Halo: Combat Evolved review

Master Chief awakens from his stasis.

Halo was originally designed for the PC but was snapped up by Microsoft to be the launch title for the Xbox. The re-conversion of this title has just been completed and after such a delay PC gamers will be hoping for something better than the original to reward their patience. So, is Halo PC worth the wait or is it another poor console conversion?

The first, most striking thing about Halo is the power it requires in your PC. The minimum spec is a 733 MHz processor, but don’t try running it on anything less than double that if you want to see the graphics at a decent quality. Only a good graphics card and a decent CPU will be able to run this with the same sort of quality as we saw on the Xbox. If you can manage a slightly beefier PC then the extra DirectX 9 effects will push the graphics of the PC version over the edge. If you can’t throw the sort of PC weight at this that it needs then forget it, it just looks bad and runs slowly.

Much remains unchanged

The graphics start to chug along as you run over everything in sight in the warthog.

The single player game has been treated as sacred by Gearbox, who undertook this conversion to the PC from Bungie. The single player campaign is identical in story and level design to the Xbox original. The single player game was hailed as innovative and cinematic on the Xbox and it looses none of its charm in its second telling. The story involves you as an enhanced warrior being shot down in orbit around a ring world by an alien race known as the Covenant. The plot then thickens as you search for survivors and unravel the secrets of the planet.

The game adds a few twists to the FPS structure. Most notably, you are allowed to carry only two weapons at a time. This forces you to think about your gaming style as you must choose between powerful rapid-fire weapons and smaller, more accurate pistols. You must also choose your weapons based on the available ammo, which is left scattered by fallen enemies and comrades. The enemy AI has also been left nicely intact. A showstopper on the Xbox, the AI has been recreated for the PC market so that the enemy grunts run away when they feel overpowered and especially after a more powerful team member is killed off. They run into the distance only to regroup and come back with new tactics. This AI extends to your comrades - when you fight alongside other marines you find that they act intelligently, ducking as they run out in front to clear the way for you to move through to cover. They also react well to the enemy holding strategic structures.

What’s new pussycat?

You don't stand much chance with a pistol against a Covenant warship.

The multi-player game is the biggest change in the PC version of Halo. The co-op play has gone, leaving you to fend for yourself in the campaign mode. The deathmatch style modes have been improved though with more maps and modes. Six new maps have been included and mod and level design tools are promised as a future expansion. The new maps include an island-based level and various indoors levels. The new modes include new options for team based play as well as competitive play with capture the flag and traditional deathmatch modes on offer.

As I mentioned earlier the graphics have been improved slightly, but at the expense of making the game available to a wide audience. The graphics were pretty luscious in the Xbox original but, if you can run with them, the new features do slightly improve matters. If you can’t get them going on your PC then don’t worry because they don’t add all that much really.

Taking control

The warthog is just as difficult to control with a mouse as with the Xbox controller.

The Xbox controls were well designed around the console’s controller, to the extent that they disproved the idea that FPS games could only be done on the PC. The mouse and keyboard control is undoubtedly the best way to control an FPS and Halo is no exception. The mouse control offers you a better feel for the game and just seems more natural. For any FPS veteran the controls will be instantly accessible and intuitive because they follow the standard FPS control scheme. The sound has been lifted straight from the Xbox version, including the amazing Dolby 5.1 in-game effects. These caused something of a stir on the Xbox, with Halo being a launch title, as they really showed what the sound system was capable of.

The PC sound is equally impressive, with the same sound effects being used as the Xbox. The grenades and gunfire go off all around you and are correctly directed towards you, which really helps to make you feel as though you’re in the thick of a fierce battle.

Stiff competition

The sniper rifle offers a good chance to pick off banshee riders.

From the moment you are awoken from your stasis to defend the crippled Pillar of Autumn right through to your escape from the Halo, this game draws you in to an experience unlike any other FPS. It may not be as ground breaking as a title like Half-Life was and the story may not be quite up to the same standard but the modern graphics and a great story make Halo one to watch out for. Halo gets a good head start on the PC ahead of the competition, which is stiff, from the likes of Half-Life 2 and UT2004.

I suspect that most people who are interested will have played this on the Xbox and that leaves a smaller market. That market is more likely to be looking towards the blockbusters and I think, with Halo 2 just around the corner for the Xbox, Halo PC might just be too little too late. If it added something more substantially new to the title then this might be different but I’m afraid that it just doesn’t do enough to justify the long delay between Xbox and PC.

Update: Don't forget that you can download the new Halo demo right here.