Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversaryfor Windows

When talking about revolutionary games, Halo always comes to mind. The first entry in the now-iconic franchise impresses with gorgeous visuals, as well as thrilling and challenging gameplay.

Battle enemies, human or otherwise

One of the best parts of the games is battling hordes of enemies in one of four vehicle types you can drive within the wide-open maps.

Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved quickly became one of the most popular and best-selling video games of 6th generation consoles and PCs alike. It sold over 6.43 million copies in its lifetime across all platforms.

Fight through a challenging single-player campaign consisting of 10 action-packed levels as the iconic Master Chief. Players will have to fight against the genocidal alien race known as the Covenant, following the protagonist’s violent crash-landing on Halo, a bizarre ring-like world.

The main story takes a solid 12 hours to beat on standard difficulty settings. The dynamic nature of fights, besides well-balanced difficulty modes and a basic, yet fun multiplayer component gives players excellent replay value.

You test your skills in multiplayer modes you’d expect from a shooter: slayer (deathmatch), team slayer, king of the hill, and capture the flag.

Both human and alien units have their unique cars, hovercraft, and different weaponry. Experiment and try different combinations as each one of them has its strengths and weaknesses, making enemy encounters always exciting.

Halo: Combat Evolved was easily the best launch title for Microsoft’s original Xbox in 2001 and became the must-have title for gamers worldwide.

Where can you run this program?

You can run this game on older Windows XP PCs as well as on modern Windows systems, on the Xbox and Mac OS X+.

Is there a better alternative?

No. If you’re talking about a pure sci-fi FPS from that generation; Halo sits at the top. Following its success, more studios started producing games with similar themes and game mechanics like Half-Life 2, Call of Duty: Advanced and Future Warfare, etc.

Our take

During a time when the gaming market was flooded with WW2 shooters, the original Halo amazed gamers with its exciting sci-fi plot, revolutionary game design, and otherworldly locale.

Should you download it?

Yes. Halo: Combat Evolved is a true classic in the FPS genre and still holds up to this day with its intense story-driven campaign and fun multiplayer.