As a seminal Main Game shooter released in 2001, you step into the role of Master Chief, a super-soldier fighting humanity's war against the Covenant aliens on the mysterious ring-world, Halo. The core gameplay loop involves intense first-person combat, tactical weapon selection (limited to two weapons), and strategic use of rechargeable shields. Its distinct feature is the seamless integration of infantry fighting with vehicle combat across large environments, offering a deep console shooter experience that defined its era.
This seminal title, first released in 2001, established a new benchmark for first-person shooters on console platforms. Players step into the armored boots of Master Chief, a biologically augmented super-soldier known as a Spartan. The premise begins amidst a desperate struggle for humanity's survival against the Covenant, a zealous alliance of alien races intent on extermination. After a devastating loss, the last surviving human ship makes an emergency jump, only to discover a mysterious, colossal artificial ring-world designated "Halo." Marooned on this alien structure, the player engages in a guerrilla war against the Covenant forces while simultaneously racing to uncover the ancient secrets hidden within the ring itself.
This game is fundamentally a first-person shooter, emphasizing fluid movement, strategic combat, and exploration across large, open environments. A key feature that defined its success was the introduction of a two-weapon carrying limit, forcing players to make tactical decisions about their loadout before engaging hostiles. Furthermore, the inclusion of rechargeable shields provided a layer of defensive management absent in many contemporary shooters of the era.
The gameplay loop centers on intense firefights against varied Covenant enemy types, each possessing distinct behaviors and strengths. Players utilize a diverse arsenal of human and alien weaponry, often requiring them to switch between ranged engagements and close-quarters combat.
The game’s uniqueness stems from its successful translation of complex shooter mechanics to a console controller, largely due to its refined control scheme and the introduction of vehicle combat. Players frequently transition from infantry combat to piloting various ground and air vehicles, adding significant tactical depth to large-scale battles across the ring's diverse landscapes.
The atmosphere is one of isolation and high-stakes survival. Stranded far from Earth, the narrative builds tension as the Master Chief, guided by the shipboard Artificial Intelligence, Cortana, navigates ancient ruins and hostile alien installations. The environment of the ring-world itself serves as a major element of the experience, shifting from lush alien jungles to imposing, metallic structures.
This main title has seen wide availability across multiple platforms since its initial launch, including the original Xbox, Xbox 360, PC (Microsoft Windows), and Mac systems. It is important to note that while the core experience remains consistent, the game has received official remasters and remakes over the years, offering updated visual fidelity.
Regarding additional content, this specific release does not feature any downloadable content (DLCs). However, it has been supported by one official expansion pack that builds upon the base game's content.
The original version of this game was first released in November 2001.
The content of this game is suitable for persons aged 16 years and over only. It contains: Realistic looking violence.
Medium level animated violence

Experience Where the Legend Begins Halo: Campaign Evolved is a faithful yet modernized remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign. Experience the original story rebuilt with high-definition visuals, updated cinematics, and refined controls, plus three brand-new prequel missions featuring the Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson. A broader arsenal of weapons, vehicles, enemies, and gameplay-modifying “Skulls” – optional modifiers that change combat in fun and challenging ways – add fresh tactics and endless replayability.

Start your engines! Prove your driving skills and win trophies in every race track! Unlock all 15 vehicles and customize your experience to your liking! Warthog Rally is a campaign mod that let's you race against the time to win trophies. You will unlock more vehicles as you win trophies. You can also choose to spawn in a bunch of enemies and add some passengers in your vehicle.

You are Zulu 1, the leader of fireteam Zulu, a Spartan III commando team. Take part in the Siege of Paris IV with pre-2000s art-style and classic-esque gameplay.

A custom mission for Halo: Combat Evovled, set in the Resistance universe. Your squad will infiltrate a British military base that is home to valuable Gray Tech, a powerful and experimental piece of technology that could change the course of the war. The objective is simple: get in, grab the tech, and get out. However, with heavy Chimeran forces, this is no easy feat. Get ready to lead your team, infiltrate the British base, and secure the Gray Tech. Good luck Specter.

Investigate a mysterious distress signal and find out what happened. Mercury Rising is a custom campaign mission based on a multiplayer map Mercury Falling.

