Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved is a first-person shooter created by Bungie that premiered as a launch title for the Xbox in 2001. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS by Gearbox Software. It features the super-soldier "Master Chief" fighting against the Covenant, an inter-species alliance of aliens, on a ring world. Continuing the success of the franchise were its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3 which formed the Halo Trilogy (until the release of Halo 4, and later on Halo 5: Guardians).

Gameplay
Halo: Combat Evolved is a sci-fi first-person shooter taking place five hundred years in the future. The player takes control of super-soldier Master Chief as he fights across the mysterious ringed superstructure "Halo".

As is standard with first-person shooters, the player is equipped with two guns at all times, and can switch out their guns for alternative choices. Aside from guns designed by the humans, the player can also pick up guns from the Covenant, one of the alien enemy factions in the game. Both choices require different approaches: the plasma-based Covenant weaponry will overheat if too many shots are fired in succession, while human weaponry require loading and ammunition.

Plot
The game takes place approximately 500 years in the future. Equipped with faster-than-light travel, mankind has ventured out into the universe. In doing so, they have come into conflict with an alien alliance known as the Covenant, who have devastated human's interstellar colonies but have yet to discover Earth.

The game opens with the cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn fleeing from a Covenant fleet, decelerating nearby a mysterious ringworld. The Autumn's Captain, Jacob Keyes, has super-soldier Master Chief, who is in suspended animation aboard the ship, awakened and tasked with escorting Cortana, the ship's AI, off of the ship. While Master Chief and Cortana escape to the ringworld's surface using escape pods, Keyes crashes the ship on the surface.

Reception
Many claim that the Xbox's success is largely due to Halo carrying the burden of the console entirely on its back. While this is not completely true, it was the most respected game in the library for quite some time, and the number of people poised to buy Halo 2 on or shortly after its launch was extremely impressive.

Red vs Blue, a Machinima film series, was created with the Halo game by former writers of Drunkgaming.com, and has garnered much acclaim for its witty dialogue and snappy editing. The series has inspired many other game players to make their own films with a variety of titles.