While having my mid morning read of "/.", I found this story, pointing to an excellent review of the first person shooter for the Xbox, Halo, over on Voodoo Extreme.
- Halo"s visual prowess is unparalleled in today"s crop of first person shooters; the power of the Xbox allowed Bungie to go wild in the graphical department, spending polygons like pennies on detailed character and vehicle models with all the other bells and whistles you"d expect from a game optimized to run on a GeForce 3 based graphics accelerator. The massive outdoor levels come stocked with near photo realistic textures with water and sky effects even more beautiful than what the Unreal engine currently offers.
After playing through Halo a couple times I can safely say with no repentance that it"s one of the most engrossing games I"ve ever played in my entire life. Prior to Halo, I"d have to give the nod to Half-Life as the best first person shooter ever. But now, that award goes to Halo, as the game is masterfully presented and offers a rich gameplay experience until the very end. Truly, no other current first person shooter can match what Halo offers. Visually, the game is splendid, aurally; the Xbox has better sound support than the PC can match, and other than a few rare occurrences where the frame rates become somewhat choppy in wild firefights, it"s perfect. Not many games with multiyear development cycles live up to fans" expectations, but I think that Halo is one of those rare exceptions. If you love sci-fi themed first person shooters, Halo is a must buy even if you have to wait for the PC or Mac version. If you have an Xbox, you must own Halo. It"s just that simple.