There’s no question that Halo was one of the best action/shooter games ever made. It was a remarkable achievement in gaming and carried the Xbox at launch time. Its multiplayer had that James Bond Goldeneye/N64 feel where you could play it, the same levels, over and over again and love every minute.
I still like to dive into a quick slayer match in the Blood Gulch or dive, two at a time, in a Warthog and open up on enemies with the unlimited machine gun.
Not everyone knows exactly how much development went into Halo, and nowhere is that more apparent than in watching this old, 10 minute video from E3 2000, almost a year and a half before Halo launched November 14, 2001.
The E3 2000 trailer and I first crossed paths in the August 2000 PC Gamer CD-ROM. The disc had the Motocross Madness 2 demo teased on the front and also contained demos for Gunship!, The Time Machine and Force Commander.
This video is old. It has elements like a rocket launcher on the warthog and a really weird Master Chief’s voice. It was done cinematically — movie style — to show off at E3 and give a taste of what the game could do.
Enjoy this bit of history. It should be in a museum.