Episode 93 - Regenerating Biofoam - Halo: Combat Evolved

Did you sleep well? No thanks to your podcasting, yes. Welcome back to a moderately special episode of NOCLIP! JJ has returned to discuss Halo: Combat Evolved. The first game in one of the unarguably largest game franchises in history, Halo really brought the first person shooter to consoles in a way that managed to popularize the genre much more universally than had been accomplished in the past. While this growth really hit a fever pitch with the accessibility of online multiplayer through Xbox Live, the single player campaign mode was still an expected and important part of a console game experience, and Halo delivered on that front and was probably most known for its creature design, protagonist and stunning outdoor vistas before the ubiquity of team deathmatch really took hold. And this is what we’re going to be talking about today. How does the campaign hold up under a modern lens, and what elements of design did they get so right to spawn such a monumental series? We’re going to be talking about the game’s presentation of it’s sci-fi plot through visuals and dialogue, the way the game diversifies its encounters with enemy AI and weapon availability, and discuss the existential horror of being caught in a “Womp loop.” Thank you so much for joining us today. Halo is a game that has been looming as one of the “must talk about” games since the beginning (along with a few others I’m sure you’re thinking of we haven’t covered yet), and I’m really happy with how it turned out. What do you think about Halo? Does it hold up to modern games, or even other entries in the same series? Do you feel like a badass because you have grenades that stick to stuff and have a twenty foot tall vertical leap? Join us in discussing the game on our Discord, or leave us a comment on YouTube, and make sure to subscribe, because we’re heading into Mystery May in June, "Nancy June," next time when we talk about Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.