Zach Goodier
This mod is a
full-conversion pack that adds unit and voiceover taken from the Halo
universe. You can play as either the
covenant or the UNSC (UNSC ftw). You can
research new technologies to create more advanced units than the basic frigates
and cruisers you start with, building up to iconic ship classes that allow you
to engage in epic space battles.
However, there is another threat in the world: The Flood. The original pirates have been replaced with
Flood units, who periodically attack and infect worlds. They’re virulent nature makes them the true
enemy in this game, where survival can be the biggest challenge of all.
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| Nearly all the iconic ships from the Halo universe make an appearance. |
Thank God the
Flood can be toggled off, because as I was playing my UNSC campaign, I
frequently found myself incredibly vulnerable to Flood spores that would rain
down on my fleet, instantly infesting my ships.
Even my toughest battleships where overwhelmed. I learned that flack ships, or any
anti-fighter defense, could help stave them off, but even then, the numbers are
so overwhelming as an entire Flood fleet rains spores across a system. You can push the Flood back, but like the
ancient humans in the Halo universe, it is generally an exhausting endeavor
that costs you a ton of valued units. A
small technical issue is that you can still invest money to “bribe” the Flood, although
it didn’t really serve any function, as far as I could tell.
This isn’t a major issue, you just need to keep in mind that investing
money rarely seemed to keep the Flood from attacking me, but that could have
been a bug, as well.
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| The Covenant lack some diversity, but all the major classes from the games are here. |
Forerunner
constructs make occasional appearances, always hostile towards all. Halo rings can now be discovered on the game
map, and existing wormholes will now spawn as Forerunner gates, which are often
defended by swarms of sentinels. This
makes it more difficult to use wormholes, which were often a simply way of
getting around quickly in the vanilla game.
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| A look at an UNSC Super-Carrier, as well as some of it's specs. |
Units are fairly
well-modeled with decent detail and animations for weapons. Covenant ships fire plasma and energy-based
weapons that look the part and feel authentic, while UNSC ships have MACs and
missile launchers, on top of cannons that pelt their targets. Covenant ships also have shields, while UNSC
forces don’t have access. This might
seem unbalance, but the trade-off is that Covenant ships often have much weaker
hulls, while UNSC ships are much more resilient to hull damage, and boast a lot
more health than their Covenant counterparts.
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| Wormholes are now Forerunner Portals, and they're generally filled with sentinel ships that will attack anyone on sight. |
Some ships don’t
quite feels as great on the Covenant end, and the lack of some of the more
recent standout ships, like the Infinity for
the UNSC, feel like a missed chance to work in some Titans.
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| If you see anything like this, then you're probably already dead, you just don't know it yet. |
Overall, this is
a very well-done mod that allows players to convert their vanilla game into an
epic Halo-themed campaign to build up as either the UNSC or Covenant and spread
out to colonize and/or conquer the stars… Just watch out for the Flood, because
the more you throw at them, the more they’ll have to devour. The mod is still in alpha, so some of these
issues will likely be adjusted
Good:
-Full-Conversion
with voiceover, textures, research, and planetary systems.
-Most of the
models are well-done with excellent weapon animations.
-Can finally see
a full space-battle in the Halo universe, and do it your way.
Bad:
-Some Covenant
ships lack diversity… for obvious reasons.
-Lack of Titans,
which would have worked perfectly for bringing in the Infinity
-Flood shouldn’t
have a “bribe” system in the game’s HUD, and they are not a playable faction.
Scully
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
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