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Halo's 10th Anniversary
I had been following Halo:CE since it's inception even though I was a PC gamer and didn't own, or intend on owning, a Mac. I figured it would make it's way to PC eventually. When Microsoft acquired Bungie and announced their Xbox console, I kept my hopes up for a PC release. At the release of the Xbox and Halo, I was still waiting patiently, as I didn't think one FPS was enough to sway me from PC gaming... that is until I got that gigantic controller in my hands, turned off the lights, cranked the stereo, and took control of the last Spartan alive (that we knew of) aboard the critically damaged Pillar of Autumn for the first time. Of course, it goes without saying, I was playing couch co-op with my room mate. The explosions, the rumbles, and the ship's blaring alarms immediately drew me in. This ship was going down, we needed to get out. Even worse, we've been boarded. Folks, this was the co-op experience that started my (nearly) complete transition from PC gaming, to console gaming. One game did that. Halo.
Don't get me wrong, I've dabbled with consoles all my life. I've always had friends, relatives, and room mates with consoles, but PC's were my thing. I built them, tweaked them, wrote software for them, etc. I'm your typical computer geek, and I'm not at all ashamed to say it. Back then, I thought consoles were toys, real gaming was done on a PC. How naive was that? This attitude was completely changed by Halo. For that, I'm grateful. Looking back, I don’t like that I had a PC snob attitude. I was never rude about it, never rubbed it in anyone’s face, but it was there.
Anyway, you know how the story goes. We narrowly escaped the Pillar of Autumn and landed on Installation 04, Halo. The landing was rough, but we survived. Unfortunately, the others aboard the escape pod weren't so lucky. Stepping out of the escape pod for the first time will always be a cherished memory. I’m pretty sure I gasped loud enough for my room mate to hear it, but I think he did the same thing. The size and beauty of the level that opened up before us was simply incredible for it’s time. In fact, we were too busy gawking that we didn’t hear Cortana tell us to get moving. In comes the Spirit with plenty of enemies. One of us died, it may have been me (it was). After we took care of the last Grunt, we looked around a bit more until I remembered something... I heard there’s a Warthog on this level.
Don't get me wrong, I've dabbled with consoles all my life. I've always had friends, relatives, and room mates with consoles, but PC's were my thing. I built them, tweaked them, wrote software for them, etc. I'm your typical computer geek, and I'm not at all ashamed to say it. Back then, I thought consoles were toys, real gaming was done on a PC. How naive was that? This attitude was completely changed by Halo. For that, I'm grateful. Looking back, I don’t like that I had a PC snob attitude. I was never rude about it, never rubbed it in anyone’s face, but it was there.
Anyway, you know how the story goes. We narrowly escaped the Pillar of Autumn and landed on Installation 04, Halo. The landing was rough, but we survived. Unfortunately, the others aboard the escape pod weren't so lucky. Stepping out of the escape pod for the first time will always be a cherished memory. I’m pretty sure I gasped loud enough for my room mate to hear it, but I think he did the same thing. The size and beauty of the level that opened up before us was simply incredible for it’s time. In fact, we were too busy gawking that we didn’t hear Cortana tell us to get moving. In comes the Spirit with plenty of enemies. One of us died, it may have been me (it was). After we took care of the last Grunt, we looked around a bit more until I remembered something... I heard there’s a Warthog on this level.
Oh the Warthog. I was a huge Tribes fan because of the vehicles, so naturally, I was looking forward to the Warthog in Halo. We pushed on, met Sgt. Johnson, made mincemeat of several waves of Covenant and finally, FINALLY, Foehammer dropped that glorious beast on wheels. After getting acquainted to the foreign controls, I drove around the rest of the level, flattening Covenant with the indestructible Warthog, while my roomie made Swiss cheese out of anything I missed, with the trusty M41 LAAG.
At the end of the level, smiles on both of our faces, we hopped on the Pelican, unsure if the rest of the game could top what we just played. We were not disappointed. Fast forward to today, ten years and many games later, Halo still makes me smile. I keep coming back for more like a drug addict. I need my fix. Halo:CE will always be special, but I hate to single it out, because all of the games are incredible.
I owe a big “thank you” to Bungie, Microsoft, Ensemble, 343i, the authors of the novels, and everyone else who is involved with Halo in some way. Halo is an amazing franchise, backed by lots of talent, and great fans. I'm proud to be one of those fans.