The Final Showdown: Light in Video Games: Halo

A personal favourite.

Halo is my favourite game of all time. It was and I believe still is one of the most coherent game experiences out on the gaming market. Since it's original release back in 2001, Halo was the first of it's kind to bring a deep story, stunning environments, unique characters and a compelling OST. Every aspect of Halos design complimented each other incredibly well, thus making it one of the most coherent and beautiful games of all time. Halo set the benchmark for the FPS genre and made it's place known within video game history. To this day Halo is still one of the most famous FPS games of all time, it was the reason Xbox prevailed and I believe still is the reason Xbox are strong.

What did it for me was the way everything just 'fitted' together. The story was so well written and the roles of characters never seemed far fetched or too unrealistic, despite the nature of the game. The environments were visually stunning and so vast, it was difficult yet fun to comprehend just how massive your space was, whether to fight or explore. The score is also one of the significant features of Halo for me, as it was the glue that stuck all the other pieces together. It built an atmosphere and generated intense emotions within all areas of the game. I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember and I have played many, many games, but Halo was the first to really captivate me and invite me into a new world I'd never experienced before. It was incredibly exciting and quite over whelming in fact, just to comprehend the mixed emotions when I first played Halo: Combat Evolved.

Throughout the series, Halo has always been a game that focuses on small yet very important details. Although renown for it's captivating soundtrack, lighting was and still is very much considered within the franchise. As previously mentioned, many Halo environments are extremely vast and contain a lot of different lighting techniques. There is so much in an environment that is visible that needs correct illumination, or else the appearance can become flat and potentially destroy the believable atmosphere. Sky lighting has always been a focal point in my admiration for environmental design in Halo. There are so many detailed lighting techniques in the Sky, such as planets, stars, moons, space shuttles, insects and weather, that they need to be considered individually so that the correct method of lighting is used. Whenever I look at a sky in Halo, I appreciate just how much effort the designers must have went through in order to achieve such beautiful visuals. Another effective use of lighting, is how it is used to represent the futuristic nature of the series. It is definitely a strength in the Halo franchise, just how well lighting is manipulated to achieve a dynamic and coherent alien world.

Here are some images showing the advanced lighting methods in Halo 4: