Halo - An Extensive Retrospective of the Xbox's Greatest Masterpiece
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
- Over 20 years later, today we look at the most influential Xbox game ever made; Halo.
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Back in the early days of gaming, most games were the same. Very rare was it that we ever saw something so versatile and diverse as what Halo had to offer. Before the days where Fortnite, and Apex Legends were a free download away and Skibidi Toilet was sweeping the nation, gamers had to huddle up in a small room with cables hanging across tables connecting over-sized CRT TV's and Xbox's together. Halo is from an era before games had streamers on Twitch and Kick or PewDiePie and Markiplier playing them, a true self-manifesting masterpiece.
I remember playing this and got to the part where Cortana discovered there was another dangerous enemy on the ring, I had to go to work and spent the whole day wondering what this new enemy was. The wait was worth it.
I have Cortona on my computer at work and I just realized like a month ago it’s the same one from this game lol
@@omgjimmyboyYeah thats why it was named Cortana lol
Are you talking about after assault on the control room? Where she doesn't explain anything and just tells the Chief to get to Captain Keys immediately?
I don't care how many Halo Retrospective videos I've seen, I need to see them all. I still own my Original Xbox, my copy of Halo: CE and Halo 2 and my CRT TV from the year 2000. I still play these games fairly often, and each time is such a joy. Sadly I don't have my Xbox 360 anymore to play Halo 3, and I can't afford Halo MCC, let alone a decent computer that can actually run it, but I can't complain, my OG Xbox is still going strong and I love it.
The mcc is pretty shitty anyways for anything that isnt just campaign
how old are you my dude?
It's a fucking testament to Bungie's level design that they literally made a circle surrounded with water and we all said "This is the greatest level of all time."
I mean why wouldn't we? There really weren't any other games that had level like that at the time. Not that looked that good for 2001. It was a well paced level that starts with a full on Beach Assault, then moves to a vehicle section as you drive to a separate location. Roadblock, so you go the other way and you encounter big tough security, then you have a tense infiltration section before making a big escape. Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room are your classic big Set Piece levels like Surface Tension in Half Life.
@@sorrenblitz805 i agree
The best part about Halo is that it came out when my friends and I were in out early 20s and we all had money and time to buy multiple x-boxes and connect them from separate rooms with long cables for 2on2 deathmatches all night long.
"The library" haunted me for weeks
I've played so much cursed halo I'm starting to see the normal shotgun as being bent.
I just realized that thematically, the retreading of missions fits perfectly with halo because it’s a circle and you end up back where you were, you go backwards through the control room and covenant ship and finally the pillar of autumn again. Crazy.
Bruh I remember being scared of The Library level. My best friend's older brother, beat it for me, so I could continue. But I got older, I played it, beat it, and hate it with a dying passion.
The beginning of The Library is always rough, but I have gotten to a point in replaying Halo where I enjoy and look forward to 343 Guilty Spark and The Library.
Honestly I kinda have a soft spot for The Library. It's a little cheesy but it feels like the "Where boys become men" level of Halo and now having beat it so many times after it once kicked my ass, it's akin to shaking hands with an old yet respectable enemy. There's a sense of familiarity in the rivalry with that level.
HALO CE was the Xbox equivalent of the N64's 007 Goldeneye.
Decoupling movement & look/aim was a revolution for an FPS.
One of the greatest game series covered by one of the greatest video game essayists. Can't wait for this
I love his essays so much!
Your enthusiasm and love of Halo is apparent in everything you say, reminiscent of creators like Act Man or HiddenXperia. What a joy to listen to. Love to see this for H2, H3, ODST, and Reach.
They're all coming.
@@evprinceplease, don't forget 343i Halo games.
@@TheElevenbit them for sure
Reach is going to be so good...
@@TheElevenbitI hope he does personally, those games are dog water
I miss the horror element of halo 1. Every room had perfect placement of enemies. Those deep dungeons on legendary alone leave you anxious at every corner
The music and general sound effects like the intro L/R channel distortion have dug deep trench scars into my memory tissue. I played this and the second game at a friends I got to see every 2 months or so. And I would daydream about the entire universe and all of the music and lore on the way home. It truly is a special piece of work.
This video needs more attention 👏👏👏 great vid!
you forgot to mention the (incredibly important) point that Myth 2 caused Bungie to become nearly bankrupt, which paved the way to them being bought by Microsoft. If that had not happened, we wouldn't have the same Halo universe as we do today.
You nailed it dude. Waiting for more Extensive Retrospectives
Got 2 long ones in the works right now, and one of them is H2!
