bit-tech Shopping: Microsoft Halo: Combat Evolved

• Microsoft Windows ME
• Microsoft Windows XP

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2

Strengths: Good AI, great environment with good story line than naturally brings in new AI to fight, a consuming game.

Weaknesses: Would like to be able to "Save" more often, possibly. Hard to complain, a great game

Summary: I was immediately caught up in the story line, which continued to evolve, keeping one's interest and keeping the game fresh. The AI was pretty good, graphics pretty good, and the action challenging but surmountable. Lots of fun.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Graphics hold up pretty well, killer story, excellent marine AI.

Weaknesses: Suprisingly system killing, a bit short, hallway levels get extremely boring.

Summary: One of the most legendary gaming titles has come home to the PC, finally. Halo is one of those games that everybody talks about in hushed tones and I have no doubt that some people have shrines to the Master Chief in their closets. Much like Star Wars, pretty much nobody can approach this game with an objective attitude anymore. What the hell, I'll try anyway. Graphics: For an engine that is pushing 4 years old, the graphics of Halo are still pretty strong. There is a certain sense of lushness to the outdoor environments that helps sell the illusion. In addition, the weapon and lighting effects are still top notch. The animations of all characters are strong, despite the lack of ragdoll physics, and the game is full of little touches that make you smile, like the brake lights of a vehicle popping on when you slam on the peddle. On the flipside, for a four year old game it is unusually demanding on even modern PC hardware. Gearbox software has obviously upgraded the engine slightly for PC release, but there is no apparent reason why it should cause frame rate stuttering on a system roughly three times as powerful as an Xbox. Sound: Everybody knows the sound of Halo's music, and it is so impressive that the rest of the audio really doesn't come anywhere near the impact. Sure, the sound effects are well done and pack a good bass punch, but they can't hold a candle to that main theme. Gameplay: A mix of the brilliant and downright boring. The early levels, with their wide vistas and battles, are fun and still give a charge even in the era of Far Cry and Call of Duty. It is here that you get to drive the infamous warthog, or fight alongside a dozen highly intelligent marines that act and react like humans, or fly the Covenant banshee and strafe squealing aliens on the ground. However, once you hit the halfway point and a major plot element occurs, the gameplay alarmingly downshifts into mindless look alike hallways and repetitive action (the library level, in particular, is a serious chore to play). Thankfully, a killer final level of total chaos redeems the game, and the last section where you race across the surface of an exploding ship is one of the most entertaining levels in any game, anywhere. Storyline: This is where the game, and developer Bungie, excel. There is a rich background to all the happenings here, and all the levels (despite there sometimes dull play) exist to serve this story. While Halo 2 dived further into the relationship (or lack thereof) between the Covenant and Earth, the lack of a 'big picture' in this installment works better, IMHO. In this Halo, the Covenant are dangerous and the mystery surrounding their interest in Halo and their lack of overall motives fuels the story. Overall: Halo is a very strong game, and definitely earns a place in the top 50. It isn't perfect, though, with it's frustratingly repetitive middle half and overall short length. However, the game packs enough strong sections to overcome these defects, and the overall result is a solid FPS.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 4 Years

Strengths: Graphics, Sound, Ambience, Enviornment, Enemy AI, Difficulty, Multiplayer, Storyline, Characters, 3D Rendered Sounds, and Non-Stop Adrenaline Pumping Action!

Weaknesses: Anything under a 128mb video card and I would be in the car on the way to upgrade it pretty quickly. Anyone who dosen't play Halo is a very misfortunate person.

Summary: Halo: Combat Evolved (Halo 2 Slightly Mentioned) --------------------- Argueably the best game ever created. Not only is Halo music identifiable in a split second by players but is graphically superior to ANY game in the competition upon its release. I speak from experience, for I not only own Halo for the Computer but Halo for the XBOX. And yes, I am an XBOX fanatic, Not to mention a Halo 2 fanatic! But getting back to Halo. For only $50, you can emplore your fingers on a journey, I've owned Halo for the plus side of FOUR YEARS and STILL play it reguarly. Its simple, only three words are needed to describe this game. 1 2 3 Its That GoodFor XBOX-LiVe PlayersZerg1ing is my Gamer-tag.(Catch me around 10:00 EST)

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Summary: Great Game. Great graphics and story and gameplay and everything. This game rocks. It's a great game and a must buy for all gamers. Get it.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 6 Months

Strengths: most of the game

Weaknesses: needs a good computer to play nicely

Summary: Overall, it is a wonderful game, and don't listen to the Xbox lover, this is much better than the xbox version (i played it before) and if you have a fairly new computer(didnt run as nice on my old computer), its the game you would want in your collection.It runs well with me, i use Nvidia Geforce Ti 4600P4 2.66 MHz,everything works well.good luck in legendary level