Aiming for the Heavens.
The human race is in jeopardy. An alien league called the Covenant is bent
on eradicating the entire species. In a last ditch effort, a lone earth battlecruiser
lures the Covenant fleet away from Earth, deep into uncharted space. Low on
supplies, the earthlings find a haven on a Niven-esque world in the shape of
a ring that’s over 10,000 miles in diameter. On this artificial world, the humans
must fight a guerilla war, trying to stay alive as long as possible. At least
they chose a gorgeous place to make their last stand.
Halo is the work of Bungie, makers of the fantastic Marathon
and Myth series. It debuted
last year at MacWorld and made the audience collectively gasp. Since then, very
little has been released about this upcoming game, leading many to believe it
was either a hoax or the developers had failed to create what they promised.
Neither could be farther from the truth. Halo is real, ladies and gentlemen,
and, simply put, amazing.
Rumors abound about Halo and Game Revolution is here to help you separate
fact from fiction. If you’re staring at the screenshots right now, you’ll be
please to hear that they were all taken from gameplay. While it might sound
unbelievable, what you are seeing was all created by the in-game engine. On
top of that, you don’t need a god-box in order to play the game. The E3 demo
that GR made sure to see was done on a Pentium 450 with a TNT2 card. Expect
the minimum system requirements to be lower than that, but Halo just
might be worth investing in a new computer or video card.
The single player
game will be a non-linear action game. There are no levels, – simply you, the
aliens, and a gigantic arena for you to explore. This is not to say that the
game is pointless; every action you do, every alien you kill, alters the gameworld
dynamically. There are underground bases to explore, weapons to find, and missions
to complete. Bungie just didn’t want to break up the gameplay into sections.
Your goal is to win a guerilla war; if only you had Che Guevara to help you…
The multiplayer will allow you to play as either the aliens or the humans.
Focusing on fast combat and team tactics, you’re not going to succeed unless
you work as a group. For example, the vehicles in the game (cars, boats, and
airplanes) can all be player-controlled. While one player is driving, another
might choose to hop on the back and man the cannon. For all the FPS fans out
there, there will still be a simple deathmatch mode, but aren’t you tired of
that by now?
If Bungie is able to pull off Halo, it will undoubtedly become a benchmark
on which other games will be compared. The dynamic gameplay and non-linear storyline
is sure to drain away all the free time you thought you might have. So, say
goodbye to your loved ones and make sure the pets are well fed, because Halo
is coming to town.
You still have some time to enjoy sunlight! Halo is due out the beginning
of 2001 for PC and Macintosh.
