The original Halo: Combat Evolved was the reason I purchased an Xbox at the time it was amazing. Visually and in terms of gameplay it was second to none. So whether or not I would purchase the anniversary remake was never really in question for me. The question is, does the game still play today, is it still fun. Will it just be nostalgia carrying me through the game?

Last night I completed the Campaign of Halo and to be honest towards the end I was getting bored. The last, say 3 levels are fucking tedious. But, and there is a big but. The final section of the game is awesome. It was awesome 10 years ago and it’s still fucking amazing today. The race against time to escape the ring before it blows up is one of the best, if not the best vehicle section in a first person shooter. I actually feel that section saved the whole game for me. The game looks beautiful too, the fact that you can see how much has been changed by pressing the back button shocks me every time. Another shock for me was the difficulty, as of Halo 3 I have played these games on Hardcore so it was a given for me that on this one I would do the same…Nope this game is bleeding hard. After the 3 level I decided to knack it back down to normal and pussy out (shame on me).

Anyway the whole point of this post is did I have fun with Halo. The answer is yes. But nowhere near as much fun as I can remember having years ago in the original version. I would not recommend this game to Halo fans that do not have the nostalgia for the original (too young to play, never owned a Xbox) but if you loved it back in the day, I expect you will at least like the HD version of this classic.

The original Halo: Combat Evolved was the reason I purchased an Xbox at the time it was amazing. Visually and in terms of gameplay it was second to none. So whether or not I would purchase the anniversary remake was never really in question for me. The question is, does the game still play today, is it still fun. Will it just be nostalgia carrying me through the game?

Last night I completed the Campaign of Halo and to be honest towards the end I was getting bored. The last, say 3 levels are fucking tedious. But, and there is a big but. The final section of the game is awesome. It was awesome 10 years ago and it’s still fucking amazing today. The race against time to escape the ring before it blows up is one of the best, if not the best vehicle section in a first person shooter. I actually feel that section saved the whole game for me. The game looks beautiful too, the fact that you can see how much has been changed by pressing the back button shocks me every time. Another shock for me was the difficulty, as of Halo 3 I have played these games on Hardcore so it was a given for me that on this one I would do the same…Nope this game is bleeding hard. After the 3 level I decided to knack it back down to normal and pussy out (shame on me).

Anyway the whole point of this post is did I have fun with Halo. The answer is yes. But nowhere near as much fun as I can remember having years ago in the original version. I would not recommend this game to Halo fans that do not have the nostalgia for the original (too young to play, never owned a Xbox) but if you loved it back in the day, I expect you will at least like the HD version of this classic.

I never played the game back when it first came out and my love affair with the Halo franchise started with Halo 3, but I am loving this game. It is a lesson in how to make an FPS campaign. The level design, combat, gameplay and enemy AI are all awesome.

Funny, the last three missions were when I really started to have fun again.

I thought the level after The Library was pretty tedious. The repetition really sunk in at that point. I thought the ending escape from the ring was interesting and well done, but it certainly is not the greatest vehicle sequence ever in an FPS. Maybe it's because the anniversary was the first experience I had with Combat Evolved and did not experience it when it was newly released, but still, I don't think it was that amazing.