Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo's storyline is linear; there is only one ending (in contrast to other first person shooters such as Deus Ex). It is presented to the player through an instruction manual, scripted events and conversations during the game, and a number of cut-scenes rendered using the game's graphics engine. This method of storyline delivery is common among modern video games. The Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved allows one player to play the campaign alone, as well as allow two players to play through the campaign in split screen. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved allows only one player to play through the campaign, unless the Halo Custom Edition program is being used, in which case, the campaign is disabled completely.


Halo ArtHalo Combat Evolved Campaign levels:

Pillar of Autumn
Halo
The Truth and Reconciliation
The Silent Cartographer
Assault on the Control Room
343 Guilty Spark
The Library
Two Betrayals
Keyes
The Maw
[edit] Brief Summary
Halo, like previous Bungie releases such as the Marathon series, has an intricate plot.

It starts out as the Master Chief, a SPARTAN supersoldier races to protect a human spaceship, the Pillar of Autumn, from the Covenant, an evil group of aliens bent on obliterating the human race. After evacuating the ship, he crash-lands on Halo, an ancient alien (non-Covenant) artifact found in space. The Covenant got there first, and are trying to use it as a weapon against the humans (known as the UNSC).The Humans, as well as the Master Chief, fight back, using everything they've got. But the Flood, a deadly, virulent race that lives only in the form of infecting others, gets accidentally released by the Covenant. This slows the UNSC but does not stop them. The Master Chief flies to the Pillar of Autumn, which crash-landed on Halo. When he gets there, he explodes it engine core, destroying Halo, the Covenant fleet stationed around the ring, the Flood inhabitants, and even a few UNSC soldiers make it out of the chaos alive.

[edit] Backstory
The events which transpire in Halo's gameplay must be understood in the context of its backstory, created by Bungie and elaborated in several novels written after the release of the game. Noteworthy is its use of the oft-used battle between monocultural radicalism and liberalism. Also present, although less pronounced, is the likewise popular theme of blind religion (Covenant) versus free-thought secularism (UNSC).

A summary of this backstory is presented below.

[edit] Early Conflicts
Main Article: United Nations Space Command
2160-2200: This is a period of brutal unrest in Human history in which Governments and Factions fight for control of Earth and its colonies.

As overpopulation and unrest mounted on Earth, a number of new political movements were formed including the left wing Koslovics led by Vladimir Koslov and the fascist Jovian Frieden (which attacked the UN Colonial Advisors on Luna) and UN-sponsored military forces begin a pattern of massive buildups which culminated in the first Interplanetary and Rain Forest Wars of the Jovian Moons Campaign. After the successful Marine attack on Mars, recruitment drives and propaganda tactics strongly bolstered UNSC forces. They defeat the Koslovics and the Frieden on Earth and crush their remnants throughout the Solar System: both factions were defeated in the face of massive, unified UN military.

[edit] The Human Colonization of the Orion Arm
Main Article: United Nations Space Command
In the year 2291, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) successfully develop humanity's first Slipspace drive, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. For the first time in history, the rapid colonization of other worlds is made possible. By 2390, 210 worlds have been occupied by humans, and are being actively terraformed to suit man's needs. These worlds are to become known as the Inner Colonies. By 2490, the UNSC's fledging interstellar empire has expanded to over 800 planets throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. During this period, the planet Reach becomes the headquarters of the UNSC military, and is destined to become the most heavily fortified world under human control.

[edit] The Fall of the Outer Colonies
Main Article: United Nations Space Command
Cole's fleet manages a victory at Harvest, but at a high cost - two thirds of his ships are destroyed. Despite significant tactical brilliance on the part of Human commanders, Covenant technology guarantees a four to one kill/loss ratio in most battles. One by one, the Outer Colonies fall below the onslaught, and by 2535, virtually all have been destroyed.

[edit] The Spartan Project
Main Article: SPARTAN
By 2517, several years before contact with the Covenant was made, the UNSC military embarked on a secret project to create a group of elite soldiers that would deal with occasional unrest in the Colonies. Codenamed SPARTANs, these genetically enhanced troops were trained from the age of 6 into a life of battle, and became a great asset against the Covenant. While humans suffered defeat after defeat in space, they could almost always prevail with the help of the SPARTANs in ground engagements. The main character of Halo's gameplay, the Master Chief, is a veteran SPARTAN of the SPARTAN II project after an unfortunate failure of the first SPARTAN program. All SPARTANS were given special armor designated MJOLNIR, which can increase their strength and speed. They were the only ones who could wear it as those without upgrades would be thrown into convulsions and die.

[edit] The Battle of Reach
Main Article: Battle of Reach
By 2552, the UNSC Outer Colonies have been ripped to pieces by the Covenant war machine. The Covenant now attack the Inner Colonies, the very places that the UNSC fought so hard to keep peaceful. In a move of desperation, UNSC orders a secret plan to capture a Covenant ship using a SPARTAN task force and find the coordinates of their home planet. A group of SPARTANs, led by the Master Chief, are chosen for this mission, and board a specially outfitted ship known as the Pillar of Autumn (under the command of Captain Jacob Keyes). This plan, however, is interrupted when the Covenant launch a surprise attack on the fortress world of Reach.

This battle was the largest the war had seen so far. The UNSC Fleet (composed of hundreds of the best starships built) fought valiantly, but the planet is overrun and the fleet destroyed by sheer overwhelming numbers. The fortress world of Reach falls, glassed under the feet of the Covenant horde. Worse still, the Master Chief thinks that all of the SPARTANs but himself are killed on the surface of the planet. The (supposedly) last remaining SPARTAN, the Master Chief, escapes with the Pillar of Autumn. In accordance with the Cole Protocol (a military action demanded of all UNSC ships), the Autumn makes a blind Slipspace jump, and emerges in the vicinity of an unexplored and remarkable world.

[edit] Arrival at Halo
Main Article: Alpha Halo
The Pillar of Autumn exits Slipspace to find a mysterious ring shaped space station orbiting a Gas Giant. The ring, quickly named "Halo", is obviously artificial and teeming with life. A Covenant fleet, however, is also present, and a subsequent battle heavily damages the Pillar of Autumn. Captain Keyes initiates the Cole protocol - all records of Earth's location are erased, and the Autumn is crash landed onto Halo. The ship's AI construct, Cortana, leaves the Autumn with the Master Chief in a Bumblebee escape pod which also crash lands on Halo.

Gameplay begins in earnest with the Master Chief's escape from the Autumn, and continues upon landing. The player will soon discover the origins and purpose of this world - and uncover a threat that forces even the Covenant into retreat.

As a literary sidenote, the ring, "Halo", borrows heavily from the Ringworld of Larry Niven and the Culture Orbitals of Iain M. Banks.