Process Analysis Essay

ENTERTAINMENT

Become a Halo expert in a day
By BRANDI WYANT


Halo is the ever popular first person shooter game of this decade and with so many people playing it, it’s hard to not think about trying it as well, right? Instead of investing hours preparing for that big moment when the Xbox loads the game and it is time to display that hidden skill inside, invest a few minutes learning the ins, outs, and whats of Halo.

The game first premiered in mid-1999 as a first person shooter, and with its instant success Bungie Studios planned to release sequels every few years. With the continuation of its success, novels and soundtracks have been released. The controversial issue is that Bungie Studios has claimed that a Halo movie is to be released but years after waiting, no movie is in sight. Many say that Halo set the stage for all first person shooter console games because of its easy interface and the success of the “mission style” storyline.

Halo is a large ring that is used as a weapon to destroy every living organism within a particular distance from it. It was built by the ancestors, referred to as “Forerunners,” to stop the Flood (an alien race) by destroying their source of food and other life forms. The two main characters are Master Chief and Cortana (an artificial intelligence), and their mission is to disable Halo to save the human race. Even though there are more Halos scattered throughout the galaxy, this is the only one that is shown throughout the game.

Basic supplies to have to begin playing the game is obviously a television, an Xbox360 console, a controller, and the game itself. If online play is of interest a Xbox live membership card must be purchased prior to and that can be found at most convenience stores and game shops. To enhance the online experience, a headset can be added to the collection of supplies and this allows people to talk to each other while playing Halo online.

Before the game is loaded for the first time it is important to know the lingo. The following terms are not so much used in campaign, as they are used when playing online with others.

When looking at the home-screen two options are available: Campaign, which is the game itself where one plays through the missions and watches the storyline evolve, or the option to play on Xbox Live, which is where people can compete against each other. The difference between both options is that the only objective when playing Xbox Live is to kill as many people as possible. It is at the beginning of Campaign that the controls are learned and the story unfolds. Gradually, while passing levels the created character (whom is played as the main character Master Chief) evolves and struggles to destroy Halo. As the story evolves Master Chief travels to distant worlds and encounter aliens that he must kill.

On the other hand, playing online does not involve interactions with aliens, instead the players are competing against other spartans (whom are other people in reality.) They are able to battle with other people in different worlds than those shown in campaign mode. To win in these battles with other people they have to kill the most players; this is possible with the lack of “limited lives” (there isn’t a certain amount of times the spartan can die before they can’t play anymore, the character comes back every time.)

One thing that is the same in Campaign and Xbox Live is achievements, which are “medals” earned by doing rare or complicated things. For example, if playing online and 3 enemies are killed within 4 seconds of one another the player gets the triple kill achievement. Also, every time a level is completed or a skull is found another achievement is given. These achievements appear in a single list that shows achievements earned from both Campaign and Xbox Live.

Some terms strictly used while playing online are:

Camping- to camp is to hide in a disclosed location where one can kill people easily without being discovered. For example, the best place to camp is on a cliff with a sniper rifle that way you are not to be discovered but have optimum view of the players running around beneath you.

Noob- a noob is a person that lacks knowledge of something related to the moment when called a noob, or to be new to something therefore lacking knowledge of that which they are new to. An easy way to be deemed a noob is to shoot your own team member or do similar idiotic actions.

Own(ed)- to be owned is to lose, be made a fool of, or be embarrassed. A frequently used phrase would be, “OHHHH you just got owwnneeedddd!” This means that someone has killed you in an admirable way or you just lack the skill to kill other people and are an easy target.

Teabag- to teabag is to repeatedly squat over someone’s dead body. Teabagging is usually done at random after someone kills you/another player and decides to make a mockery of the dead body.



Along with those terms is a deeper phrase that should be understood when playing through each level. Skulls are “hidden contents” that are literally small skulls that are hidden in hard to reach locations on every level. Skulls can only be found when playing on “Hard” or “Extremely Hard”. When a skull is found it is picked up as if the player was picking up a weapon and then it is activated. Each skull, when activated, creates a special effect in the game. For example, if the “Sputnik” skull was found and activated that would change the mass of objects in the game. This is popular because by changing the mass of objects in the game an object can be thrown in greater distances. For example, if throwing a grenade by a dead body and this skull is activated the body will fly farther than normal.




Now that basic terminology is known, the next steps towards playing the game can be taken. The first thing that is needed when turning on the game is a gamertag. A gamertag is like a “profile” on the Xbox360 console; with this, information and progress can be saved, the player can also take screenshots in the game and save them as pictures, and be added as a friend to others when playing online. After creating a gamertag a customized character can now be made in the game, (this character is also referred to as a “spartan”). It can be made a male or female and the player can choose the color of the spartan’s body armor.

As long as these steps are followed and the lingo is used correctly, the ultimate victory is obtainable and the embarrassment of being called a noob can be adverted.