Halo: Combat Evolved

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• Quick specs
• Price: Free to try (One single-player mission, one multiplayer map); $49.99 to buy
• Operating system: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP
• Date added: October 17, 2003
• Total Downloads: 4,597,407
• Downloads last week: 16,233
• Product Ranking: #2 in First-Person Shooter Games
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• CNET editors' rating: 5.0 stars
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 457 votes
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CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: CNET Staff on November 09, 2008
Two years after the phenomenal success of Halo for the Xbox, Microsoft has finally ported this first-person alien shooter to Windows--just in time to promote the release of Halo 2 for Xbox. In Halo, you control the Master Chief, an enhanced soldier awakened from cryogenic sleep to save humankind from a nasty group of aliens called the Covenant. Although the PC version only adds a few maps and loses the cooperative mode, the impressive graphics, exciting gameplay, and variety of weapons and vehicles make Halo worth a try for any fans of first-person shooters.The demo features two vehicles, a substantive single-player mission, and one multiplayer map that supports up to 16 players on the GameSpy network. Both enemy and friendly intelligence are realistic, and a unique (for two years ago) defense system with rechargeable shields allows for intense firefights that don't permanently cripple the Master Chief. Once learned, the mouse-steering system allows for some fancy driving. The environments look awesome, and a subtle soundtrack enhances the experience. Be warned that the listed system requirements are a bare minimum. Adjusting video settings may be necessary to improve performance on some systems.

Halo Reach

Halo Reach

Halo is a science fiction video game franchise

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Last week downloads: 2,988

Related keywords: Battle games, Military games, Shooter games

Description of Halo

BrothersoftEditor: Halo is set several centuries in the future. After the development of the "Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine", the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) begins a program of interstellar travel and planetary colonization. Over 800 planets are colonized in 200 years, categorized as "Inner Colonies" and "Outer Colonies". The Inner Colonies, being closer to EARTH, are more developed and politically stable. The Outer Colonies were reachable after the breakthrough of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. Due to the older planets' need for the raw materials and supplies the Outer Colonies provide, tensions and outright civil war foments Between the colonies and the UNSC. The UNSC creates the Spartan-II Project in order to covertly suppress these rebellions. Twenty-seven years before the events of the main game trilogy, UNSC communication with the Colony Harvest is lost, and the ship sent to investigate is destroyed by the Covenant, a theocratic collective of aliens bent on exterminating humanity.The Covenant leadership has declared humanity to be an affront to their gods, the Forerunner. By 2535, almost all of the Outer Colonies have been destroyed by the Covenant; in response, the UNSC vigorously enforces the "Cole Protocol", destroying material and ships that might lead the Covenant to Earth. The Covenant possesses a significant technological advantage, and proves nearly impossible for the UNSC to defeat in space engagements. These events are only alluded to in the video games, but their full descriptions are outlined in the novels Halo: The Fall of Reach and Contact Harvest, as well as in the real-time strategy game Halo Wars.

Requirements: No special requirements

Halo 3 For PC

Halo for Windows Trial Version 1

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• Quick specs
• Price: Free to try
• Operating system: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP
• Date added: August 15, 2007
• Total Downloads: 968,044
• Downloads last week: 3,829
• Product Ranking: #4 in Other Game Utilities
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• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 43 votes
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Publisher's description

From Microsoft: In the trial version, you can experience both single and multiplayer gameplay, including limited vehicle combat. In the single player campaign level The Silent Cartographer, you assume the role of super-soldier Master Chief as you take on the fierce alien faction known as the Covenant. In the multiplayer map Blood Gulch, up to 16 human opponents can light each other up with devastating weaponry and combat vehicles, including the new Rocket Warthog and the Banshee, either online or via LAN connection. This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.

What's new in this version:
This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.