather human survivors and rescue Captain Keyes, who is imprisoned aboard the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation. Once rescued, Keyes orders the Master Chief to beat the Covenant to Halo's control center and to discover its purpose. The Master Chief and Cortana travel to a map room called the Silent Cartographer, which leads them to the control room. There, Cortana enters the systems and, discovering something urgent, suddenly sends the Master Chief to find Captain Keyes while she stays behind. While searching for his commander, the Master Chief learns that the Covenant have accidentally released the Flood, a parasitic alien race capable of spreading itself by overwhelming and infesting other sentient life-forms. Keyes falls victim to them while looking for a cache of weapons. The release of the Flood prompts Halo's AI monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, to recruit the Master Chief in retrieving the Index
, a device that will activate Halo and prevent the Flood from spreading beyond the facility.
After the Master Chief retrieves and prepares to use the Index, Cortana re-appears and warns him against the activation. She has discovered that Halo's defense system is a weapon designed to kill all sentient life in the galaxy, which the Flood requires to spread. When confronted with this information, 343 Guilty Spark states that the installation technically only has a maximum radius of twenty-five thousand light-year
s, but that its pulse would trigger other similar installations as well, killing all sentient life in the galaxy.
Faced with this information, the Master Chief and Cortana decide to destroy Halo to prevent its activation. While fighting the Flood, the Covenant, and Guilty Spark's Sentinels, Cortana discovers that the best way to accomplish this is to cause the crashed Pillar of Autumn to self-destruct. However, Captain Keyes' authorization is required to destroy the Autumn. By the time that they reach Keyes, however, he has been infected beyond the point of no return by the Flood. The Master Chief retrieves Keyes' neural implants directly from his brain, and Cortana activates the Autumn' s self-destruct sequence. However, 343 Guilty Spark reappears and deactivates the countdown, discovering the record of human history in the process. The Master Chief manually destabilizes the Pillar of Autumn' s fusion reactors instead, and the Chief and Cortana narrowly escape the destruction of the ring via a fighter.
On July 21, 1999, during the Macworld Conference & Expo
, Steve Jobs
announced that Halo would be released for Mac OS
and Windows
simultaneously. Before this public announcement, game industry journalists under a non-disclosure agreement had previewed the game in a private showing during E3 1999, and were reportedly amazed. Bungie Studios later stated an even earlier development build of the game centered on real-time strategy
and was "basically Myth
in a sci-fi universe."
At E3 2000
, the first trailer of Halo was well-received. The version shown there differed greatly from the one exhibited previously, marking the first major overhaul in the game's development. At this point, Halo was a third-person action game, in which a transport starship crashlands on a mysterious ring world that orbits a star. Early versions of Covenant aliens appear in great numbers and loot what they can, and war erupts between them and the humans. Unable to match the technologically advanced alien race, the humans on the ring world resort to guerrilla warfare
. This version of the game featured Halo-specific fauna, which were later dropped because of design difficulties and the creatures' "detract[ion] from the surprise, drama and impact of the Flood."
As rumors had predicted, Microsoft
announced on June 19, 2000 that it had acquired Bungie Studios. Halo became an exclusive game for Microsoft's Xbox
video game console
, and Bungie Studios rewrote the game's engine, heavily altering its presentation and turning it into a first-person shooter
. Originally a key element, the game's online multiplayer component was dropped because Xbox Live
would be unfinished at the time of Halos release. While a playable demonstration of the game at Gamestock 2001 was well-received, critics had mixed reactions to its exhibition at E3 2001. The game was released in North America simultaneously with the Xbox, on November 15, 2001; the "Combat Evolved" subtitle was an addition by marketers at Microsoft, who felt that Halo alone was not a descriptive enough title to compete with other military-themed games.
On July 12, 2002, a Halo port for Windows was announced to be under development by Gearbox Software
. Its showing at E3 2003 was positively received by some critics, with skepticism by others. It was released on September 30, 2003, and included support for online multiplayer play and featured sharper graphics, but had compatibility issues that caused poor performance. Halo was later released for Mac OS X
on December 11, 2003. On December 4, 2007, the game became available for the Xbox 360
via download from the Xbox Live Marketplace
for 1200 Microsoft Points
.
' s soundtrack was created by Bungie Studios' audio director, Martin O'Donnell
, and received enthusiastic praise from many critics. O'Donnell has stated that his goal was to provide "a feeling of importance, weight, and sense of the 'ancient'." He designed the music so that it "could be dissembled and remixed in such a way that would give [him] multiple, interchangeable loops that could be randomly recombined in order to keep the piece interesting as well as a variable length". Development involved the creation of "alternative middle sections that could be transitioned to if the game called for such a change (i.e. less or more intense)."
