Halo is a first person shooter, or FPS, with some third person perspectives thrown in occasionally. It is exclusively for the Microsoft XBox, but will supposedly soon come out for the PC. It is developed by Bungie Software, famous for the Marathon series on Macintosh computers.
The Story So Far (from the manual)
The year is 2552. Planet Earth still exists, but overpopulation has forced many of her former residents to colonize other worlds. Fasther-than-light travel is now a reality, and Earth's unified government, through the United Nations Space Command, has put its full weight behind the colonization effort; millions of humans now live on habitable planets in other solar systems. A keystone in humanity's colonization efforts is the planet Reach, an interstellar naval yard that builds colony ships for civilians and warships for the UNSC's armed forces. Conveniently close to Earth, Reach is also a hub of scientific and military activity.
Thirty-two years ago, contact with the out colony Harvest was lost. A battlegroup sent to investigate was almost completely destroyed; only one badly damaged ship returned to Reach. Its crew told of a seemingly unstoppable alien warship that had effortlessly annihilated their forces.
This was humankind's first encounter with a group of aliens they eventually came to know as the Covenant, a collective of alien races united in their fanatical religious devotion. Covenant religious elders declared humanity an affront to the gods, and the Covenant warrior caste waged a holy war on upon humanity with gruesome diligence.
After a series of crushing defeats and obliterated colonies, UNSC Admiral Preston Cole established the Cole Protocol: no vessel may inadvertently lead the Covenant to Earth. When forced to withdraw, the ships must avoid Earth-bound vectors-even if that means jumping without proper navigational calculations. Vessels in danger of capture must self-destruct.
On Reach, a secret military project to create cyborg super-soldiers takes on new-found importance. The soldiers of the SPARTAN-II project rack up an impressive record against the Covenant in test deployments, but there are too few of them to turn the tide of the war.
Existing SPARTAN-II soldiers are recalled to Reach for further augmentation. The plan: board a Covenant vessel with the improved SPARTAN-IIs and learn the location of the Covenant home world. Two days before the mission begins, Covenant forces strike Reach and annihilate the colony. The Covenant are now on Earth's doorstep. One ship, the Pillar of Autumn, escapes with the last SPARTAN-II and makes a blind jump into deep space, hoping to lead the Covenant away from Earth.
Characters
The Covenant
- Grunts-The smallest and weakest of the group. They throw grenades and are equipped with Plasma Pistols or Needlers early on, and the powerful Fuel Rod Gun in later levels. They are the only species that the humans have been able to translate thus far, so they will be the only species you can understand.
- Jackals-Slightly better than Grunts, but only because they have shields that reflect all shots but those of the Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle. Fortunately, they are only equipped with Plasma Pistols themselves, but tend to use it's overcharge ability often.
- Elites-The big bads of the Covenant. They can do everything you can do, they even have rechargable shields. They carry Plasma Rifles, Needles, and occasionally the one-hit, one-kill Plasma Sword. They are also known to use Active Camouflodge. Be wary of them, especially on the highest difficulty setting.
- Hunters-The giant walking tanks of the Covenant. They come only equipped with Fuel Rod Guns. They are really strong and extremely durable, but have extremely weak spots in their armor if you know where to look.
Weapons
- Pistol-Human pistol, has a 2X Zoom and head shots grant double damage.
- Assault Rifle-Automatic weapon with a built in compass. The longer you fire the less accurate it becomes.
- Shotgun-Amazingly powerful and can take out most foes in one shot at point blank range. You can also interupt the reload process to fire off what is already loaded if needed.
- Sniper Rifle-Very powerful, comes with 2X and 10X zoom as well as a Night Vision scope.
- Rocket Launcher-Extremely powerful, though slow-traveling missiles. Can zoom in 2X.
- Plasma Pistol-Great weapon, fires rapidly and can be overcharged to fire a shot that disables any shields. Can overheat though.
- Plasma Rifle-Great rapid-firing weapon, but don't fire too long or you'll overheat.
- Needler-Fires homing needles which attach to the target and then explode. Attach more than seven needles for a much bigger explosion.
- Fragmentation Grenades-Shorter fuse than the Covenant counterpart, plus they bounce.
- Plasma Grenades-Can stick to targets. Can set off other plasma grenades that lay nearby.
Weapons that were cut:
Vehicles at your service
- Warthog-The all-terrain jeep. Get some marine buddies to hop in to shoot for you since you can't drive and shoot at the same time, but you can run over foes. Has a giant automatic gun on back with unlimited ammo. It's also indestructable and can be flipped indefinately.
- Scorpian-The human tank. While driving you can fire it's all-powerful main cannon (which then takes a few seconds to recharge), or it's high powered automatic gun. Four buddies can also ride on the sides.
- Ghost-A Covenant hovering vehicle. Seats one. Fires plasma bolts and can be destroyed.
- Banshee-The Covenant fliers. Has a plasma weapon and a Fuel Rod Gun. Fun to fly, but easy to get killed in.
Other Vehicles
- Pelican-Human dropship
- Covenant Dropship
- Wraith-The Covenant mortar tanks, very powerful.
- Shadow-The Covenant equivalent of the Warthog, was removed from the game.
Levels
*Spoilers Section!*
These are extra species you will begin to encounter in level six.
- Flood: Insection Form-Little buggers that swarm you. One shot from any gun kills them. You can generally ignore small amounts of them if you still have your shields.
- Flood: Carrier Form-Giant exploding walking pods. You don't want to be near them when they go off. They can also set off nearby plasma grenades, and they release Insection Form Flood upon detonation.
- Flood: Warrior Form-Comes in two types: human and Covenant. Generally the same, but the human type are slightly smaller. Both can use any weapon (including rocket launchers and shot guns) and can get back up after shot down. Sniper Rifle is useless against them.
- Sentinels-Flying robots with a sem-powerful laser stream. They're your friends until level 8. Generally not too much to worry about as they typically have other people to fight and can't worry about you. One fully charged plasma pistol shot will take them out.
For more information, read the prequel novel, The Fall of Reach.