PC Game Review :: Halo PC

PC Game Review :: Halo PC
Posted :: Jul 16, 2004 by Everon

Halo PC
Produced by Bungie
Availability: Already on shelves!

Introduction:
While Halo is an older game, I figured I'd play it and write a review, as it came with my sound card.

Computer Specs (Everon):

Processor: AMD XP2700+ cooled with Thermaltake Volcano 11+
Memory: 1gb Kingston PC3200
Motherboard: Asus A7N8X-Deluxe
Sound Card: Audigy2 ZS Gamer
Power Supply: Antec 400 Watts “SL400”
Primary Monitor: Dell 17" CRT
Speakers: Gateway Speakers
Video Card: 64mb Geforce 4 TI4200
Hard Drive 1: Western Digital 30gb 8mb Cache
CD-RW: 52x24x52x
Operating System: Windows XP Professional w/SP1

I never really cared for Halo all that much. The Xbox controllers are to big (and if you know me, im pretty small myself, and that just makes things worse) and who can play an FPS game with just a controller? Yet I played it and would get continuously pummeled against any good players. I would try to look up, but look down instead. Try to aim, but the damn joysticks would make me miss. Seriously, FPS+console is a bad combination. The game was good, while the controls were bad. When I got it for PC, I figured I would play it and decide if it was the game I didnt like, or just the Xbox.

As it turns out, to no surprise, the game was good, just not for Xbox. Using a mouse/keyboard made the game MUCH more enjoyable. I could actually aim the guns and kill stuff. The graphics were also pretty good and the cinematics were great. Unfortunately, the gameplay itself seemed a bit sluggish at times. It could have been lag, but its wasn't the usually choppy stuff bouncing around lag; it was more of just slowing down of the game when I shot with a lot of bad guys around. In addition, it was rather inconsistent. Laggy sometimes, but not at other times. It took me probably about 10-12 hours to beat the campaign and I only died maybe 15-20 times on the normal difficulty.

Having triumphed over the covenant and the flood, I decided to seek a different challenge, in the form of online play. I jumped into a game on the map "Blood Gulch." It's the popular map with all the vehicles. I found many more vehicles in the online version then in the Xbox version. Each team had 6. My computer seemed to have no trouble at all keeping up in online play. I dont recall experiencing any lag. Overall it was a good experience, although I really hate nubs who dont get the premise of CTF.

Screenshots:

A sniper rifle and cloaking field. Can it get any better?

Capture the flag can get pretty intense.

Halo PC offers a wide arrange of vehicles available for you to drive.

However, when driving the vehicles, you do become a larger target.?

Online gaming pits you against other live opponents. This makes for a different game every time.

Conclusion:
All in all, I had a much better experience with the PC version of Halo. If you liked the game, but hate FPS games on Consoles, this is for you. Plus, you can play multiplayer anytime you want without Xbox live, or without having a LAN and hooking up 3-4 boxes.

Rating on a scale of 1 (absolutely awful) to 10 (jaw-dropping)

Gameplay: 8/10
- Was a fun game to play, however I docked a few points due to the players online (too many newbs).

Graphics 8/10
- Good details/textures, however it did lag/slowdown a few times during gameplay.

Sound 9/10
- Voices were very good, however most of the time I was shooting, not listening.

Replay Value 9/10
- Playing Campaign mode over and over could get fairly boring. The online play resolves this and allows for a different game every time.

Overall 8.5/10

All pictures copyright of Bungie.net.