10-05-2003, 06:39 PM
I've always wanted to play Halo (or is it HALO?), but have never had the chance due to a lack of an Xbox on my part. Now however, with the release of a PC port, I can, and when I saw the box on a shelf I just couldn't resist.
First, a caveat: it's been made a big deal of that Halo PC runs badly even on high-end systems. The quoted minimum system requirements are a 900mhz PIII, GeForce2+, 128mb RAM, and 1.2gig HD space (from memory, I don't have the box here). With my setup (1ghz AMD, GeForce 2 MX 400, 256mb RAM), with every option turned off (shadows, particles, object modelling to the minimum, etc) I can get what 'feels' like a pretty consistent 28-30fps -- while inside. As soon as I get to the outdoor environments, I lose another 3-4fps. I don't find it that suprising, since there's just so much gorgeous landscape to render and turning down object modelling doesn't seem to effect it.
I will say though, that just with particles at low visuals (especially plasma grenade blasts -- enemies don't gib, they go flying in a parabolic arc!) were very, very purdy.
The game starts off with a bang - a human warship, the Pillar of Autumn comes out of warpspace in an unknown system. The onboard AI, Cortana, had to make a blind jump because the Autumn was under attack by an alien race called the 'Covenant', with which humanity is apparently at war. Unfortunately, Covenant ships are faster than humans', and they're waiting for the Autumn when it returns to normal space.
This is where you come in. The captain begins evacuation procedures, and the mysterious, power-armored 'Master Chief' is ordered taken out of cryogenic storage to help repel the Covenant boarders. You get a short tutorial masked as techs checking out your (cybernetic, I presume) systems. Then you're thrown (weaponless) into a full-blown invasion, which reminds me of nothing more than the first scenes in Star Wars.
It's at this point that Halo pounds home: It may not be as pretty as newer games, and it may run slow sometimes, but nowhere else have I seen so much immersion! You may turn a corner and run smack into a marine/Covenant shootout, with NPCs ducking and dodging, taking cover behind wreckage, and insulting each other (the marines in particular have some inventive ones - I like "Get back up so I can school you again!"). After the Master Chief turns the tide of battle, the surviving marines will follow and cover you. It really does feel like you're 'playing a movie' - something like Pearl Harbor meets Aliens.
Other games do as well or better with atmosphere (Deus Ex comes to mind) but I haven't seen any handle PC/NPC interaction this well.
A little bit after you land on Halo itself, you have the opportunity to drive a Warthog, which is like a futuristic jeep/hummer hybrid. You can also carry marine passengers, one manning a heavy gun in the 'bed' and another riding shotgun. Needless to say, this is extremely fun. You can even park the Warthog in a overwatch position and hop out to take on the Covenant yourself, and your marines will provide cover fire for you.
I haven't gotten much further than that yet, so I guess now would be a good time to sum up: Halo's strongest virtue is perhaps the fact that while you're playing it you feel more as if you're engaged in a story/movie than playing an FPS. :blink:
First, a caveat: it's been made a big deal of that Halo PC runs badly even on high-end systems. The quoted minimum system requirements are a 900mhz PIII, GeForce2+, 128mb RAM, and 1.2gig HD space (from memory, I don't have the box here). With my setup (1ghz AMD, GeForce 2 MX 400, 256mb RAM), with every option turned off (shadows, particles, object modelling to the minimum, etc) I can get what 'feels' like a pretty consistent 28-30fps -- while inside. As soon as I get to the outdoor environments, I lose another 3-4fps. I don't find it that suprising, since there's just so much gorgeous landscape to render and turning down object modelling doesn't seem to effect it.
I will say though, that just with particles at low visuals (especially plasma grenade blasts -- enemies don't gib, they go flying in a parabolic arc!) were very, very purdy.
The game starts off with a bang - a human warship, the Pillar of Autumn comes out of warpspace in an unknown system. The onboard AI, Cortana, had to make a blind jump because the Autumn was under attack by an alien race called the 'Covenant', with which humanity is apparently at war. Unfortunately, Covenant ships are faster than humans', and they're waiting for the Autumn when it returns to normal space.
This is where you come in. The captain begins evacuation procedures, and the mysterious, power-armored 'Master Chief' is ordered taken out of cryogenic storage to help repel the Covenant boarders. You get a short tutorial masked as techs checking out your (cybernetic, I presume) systems. Then you're thrown (weaponless) into a full-blown invasion, which reminds me of nothing more than the first scenes in Star Wars.
It's at this point that Halo pounds home: It may not be as pretty as newer games, and it may run slow sometimes, but nowhere else have I seen so much immersion! You may turn a corner and run smack into a marine/Covenant shootout, with NPCs ducking and dodging, taking cover behind wreckage, and insulting each other (the marines in particular have some inventive ones - I like "Get back up so I can school you again!"). After the Master Chief turns the tide of battle, the surviving marines will follow and cover you. It really does feel like you're 'playing a movie' - something like Pearl Harbor meets Aliens.
Other games do as well or better with atmosphere (Deus Ex comes to mind) but I haven't seen any handle PC/NPC interaction this well.
A little bit after you land on Halo itself, you have the opportunity to drive a Warthog, which is like a futuristic jeep/hummer hybrid. You can also carry marine passengers, one manning a heavy gun in the 'bed' and another riding shotgun. Needless to say, this is extremely fun. You can even park the Warthog in a overwatch position and hop out to take on the Covenant yourself, and your marines will provide cover fire for you.
I haven't gotten much further than that yet, so I guess now would be a good time to sum up: Halo's strongest virtue is perhaps the fact that while you're playing it you feel more as if you're engaged in a story/movie than playing an FPS. :blink:
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