Bitmob’s Kyle Russell
and Rus McLaughlin have covered this already, but the omission
of certain features – most notably, four player split-screen multiplayer – from
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is
nothing short of a travesty. Not only is it lazy on the developer’s part, but
it also means that I’ve been robbed of the chance to player the game against my
brothers.... again. Only this time, it’s for an entirely different reason; and
one of which I have absolutely no ability to correct.
It was 2003. My little brother had purchased
an Xbox bundle which included both Halo and
Top Spin. In those days, I was a
PlayStation fanboy, so this purchase incensed me to no end. That is, of course,
until I played through the game-changing campaign with my sibling. We then
proceeded to fight each other afterwards, in the game’s splitscreen competitive
mode. Usually, when in conflict with each other, things get heated; even
violent. This time it was different, however: I was happy to fly off in a
Banshee while he attempted to clip my wings with any gun he could get his hands
on. I was happy for Reuben to run me over, and then desecrate my corpse.
And soon, Beau would be
home for Christmas.
Beau is my older
brother: my more successful, infinitely-more sociable sibling who had turned
his back on videogames for a life of policy-making in federal politics. If
there was one thing that could bring him back to the fold, it was Halo. I was sure of it.
Reuben and I continued
to work in the lead-up to Christmas, with Beau arriving late Christmas Eve.
Fragging would have to wait, we would need to visit relatives and other things
that families do when the unit is brought together. My older brother’s return
to Nerdvana would be invariably delayed.
Finally, we managed to
trap Beau in front of the TV late on Christmas night. We loaded the game with
what we thought was our secret weapon. There was only one problem: we only had
two controls. How did this not occur to us until right then? I felt so stupid.
“No worries,” I said.
“We’ll rent one from a video store.” So then we drove to pretty much every
video rental outlet in North Brisbane. Every transaction worked exactly the
same: we engaged in small talk, we bought junk food, our expressions sunk when
we heard “Sorry, we don’t rent controllers for the Xbox.”
O Brother, where art thou?
After arriving back home
and still licking our wounds, we resolved to play the game regardless; with the
winner keeping a controller. It was great: we laughed, we cried, we died
repeatedly. Beau would escape to a life of international travel, marathon
meetings and a seemingly endless run of nights that ended in trendy bars. Reuben
and I still engage in a daily ritual of fragging, teabagging and griefing.
This Christmas, Beau
returns home from Thailand, and the Damen brothers will reunite with a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved. Again, we’ll take
turns at splitscreen multiplayer, with no ability to accommodate the three of
us at once. Most of the video stores we visited are out of business now, but
there’s still a need for junk food and small talk.
What are your favourite Halo memories? Did Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary disappoint you without even opening
the box?
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