Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary

Only Available on: Xbox 360
Played it for: Well, if you include my hours into just Combat Evolved, I would put the total around 50 hours.

RATING: 8.5/10

Summary: The Pillar of Autumn has come out of slip space to see if they escaped the Covenant on Reach. They did not. So, it's time to call out that famous Spartan soldier John 117, otherwise known as Master Chief, to fight the good fight once again.

Review: Oh boy...
I loved Halo: Combat Evolved. It was fun, addictive, had an amazing plot, tight controls, good graphics (for the time, obviously), and great gameplay overall. Now, I didn't quite get the full experience out of Halo for the first go round, as I played it last year on the very computer which is now publishing this review. The game wasn't meant for PC, though, so the controls kinda, well, sucked. Still though, it was an awesome game for a bored high school Sophomore, and I spent plenty of time with it in my off periods. So Anniversary is rather a nice throwback for me to a time when I was much more stupid.

You might think it a waste of your $39.99 plus tax to purchase a ten year old game, and you may be right seeing as I didn't spend the $39.99 plus tax, and instead am enjoying it as a Christmas gift, but I would call this game worth it, especially now that I'm getting the full console experience after playing the ported PC version. For those who don't know, 343 Industries kept all the same programming, just with a re-skin of graphics, so it plays the same and feels almost the same, but looks so much better. It's really wonderful to crash on the Halo and see it how the developers meant it to look. I think that the Pillar of Autumn and 343 Guilty Spark are the missions where the changes are the most noticeable, as the ship is completely re-vamped, and the swamp at the beginning of 343 looks truly incredible. The sniper rifle is probably the most notable gun change, as it actually looks like a menacing weapon rather than a tube with a scope and a trigger.

I suppose that really isn't much of a review, but the game itself will be covered when I review Halo: Combat Evolved, and seeing as this is the same game, just re-skinned, I can't really find anything else that is prudent to remark about.

Those dedicated Halo fans can rest easy as well, as the game itself plays the same as it did in 2001, but for those who got on board with 3 or Reach, I highly suggest you play this game so that you can see where it all began.