Halo: Combat Evolved takes first person shooters to a whole new level of unprecidented action.
Why: First let me point out the flaws in the gameplay:
No AI bots in multiplayer which sucks. I mean games like perfect dark even had AI bots and that was in N64 days. Second, some levels get very annoying, what with the mutants and all. How original eh? Mutants. Ahhh...
Anyhow, now for what's good. The action is extremely intense and has an almost cinimatic quality to it. The AI is good and if you fight well enough, you can scare them away with your menace-ness. The levels are fairly original and overall story and plot is intriguing. But the thing that stands out about the game is it's campaign, specifically co-operative. You can play with a buddy on co-operative and go through the campaign levels you play in single player. This truly sets a scale here. The levels are so fun and playing them through with a friend is an experiance you won't soon forget. Halo: CE takes action shooters to a whole new level of cinimatic action and brilliantly created levels.
Graphics: 8
Why: I'm sure there are some better games out there with better graphics, besides, the water in this game looks like it had an oil spill in it. But maybe it's supposed to look that way, it is an alien environment right? The explosions and fighting however make this game revolutionary and the graphics back the scenes up 100% of the way.
Sound: 10
Why: Simply amazing. Dialog and sound effects are great, as is the music. Fits with the game, and most of the aliens even speak in a different language.
Value: 10
Why: The replay value in this game is infinite. There are some great levels, and different difficulty settings allow you to play the same levels with more enemies and increased damage. Sometimes, I go back and play a level in the hardest difficulty and see how well I can do. I remember when me and my brother did so well, that in Legendary, the hardest difficulty, we were slaughtering the aliens so efficiently and so brutally that the elites (strong bad guys that never run away, much less in legendary) ran for their lives and we hunted them down and killed them. Moments like these where you do so well that you feel like your on fire are quite common in this game.
Reviewer's Tilt: 10
Why: Because this game is simply classic. I'm definately keeping it, even in this day and age for it's immense replay value. No game, not even Halo 2, has ever reached this level of action gaming.