O'Donnell has remarked that he "sat with the level designers and 'spotted' the level as though it was a movie, with the knowledge that the music would have to be malleable rather than static.... [T]he level designer would tell me what he hoped a player would feel at certain points or after accomplishing certain tasks". Based on this information, O'Donnell would "go back and develop appropriate music cues, then have the designer script the cues into the level, and then we'd play through it to see if it worked as desired." He explained that the use of music in Halo is sparse because he believes that "[music] is best used in a game to quicken the emotional state of the player and it works best when used least", and that "[if] music is constantly playing it tends to become sonic wallpaper and loses its impact when it is needed to truly enhance some dramatic component of game play."
game. During the two months following Halo' s release, the game sold alongside more than fifty percent of Xbox consoles. Halo' s retail price remained at US$
49.99 until November 30, 2003. By July 14, 2003, the game had sold three million copies worldwide, and by January 28, 2004, it had reached four million copies. As of November 9, 2005, Halo has sold over five million copies worldwide.
Halo was critically acclaimed and received an overall score of 97% on Metacritic
. Electronic Gaming Monthly
observed, "This game has me totally mesmerized ... [It] engages your intellect on a whole different level", and of its multiplayer, "GoldenEye 007 was the multiplayer standard for console first-person shooters... It has been surpassed," awarding the game a perfect score. GameSpot
claimed that "Halo' s single-player game is worth picking up an Xbox for alone", commenting, "Not only is this easily the best of the Xbox launch games, but it's easily one of the best shooters ever, on any platform." IGN
remarked similarly, calling Halo a "can't miss, no-brainer, sure thing, five star, triple A game." Edge
called it "the most important launch game for any console, ever", and awarded it a 10 out of 10 score, only the fourth such rating in the magazine's first eight years of publishing. The game received numerous Game of the Year
awards, including those of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Edge, and IGN. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts
awarded Halo "Best Console Game", and Rolling Stone
presented it with their "Best Original Soundtrack" award. According to Xbox.com, the game received a total of 48 awards. Among the specific aspects that reviewers praised were the balance of weapons, the role of drivable vehicles, and the artificial intelligence of enemies.
Although Halos overall reception was largely positive, the game received some criticism for its level design. IGN wrote that "the middle third of the game basically has ... the same level over again." GameSpy
gave Halo a considerably lower (albeit still positive) rating than other reviewers, later placing the game tenth on its "Top 25 Most Overrated Games of All Time" list. The site stated that the levels often "degenerated into recycling the same areas over and over until you were bored to tears" and were one of the few reviewers to complain about the lack of online multiplayer play, though Xbox Live
had not yet been launched and GameSpy offered its Tunnel service to enable SystemLink games over the Internet. Noting the level design as a problem, an article on Game Studies.org stated that the game still "triumphs in understanding the anatomy of the FPS," and is "not so much about 'combat evolved' as the subtitle suggests, but about 'genre evolved'."
Halo' s PC port garnered mixed reactions and received a score of 83% on Metacritic. GameSpot stated that it was "still an incredible action game ... [and] a true classic", awarding it 9.0 out of 10. It received a score of 8.2 out of 10 from IGN, who stated, "If you've played the game on the Xbox, there's not much for you here." Eurogamer
called the game "a missed opportunity", but stated that the online multiplayer component was "a massive draw ... for Halo veterans".
, Halos "numerous subtle innovations have been borrowed by countless other games since." The game is often cited as the main reason for the Xbox's success, and it began what is commonly regarded as the system's flagship franchise. Game designer Vox Day credited the game with using science-fiction environments to follow Half-Life
in eschewing static levels and a similarity to dungeon crawl
s, which the FPS genre inherited from Akalabeth
. Day further wrote that Halo spurred a sustained trend of many other FPS console games. On July 29, 2006, using criteria including revenue, average review scores, commentary, spin-offs and other elements, Halo was estimated as the second to top game of the twenty-first century, behind Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
. The game's popularity sparked the usage of terms like "Halo clone" and "Halo killer". The Halo engine has been used for the game Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse.
Halo has been featured at both Major League Gaming
and the World Cyber Games
. In machinima
, the game was used as the basis for the popular Red vs. Blue
. The game's sequel, Halo 2
, made US$125 million with unit sales of 2.38 million on the first day of its release, earning it the distinction of the fastest-selling United States media product in history. Three years later, Halo 3
shattered that record with the biggest opening day in entertainment history, taking in US$170 million in its first 24 hours.
, a prequel
. Published in October 2001, this novel was written by Eric Nylund
, who reportedly completed it in seven weeks. The novel became a Publishers Weekly
bestseller with almost two hundred thousand copies sold. The following novel, entitled Halo: The Flood
, is a tie-in
to Halo: Combat Evolved, describing not only the experiences of the Master Chief, but also those of other characters on Installation 04. Written by William C. Dietz
, this novel appeared on the Publishers Weekly bestsellers list during May 2003. Nylund returned to write the third novel, Halo: First Strike
, which takes place between the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and those of Halo 2. Written in 16 weeks, it was published in December 2003. Later novels, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
(written by Nylund and released on October 31, 2006) and Halo: Contact Harvest
by Joseph Staten
further extended the Halo storyline. More recently, a collection of new stories in Halo: Evolutions and Greg Bear
's first book of his Forerunner series Halo: Cryptum
was released continuing to flesh out the stories. Two additional books: Karen Traviss
's Halo: Glasslands, the first in a new Post-Halo 3 series and Greg Bear's Book 2 of his Forerunner series entitled Halo: Primordium will be released in the future.
