When the Xbox first arrived on the scene, people were a little sceptical about it, with its electric-heater looks, overweight controller, and Microsoft's unproven credentials as a console-maker. But a crucial turning point in winning people over was the release of Halo and its excellent multiplayer mode. No map captured the impressive scale and technical prowess of the original Halo as Blood Gulch. The map was vast and open in a way that few online maps before it were, set in a red-rock canyon with bunkers at opposite ends. It did a great job of pushing the game's vehicular combat too, and trying to get from one base to the other on foot was akin to trying to perform a D-Day landing in a Santa Claus outfit and a pair of flippers. Being a Capture the Flag map, the best moments on Blood Gulch would be capturing the flag, then zig-zagging back to your base in a Warthog with your teammate raining hell down on pursuing enemies. You'd inevitably be at death's door when you finally delivered the flag back to your base, but the air-punching feeling of elation when you made it was a thing of beauty.
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