CRASH AND SPLASH IN THE TWIN PACK OF THE DECAMILLENNIUM! Go beyond in an original mission by members from Digsite, Crash Site invites you right to the fight, reinforcing allies & eliminating Covenant on the search to uncover the island's mysteries.

In this mod, all enemies and allies will multiply once they die, turning small fights into a real battlefield not to mention the amount of explosions that there will be!

Halo CE+ is a 20th anniversary project by VKMT that encompasses all 3 main versions of Halo Combat Evolved: MCC, Custom Edition, and even Original Xbox. 4 brand new MP maps are included featuring new weapons, content, and even restored cut content from Halo 1's development. MCC users will also get 2 additional party maps. Users will also be able to download the tags and content used to build the mod and create their own maps.

Takedown: Extermination is the final level in the Operation Takedown series (Halo: Custom Edition Mod). Go after Patriarchus and find the forerunner weapon. Extermination features 8 mini-levels, all that bring their own refreshing style of gameplay, including a rainy forest, a city island, and a snowy plateau.

A new Firefight map for Halo Combat Evolved featuring weapons from the mod SPV3

A full, modded Campaign for Halo Combat Evolved that tweaks the sandbox to make a more gratifying and decision-based game, where every piece of that sandbox has a distinct role.

Firefight Descent: Quarantine is not your average firefight. Building upon the original Firefight Descent, a vicious enemy has been introduced into firefight that has rarely been seen before.

SPV3 is a total overhaul of the original Halo, adding new weapons, vehicles, enemies, features, graphics, extended levels, new levels, new story terminals and much much more. Featuring a total playtime of over 24 hours on Heroic and Legendary difficulties, SPV3 is the largest and most feature rich Halo campaign to date. And to top it off, it is built with gameplay as a focus first and foremost, meant to expand on yet capture what made Halo Combat Evolved one of the best first person shooters of all time.

Halo 1: NHE is a modded version of Halo: CE that allows for a dedicated Xbox to host games between two joining Xboxes on LAN. This allows for players on two separate Xboxes to play against each other without one Xbox having the advantage of being on host (i.e., both Xboxes are essentially playing on a dedicated server). It also includes other technical tweaks and new maps.

SOI's Singleplayer Adventure is a complete overhaul of the original Halo CE campaign, which provides updated graphics and new features. Every single aspect of the original campaign has been changed: characters, vehicles, weapons, even the BSP shaders and the musics. Other than aestethics, you will find also a wide range of weapons, each one with its unique functions. Assault Rifle has an attached grenade launcher (which acts like the Pro-Pipe from Reach), Rocket Launcher has an overcharged mode that fires faster rockets, Needler now is a burst-fire weapon, and so on. Vehicles have been improved as well, and same goes for the encounters and the actor_variants.

A reimagining of the fourth level of Halo: Combat Evolved with a visual overhaul, a complete redesign of the layout & weapon sets, and expanded set pieces.

Takedown: Project Lawson is a single player map based off the an extended version of the Danger Canyon bsp, as well as some custom BSP. It features complete cinematics as well as a variety of gameplay situations.

Relive your moments as Gray through Ice fields with updated cinematics, tagset, and gameplay. Catch up on the Takedown lore by replaying The Introduction that started it all.

As the Battle on Installation 04 rages on between the Covenant and UNSC forces, an evil so terrible lies silently in slumber. In the pursuit of knowledge and power, the Covenant unleash a force that even they fear. As Containment Facilities across Alpha Halo are breached, one in particular is at the forefront of this. On a lone island in the middle of Installation 04's many seas, a facility unlike the others contains something that will make the Flood thousands of times more formidable to combat. A Gravemind lies dormant deep inside the recesses of this vault. The Battle for Installation 04 is about to reach its pinnacle.

Welcome to Firefight Descent. Firefight Descent is not your average firefight. With a focus on cinematic vibes and player interaction, this map takes cues from many of the things that made past firefights great. Descent breaks away from the usual perceptions of firefight. The map makes use of infinite play, game-changing decisions, and cutscenes to give a new and fresh experience. It is also the first firefight map for Halo Custom Edition to use a bsp (or level geometry) specifically made for the purpose of firefight. -Before you start the firefight, take a look around. Who knows what things you might find.-
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