Another adaptation is The Halo Graphic Novel, a collection of four short stories
released by Marvel Comics
in July 2006. It was written and illustrated by Lee Hammock, Jay Faerber
, Tsutomu Nihei
, Brett Lewis, Simon Bisley
, Ed Lee and Jean Giraud
. Bungie Studios regards Halo' s adaptations as canon
. Marvel subsequently released the four-issue miniseries Halo: Uprising
, which was written by Brian Michael Bendis
and illustrated by Alex Maleev
, which premiered in August 2007. Halo Wars: Genesis, a supplemental graphic novel featuring art by Graeme Devine
and Eric Nylund, was included with Halo Wars: Limited Edition in March 2009. Marvel then published Halo: Helljumper, a five-issue miniseries written by Peter David
and illustrated by Eric Nguyen, which premiered in July 2009. Additionally Halo: Blood Line and Halo: Fall of Reach were released, the latter being a comic retelling of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach premiered in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
press conference at the 2011 E3 Expo, it was revealed that Halo: Combat Evolved will be remade by 343 Industries
with in-house game engine and released for the Xbox 360
on November 15, 2011. The remake will also include achievements, Terminals, and Skulls. The release date marks the 10th anniversary of the original game's release. The remastered version of the original game will include online multiplayer and cooperative play functionality. It was also confirmed that the remake will feature Kinect support, making it the first Halo game to include Kinect support. The game is a mix of two game engine
s - the original Halo engine created by Bungie which provides gameplay and a new engine created by 343 and Saber which is responsible for improved graphics - and the players will be able to switch between the improved and classic modes of the game at any time. The game will also be the first in the series to support 3D televisions; however, this will only be available in the improved mode within the game.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game developed by Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
gaming system
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, and is considered the platform's "killer app
Killer application
A killer application , in the jargon of marketing teams, has been used to refer to any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, or an operating system...
". With more than five million copies sold worldwide as of November 9, 2005, Microsoft released versions of the game for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
(ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
by Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
) and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
in 2003, and the surrounding storyline was adapted and elaborated into a series of novels and comic books. The game was later released as an Xbox Original for download onto an Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
HDD.
Halo is set in the twenty-sixth century, with the player assuming the role of the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
, a cybernetically
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
enhanced super-soldier. The player is accompanied by Cortana
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
, an artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
who occupies the Master Chief's neural interface. Players battle various aliens as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous Halo, a ring-shaped artificial world
Artificial world
Writers in the fields of science speculation and fiction have created in their works several varieties of artificial worlds.Such megastructures could have a variety of advantages over natural planets, such as efficient use of solar energy and immense living space, but their construction and/or...
. The game has been called "easy to learn", and has been praised for its "engaging story".
Many game magazines have praised Halo as one of the best and most important games of all time. The game's popularity has led to labels such as "Halo clone" and "Halo killer", applied respectively to games either similar to or anticipated to be better than it. In addition, the game inspired and was used in the fan-created Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue, often abbreviated as RvB, is a set of related comic science fiction video series created by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed through the Internet and on DVD...
video series, which is credited as the "first big success" of machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
(the technique of using real-time 3D engines, often from video games, to create animated films). Two sequels, Halo 2
Halo 2
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved...
and Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
, a side game, Halo 3: ODST, and a prequel, Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, were released in 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010, respectively. A remake, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, also referred to as Halo: Anniversary, or Halo: CEA, is a first-person shooter video game set in the Halo universe and is an enhanced remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Microsoft announced the game along with Halo 4 at their Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 press...
, was released in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the original game's release.
Gameplay
As a first-person shooter, Halo: Combat Evolved has a gameplay fundamentally similar to that of its peers, focusing on combat in a 3D environment, and taking place almost entirely from a character's eye view. The player can move around and look up, down, left or right. The game features vehicles, ranging from armored jeeps and tanks to alien hovercraft and aircraft, many of which can be controlled by the player. The game switches to the third-person perspectiveIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
during vehicle use for pilots and mounted gun operators; passengers maintain a first-person view
First person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
.
HUD (computer gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
. When the shield is fully depleted, the player is highly vulnerable, and further damage is applied directly to the character's health level. Critically, the shield will recharge if no further damage is sustained for a brief period.
Halo
Weapons in science fiction
Strange and exotic weapons are a recurring theme in science fiction. In some cases, weapons first introduced in science fiction have now been made a reality...
. The game has been praised for giving each weapon a unique purpose, thus making them useful in different scenarios. For example, plasma weapons need time to cool if fired too rapidly, but cannot be reloaded and must be discarded upon depletion of battery. In contrast, conventional firearms cannot overheat, but require reloading and ammunition. Players may carry only two weapons at once; thus, a strategy is required when using and selecting firearms.