Came here after @yourfavoriteson recommended this vid. Great video. Love the passion and knowledge you brought. Cannot wait for you to do the rest of the series.
Welcome aboard!
the flood sillouhettes in the distance at the start seals the deal for me
The best Halo retrospective on TH-cam ❤️ thank you for your hard work, your love for this game shines bright. Really hope you cover the whole series 🙏
24:36
For those that don't know EVERYTHING about this game, 😂😂, the woman Capt who is flying, she is also voiced by Jenn Taylor (Cortana) once I knew that, i NOW hear her in the country accent. Before I knew it was her, I never recognized the voice
Nice! Brought back memories of legendary co-op and multiplayer in my younger years.
With how good the Metal Gear one was and how much this dude knows Halo, this is gonna be really good! 😃
co-op was so important to my first playthroughs
I remember playing this beauty on a little 16" CRT. Playing that in split screen was painful but still fun. My friends and I would stay up all night just playing the Campaign or the Multiplayer. I got my first Xbox in a Golf Tournament, having this game and the duel disc of SegaGT 2000 and Jet Set Radio Future. Damn I miss those days.
First time I ever played halo CE it's was on pc I can't remember how old I was but I do remember loving this game probably beating it 200 times
Combat Evolved is my favorite Halo. That's pretty much all I got. It's nearly flawless in my eyes.
I hope Marty O'Donnell stumbles upon this video
17:22 fun fact: You're still playing that classic Gearbox Port via the Master Chief Collection. It's just that 343 went in, and actually finished the rushed Port job that Gearbox did. Same with Halo 2. you're playing the Windows Vista port of Halo 2.
Yeah but with Halo CE some of the bugs from Randy Pitchford's cursed port are still there.
It’s really interesting just how much CE changed throughout development. I’m glad that thanks to Digsite we can experience a lot of the early things Bungie had planned. Unfortunately, you can’t recreate the early rts gameplay or have an entire weapon wheel in the retail version of BLAM. It’s also interesting just how many of the unused gameplay and story events in CE and 2 were reused for future games. Too bad they didn’t have time to throw in just a few more weapons, vehicles, and enemies into the mix. Sure, it could potentially mess up the balance, but I think if done right it could’ve made the game feel more fleshed out. It would’ve been cool to have stuff like the Engineers as a passive Covenant unit. Unfortunately, the technology just wasn’t there for what they wanted to do. At least they played a big role in the books. It also would’ve been cool to have the Drinol/Sharquoi as a mini boss. If those ever make it into future games they should be given the ability to pick up and throw physics objects, and make their “eye” the weak spot. That way it wouldn’t just be a really big Hunter.
Something else that’s interesting about Halo is just how obvious it is that Bungie never intended for it to become an ongoing franchise. The first game is relatively self contained and the Covenant weren’t nearly as fleshed out as they would be in future games. There were also some pretty blatant retcons like bringing Johnson back to life (we literally see him die since he and the other marines are swarmed with Infection Forms, and once the cutscene is over you see pools of blood where they were previously standing), and in CE the Covenant know for a fact the Ring is a weapon and prior to the Flood showing up your goal is to gain control of it so they can’t use it. Both of these were changed in 2, and I think that’s for the best because it made the story more interesting. Also, early on Bungie wanted CE to be Marathon 4, or at least just a spiritual successor set in the same universe. Even after the split both share a lot of the same lore (or at least they used to because 343 completely changed how Rampancy worked, and same goes for various other things). Halo also has the Marathon logo plastered all over the place.
Another interesting thing is there’s clearly a fair amount of inspiration from Unreal 1998 in Halo. For one thing the first level of both games have you escaping a human ship that has cramped corridors. Then once you get to the alien planet the levels become these wide open spaces with large structures that have this air of mystery to them. There’s also a fair amount of scripting and the main enemies are smart that try to dodge your projectile weapons and use cover. There’s also a bunch of really cool wildlife. Too bad Halo didn’t come with all those weird alien dinosaurs they had planned. That would’ve helped make the Ring feel more alive. I feel like Unreal had a better atmosphere than CE. Although, it didn’t have vehicles. Thankfully, future games would fix a lot of the jankiness of CE’s vehicles.
