Page 1 of HALO REVIEW

This came in a bundle with my Xbox, and with a sense of excitement I slid it into my brand new Xbox and watched with amazement...

From the moment the opening movie sequence rolls, your jaw drops. Your body tingles with excitement as your first objective is shown: learn the basic controls and soon you`ll have your first assignment under your belt as you begin shooting, ducking and weaving from enemies. The controls seem compliacted - but in truth they are one of the best FPS configurations ever. Use a combination of sticks, triggers and buttons as you navigate yourself around your ship, in a bid to escape after it has been taken over by the evil Covenant.

Essentially Halo is a battle of good vs. evil, but has numerous twists. The action is intense yet with a smooth learning curve. The things you can do just blow the competition out of the water. Choose your weapon, ride in a vehicle, go on foot, explore the landscape...the choice is yours.

The graphics show what Xbox and next-generation gaming can do. Sprawling landscapes, attention to detail - the amount of effort put into the visuals is astounding. The plot tugs you in and never lets you go, as the numerous objectives tell you to do this and that, and the tasks are never mundane.

The weapons are excellent - a wide range of firearms are available. You can only carry two weapons at a time, which adds realism, so you have to be tactical and conservative. In some instances you need the sniper rifle, scanning the landscape in 2x before switching to 10x to get the all important clarity. Or, if you like the `all guns blazing` approach, use the assualt rifle. Alternatively, you could use some of the Covenant`s weapons, such as the bizarre Needler.

The multiplayer modes are just as engrossing - 2-16 players can battle it out in a range of modes, ranging from sniping to capture the flag, from team battle to every man for himself. Of course, multiplayer is more limiting than the main game...but it is one hell of an adrenaline rush.

This is the strongest launch title for the Xbox, although there are some other gems. In my mind, this is the best ever FPS, and it will do for the Xbox what GoldenEye did for the Nintendo 64. Quite simply: it is a captivating, brilliant game that deserves a place on any Xbox owner`s shelf.

X-)

I`m glad Halo is turning out as well as most ppl hoped. Although it won`t be enough to get me to buy an XBox at it`s current price :(

I`m still praying it is still en-route to the PC :o
I`m also glad that the control method is as pleasing to you as the game itself, as i have been very off-put by FPS games on the PS2 such as the latest Bond outing which has terrible controls.

Is Halo very difficult? and are the enemys smart at all? :)

You`ve now made me want to buy an XBox :/ damn it.

wait until you get about 50% into the game..........

What happens then? Is it a good or bad thing?

Hey Ironduke, You got an XBOX now then? Everytime there was PS2 post your name came up. Honest opinion from you now, What do you prefer, XBOX or PS2?

I AGREE ABOUT HALO.EXCELLENT BUT ITS THE ONLY TITLE THAT HAS REALLY IMPRESSED.SURE THE GRAPHICS ARE BETTER BUT THERE IS NOTHING NEW ON THE GAME PLAY SIDE.I PREFER THE PS2 AT THE MOMENT BUT HOPEFULLY XBOX GAMES WILL GET BETTER CONTENT WISE AND NOT JUST RELY ON FLASHY VISUALS.LOOKING AT THE LIST OF RELEASE`S UP TO XMAS THE ONLY 2 THAT REALLY IMPRESS ARE TUROK:EVOLUTION AND COLIN MCRAE 3.HOPE IT IS NOT GONNA BE AN EXCUSE TO RELEASE OLD PC GAMES IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE MONEY CAUSE THAT WOULD BE A WASTE OF A VERY GOOD PIECE OF HARDWARE.

no aint got one borrowed my mates, halo is good but im hardly the First Person shooter Lover (although I did love half-life, I had never seen that kind of interaction in a 3d shooter before).

Been doing alot of nosing, and alot of yanks who have reached deep in HALO are starting to moan that it gets silly and lazy.

The Rally game is better then WRC on the PS2 though, but sony stuck their noses too much into that, so many promises by the writers where kicked out by sonny, but no matter Vrally3 is here soon.

If xbox starts to get the games I like, I may get one, but they will have to be atleast 20% better then its PS2 equivilant.