Halo departs from traditional FPS conventions by not forcing the player character to holster their firearm before deploying grenades or melee-range blunt instrument
Blunt instrument
A blunt instrument is any solid object used as a weapon, which damages its target by applying direct mechanical force, and has no penetrating point or edge, or is wielded so that the point or edge is not the part of the weapon that inflicts the injury...
s; instead, both attacks can be utilized while a gun is still equipped, supplanting or supplementing small-arms fire. All weapons may be used to bludgeon enemies
Firearm as a blunt weapon
Firearm as a blunt weapon or firearm as a blunt instrument is the practice of using a firearm as a blunt weapon, rather than the conventional role of shooting with it...
, which allows the Master Chief to silently kill opponents without alerting other nearby enemies. The Chief can also carry up to eight grenades at a time: four fragmentation and four plasma grenades each. Like the game's other weapons, the two types of grenades differ; the fragmentation grenade bounces and detonates quickly, whereas the plasma grenade adheres to targets before exploding, sometimes with blackly comic
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
results.
Combatants
The game's main enemy force is the CovenantCovenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
, a group of alien species allied by belief in a common religion. Their forces include Elites, fierce warriors protected by recharging energy shields much like the player's own; Grunts, which are short, cowardly creatures, usually led by Elites, and who often flee in terror instead of fighting unless an Elite is present; Jackals, which wear highly durable energy shields on their arms; and Hunters, large, powerful creatures with thick armor plates that cover the majority of their bodies.
A secondary enemy is the Flood, a parasitic alien life form that appears in three main variants. Infection Forms, the true form of the Flood, are fragile and do little damage individually, but often travel in swarms of several dozen. Combat Forms result from humans and Covenant Elites who have succumbed to the Infection Forms, and have hideously deformed bodies. Bloated Carrier Forms are the result of an aged or unused Combat Form and serve as incubators for new Infection Forms; when wounded or near a potential victim, they explode to damage other nearby life-forms and to release their spores, thus perpetuating the life cycle. Battling the Flood, Covenant and human forces are the Sentinels, robotic drones designed by an extinct race called the Forerunners. Sentinels lack durability, but use powerful beam weapons and are immune to infection by the Flood.
The artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
in Halo has been favorably received. Enemies take cover and use suppressive fire and grenades. Some enemies retreat when their superiors are killed. The player is often aided by United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marines, who offer ground support, such as manning gun turrets or riding shotgun while the player is driving a vehicle.
Multiplayer
As Halo was released before Xbox LiveXbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
, online multiplayer games
Multiplayer game
A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...
were not officially supported. The game instead uses local Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
or "system-link
System-link
System Link is a form of offline multiplayer gaming on the Xbox and Xbox 360 gaming console over a LAN . A network switch and standard straight-through Ethernet cables may be used to link multiple consoles together, or two consoles can be connected directly...
" that supports a maximum of 16 players. This setup was a first for a console game, but was often deemed impractical by critics. As Halo lacks artificially intelligent game bots
Computer game bot
A bot, most prominently in the first-person shooter types , is a type of weak AI expert system software which for each instance of the program controls a player in deathmatch, team deathmatch and/or cooperative human player. Computer bots may play against other bots and/or human players in unison,...
, LAN parties
LAN party
A LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people with computers, between which they establish a local area network , primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. The size of these networks may vary from the very small to very large installations...
are needed to reach the game's 16-player limit. In addition to five customizable competitive multiplayer modes, two players may co-operatively play through the game's campaign. Halo
Although the Xbox version of Halo lacks official support for online multiplayer play, XLink Kai
XLink Kai
XLink Kai is a method developed by Team-XLink for online play of certain compatible console games.It enables players on the Xbox 360, Xbox, Playstation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo GameCube to play games across the Internet using a network configuration that simulates a...
, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
and XBConnect's packet tunnelling
Tunneling protocol
Computer networks use a tunneling protocol when one network protocol encapsulates a different payload protocol...
software provide unofficial ways around this limitation. The Windows and Macintosh ports of Halo support online matches involving up to 16 players and include multiplayer maps not in the original Xbox release. However, co-operative play was removed from the ports because it would have required large amounts of recoding to implement. On March 15, 2004, Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
released Halo: Custom Edition for Windows, which enabled players to use custom-made maps and game modifications
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
.
Setting
Halo: Combat Evolved takes place in a science fiction universe created by Bungie Studios specifically for the game. According to the story, the overpopulation of Earth and the realization of faster-than-lightFaster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
travel have caused the human race to colonize other planets. A keystone of these efforts is the planet Reach, an interstellar naval yard and a hub of scientific and military activity. A secret military endeavor, dubbed the SPARTAN Project, was established on Reach to create an army of biologically engineered, cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
"super-soldiers". Twenty-seven years before the beginning of the game, a technologically advanced collective of alien races, the Covenant
Covenant (Halo)
The Covenant are a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonists in the Halo video game series. They are composed of a variety of diverse species, united under the religious worship of the enigmatic Forerunners and their belief that Forerunner ringworlds...
, began to attack human settlements, declaring humanity an affront to their gods. The United Nations Space Command experienced a series of crushing defeats, and, although the super-soldiers of the SPARTAN-II Project fought effectively against the Covenant, they were too few in numbers to turn the tides of war.