Onto the topic of reused areas. When it comes to Keyes and The Maw I’m perfectly fine with reused areas since there’s a narrative reason to go back and the Flood radically alter how those levels are played. That being said, I definitely agree that they’re flawed and could’ve been executed better. Two Betrayals on the other hand had no reason to reuse the same areas. They took the longest level in the game and made you go through it backwards. It would’ve been a lot better if we went to a different section of the Ring to damage it. I agree with most people that the Library is trash. Thematically it’s beautiful since it’s an important part of the story that shows just how relentless the Flood are, it shows the scale of Forerunner structures, and is meant to exhaust the player. Gameplay wise it is the WORST part of the game for the exact same reasons. It would’ve been a lot better if Bungie threw in the cut flame thrower and had isolated sections of Covenant who are also after the Index (although, that part probably wouldn’t have been added since that lore wasn’t added yet).
Mods like Project Lumoria, Mercury Rising, CE Canyon, and those playable Flood missions make me wish we could’ve gotten expansions for CE and 2 back in the day (ODST started life as that for 3). I think Gearbox could’ve been trusted to make really good custom campaigns since they got the multiplayer weapons/vehicles working, added some cool maps to Custom Edition, and this was back when they were still good and made Half-Life Opposing Force. I’m sure we could’ve also seen cut content used for a lot of cool things.
I was in the 7th grade when Halo CE came out. The original commercial is they only commercial that captivated me and lived up to the hype.
Man, Halo: CE was magic. I remember playing the demo, then getting the game (I still have my original Xbox copy), I played Halo until my eyes were bloodshot. So glad I was a kid when it released, that was such a great time to be gaming.
Always cool to hear from someone who was in the same shoes, being 4/5 playing this, and the excitement and joy popping in Halo 2 day one as a kid. Excellent video man ❤
I'll never forget the feeling of the B O X. Lifting it made me feel mighty. 💪
"Go all out for Halo 2"? - yes! Yes please!!! I LOVED this video!!!!
Working on it
I’m so glad you used the combat evolved HUD instead of that awful “CeA” one while talking about CE. Great video.
This is the BEST Halo video I've ever seen! I would really like to see a part 2 in the series! Please show us more!!!
Had no idea Seropian was responsible for GNOP. That game made my childhood. Great video!
In the early 2000's, I did a doodle of Master Chief (Which, upon reflection, looked more like a guy in Motocross gear) But for an afternoon, I was the Toast of my classroom. I've done very little with that High artistically, nor kept up with the conclusion of Master Chief's story. But it meant SO much to me at the time.
Good job man! Not only was this a nice easy to listen to retrospective with informative info that even I didn't know after all these years it was of an amazing quality. Im shocked that your channel has only been around for 4 months (From what I can tell) I cant wait to go through your other reviews and retrospectives and look forward to when you hopefully do a vid on the next Halo game. Good luck!
Whoa, thank you so much!
I forgot about Threshold and Basis; that was a good reference. And then I can't help but point out the Phantoms you mention are actually Spirit dropships - Phantoms would come in Halo 2.
Fantastic video though!
Great point, but they were not named Spirits until Halo Reach. Cortana refers to these as phantoms throughout Combat Evolved actually. So I kept the name here.
No kidding? Admittedly, I haven't played through CE in quite a while but I remember that nomenclature back when H2 introduced the Phantom. I'd guess in relation to Fall of Reach/The Flood/First Strike novels, but I'm entirely talking out of my ass at this point and you've done plenty more research than me
@@evprincethat doesn’t seem right. I can’t recall them ever being called phantoms. And I’ve played through CE an unrealistic amount of times.
PLEASE go all out for Halo 2. I want the section about weapons and vehicles to be as long as this video 😤😤
Already underway.
@@evprince I can’t wait! Fantastic work on this video, I think I could watch in-depth Halo retrospectives until the day I die. Keep up the incredible work!
I was going to chastise for skipping the Sgt Johnson/elite comedy bit at the end of the game but you did manage to put it in. Thus a like. Good job, Chief.
Hey man you deserve all the views! Heres to another one! Also you got a great face for radio! Wonderful narration my dude!
Your experience with Halo CE is shockingly similar to mine. I also didn't have an Xbox, got the PC port when I was 10, and grew up playing the campaign at 10 FPS for years. I wouldn't have it any other way, to this day it's my favorite game of all time.
Yeah... it's a surreal way to experience it. And it is not replicatable anymore either.
Awesome review as usual, I am always in awe at the deepness and attention to detail of your reaserch
Coming from a recommendation from YourFavoriteSon!
This was a really great video and am looking forward to watching some more content from you :)
I was the same age as you when I started playing Halo. At least 5. I was also born the year Halo 1 came out. But my memories *distinctly* remember halo 2.
