Weird relationship with this game. There are many glaring flaws and I usually saw Halo's influence on the industry as harmful, but there was a good fun to have with Combat Evolved and I hold respect for some of its neat aspects rooted in Bungie's RTS history.
Initially it's honestly kinda a drag. The promise of weapon sandbox doesn't hold water since three most abundant weapons feel the best and most effective to use and cover you up for all combat situations. Impressive covenant AI doesn't get an opportunity to shine since encounters aren't pushed any far on the initial batch of levels which range from merely ok (the halo and silent cartographer) to awful (attack on the control room). The fresh change of pace flood brings is thwarted by what could be a single worst level a high profile FPS game ever threw at the audience.
I was ready to write off the game after that but then the magic happened: the game started throwing covenant and flood at each other and let you become the third, and sometimes even fourth side in combat. With this, encounters started playing out like short-scale RTS battles you participate in as a single soldier and they truly became a sequence of interesting decisions. When you should enter the battle, what side to approach from, which ehemy to prioritize? The game also stops holding back the elite power as you are put in some really demanding combat situations. And despite comitting the grave sin of making you backtrack the levels already beaten, it remixes them up enough and presents interesting set pieces so it's not a problem anymore.
It's all great stuff, but loaded in the last 25% which stops original Halo from reaching ranks of favorites for me. But it set the stage for the series that I wasn't able to experience before, and now that MCC hit PC it's a very captivating binge with interesting highs and lows. Cautious recommendation
Initially it's honestly kinda a drag. The promise of weapon sandbox doesn't hold water since three most abundant weapons feel the best and most effective to use and cover you up for all combat situations. Impressive covenant AI doesn't get an opportunity to shine since encounters aren't pushed any far on the initial batch of levels which range from merely ok (the halo and silent cartographer) to awful (attack on the control room). The fresh change of pace flood brings is thwarted by what could be a single worst level a high profile FPS game ever threw at the audience.
I was ready to write off the game after that but then the magic happened: the game started throwing covenant and flood at each other and let you become the third, and sometimes even fourth side in combat. With this, encounters started playing out like short-scale RTS battles you participate in as a single soldier and they truly became a sequence of interesting decisions. When you should enter the battle, what side to approach from, which ehemy to prioritize? The game also stops holding back the elite power as you are put in some really demanding combat situations. And despite comitting the grave sin of making you backtrack the levels already beaten, it remixes them up enough and presents interesting set pieces so it's not a problem anymore.
It's all great stuff, but loaded in the last 25% which stops original Halo from reaching ranks of favorites for me. But it set the stage for the series that I wasn't able to experience before, and now that MCC hit PC it's a very captivating binge with interesting highs and lows. Cautious recommendation