My career playing Halo, or any true video game, actually, came when I first discovered the wonderful first person shooter in the barely popular youth lounge of my local library. There, while I was waiting for my 6th Grade math tutor to arrive, I started up a computer and wanted to kill some time. After checking my email and making sure there was no more homework that needed to be done, I saw that there was an application entitled ‘Halo: CE Demo’, under a games folder. Not knowing what I was about to become, (an unwavering, devoted Halo fan for the rest of my life), I began to play. The title screen in and of itself was dazzling. I had seen computer games before, but nothing as graphically advanced as this. Now, this is back before I had even had an XBOX, (I had a Game Cube at the time, which now lies lonely in a corner in my basement), but instantly, I was hooked, and was almost reluctant to get up from my seat when Mr. Scancella came into the library.
An hour and a half later, I was sitting at the desk with my own computer, and found a website that let me download that same demo onto my PC. I played countless hours scouring the campaign (on the demo, it was just the 4th level, The Silent Cartographer) and multiplayer (just the noble Blood Gulch). However often I played on these maps, I could never see them as getting old. They constantly held my attention and made me hungry for more. I was enraptured in awe by the massive Forerunner constructs, the Halo Ring, and the variety of Covenant aliens I had the pleasure of mowing down. I even typed up a complete walkthrough with tips, tricks, glitches, and cheats, on a website, and I could successfully complete The Silent Cartographer in less than ten minutes. But, still wanting more, and after several clips of Johnson ordering me to buy the full version, how could I say no to purchasing the full, unfettered Halo experience?
A week or two later, the copy of the game had shipped to my house. As I predicted, I spent the next five hours cooped up in my computer room, soaking in new levels and maps that I had never even imagined could have been possible. I explored the snowy wilderness of Assault on the Control Room, waged war against those opposite me in Beaver Creek, and more I knew that this was the absolute best game of all time.
Hearing of the sequel, I was ecstatic beyond belief. But, I had to allot time with my brother for use of his computer, since Halo 2 on a computer was only compatible with Windows Vista, which only he had. I managed, however, scraping up valuable hours in secret before he had even arrived home from school.
Finally, I begged for an XBOX, and I put in Halos 3 and beyond. From then on in, I was a true gamer, and I prided myself with the knowledge and skills of Halo and the Halo Universe. Now that ten years of Halo is approaching, I cannot be more happy, nor thankful, for those who brought to me my first (and most current) tastes and experiences of Halo: Bungie, Microsoft, Gearbox, 343i, and that computer of the Radnor Township Memorial Library.
-AMALGAMATION