I never was able to beat Halo 1 until 2010 or 2011 because our og xbox overheated and discs would scratch. That said, the original trilogy is so so special and it's nice seeing someone cover Halo who understands just how special Halo really is
Edit:
Lol why did that marine make death sounds when you were driving in the second mission? 😂
Imo the reason why everyone associated the 2nd level with being one of the most visually Quintessential levels is because of how incredible the skybox was. I don't think i really took the box art into consideration until I went from the dark cramped quarters Pillar of Autumn to the endless skies of Halo. My little unformed mind was absolutely blown
I'm only half way through but this is top tier content. I'll definitely be watching more than once. Thank you and please cover the sequels.
Definitely
@@evprince I look forward to them.
26:00 "That planet's called Threshold for all my lore nerds."
5 seconds later: "The scenery is interrupted when two *phantoms* show up."
Great video, though. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Absolute masterpiece halo 2 is still the best halo game if you disagree you are blinded by nostalgia
Guilty spark is such an underrated character, such a unique voice and I love the way he talks, I even like his boss battle in 3 which gets shit on for some reason
I'm gonna need more videos about this right away, chief.
Let's goooo
This was such a great video! You should definitely cover Halo 2 and 3 next
In 2001 it was my first video game and it's still my favorite to this day. I wish it could get a faithful remaster like H2A
I can't wait for Halo 2 and 3 retrospective!!!
Hard at work!
Well done. I would prefer what you had in mind originally (super retrospective, most likely double this length or more), but completely understand how much extra time that would take. I hope you continue with at least H2, but I know that would be a long time from now. Until then, cheers, and keep up the awesome work!
Not as long as you might think... a super retro may be in order for Halo 2 as well.
honestly speaking that was one of the best finishers I saw in the last mission. You are the MC!
I find it kinda funny that all Keyes does in this game is constantly mess up;
-Gives you an empty pistol
-Lands the Autumn on Halo and almost immediately gets captured
-Is a pain in the backside when you're trying to beat TaR on Legendary
-Meddles with the 'weapons cache' and gets himself captured by the Flood.
He's less useful than a sniper rifle against the Flood.
I've played through the trilogy a couple times and vanilla Combat Evolved on the og xbox is by far my favorite. The game just has so much charm
We love every single video you make !!!!! Every part you put your own thoughts and reactions to !
Never realized that in the room with the hiding marine, you can hear the Flood
It hurts watching these videos on old Halo. Seeing what it’s become now.
"this game wasn't just lightning in a bottle, it was the whole damn storm"
Damn u right tho :')
Wow man! 😮 The passion is real with this video! Loved this experience.
I’ve watched a dozen halo ce retrospectives and this was one of my favorites. 👍
Loved that you said "thanks to the success of myth" but didn't acknowledge myth 2 deleting hard drives. Solid
Still play this game a lot , been a fan of the halo franchise since day one and the access to mods for pc makes it even more replayable. Halo ce was the third co-op experience i had with shooters, first one being doom on the ps 1 with system link and Duke nukem 64 being the second. All these games still being among my favorite video games of all time. I think the idea of halo on pc was a good choice,similar to doom it has tons of content made by the community and in terms of combat , halo and doom for me are timeless and always fun to play. The vanilla(original) experience is still a blast too. The wait Halo 2 was damn long and i haven't been that excited for a sequel ever.
This was incredible!! Great work!
1: YES
2: SEY
3. DUN DAH DUUUUUN DAH DUUUUUN
ODST: i mean its alrigjt
Reach: WOOOOOOO YEEEEAAAAAAHHH BABYYYYY THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
4: no
5: MY EYES!
unfinite: seqson 5 Rick N Morty with microtransactions for every episodebnb
I just played through this game with my wife, it was her first time playing it and when we got to the armory at the end, I actively shouting the opposite when she went to the back room
Bump
Bro the fact you only have 3k subs is insane
Rest easy, Private Dustin Echoes. Gone, but never forgotten.
Beautiful video. Thank you.
"No other level has this aesthetic" bro what lol
Watching this after replaying Assault On The Control Room and I forgot how great the scorpion is in CE
also great video btw 👍🏾
The gearbox PC game was my first encounter aswell bro.
Don't remember where I got it. But remember vividly completing the game twice on an old laptop before getting kinda bored and out of curiosity randomly hitting the multilayer lobby not knowing what was gonna happen. Joined a random game. Fired a couple of shots then something happened I wasn't expecting.. Txt came up on bottom left of my screen saying "try shooting other team you noob" lol my mind was blown.. I was actually playing with other gamers lol
That was it.. From that moment on I was hooked. Nearly every night I was online racing with the clans. BFM_ HLN mostly.
Cheers to all the old school racers out there for years of awesome memories.
