Nostalgia blinds, and rightly so. The limitations of the original Halo: Combat Evolved are well-documented. So too is the faux building of an image in the mind where youngsters sit in front of CRT television sets big enough to crush them, killing mutants from beyond the stars. It happened for millions and yet everyone who speaks of Halo: Combat Evolved is keen to mention this as their starting point. That dull hum and glow of the screen opening a whole new world. Fanciful writing and floaty nothingness that gets nowhere close to capturing the essence of Halo: Combat Evolved. For those who grew up scared of the Nintendo GameCube main menu, that ominous purple box retching when you didn’t put a memory card in the slot, you’ll be terrified of Halo: Combat Evolved. What is lost in the remakes, both the first foray with 343 Studios to the Campaign Evolved remake, ruinously named close enough to the same as the original, released back in 2001, hasn’t got the charm.
Close second is the Master Chief Collection rendition, and that’s only because you can switch between the graphical styles. Modern sci-fi snooze or blank walls with more character than the latest HUD development from Halo Studios. Nostalgia does not lead the way. A nostalgic connection implies the first run-through of Halo: Combat Evolved came both before university for someone born in 1999. Someone spoilt by Halo 3 is hardly ready to jump into the stripped-back experiences of Halo: Combat Evolved. But it’s imperative that you do, not least because of the phenomenal story at play. Within the limitations of those graphics and gameplay choices is a flashbang for the modern gamer. Little pieces like a battery-powered flashlight that needs an occasional recharge to larger gameplay overhauls like an inability to run.
It neither adds nor detracts; it’s just a part of the time and makes the beauty of the faux open world, this linear path easy to get lost along, that much better. You’d be hard-pressed not to enjoy the feel and fury of finding your way through levels like Halo and Assault on the Control Room. It’s that little bit of brain power needed to get from A to B. Combat-wise, it’s a real thrill, a chance to get to grips with iconography, imagery, and weapons which are standard bearers for the time and are still maintaining the first-person shooter scene. It’ll never have the same grip as audiences drift to faster-paced games, but there’s a suddenness to the combat within Halo: Combat Evolved that is lost to the frequency of enemy interactions. There’s time to explore and appreciate the surroundings, even if the graphics don’t paint a magnificent landscape. Those whose imaginations still run wild will fill in the blanks themselves, of which there are one or two.
But it doesn’t stop the gameplay loop being a great deal of fun. Just five years on from this and we’re scooping guts up behind chest-high walls and cowering. Halo: Combat Evolved is still a game that implores its player to risk it all for a possible reward. Be it a checkpoint, credible check of their skills, or simply a cool moment, there never feels like a manufactured encounter. Each one feels like a credible threat, built nicely. A satisfying conclusion, too, a game that can still pride itself on the art design serving a purpose to not just the world-building but the level itself. Scatter in a few twists on genre classics, be it aliens or zombies, and you have a game where the fundamentals are the same as all those other first-person shooters, but with a fresh gameplay cycle and coat of paint that feels completely new. Sci-fi shooters were nothing new when Halo: Combat Evolved came about, but it certainly feels fresh considering just how much it managed to change.
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