![]() The metallic architecture I noted is Forerunner design, an elder race that built the Halo installation. The combat is contextualized by Halo: Combat Evolved’s lore. Halo wasn’t the first game to use twin analogue sticks, but it was arguably the first to demonstrate 20 years ago that they could present a viable alternative to the traditional keyboard-and-mouse setup. It was the genesis of the infamous “ 30 second of fun” gameplay loop, backed by an implementation of Xbox’s twin analogue sticks that enabled pinpoint accuracy. Larger fights involved the seamless integration of jeeps, hovercrafts, tanks, and even the equivalent of a small jet, with exaggerated physics generating some of Halo’s most meme-prone moments. Everyone has their distinct role, conveyed through animation that is smoother than anything I had seen before, working together against Master Chief’s defenses. The Elites are Master Chief’s counterparts, rolling, dodging, taking cover when their shields are down, trying to flank and close distance for a powerful melee attack. The Jackals are longer-range soldiers, hunkering down behind plasma shields for a choice shot. The tiny Grunts are the fodder, dispensable in a fight and easily scattered when their numbers are reduced. It’s a small detail, but it’s part of a whole that gave Halo: Combat Evolved its sense of place.Ī few minutes later Master Chief is amongst a scattering of angular metal structures, backing up a squad of marines as he trades shots with an alien force that, even to this day, is possessed of a fiendish AI. It streams through tree foliage, bleeding around the edges of leaves and branches to give the illusion of a presence of atmosphere. Follow that loop and you eventually notice the sun. To the left, the rivulet runs under a narrow metal bridge and disappears over a sheer drop, which opens onto the now-infamous vista of the edges of the ringworld sweeping away and up into the sky, horizon giving way to a closed loop with pockets of water and landmass visible on its inner surface. To the right, some hills and rocks cradle a rivulet. He steps out of the lifeboat into what seemed at the time like a vast open expanse. Master Chief, the game’s laconic power-armored protagonist, crash-lands on the titular ringworld. “The Silent Cartographer” and “Assault on the Control Room” are the levels most people tended to discuss, but it’s the second mission that sticks in my mind. I still remember my first few hours with the game. At school, the few who were into video games usually had a PlayStation 2, but there were some who had decided to take a punt on Microsoft’s console, and there was a cult-like buzz around them: “Psst, Halo is the real deal Halo is worth getting an Xbox for.” I remember seeing it on all major video game magazine covers and dominating stands and window displays in video game shops there was even an advert during primetime TV. On Novem20 years ago today - Halo was the premier launch title for Microsoft’s first foray into the console market, and the hype transcended traditional video game press outlets. It would take the advent of Xbox Live and a couple of sequels for the Halo franchise to establish itself as a global phenomenon, but its beginnings were far from humble. But with relevant adjustments for height, glasses, and multiplayer team sizes, that teenager could just as easily be someone else. That teenager is me, hauling the original Xbox and Halo: Combat Evolved to a house that was much too tolerant of 16 swearing boys and girls, gripping the old “Duke” controllers in sweaty palms as we squinted at a quarter of a tiny CRT screen. He has been practicing for nearly five months, honing a trigger finger that can fire a plasma gun with the same deadly efficiency as a rifle. ![]() The teenager is excited – it’s his first big multiplayer party, two teams of eight players, red versus blue, going head to head to capture flags, defend a location, or systematically murder each other in team deathmatch. He carries a backpack that contains a large and heavy black box, a controller that is too awkward for his hands, a mess of LAN cables and SCART leads, and a DVD case with one of the best shooters ever made. It’s an uncharacteristically warm spring morning in 2002 as a short bespectacled teenager walks towards an undisclosed location in England.
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