my disillusionment with the military leaving my body as i boot up this game:

Having now played through a second time (as well as all of Bungie's follow-ups in the series,) I am happy to give CE the close re-evaluation it deserves. Verdict: "It's pretty good actually."

It wasn't until Halo 2 that I was able to meet these games on their own terms. My first playthrough of CE had me seeing it more for its influences than for its own identity. Glad to have that changed for me, I can see what so many players saw in it over 20 years ago.

But it still has those copy-and-paste rooms, the occasional segment you will hit your head against repeatedly, unfairly placed Grunts with fuel rod cannons, Flood with rocket launchers, and a dinky melee with no range that's very difficult to return to after the sequels gave it such a buff. So it ain't all starry eyes from me.

Admittedly, I learned a little too late that apparently this entry in the series in particular plays much better on controller than KBM, so bear my control scheme in mind when I say: I think it's just ok. Peaked at the 6th level for me, where it felt the most like Half-Life. Combat is very constant, with little to no real pace-breakers. These sequels y'all hype up better be as good as you claim, otherwise I'm not sure that same gameplay loop will continue to hold my attention--I had to maintain considerable patience to get through this one.