- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
best halo moment had to be in my university house (or college for you guys in the U.S), eight of us playing team dm all vehicles on, no radar. i was going through a rough patch at the time, seeing the college counsellor, because i missed back home, and my girlfriend was 200 miles away at her college so i wasnt sure if we were going to stay together and i was feeling at a low point in my life. it was largely known that i was the best of all my family and friends back on my home turf, and thus had hung up my pad and retired from the game, due to there being no real challengers known to me. it had gone nigh on 3 months since i had put the halo disc in my xbox, partly due to my poor black box giving up the ghost through overuse. well coming into a 24-7 gaming house was a shock to the system. they all loved their halo and they were all very good at the game. all i had was my reputation of old which the guys never knew of. i sat and i watched for a couple of weeks and i saw that they were good, and i lost faith in my abilities. one housemate in particular, who is pretty bad ass at games in general was very proud of his "madskillz" at halo and paraded around the room like a peacock on heat after every match, flexing his fat arms which he used to call muscles, like shaun micheals of WWE fame. the housemates liked to play for fun, but he started to turn it into a real fight almost. then one fateful night, my pal from back home came to visit, and being quite good at halo himself suggested a match. i wasnt as quick to agree as i had been in my 'yard' and he was pushing it so much, that i didnt really have a choice. he insisted on team play, and seeing as we had slaughtered halo on legendary together, the first time we ever played the game, he made sure that we have the two weakest players on our team. the other housemates had been curious as to why i didnt want to play the game, thinking perhaps it was the newbie fear of being trashed, when really it was veterans pride that was stopping me. after all i had retired champion right? well he started shooting his mouth off at the rest of the housemates as to what a team we had formerly been and so the slanging match and the threats and the insults began. 8 players, 2 xboxs, lotsa cable and two different rooms. it was all set up and ready to go. well i can honestly say ive never had so much intense fun in my life. there was a team spirit like nothing i have ever experienced, a real sense of something to lose, as each life was precious and we could not under any circumstances let those blues win, especially as the house champion was all set to rub whatever foulness he could think up into our faces. it was a dramatic match with all of us pulling our weight and i honestly cant recall that much other than the sweat, the fear, the screams, the panic, the adrenaline spiking through my body, the roar of the red team and then the blue of the post game carnage report. my heart was thumping. i had a buzzing in my ears. my team were screaming, from the other room. we had won, i realised that much, but i had still to take in the score. to my surprise, shock and delight i had the highest number of kills of either team, but what really stood out was the fact that i had no assists, implying that every time i went for a target, i got them, and even more awesome to my mind: Not a single death. Deaths: 0. La Morte: NIL! i was the same masterchief, from beginging to end, not a new suit or resurection in sight. I stumbled into the next room, where i found all my team mates flexing their pecs at the blues, saying generic pumped up things, just to wind them up to the point of a physical fight. when asked for a rematch, they made their excuses and left for the chinese takeaway. i was back baby, I WAS BACK!!!.....
its amazing the effect that something like that can have on your self esteem. i started to get on better with my housemates, it calmed "that" housemate down, i stopped needing to see a counsellor, i told my girlfriend i loved her and was willing to do anything to make it work, have since got her into halo, (strip poker halo: for every kill, an item of clothing comes off, but that is another best halo moment!) she has pre ordered halo 2, and my life is good again. that about sums up my feelings for halo, and the time the game gave me back something in return.
thank you bungie!