10 Best Launch Video Games Ever
4. Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
Halo is Xbox. Since console gaming began, some potentially great systems made by strong, reliable companies have come and gone without leaving much of a mark. Sega’s Dreamcast comes to mind, for one.
However, when Microsoft entered the fray with Xbox, they had one lone soldier fighting to ensure the same fate did not befall them: Master Chief.
Despite being third best by most standards this generation, Xbox is still doing well in the grand scheme of things. In part, that’s down to the 360 hitting its launch out of the park and the One doing just about enough to keep old players on board while never really being able to drag that many over from the PS4 and Switch’s superior exclusives.
However, without Halo, they just wouldn’t have been in a position to do any of those things. Recent instalments have been spotty, but the original trilogy is one of the finest in gaming. To say its influence is felt on every modern day shooter is an understatement; several Halo mechanics, like a battlefield in action around you or true to life physics, are fundamental building blocks of the FPS genre today.
Plenty of games were labelled Halo killers; none ever really were.