To prepare for a mission to discover the location of the Covenant's homeworld, SPARTAN-II soldiers were recalled to Reach for armor upgrades. Two days before the mission was to begin, Covenant forces attacked Reach and destroyed the colony. A starship, the Pillar of Autumn, survived the onslaught with the lead SPARTAN-II, Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
, onboard. The ship initiated a random jump to slipspace (similar to hyperspace
Hyperspace (science fiction)
Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device...
), hoping to lead the enemy away from Earth. The game starts with the Pillar of Autumn encountering Halo.
The titular Halo
Halo (megastructure)
Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners...
is an enormous, ring-shaped artificial space habitat
Space habitat
A space habitat is a space station intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility...
/planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
, which (according to Bungie Studios) has a diameter of ten thousand kilometers. Halo sits at a Lagrange point
Lagrangian point
The Lagrangian points are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects...
between a planet and its moon. Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
created by the rotation of the station provides the ring's gravity.
Characters
The player characterPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
is Master Chief Petty Officer John-117
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
, one of the few (see Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach is a 2001 science fiction novel by Eric Nylund based on the Halo series of video games and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations...
and its sequels for more information) surviving super-soldiers of the SPARTAN-II project, and the main character of the story. Accompanying the Master Chief is the Pillar of Autumn
Cortana
Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ...
, who resides in a neural implant connected to his battle armor, codenamed MJOLNIR Mark V. The Pillar of Autumn
Story
Beginning immediately after the events of Halo: ReachHalo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, the game opens as the Pillar of Autumn exits slipspace near a mysterious ring-shaped space station, called "Halo" by the enemy of the game, the Covenant. A Covenant fleet attacks and heavily damages the Pillar of Autumn. Captain Keyes initiates "The Cole Protocol", a procedure designed to prevent the Covenant from learning the location of Earth. While Keyes prepares to land the ship on Halo, the Master Chief and Cortana escape via an escape pod
Escape pod
An escape pod is a capsule or craft used to escape a vessel in an emergency, usually only big enough for one person. An escape ship is a larger, more complete craft also used for the same purpose...
, which crash lands on the ring. Cortana and the Chief are the only ones who survive the impact of the escape pod crash.
Keyes survives the Autumns crash landing, but is captured by the Covenant. In the second and third levels of the game, the Master Chief and Cortana gather human survivors and rescue Captain Keyes, who is imprisoned aboard the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation. Once rescued, Keyes orders the Master Chief to beat the Covenant to Halo's control center and to discover its purpose. The Master Chief and Cortana travel to a map room called the Silent Cartographer, which leads them to the control room. There, Cortana enters the systems and, discovering something urgent, suddenly sends the Master Chief to find Captain Keyes while she stays behind. While searching for his commander, the Master Chief learns that the Covenant have accidentally released the Flood, a parasitic alien race capable of spreading itself by overwhelming and infesting other sentient life-forms. Keyes falls victim to them while looking for a cache of weapons. The release of the Flood prompts Halo's AI monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, to recruit the Master Chief in retrieving the Index
Halo (megastructure)
Halos are fictional megastructures and superweapons in the Halo video game series. They are referred to as "Installations" by their AI monitors, and are collectively referred to as "the Array" by the installations' creators, the Forerunners...
, a device that will activate Halo and prevent the Flood from spreading beyond the facility.
After the Master Chief retrieves and prepares to use the Index, Cortana re-appears and warns him against the activation. She has discovered that Halo's defense system is a weapon designed to kill all sentient life in the galaxy, which the Flood requires to spread. When confronted with this information, 343 Guilty Spark states that the installation technically only has a maximum radius of twenty-five thousand light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s, but that its pulse would trigger other similar installations as well, killing all sentient life in the galaxy.
Faced with this information, the Master Chief and Cortana decide to destroy Halo to prevent its activation. While fighting the Flood, the Covenant, and Guilty Spark's Sentinels, Cortana discovers that the best way to accomplish this is to cause the crashed Pillar of Autumn to self-destruct. However, Captain Keyes' authorization is required to destroy the Autumn. By the time that they reach Keyes, however, he has been infected beyond the point of no return by the Flood. The Master Chief retrieves Keyes' neural implants directly from his brain, and Cortana activates the Autumn
Cast
- Steve DownesSteve DownesSteve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
as the Master ChiefMaster Chief (Halo)Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the... - Jen TaylorJen TaylorJennifer Lee "Jen" Taylor is an American voice actress best known for her role as Cortana in various Halo games and the Xbox 360 game "1 vs. 100".-Voice work:...
as CortanaCortanaCortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in Bungie's Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3, in the prequel and epilogue of Halo: Reach, as well the novels Halo: The Flood, Halo: The Fall of Reach, ... - Pete Stacker as Captain Keyes
- David Scully as Avery Johnson
- Tim DadaboTim DadaboTim Dadabo is a voice actor and singer who has appeared in several video game roles including the popular Halo series as the Forerunner Monitor 343 Guilty Spark. He will star in the upcoming animated sitcom Two Dreadful Children on Fox.-Roles:...
as 343 Guilty Spark - Tawnya Pettiford-Wates as Foehammer
- Chris Wicklund as Pvt. Jenkins
- Mike Madeoy as Pvt. Bisenti
- Mark Dias as Pvt. Mendoza
- Andrew McKaigeAndrew McKaigeAndrew McKaige is an Australian actor.In addition to being an original cast member of the 1980s soap opera Sons and Daughters , he is the second actor to play the role of Marty Jackson in Prisoner – succeeding Ronald Korosy and preceding Michael Winchester.More recently, he has appeared in Paradise...
as Pvt. Chipps Dubbo
Development
Macworld Conference & Expo
Produced by Boston-based IDG World Expo, Macworld | iWorld is a trade-show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple Macintosh platform. It is held annually in the United States, usually during the second week of January...
, Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs was an American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc...
announced that Halo would be released for Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
simultaneously. Before this public announcement, game industry journalists under a non-disclosure agreement had previewed the game in a private showing during E3 1999, and were reportedly amazed. Bungie Studios later stated an even earlier development build of the game centered on real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
and was "basically Myth
Myth (computer game)
Myth is a series of real-time tactics computer games. The games are:*Myth: The Fallen Lords*Myth II: Soulblighter*Myth III: The Wolf Age...
in a sci-fi universe."
At E3 2000
History of E3
The history of the E3 began with its creation in 1995 and has continued through the latest expo in 2011 The conference was known as the Electronic Entertainment Expo from 1995 to 2006. In 2007 and 2008, the conference was known as the E3 Media and Business Summit...
, the first trailer of Halo was well-received. The version shown there differed greatly from the one exhibited previously, marking the first major overhaul in the game's development. At this point, Halo was a third-person action game, in which a transport starship crashlands on a mysterious ring world that orbits a star. Early versions of Covenant aliens appear in great numbers and loot what they can, and war erupts between them and the humans. Unable to match the technologically advanced alien race, the humans on the ring world resort to guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. This version of the game featured Halo-specific fauna, which were later dropped because of design difficulties and the creatures' "detract[ion] from the surprise, drama and impact of the Flood."
As rumors had predicted, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
announced on June 19, 2000 that it had acquired Bungie Studios. Halo became an exclusive game for Microsoft's Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, and Bungie Studios rewrote the game's engine, heavily altering its presentation and turning it into a first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
. Originally a key element, the game's online multiplayer component was dropped because Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
would be unfinished at the time of Halos release. While a playable demonstration of the game at Gamestock 2001 was well-received, critics had mixed reactions to its exhibition at E3 2001. The game was released in North America simultaneously with the Xbox, on November 15, 2001; the "Combat Evolved" subtitle was an addition by marketers at Microsoft, who felt that Halo alone was not a descriptive enough title to compete with other military-themed games.
On July 12, 2002, a Halo port for Windows was announced to be under development by Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
. Its showing at E3 2003 was positively received by some critics, with skepticism by others. It was released on September 30, 2003, and included support for online multiplayer play and featured sharper graphics, but had compatibility issues that caused poor performance. Halo was later released for Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
on December 11, 2003. On December 4, 2007, the game became available for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
via download from the Xbox Live Marketplace
Xbox Live Marketplace
The Xbox Live Marketplace is a virtual market designed for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console that allows Xbox Live members to download purchased or promotional content...
for 1200 Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points
Microsoft Points are the currency of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Games for Windows - Live Marketplace, Windows Live Gallery, and Zune online stores. The points allow users to purchase content without a credit card and to reduce the number of small credit card transaction fees, which Microsoft would...
.
Audio
HaloMartin O'Donnell
Martin "Marty" O'Donnell is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo...
, and received enthusiastic praise from many critics. O'Donnell has stated that his goal was to provide "a feeling of importance, weight, and sense of the 'ancient'." He designed the music so that it "could be dissembled and remixed in such a way that would give [him] multiple, interchangeable loops that could be randomly recombined in order to keep the piece interesting as well as a variable length". Development involved the creation of "alternative middle sections that could be transitioned to if the game called for such a change (i.e. less or more intense)."
O'Donnell has remarked that he "sat with the level designers and 'spotted' the level as though it was a movie, with the knowledge that the music would have to be malleable rather than static.... [T]he level designer would tell me what he hoped a player would feel at certain points or after accomplishing certain tasks". Based on this information, O'Donnell would "go back and develop appropriate music cues, then have the designer script the cues into the level, and then we'd play through it to see if it worked as desired." He explained that the use of music in Halo is sparse because he believes that "[music] is best used in a game to quicken the emotional state of the player and it works best when used least", and that "[if] music is constantly playing it tends to become sonic wallpaper and loses its impact when it is needed to truly enhance some dramatic component of game play."
Reception
On its release Halo broke sales records; by April 8, 2002, one million units had been sold: this pace was faster than that of any previous sixth-generation consoleHistory of video game consoles (sixth generation)
The sixth-generation era refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at the turn of the 21st century. Platforms of the sixth generation include the Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Xbox...
game. During the two months following Halo
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
49.99 until November 30, 2003. By July 14, 2003, the game had sold three million copies worldwide, and by January 28, 2004, it had reached four million copies. As of November 9, 2005, Halo has sold over five million copies worldwide.
