Stay frosty people.
User Rating: 8.8 | Halo (Xbox Collection) XBOX
I can never figure how a simple first person shooter can achieve such a legendary status, or for that matter how Master Chief became the next big video game character. We never find out anything about him or why he hides his face behind a helmet. I reckon they tried to make him seem mysterious like Samus from Metroid back when we didn't know she was a female, but all they made Master Chief seem like was a faceless guy with a gun. But that's okay. At any rate, every era needs a game that changes the way people look at games and that defines a legacy. With Nintendo it was The Legend of Zelda. With the X Box, it was Halo. Halo didn't do anything that hasn't been done before(like having two separate controls for moving and looking or being able to duck and jump). What it DID do was take the power of the computer first person shooters and give it accessibility on a console. Looking around with a mouse translates easily to using a second stick with the power of the X Box. Other nice touches is the concept of limited weapons. In Halo, your character can only carry two weapons at a time. Most other first person shooters have your persona carrying many weapons, divided into different categories of fire power. Some might find this refreshing. Others might find it a curse. There is never a shortage of weapons, but personally I found myself identifying with only a handful of weapons, mostly the standard Marine rifle, the sniper rifle, and the shotgun. However, the wide variety of enemy tactics ensure that different weapons are better suited in different situations. Other nice touches include the ability to ride vehicles, which now seems to be the standard in many MMO first person shooters. However, driving the vehicles can be a little iffy. Driving the Warthog(the game's armored jeep) is solid enough, but you got to be careful with the gas lest you flip yourself over on some hole. And the alien fighter ship is just plain weedy. But the biggest plus is the injection of story in with the actual gameplay. Okay, it's standard space opera stuff, but Halo does an admirable job of making you feel like you really ARE aboard a star cruiser fighting aliens alongside your fellow marines in a big sci fi movie, or that you really ARE on an alien world. The concept of a ringed shaped world has been done before, but here it still works beautifully. Gazing into the revolution of the world and seeing the walls of the construct loom up ahead of you and into the sky is just too cool for words. Missions like hiding in the bushes and sniping aliens or holding off a barrage of aliens while waiting for the drop ship to roar in and save you and your friends add excitement and feeling. Of course it isn't too long before all the marines are killed off and you find yourself alone facing not only the Covenant but the Flood as well, which opens up another can of worms and adds even more exciting times. Is Halo the greatest game of all time? I don't think so. But it's more than just simple running and gunning(although that's not bad as well). It's truly a deep, cinematic experience. And if you're a fan of first person shooters, the original still has some legs in it. 
