Halo: Combat Evolved
Bungie's sci-fi FPS that proved console shooters could rival their PC counterparts. Released November 15, 2001 as an Xbox launch title, Halo: Combat Evolved sent you to a mysterious ringworld as Master Chief to fight the alien Covenant—and turned LAN parties into a rite of passage.
Halo: Combat Evolved arrived on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox and immediately redefined what was possible for first-person shooters on consoles. Players took on the role of Master Chief, the armored Spartan soldier, fighting the technologically advanced Covenant on a massive ring-shaped world called Halo. The game's engaging campaign, smart enemy AI, and revolutionary console FPS mechanics proved that the genre could thrive outside of PC gaming.
The system-link multiplayer option became legendary in dorm rooms and basements, with split-screen LAN parties becoming a defining social ritual of the 2000s. Sequels Halo 2 (2004) and Halo 3 (2007) expanded the franchise's reach through Xbox Live, but it was the original's breakthrough success that established Halo as a gaming cornerstone and the Xbox's killer app.
Similar items
Original Xbox
Microsoft's first console was a giant black box that held a Pentium III and changed online gaming forever. Launched November 15, 2001, the Xbox arrived with the Duke controller (instantly mocked for its size), a built-in hard drive, and Ethernet port. Halo: Combat Evolved was the system seller, but Xbox Live (November 2002) was the revolution: console gaming went online with a headset in the box and broadband required.
GoldenEye 007
The Nintendo 64 first-person shooter that redefined console multiplayer: four players split-screen deathmatch, and an iron-clad house rule banning Oddjob because his short stature slipped under auto-aim. Rare's landmark game sold over 8 million copies and owned living rooms until Halo arrived.
Xbox Live (Original Xbox Era)
Microsoft's revolutionary bet on broadband gaming — the service that brought voice chat and Gamertags into living rooms and normalized trash-talking strangers over the internet. The $49.95 Starter Kit arrived in November 2002 with a wired headset, a year of subscription, and a radical demand: high-speed internet or stay offline. It worked — 150,000 kits sold in the first week.
Halo 2
When Bungie's sequel launched on Xbox in November 2004, 1.5 million people had pre-ordered it. Midnight launches erupted at 7,000 stores across North America. And its matchmaking system became the template that online shooters copied for years afterward.