Love And respect from MorningSt@r 👍
Nice work and an interesting watch. At the time of release I was working as a game dev on the Dreamcast game Mag Force Racing..we had a pretty huge crunch towards the end of development but in the end we hit our deadline with a week to spare. On top of a nice bonus our Boss at the time gifted all of us an OG XBOX with 2 controllers and a copy of Halo CE. I remember being completely blown away by the campaign as it really was revolutionary on console at least.
If I had one small criticism of your retrospective it would be that you didn’t mention Marty’s music…or did I miss the mention? For me it was a huge part of the experience that made Halo so great.
Looking forward to the Halo 2 vid 👍
I did mention it! In the conclusion section I talk about the importance of the OST.
@@evprince yeah, I thought I might have missed it…I did watch the whole vid but I gotta admit I was distracted with a call for the last ten minutes.
My bad
Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. I swear Salvatori doesn't get enough credit.
Halo 1 and 2 are so absurdly ambitious it makes me so proud of the medium, it's a shame halo 3 seemed to have lost some of that ambition but it was a worthy finale all in all
This is game is truly a masterpiece. I played this when it released for over 4 months straight, I had it sitting in my xbox for that long. The campaign is memorable and great, and the introduction of the flood is unforgettable. The multiplayer was so addictive.
That intro tho❤
Excellent perspective! I completely agree.
I had outgrown console games and didn't have access to a decent PC. A friend had twisted metal, but that's about the extent of my gaming.
Then, on my 17th birthday, my mother got me Xbox and it came with Halo CE .
I was sick with the flu and decided to hook it up... I was sucked in and have been a fan... Until 343i turned it into a cash grabbing online only experience.
Great video! I only recently got into Halo (by recently, I mean pandemic and the MCC arriving on PC peaked my interest) and now it’s my favorite video game series (particularly the original trilogy).
One thing, I don’t know if you know this, but the main reason why Bungie accepted Microsoft’s offer was because they had gone essentially broke. You see, Bungie had recently released Myth II on personal computers, and early discs of the game had a funny bug: if you asked to uninstall it your game, it would do that, but it would also delete every other file on your hard drive! 😂
So, Bungie, being the antithesis of most modern game developers, halted production of all the discs, recalled the old ones, made new ones without the bug, and lost a million dollars from all of that. When Microsoft offered them to ship Halo on the Xbox, Bungie basically couldn’t say no. They were a rock in a hard place, and they went with the option that would allow them enough money to finish their passion project and keep their doors open.
Because of the shift to Xbox, many things were cut: an open world, dynamic weather, day/night time cycle, 25 mission long campaign went down to 10. And on top of that, Bungie had to make an FPS not only feel natural on consoles, but make it feel great on consoles. Halo is revolutionary in almost every aspect and that’s crazy to think about considering the hellish development. Goes to show how great Bungie was at making video games.
I believe we both learned this from the same source actually, mandaloregaming? Such a great channel. This video was pretty much done by the time his Myth 2 video released, however, so it was too late to squeeze that info here
But it fits so well in his video that I don't really regret it not being here tbh.
Great comment!
I actually learned it from a TH-camr called “Noodle”. All of his stuff is either animated or uses popsicle sticks. He’s pretty cool and he even interviewed Marty O’Donnell!
That intro🍻
343 Guilty Spark will forever be a perfect example of environmental story telling done right.
Watching (listening) on my morning walk. Just saw you have dbz and star wars on your channel too. Subbed!
With way more on the way!
Great video dude, keep up the amazing work. 🤩
Very good retrospective video!
Doom had multi-player and built-in coop, Quake had the same, Sven Coop for Half-Life came out in 99. Blood, Duke 3D and co had coop as well.
Mouse look was introduced by wolfenstein 3D and it was the intended way for doom to be played by design.
I got myth: the fallen lords when it first came out, when I was 11. I loved that game so much, but it was really hard, even with the cheats I knew.
My favorite game of all time
You had me at the OG Xbox startup
Great video, many people have covered Halo CE but this one feels uniquely special, that Elite resettled for Johnson’s ass 😂😂😂
I remember my moms friend drive us to the city to buy an Xbox and h1... I was 12 or 13. Such epic times in the loft with chips and pop, sneaking their booze. Life sucks now lol
time for a replay
I dunno if it’s the topic of this video or what but you have this kinda like “cool guy” like early 2000s voice when presenting. If you get what I mean.
Could also just be me. Great video!
I'm a product of the early 2000s for sure
Yeah he does, reminds me of old TH-cam
Oh thank God, someone else who played halo near release at 5 years old. ❤❤❤
not me watching my third halo retrospective