Halo was critically acclaimed and received an overall score of 97% on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
observed, "This game has me totally mesmerized ... [It] engages your intellect on a whole different level", and of its multiplayer, "GoldenEye 007 was the multiplayer standard for console first-person shooters... It has been surpassed," awarding the game a perfect score. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
claimed that "Halo
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
remarked similarly, calling Halo a "can't miss, no-brainer, sure thing, five star, triple A game." Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
called it "the most important launch game for any console, ever", and awarded it a 10 out of 10 score, only the fourth such rating in the magazine's first eight years of publishing. The game received numerous Game of the Year
Game of the Year
Game of the Year is a title awarded by various magazines, websites, and shows to a deserving game. Many are only for PC or console video games...
awards, including those of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Edge, and IGN. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
awarded Halo "Best Console Game", and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
presented it with their "Best Original Soundtrack" award. According to Xbox.com, the game received a total of 48 awards. Among the specific aspects that reviewers praised were the balance of weapons, the role of drivable vehicles, and the artificial intelligence of enemies.
Although Halos overall reception was largely positive, the game received some criticism for its level design. IGN wrote that "the middle third of the game basically has ... the same level over again." GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
gave Halo a considerably lower (albeit still positive) rating than other reviewers, later placing the game tenth on its "Top 25 Most Overrated Games of All Time" list. The site stated that the levels often "degenerated into recycling the same areas over and over until you were bored to tears" and were one of the few reviewers to complain about the lack of online multiplayer play, though Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
had not yet been launched and GameSpy offered its Tunnel service to enable SystemLink games over the Internet. Noting the level design as a problem, an article on Game Studies.org stated that the game still "triumphs in understanding the anatomy of the FPS," and is "not so much about 'combat evolved' as the subtitle suggests, but about 'genre evolved'."
Halo
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
called the game "a missed opportunity", but stated that the online multiplayer component was "a massive draw ... for Halo veterans".
Legacy
According to GamespotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, Halos "numerous subtle innovations have been borrowed by countless other games since." The game is often cited as the main reason for the Xbox's success, and it began what is commonly regarded as the system's flagship franchise. Game designer Vox Day credited the game with using science-fiction environments to follow Half-Life
Half-Life (series)
The Half-Life series of video games share a science fiction alternate history. Nearly all of the games are first-person shooters on the GoldSource or Source engines, and most are linear, narrative, single-player titles....
in eschewing static levels and a similarity to dungeon crawl
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
s, which the FPS genre inherited from Akalabeth
Akalabeth
Akalabeth: World of Doom is a computer role-playing game, first released in 1979, and then published by California Pacific Computer Company for the Apple II in 1980...
. Day further wrote that Halo spurred a sustained trend of many other FPS console games. On July 29, 2006, using criteria including revenue, average review scores, commentary, spin-offs and other elements, Halo was estimated as the second to top game of the twenty-first century, behind Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
. The game's popularity sparked the usage of terms like "Halo clone" and "Halo killer". The Halo engine has been used for the game Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse.
Halo has been featured at both Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming , founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso, is a North American professional Electronic sports organization, headquartered in New York City, New York. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. Major League Gaming...
and the World Cyber Games
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games is an international competitive video-gaming event operated by South Korean company World Cyber Games Inc., and sponsored by Samsung and Microsoft...
. In machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
, the game was used as the basis for the popular Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue, often abbreviated as RvB, is a set of related comic science fiction video series created by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed through the Internet and on DVD...
. The game's sequel, Halo 2
Halo 2
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved...
, made US$125 million with unit sales of 2.38 million on the first day of its release, earning it the distinction of the fastest-selling United States media product in history. Three years later, Halo 3
Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2...
shattered that record with the biggest opening day in entertainment history, taking in US$170 million in its first 24 hours.
Adaptations
The story surrounding Halo: Combat Evolved has been adapted into novels, the first of which was Halo: The Fall of ReachHalo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Fall of Reach is a 2001 science fiction novel by Eric Nylund based on the Halo series of video games and acts as a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series. It is set in the fictional Halo universe, taking place in the 26th century across several planets and locations...
, a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
. Published in October 2001, this novel was written by Eric Nylund
Eric S. Nylund
Eric S. Nylund is an American novelist and professional technical writer. His wife, Syne Mitchell, is also a science fiction writer. He holds a B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an M.Sc. in chemical physics from the University of California, San Diego...
, who reportedly completed it in seven weeks. The novel became a Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
bestseller with almost two hundred thousand copies sold. The following novel, entitled Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood
Halo: The Flood is a 2003 novel based on the 2001 Xbox video game Halo: Combat Evolved written by William C. Dietz. Closely depicting the events of the video game, The Flood begins with the escape of a human ship Pillar of Autumn from enemy aliens known as the Covenant...
, is a tie-in
Tie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
to Halo: Combat Evolved, describing not only the experiences of the Master Chief, but also those of other characters on Installation 04. Written by William C. Dietz
William C. Dietz
William C. Dietz is the best-selling author of more than thirty novels some of which have been translated into German, French, Russian, Korean and Japanese...
