The year is 2000 something. I’m 11 and really want to play Halo: Combat Evolved. It only costs $20 for the boxed version at the supermarket and as luck would have it I had acquired the capital needed from a recent birthday. There is only one problem. Halo: Combat Evolved, developed by Bungie and released 2001 for the personal computer, is rated “M” for mature audiences only. As major a set back as I had ever seen, but I was undeterred for I had a plan.
I decided the only way to get the game out of the supermarket, into the car, into the house, and finally onto the computer was to buy it as a Christmas gift. For my father. Such was my genius as a child. And you know what? It worked. Purchased. Wrapped. Placed with care under the tree labeled “For Dad”. Opened and installed on Christmas morning. Gunfire and aliens the rest of the day and many many days after. And not long after that, here I am writing about one of the my favorite games ever.
Halo: Combat Evolved is an incredible experience, even to this day. The narrative pacing is quick and lean. Here’s a gun now go kill some aliens. The Chief controls tightly and precisely and to a violent rhythm. The world is close and in your face, until its wide and daunting to cross. The genre bending is sudden and shocking with moments ripped straight out of a James Cameron or Ridley Scott film. The shifting slate of enemies and allies keeps the narrative on its toes and the evolving scale of the conflict begs you to just play one more level before bed. If the campaign didn’t keep you up at night, the online death matches would. All this while delivering a musical score that will stay with you.
I think one of the greatest aspects of Halo: Combat Evolved is the confidence of its opening. The game starts on the Pillar of Autumn but you quickly get the sense that the story started a long time before that. Characters name places that we have no reference to, they use lingo that we probably don’t know and they are being attacked by something that we haven’t seen. All while we, the Masterchief, are asleep. The opening cutscene splashes a bit of color on the world and then says “get going”. No messing around. Lean and down to business.
That confidence is felt through the entire experience. The designers know what type of game they are making, they know the type of experience they are building, they know the genre’s heritage, and they know how to flex it. Stepping foot onto Halo for the first time leaves an impression, discovering the horrors of the great ring terrifies, and making your escape exhilarates, all with unmistakable confidence
Halo: Combat Evolved is and will always be one of my favorite and most important games, but when I think about the game now, the first thing to come to mind isn’t anything described above. To now tell of my genius plan to buy the game as a gift for my dad, but secretly so I could play it, brings a laugh. Everybody knew what I was doing. The cashier who rung up the game for me knew. My mom knew watching me purchase and wrap it. And my dad knew when he opened it, but none of that really mattered because it was really just a way for dad and I to hang out. I watched the entire campaign over his shoulder, asking questions about the story and pointing out helpful things for him to try. I’m sure it was very annoying. (Sometimes I’d get up on Saturday morning to find he had already started without me. The nerve.) But, to this day, I think Halo is the only game he has ever finished. Its the only game he still plays on occasion too. Eventually, dad finished his time with the game and it was my turn to sink hundreds of hours into it like only a kid can, but I don’t remember as much of my time playing alone as I did playing it with dad.
Halo is a great game, to me, because it made great memories.
I decided the only way to get the game out of the supermarket, into the car, into the house, and finally onto the computer was to buy it as a Christmas gift. For my father. Such was my genius as a child. And you know what? It worked. Purchased. Wrapped. Placed with care under the tree labeled “For Dad”. Opened and installed on Christmas morning. Gunfire and aliens the rest of the day and many many days after. And not long after that, here I am writing about one of the my favorite games ever.
Halo: Combat Evolved is an incredible experience, even to this day. The narrative pacing is quick and lean. Here’s a gun now go kill some aliens. The Chief controls tightly and precisely and to a violent rhythm. The world is close and in your face, until its wide and daunting to cross. The genre bending is sudden and shocking with moments ripped straight out of a James Cameron or Ridley Scott film. The shifting slate of enemies and allies keeps the narrative on its toes and the evolving scale of the conflict begs you to just play one more level before bed. If the campaign didn’t keep you up at night, the online death matches would. All this while delivering a musical score that will stay with you.
I think one of the greatest aspects of Halo: Combat Evolved is the confidence of its opening. The game starts on the Pillar of Autumn but you quickly get the sense that the story started a long time before that. Characters name places that we have no reference to, they use lingo that we probably don’t know and they are being attacked by something that we haven’t seen. All while we, the Masterchief, are asleep. The opening cutscene splashes a bit of color on the world and then says “get going”. No messing around. Lean and down to business.
That confidence is felt through the entire experience. The designers know what type of game they are making, they know the type of experience they are building, they know the genre’s heritage, and they know how to flex it. Stepping foot onto Halo for the first time leaves an impression, discovering the horrors of the great ring terrifies, and making your escape exhilarates, all with unmistakable confidence
Halo: Combat Evolved is and will always be one of my favorite and most important games, but when I think about the game now, the first thing to come to mind isn’t anything described above. To now tell of my genius plan to buy the game as a gift for my dad, but secretly so I could play it, brings a laugh. Everybody knew what I was doing. The cashier who rung up the game for me knew. My mom knew watching me purchase and wrap it. And my dad knew when he opened it, but none of that really mattered because it was really just a way for dad and I to hang out. I watched the entire campaign over his shoulder, asking questions about the story and pointing out helpful things for him to try. I’m sure it was very annoying. (Sometimes I’d get up on Saturday morning to find he had already started without me. The nerve.) But, to this day, I think Halo is the only game he has ever finished. Its the only game he still plays on occasion too. Eventually, dad finished his time with the game and it was my turn to sink hundreds of hours into it like only a kid can, but I don’t remember as much of my time playing alone as I did playing it with dad.
Halo is a great game, to me, because it made great memories.