Instead, my buddy and I spent a lot of time playing and replaying the Combat Evolved campaign. I finished once on Heroic, once on Legendary, and then never went back.īut I barely played the original Halo’s multiplayer at the time-only ever in splitscreen, and only with two people. There, I’m nostalgic for Lockout, Ascension, Zanzibar, all the time I wasted in those iconic arenas. Sure, I played every campaign, but I finished Halo 2 maybe twice and spent the rest of my time with it (hundreds of hours as a teenager) on Xbox Live. I associate the Halos that came after with multiplayer, primarily. Still, it’s the Halo campaign I’m most nostalgic to boot up.

It’s very much a game that tried a lot of interesting ideas, but with one foot still stuck in the ‘90s. Even the once-impressive outdoor levels feel small and stilted by today’s standards. Level design is dated, with an over-reliance on labyrinthine corridors, especially in the infamous Library level. Voice acting is passable, but pretty rough circa 2020. Meanwhile the humble Pistol has a 2x zoom and can one-shot through the Covenant with ease.

The Assault Rifle is equivalent to sneezing on most enemies. Fan-favorite weapons like the battle rifle and sword don’t exist here, and the rest of the roster is either highly situational or near-useless. And if you’ve played Halo: Combat Evolved before, you doubtless know the starting Pistol is the only gun worth using.

Halo 1 shotgun