The reviews have all been excellent, the game looks awesome, and I’m considering getting an X-Box mostly so I can get this game. What do those of you who have it think of it so far?
I love it. It’s easily the best console first-person shooter I’ve played (best FPS I’ve ever played has to go to Deus Ex on the PC), the graphics are great, the music is really cool (even on the mono speaker on my tv), the AI is pretty advanced, and it’s all in all a great game. I LOVE my X-Box!
Is it going to be released for the PC, or is it x-box only?
Currently it’s Xbox only, though it was originally supposed to be for the PC.
If I could marry my Xbox I would have already. Halo is awesome, I sat for 6 hours playing after I first started, the only reason I stopped was that I had a previous engagement that night.
I have played this game with two linked Xboxes. That was a rush. You can fight each other and have total control over each set of game rules. We played for hours and it never got old. The vehicles really put this game over the top. I also felt that the controls were easy to learn. I think I will buy the game for my 'box (I had used only a rental, y’know to try it out). The best part is that you rarely have to repeat the same level and you don’t need to keep track of your lives.
Halo is repotedly still coming out for the PC and probably the Mac.
It’s very, very cool.
Can get a little repetitive in spots, having to escape through the same areas you went through in the first place. But that’s just nit-picking.
The vehicles add an extra element of fun to the game, though the tank gets shamefully little play time. Nothing more fun than running down enemies in the jeep which are nearly impossible to take down with a gun.
The surround sound is wonderful and is put to good use. The in-game cinematics, and the voice acting in general are all top notch.
What I really didn’t expect is how the game would change in mood about halfway through. Just when you think you’ve got the game more or less figured out, it switches gears in a big way.
I honestly can’t recommend this game enough.
Considering it started off as a Mac title (first shown to the world at MacWorld New York, July '99), it better be. Bad enough Bill Gates had to swallow a premiere Mac game developer just to get something decent on the XBox…
Oh geez…
Its been a couple years now… let it go.
This game does rock!
A few people have mentioned sound. I will say more. This system and Halo in particular completely take advantage of digital 5.1 audio. Having it hooked to a serious Dolby Digital home theatre makes such a huge difference playing the game. It ups the intensity alot. Playing it on a 60" TV doesn’t hurt either.
Playing at nite with the lights down, it gets pretty thrilling especially when you reach the “flood” area.
Halo is good, but I find that the vehicles slide too much while being driven. It’s like they’re on ice sometimes…
Otherwise, pretty nice.
I just hooked my XBox up for the first time last night.
I have one thing to say.
HALO RULES THE FREE WORLD. GO GET IT.
NOW.
I have one question… did ya get any sleep last nite? Two nites after I got it, I was up 'til 4 am playing. Very few games make the hours slip away like this one.
I played it for about 20 minutes. Two-player co-op with someone who knew it quite well. We blazed through the first level and the first third of the second.
It’s very pretty - VERY pretty. Look up and around after you land on Halo. Gameplay is definitely fun, too. I hate the aiming setup, but all the other controls are quite good.
Apparently it gets less fun later on - or at least that’s what Penny Arcade says: http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-11-28 for the cartoon version, and http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php3?date=2001-11-28 for a more thorough textual explanation.
Personally, MY only complaint is that the enemies aren’t scary. Very smart, good AI, but not scary. They look like, well, they look kinda like muppets. I’m sick and twisted enough that I find mowing down muppets with an assault rifle mildly amusing at first, but I think it might get old pretty quick.
Still, I’ve been damn impressed by what I saw. I too am seriously consider an X-box simply for DOA3 and Halo. Give M$ props - they came up with good launch titles.
-Ben
Co-op campaign, superb
Multiplayer/multiconsole link, superb
Frame rate, superb
Vehicles, the icing on the cake!
The game is well deserving of a perfect 10.
The aiming setup is completely configurable… that helps alot. I switched the verticle axis and reduced the sensitivity, much better.
On the not so scary enemies… you just need to get further in the game. Once the “flood” is released, the enemies are pretty nasty. None of the flood enemies are shown in the game manual.
Well, I got HAlo along with Madden 2002, DOA3, Project Gotham Racing, and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysey. I only played Halo for about an hour because I wanted to sample everything. Last night, I got home all jazzed to play Halo but the GF is insanely addicted to Oddworld. She played from 7pm to 2am last night. I can’t bitch too much, now I’ll have some ammo if she wants to bitch at me when I play Halo too much. 
I am looking at picking up Munch’s Oddysey. Looks fun to me, and was thinking my GF would really like it. I will take your post as an endorsement for that game?
Yeah, we (I should say she, she’s done 95% of it) have been through about four levels so far and it is pretty amazing. Check it out.