The latest release in the revered Halo series is not a new game, it is pretty much a visual overhaul of the first Halo game, Combat Evolved, developed to mark the 10th anniversary of this landmark game.
Like many others my age, I spent a large portion of my younger years playing the original Halo and this is a great tribute to that title.
The best way to think of it is like the original Halo being given a facelift and many other features present in the later games such as achievements and skulls and more multiplayer options as you can now play Halo: CE with friends over Xbox Live and Anniversary also adapts some of the most loved multiplayer maps for use on Xbox Live.
Aside from the new graphic engine, the single player of the game remains the same. For those unfamiliar with the storyline to Halo, shame on those who don’t, you play as an elite soldier who is woken up from a cryogenic freezing process with his ship under attack.
As a result, it crashes on a ring shaped artificial planet and the initial task is for you to look for other survivors, but this quickly changes as it comes clear here you have landed is more than meets the eye.
One of my favourite features of this game, is being interact with things called terminals which star a cartoon style cut scene, giving you more information about the storyline. Not only do they look great, they add more depth than you get from just playing the game.
However, my favourite feature is when you hit the ‘Back’ button on the Xbox controller, which changes the graphics settings between how they were 10 years ago and they are now. It impressed me how good the game looked ten years ago, but at the same time how much the visuals in video games have improved in a relatively short period of time.
Ultimately, it is pretty much a glorified version of the original but for the features included on it, it is one of the more enjoyable and interesting games I have played this year.
