By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
On a recent trip to my local Dave & Busters, I discovered the “Halo” cabinet game “Fireteam Raven.” At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play the first-person shooter game, they’ve become a little dull, but after seeing some of the incredible gameplay, I used some of my tokens to see if I’d like it. I probably played the cabinet game for almost an hour.
The first mission: Escape, is fun, but the game got more challenging and enjoyable the longer I played. There is so much chaos, it takes a few minutes of playing to get used to the Covenant’s jarring attacks. The cabinet I was playing in had a glitch with the reload button. It was frustrating but I just reloaded faster when I felt like I was getting low on ammo. And the gun was very sensitive.
I watched maybe two episodes of the “Halo” series on Paramount and quickly realised it wasn’t that good. The battles (which were few) looked cheap and the characters were uninteresting. When I was in college, I remember friends camping out at Best Buy to get the newest “Halo” release. The game felt like a phenomenon.
When you kill the Covenant in “Halo: Fireteam Raven”, they make a similar sound to what a Xenomorph makes when they’re shot in James Cameron’s masterpiece “Aliens.” The “Halo” franchise is its own legendary franchise, but I think I enjoy “Fireteam Raven” because it reminds me of “Aliens,” my favorite sci-fi film of all-time.
The second stage: Rubble, has a “Dune” feel to it. It’s my favorite stage because there seems like there’s so much more action, and the skyline above the desert is a great backdrop when you’re firing at the Covenant’s attack fighters. You begin to understand and see an attack pattern when the fighters come swooping down at you in clusters of twos. You must use a great deal of ammo to sustain your health.
I’m late to the party when it comes to the “Halo” franchise, but an unlikely chance finding of a “Halo” game at a popular arcade has made me an intrigued fan.