while it still retains a solid chunk of the core halo gameplay (the only reason this game isn't just straight up BAD), it still has some hard miss points in the gameplay, with the prometheans just being MUCH less fun to fight compared to the covenant. the story is just, silly, honestly. a bunch of characters not present in any bungie halo game come in and act important with no personality whatsoever, cortana's arc is just silly and made me laugh at multiple points, but the level design wasn't bad (i thought the piloting part at the beginning of the last mission was kinda ass and the pelican section was just SUPER underwhelming though) and fighting the covenant was quite a joy, much to my surprise. i recommend big bungie halo fans to play this game cause it was fun ENOUGH for me personally.
don't touch the multiplayer though lol

update 10/14/21 im replaying through it solo legendary after finding out theres an achievement for it and i was too nice to this game lol

one of the most explosive starts to a game series of all time, halo ce comes at you instantly with escaping the maze-like pillar of autumn and crash landing onto a gorgeous landscape located on an artificial "planet" of sorts known as halo. from there on, you explore some of the most iconic levels of all time with some of the most satisfying gameplay an fps has ever seen (not to mention how innovative the console controls were for its time). the game is truly a timeless classic, and, while it's not perfect by any means (the library is fun the first time and painful during any replays, having to backtrack through 3 different levels isn't exactly the greatest level design), it's DAMN fun and should get anyone hooked on the halo series.

this game starts out very strong, and continues for awhile, falls off a bit in the last third or so, falls off even moreso near the end, but the very end saves it all and made me forget about it for a moment. one of the things i consistently didn't like about this game were the boss fights - they just wouldn't stagger ever, dealt like 1/3 of my hp every hit while i'm playing on normal, and maybe this is my fault but every time they would do one of their mystic artes i couldn't for the life of me figure out how to stop it despite the characters' dialog alluding to a way to stop it. i also didn't like the cp system, think it needs a rework, and the xp gain seemed very weird. i played on hard (minus boss fights) for like half the game and barely avoided encounters, even went out of my way for encounters a few areas, but nearing the end i seemed pretty far behind on levels. maybe i just avoided more encounters than i thought lol
alphen and shionne are fucking awesome though and i am very happy with my collector's edition purchase :)