Halo

Well, I really had to have a post about this game at some point didn't I? Those who know me know I spend a fair bit of time in front of the box with my joystick (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), and when I do, Halo is frequently my game of choice. It has been for many a year too. It was one of the first games I got for the system and it's still going strong. Why? I hear you ask....
As with most good things it's simple ideas combined and executed well. For those of you not up to speed with video games, it's a First Person Shooter (FPS), with a sci-fi story. If you're really not up to speed, a FPS means that you view the game through the eyes of the main character, so you can't see who you're controlling on screen (and you have to shoot stuff, der!)
The first thing the game gets right is the shooting of stuff. This may sound blisteringly obvious, but this has tripped up many an FPS. The basic rule for making shooting stuff fun is: If the player points at stuff and it looks like the shot should hit, it will hit. Halo gets this pretty much right. It also gets a whole lot of other stuff right with the basic shooting of stuff. If you shoot an enemy in the head it's worse news than hitting them in the arm or shoulder or where ever; again, seems like a no brainer, but again, many games have fallen at this simple hurdle. The animations for each of the enemies when they get hit in specific spots are also top notch, and more useful for understanding what damage you are doing than any health bar could be.
Then you've got all the guns, the other important part in FPS's. Halo has the best gun balance in any game ever. By balance I mean there is no single gun that dominates all the others (There is no "find rocket launcher, win" stylies here). Every gun has it's strengths and weaknesses, every gun serves a purpose against different enemies. So the game becomes an elaborate rock-paper-scissors puzzle. As well as shooting stuff you get to drive stuff, fly stuff, and generally run stuff over, it's great, and the controls are intuitively implemented. That combined with great in-game physics, make for varied, fun gameplay.

Of course, the other thing that sets Halo apart is the way it tells it's story. It is fairly typical SF fodder, but is told with minimal cinematics, tongue slightly in cheek, and with excellent voice acting (really excellent, actually; genuinely funny lines, well delivered).

I remember watching an interview with one of the lead programmers talking about the beginnings of the game and their mindset making it. The basic principle was to create 30 seconds of gameplay that is really fucking fun - then repeat. They succeeded whole heartedly, The enemy AI, physics engine and copious and easily accessible grenades (plasma grenades are particularly fun) make running into a room full of covenant (the bad guys) an absolute thrill, even after so many games, I still see new carnage every time I play, a plasma will fluke onto the head of someone and reek new havoc. So much fun. Plus you can play the single player game with two people (even more fun!)

And I haven't even mentioned multiplayer yet. Get a few friends around and there is years worth of entertainment.

Anyhoo, back to work for me.