Halo 1 is the first game I can remember playing at the tender age of 5, back in 2002. My cousin called my older brother and I and told us we have to come over to his house ASAP, that he found and played the ‘coolest video game ever’. whatever, I thought. I wanted to keep watching my cartoons but later that day we did indeed end up at his house. Sure, I was bitter I didn’t get to have more mac and cheese my dear grandma made, but you can imagine I never regretted going to my cousin’s house.
Our cousin wasted no time booting up the good old 10 pound brick of the original Xbox. Halo’s title screen came up with that oh so recongizable gregorian monk chorus. ‘Whooaah’ I thought. That sounded mysterious, ominous, and crazy cool. (though I only knew the adjective ‘crazy cool’ back then haha) My older brother took the second controller and I watched them begin the game. I was blown away by the graphics, I had only seen games on the PS1. Of course as for the rest of the details, I didn’t catch on much. Big green robot guys called Master Chiefs, ugly and scary aliens, and a computer lady. Better yet, the Flood that almost made my kiddy self soil himself.
From that day forward I was hooked on the game, always wanting to come to my cousin’s house and throwing temper tantrums when I didn’t get to. So many epic moments, so many sodas guzzled, tons of pizza digested, and many ‘F YOU!’ moments at players online in Halo 2. This carried on to about 2006 and he moved further away so I was stuck watching Halo things on the PC. Had a PS2 also…it passed the time fair enough. SOCOM was fun.
Then in 2009 my Mom finally got me a 360 and Halo 3, and ODST. I knew everything about these two games and I never played them yet. Within a few matches online I accumulated friends and had a blast playing custom games. Infection of all kinds, BR duels, races, all kinds of crazy things any other game at that time didn’t have. How cool was a game to be a shooter, then a racer, then a survival game, and then freaking Jenga all in different game modes? Pretty freaking cool. It was around this time my brother who had now moved out also got LIVE and played online with me, and even our cousin joining occasionally. Those nights we stayed up so late, it was amazing.
Along came a lot of family and personal problems. They hit hard and I didn’t really know how to deal with it. So I just did what I usually did, play Halo. Any Halo, all of Halo, it helped. Back even when I was 5 I was inspired to be brave and strong like John, smart and cunning like Cortana, or funny and and foul mouthed like Johnson. Also, I always had my playing buddies. We didn’t know where each other lived, what each other looked like, etc…but they were the best. I could talk about anything and they never shut me out. Halo got me through tought times and probably will again. The characters inspire me, the people I play with listen, and the memories I have are priceless.
It went just like that through later years. To Halo Reach’s Beta, sitting in agonizing wait while my slow Internet downloaded it, or getting home from school to play the final game, or attending Anniversary’s midnight launch with my bro, and all the way up to just last Tuesday. Midnight launch for Halo 4.
Anniversary;s launch was small at my Gamestop, plus half the crowd there for Assassin’s Creed Revelations anyway, but Halo 4 was a different beast. Even in a small homely county of mine in Ohio, people got there at 7. I got there at 10. Lots of familiar faces, from school and the games. Master Chiefs, marines, even a…Minecraft Creeper…not sure why he was there. Hell, even a Commander Shepard because it was release night for the Mass Effect Trilogy box set! (I like Mass Effect also).
Anyway, I got the game and was home quick. Long story short regarding this matter, I played through campaign straight through.
Now, my feelings for the game follow. Mind you, Halo has almost all I’ve known for video games, and most of my fun memories are in there. I’ve been hooked on it since 2002. I’ve never not thought about Halo in a day. If someone were to qualify for a Halo fan, I’d hope it’d be me.
I love Halo 4.
It is everything that a new trilogy for the most iconic shooter should be. From the very title screen I was smiling and impressed. A choir was singing, as it should be. The campaign was so deeply routed into the fiction the past games didn’t have, and the gameplay even with my bulky 90’s TV made me feel like I was there. So many things were right, and I’m talking about all of the game. It isn’t perfect, nothing is, but it’s the best game I’ve played.
Halo 4 is 343i’s first game. 343i is made of fans just like me…and they made it for people like me, like you…who have their best memories routed into the digital world. Companies can talk the walk, but not often does one walk the walk. The ending note at campaign from 343i brought a tear to my eye. Halo is in good hands, and it isn’t the things in the game that make it so fond for me…it’s the things it brings into the real world and what it facilitates. Friendship, bravery, and fun.
These are my opinions, typos, and ramblings that isn’t meant to contest anything you feel or harbor any hate you have for this game. This is a letter to 343i. A thank you note.