Name: Halo: Combat Evolved
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Gearbox
Media: 1 CD
HD Installation: 1.41 gigs
Dirt Cheap Price: Free(got it for my birthday)!
Halo was played on a Pentium 4, 3Ghz machine under Windows XP with a 128 meg ATI Radeon 9800(AGP) Pro All in Wonder card and 1.25 gigs of ram. It was running with all options turned to their highest settings and at a screen resolution of 1024X768. The game was played through on the "Normal" difficulty level.
Patches?
Yes, two.		 Just for kicks, let me present the recommended system requirements:

Hot-Fix v1.07 - Size: 4.7 megs

New Auto-Patcher - Size: 230k(if you download this first, the Auto Updater will automatically get HF 1.07 for you)

Both updates are available on the official Microsoft Games site for Halo.

 Windows 98SE/Me/XP/2000, 733 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, 1.2 GB available hard disk space, 8x speed or faster CD-ROM drive, 32 MB T&L capable video card, Sound card, speakers or headphones, Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device, 56.6 Kbps or better modem or LAN for online play; broadband to run a server
In a desperate attempt to lead alien forces away from Earth's position, a UNSC(United Nations Space Command) ship encounters a ring shaped planet; badly damaged, the ship and all of its lifepods crash on to its surface. Pursued by an alien force, you play the part of the "Master Chief", a cyborg soldier in charge of not only defeating the alien army, but discovering the secret of "Halo".

Are you staring at my breasts!?
 What's it all about?
Like Unreal Gold, it's a first person shooter set in seriously massive environments. Each area consists of various objectives, from search and rescue to straight-up assaults. Combat is played out through an assortment of high powered human and alien weapons, grenades and even melee attacks. Along the way, marine forces will actually help you in your fight as you take on waves of Covenant forces. To help you get from place to place, a variety of vehicles are at your disposal...of course, trying to figure out where to go in the world of Halo is a whole other ordeal. Sometimes the environments are *too* wide open, leaving you confused on where you need to be going...

Graphics - Great, though a lot of the time, it really looks like you're just playing the Xbox version of Halo on your monitor. There are times, though, when the graphics(the textures especially) just really stand out and make you go "Wow". I don't know if it's just seeing it on the high-res display of the monitor, or what, but some textures and areas just look far better than others. The planet's environments are vast and colorful, and have a very organic look and feel to them. Structures and buildings all convey a very cold, and uninhabited look with their ultra-shiny textures and unscathed appearance. The human character models, unfortunately, have a tendency to look overly-blocky resulting in a lot of "rectangle faces" and squared off appendages. Overall though, as you rarely get to hang out with any of the marines that long at all, you get over it pretty quickly. Enemy models, on the other hand, look great. Excellent, and very convincing textures help bring their alien technology to life.
Sound - The music itself, when it's playing, is excellent; sadly, Halo provides a very Tomb Raider-ish take on the soundtrack, only playing in certain sections of the game, and not for very long at all. The sound effects are also very good, with a very distinct set of explosions and other combat noises. More than anything else, what you'll remember are the various personalities of the marines and Covenant you'll come across in the game. The things these guys say crack me up.
Control - This is where PC Halo really excels over the Xbox version: Mouse and Keyboard control. Finally, no more of this dual-stick foolishness...we can play Halo the way it was meant to be played. Unfortunately, even the might of the mouse/keyboard config can't help the shit-control on the always-frustrating Warthog vehicle...
AI - Annoying, though predictable. Every enemy just seems to have some sort of behavior that will grind your last nerve, be it hiding behind a shield while taking amazingly well aimed pot-shots at you, fucking you with one-hit-kill items(like the sword) or even using the ol'SoF2 "let's just throw a grenade" AI mentality. In terms of making you really hate the enemy, Bungie has done an excellent job...but only at the expense of your patience...which is a high price, and a dangerous game to be playing.
Replay value - Extremely high. The single player game itself is just excellent, but add to that the multiple degrees of difficulty and you've got something that'll entertain you for a good, long while. Online multiplayer is also available, with two new weapons, vehicles and six new maps above and beyond the original Xbox content...plus you can actually play it online without any bullshit "tunneling" software and hassles. Unfortunately, co-op play was not included and is just a huge blow to the overall PC package. Co-op is one of the best features of the Xbox version...and still makes a strong argument for either keeping your Xbox copy, or going out and actually getting one. Depending on what kind of gamer you are, the trade off of true multiplayer online play may or may not make up for the fact that co-op was lost...doesn't for me...but judge for yourself.
Getting it to run - Easy. Pop the CD in, run the installer. Then go get the new "Auto Patcher", let it update the game, done. Oh, the game requires that the CD be in the drive, so be sure it's in there before you start it up. One odd thing about this install: It puts all your save game data in your "My Documents" folder under "My Games". Why? I wish I knew....

No pistol whippings for me, please!
 Tips for better gaming experiences:
When fighting a Hunter, simply dodge their attacks until they get close enough to where they'll charge at you. When this happens, step out of the way, immediately turn around and hit them in the back with your melee attack. You will kill them in *one* hit.

The Flood aren't exactly the most intelligent enemies...use this to your advantage. Unlike the Covenant, they won't even make an attempt to avoid or dodge a grenade. Stick a Plasma to one of them in a crowd for best results...

Still Supported?
You betcha. Help can be found in the Support Section of the Microsoft Games Halo website.
My rating: 90(out of 100) - Despite the issues with the AI, the control on some of vehicles and the fact that it couldn't seem to loose some of its console roots(checkpoint-only saves, console-like graphics, etc) during the conversion, Halo is still an excellent first person shooter for the PC. Actually, that's an understatement: Halo is one of the best FPS's out there, even on PC with its extremely crowded market. Sadly, in my book, major points had to be knocked off due to the lack of the Co-op mode...which, had it of been included would have jacked this game up to a perfect "100"...

Sister says: I don't know what the hell is up with those "recommended" system requirements, but this game sure-as-fuck won't run on anything like that. Barely runs on my kitty-PC(with Kitty-Windows). With that said, I'm not real thrilled with PC Halo, just doesn't seem to be kitty-friendly. Plus, this kitty wants Co-op so this kitty will stick with the Xbox version. Meow.
Fucking'em up, marine-style!
Damn this popcorn!
Your "friends" from the Library don't seem to like anyone.
The Flood seem to enjoy Plasma grenades...
Fun Stuff on the CD:
Not a whole lot...Direct X(yay), a very badly scanned-in PDF of the manual(but, in *6* languages. Yeehaw!) and a excerpts from three of the Halo paperbacks(yawn).
Now Chief knows(and knowing is half the battle):
For the hardcore Halo player, Gearbox has actually released a version of Halo called "Halo CE(Custom Edition)". This multiplayer-only, standalone version of the game allows users to create custom content for it, and share it with other CE users. This, along with the Halo Editing Kit, can be found in the Halo section of Gearbox's website.