Halo is without doubt one of the most anticipated, nay salivated-over games of recent years – having captivated gamers en masse since it’s unveiling about three years ago. Of course, there was much whimpering when snapped up and declared their own for the Xbox, though upon playing it, I can now see why they wanted it so badly. PC diehards will also take comfort from the fact that Halo will eventually find it’s way to the PC. Not that I care, for I’m enjoying it on my right now, thanks Bill… As an example of the pleasure this has given me, take a conversation I was having with our web dude Jason, just a few days ago – I was telling him that I’d received an Xbox and was playing Halo, upon which he deluged me with a torrent of abuse, before the following message flashed-up on my Instant Messenger screen. “Jason stares at his PC gyrating to and fro at just the thought of a Halo screenshot – let alone actually playing it”. I rest my case, people want this game. Unsurprisingly, it has been the most successful Xbox title in America, too…

So are we Brits and Europeans going to be enjoying it as much as American gamers, as it disperses onto shop shelves on the 14th? Well, you won’t be at all shocked to learn, that the answer is a resounding ‘yes’, for Halo delivers upon it’s potential in a number of wondrous and delightful ways. It isn’t perfect, and it isn’t necessarily the best of the genre in every respect, but it’s progress kids, pure and simple.

The start, is something of an innocuous one however, the premise and subsequent story being introduced and revealed as little more than the usual B-movie hokum. Why, oh why, do these games never have an original plot. Sigh. That’s not to say, that it doesn’t allow for plenty of imaginative aliens to kill, and environments to experience and survive, it just seems a shame that these individual (and frequently inspired) game-components, couldn’t be linked by a more imaginative and original overall idea. Not that this will bother your average first-person gamer, the plot being little more than a relevant excuse for some fun weapons, attractive scenery and clever and terrifying aliens. Which is what Halo delivers, with some finesse, by the bucketload, having impressed already with the lovely detailed graphics, and enthralling sound (check out the grandiose music!).

What finesse and style it is executed with too, never have perfect weapon balance and design, combined so well with scripted set-pieces, inspired environment design, and highly-advanced AI to such a complete and immersive effect. In fact, the only downside of this is that at times there’s just too much action. In that whilst all the set-pieces are well thought out and realised, they are occasionally interspersed with fighting that’s a little too drawn out (possibly because the enemy AI can slow you down a lot, and possibly because the environments are arguably too large, and occasionally not-too diverse after the initial eye-candy), though this is a minor gripe in a game that wipes the floor with most competitors.