Throwback Thursday: Halo Combat Evolved

Happy Thursday gamers! This week we're doing something a little different. We're moving away from cartridges to spotlight one of my favorite games, Halo: Combat Evolved!

Halo: Combat Evolved (also known as Halo 1 or Halo) was the first installment of Bungie's Halo series. It was released on November 15th, 2001 as an exclusive launch for the Xbox gaming system. The game is set in the 26th century and players control Master Chief, a supersoldier of the SPARTAN project. Through a series of events, Master Chief and Cortana
must work together to deactivate the Halo and prevent the Covenant from destroying Earth.

Halo is a first person shooter allowing the player to interact with the game's 3D environment. Players can also use vehicles such as armored jeeps, tanks, alien hovercraft and aircraft. The game switches to third-person during vehicle use for pilots and gun operators, but remains in first person for passengers. Halo has also received praise about its arsenal which is diverse and unique. Each weapon serves a different purpose, making each weapon useful in a different scenario.

Halo broke sales records for any 6th generation video game, selling over 1 million copies by April, 2002. It received raving reviews from GameSpot, IGN, and Edge.  Ste Curran stated that
it had surpassed the standard set by GoldenEye for a multiplayer console combat, and GameSpot reported that it was "easily one of the best first person shooters ever - on any platform".

Halo was the first installment of the timeless Halo series. Setting the foundation for record breaking sales, innovative game play and an ever-expanding fan base is no easy feat. For that, we say thank you and welcome Halo into the vault!