, this novel appeared on the Publishers Weekly bestsellers list during May 2003. Nylund returned to write the third novel, Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike
Halo: First Strike is the third novel in the Halo series and the second Halo novel written by Eric Nylund. Published in 2003, it serves as a bridge between the events of the video games Halo: Combat Evolved and its 2004 sequel Halo 2...
, which takes place between the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and those of Halo 2. Written in 16 weeks, it was published in December 2003. Later novels, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Ghosts of Onyx is a novel by Eric Nylund, set in the universe of the Halo video game series and released on October 31, 2006. Ghosts of Onyx was the fourth Halo novel published, and Nylund's third contribution to the series...
(written by Nylund and released on October 31, 2006) and Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halos storyline...
by Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten is a bestselling American writer born in San Francisco, California. The son of a theologian, Staten originally planned on becoming an actor, but dropped the idea in college...
further extended the Halo storyline. More recently, a collection of new stories in Halo: Evolutions and Greg Bear
Greg Bear
Gregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
's first book of his Forerunner series Halo: Cryptum
Halo: Cryptum
Halo: Cryptum is a science fiction novel by Greg Bear, set in the Halo universe. The book released on January 4, 2011, and is the eighth Halo novel, following 2009s Halo: Evolutions, an anthology written by various writers creating short stories.Set approximately 100,000 years before the events of...
was released continuing to flesh out the stories. Two additional books: Karen Traviss
Karen Traviss
Karen Traviss is a science fiction author, and full-time novelist from Wiltshire, England. Originally from the Portsmouth area, Traviss worked as both a journalist and defence correspondent before turning her attention to writing fiction. She also served in both the Territorial Army and the Royal...
's Halo: Glasslands, the first in a new Post-Halo 3 series and Greg Bear's Book 2 of his Forerunner series entitled Halo: Primordium will be released in the future.
Another adaptation is The Halo Graphic Novel, a collection of four short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
released by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
in July 2006. It was written and illustrated by Lee Hammock, Jay Faerber
Jay Faerber
Jay Faerber is an American comic book and television writer. Faerber is known for his work on Generation X and New Warriors for Marvel Comics, and The Titans and Connor: Spotlight for DC Comics. He later wrote his own creator-owned titles for Image Comics, including Noble Causes, Dynamo 5 and Near...
, Tsutomu Nihei
Tsutomu Nihei
is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop...
, Brett Lewis, Simon Bisley
Simon Bisley
Simon Bisley is a British comics artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine. His style, reliant on paints, acrylics, inks and multiple-mediums, is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, Egon Schiele, and Richard Corben...
, Ed Lee and Jean Giraud
Jean Giraud
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
. Bungie Studios regards Halo
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
. Marvel subsequently released the four-issue miniseries Halo: Uprising
Halo: Uprising
Halo: Uprising is a four-issue American comic book limited series set in the Halo universe. The series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Alex Maleev, and published by Marvel Comics...
, which was written by Brian Michael Bendis
Brian Michael Bendis
Brian Michael Bendis is an American comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim for his self-published, Image Comics and Marvel Comics work, and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics, with his books selling consistently highly for over a...
and illustrated by Alex Maleev
Alex Maleev
Alex Maleev is a Bulgarian-born comic book illustrator, best known for the Marvel Comics' series Daredevil , collaborating with writer Brian Michael Bendis.-Career:...
, which premiered in August 2007. Halo Wars: Genesis, a supplemental graphic novel featuring art by Graeme Devine
Graeme Devine
Graeme Devine is a computer game designer and programmer who co-founded Trilobyte, created bestselling games The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, and designed id Software's Quake III Arena. He was also Chairman of the International Game Developers Association from 2002-2003...
and Eric Nylund, was included with Halo Wars: Limited Edition in March 2009. Marvel then published Halo: Helljumper, a five-issue miniseries written by Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
and illustrated by Eric Nguyen, which premiered in July 2009. Additionally Halo: Blood Line and Halo: Fall of Reach were released, the latter being a comic retelling of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach premiered in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
During the MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
press conference at the 2011 E3 Expo, it was revealed that Halo: Combat Evolved will be remade by 343 Industries
343 Industries
343 Industries, usually shortened to 343i, is an American video game developer located in Kirkland, Washington. It was established in 2007 by Microsoft Game Studios to oversee development of the Halo science fiction media franchise, which includes video games, novels, comics, and other multimedia...
with in-house game engine and released for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on November 15, 2011. The remake will also include achievements, Terminals, and Skulls. The release date marks the 10th anniversary of the original game's release. The remastered version of the original game will include online multiplayer and cooperative play functionality. It was also confirmed that the remake will feature Kinect support, making it the first Halo game to include Kinect support. The game is a mix of two game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
s - the original Halo engine created by Bungie which provides gameplay and a new engine created by 343 and Saber which is responsible for improved graphics - and the players will be able to switch between the improved and classic modes of the game at any time. The game will also be the first in the series to support 3D televisions; however, this will only be available in the improved mode within the game.
External links
- Halo at Bungie.netBungieBungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
- Halo at Xbox.comXboxThe Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...