Halo

Heaven-sent. The PC finally gets in on the action...

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"We are starting to see some great games come back to the Mac. But this is one of the coolest I've ever seen. This game is gonna ship early next year from Bungie and this is the first time anybody has ever seen it. It's the first time they've debuted it. And so I'm very happy to welcome on the stage, Jason Jones, who is the co-founder of Bungie and the Halo project lead. Halo is the name of this game. And we're going to see, for the first time, Halo. Welcome" - Steve Jobs at the New York Macworld Expo - July 1999.

That was four years ago, and the start of the Halo hype. Mac evangelists revelled in the dream that they might soon have some ammo to use against the Microsoft cohorts. Little did they know that Microsoft had another dream, a dream of a gaming console, a dream that required a killer app. Evidently Bungie were given an offer that they couldn't refuse.

Halo on the Xbox was, and in many ways still is, the headlining title for the console. Its impact on other first person shooters on all platforms has also been quite dramatic. Though one could see features of the game appearing in other releases, Halo was one of the first to bring together a number of ideas, like a recharging energy meter and being able to carry limited weapons that could be lifted from enemies. The AI in the game was particularly brilliant with your teammates flanking you while enemies sought cover. Though innovative, the greatest strength of Halo lay in the gleaming polish of the overall presentation.

The PC port by Gearbox obviously has a lot of the original's majesty, with the amazing soundtrack and large expansive levels. Controlling your aim with a mouse instead of a controller is certainly more comfortable, and a keyboard is a worthy substitute for all other actions. In the large open areas, particularly the Silent Cartographer, the games calibre shines through. Fighting amidst a dynamic battle with your squad mates being a help rather than a hindrance.

Unfortunately though the port has also inherited the same flaws. While running around the interiors a definite sense of déjà vu and disorientation is present. The spongy physics of the Warthog jeep also return to wreak havoc once more. These relatively minor grievances were easy to overlook in the original because the highs far outnumbered the down. This time however it is the technical clumsiness that really mars the proceedings. The game struggles to run smoothly on systems more than twice as fast as the Xbox despite the similarities of the component architecture. The textures and models that looked so good on the television cannot stand up to the scrutiny of a high resolution monitor, either. Instead of polish we find scuffmarks and dirt. The architecture and models, particularly the human faces, look very dated. And because it has taken so long to actually arrive the game's ideas are not quite as remarkable as they once were.

Multiplayer could have been the real differentiating factor between the console and PC version. Playing through Halo co-operatively on the Xbox was hugely enjoyable but sadly this feature is not included on the PC. For death match and other encounters the original levels were never suited for the normal two to four players. With a sixteen player game now a more viable option via the internet you might hope for a memorable gaming experience. What we gain in one respect though we lose with another. Unfortunately the accuracy of mouse aiming makes sniping the order of the day, and a lethal dose it is too. Though Gearbox reportedly had to rewrite most of the network code from scratch to get it to work properly, the result is not very enjoyable and the whole affair is wrapped up in a rather clunky interface.

So, while Halo still is an amazing game in many regards it is the Xbox, not the PC version that deserves the accolades. From the disproportionately sized menus to the system stuttering frame rate, the game cries out that it is a console port. While the PC version embodies a lot of what is great about the original there is an unmistakable sense that here gamers are not getting the finely tuned masterwork, but they are getting to hear a pretty good recording.

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By Richard Clifford