So I Tried... Cursed Halo

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for...

Halo: Combat Evolved. A game I’ve beaten a bunch of times before.

However, this playthrough is anything but Combat Evolved.

Admittingly, I’ve always wanted to try the mod Cursed Halo by InfernoPlus, but I never really got the chance to before because I’m not really into modding my games. However, the third version of Cursed Halo – Cursed Halo Again – was launched onto Steam Workshop recently for the Master Chief Collection, where all you need to do to mod the game is click Subscribe and play without anti-cheat, so I decided to give it a shot.

What I thought it was

Memes. Lots of memes and dumb weapons that turns the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign into a comedic nightmare where every gun is either next to useless or completely broken. I’ve seen a ton of videos on the mod, and I’ve seen various reactions but the most common feeling was that it starts off incredibly funny for the first few levels but at the latter half of the game, all the randomness gets frustrating and you just want to finish it as soon as possible.

What it actually is

Still full of memes, but used in a very fun way. What was once just a weapon pack has become an insane romp through the campaign that had me both laughing and amazed by how far the engine is pushed. New animations, custom cutscenes, upgrades not in the game, even more lines from Sgt. Johnson provided by TheVocalButcher. It’s insanely high quality while also being full of many, many jokes. It isn’t just a mod, it’s a completely new game… where Buff Riku will haunt your dreams.

Will I keep playing?

Yes. I will at least finish Cursed Halo. I’ve only played the first four levels, but I look forward to discovering more of what this terrible, terrible modder has done to Halo: Combat Evolved. In a day and age where most big AAA games are aiming to be realistic with a focus on drama and characters, it’s nice to play a labour of love that doesn’t want you to take it seriously. Every death is something to laugh at, every crash is probably because a marine fired the Crash Tool Gun, and every level is just one chaotic mess after another. If you have the Master Chief Collection, I thoroughly recommend trying it out. Just uh… avoid setting the difficulty to Legendary. And I hope whatever god or higher power out there shows mercy if you decide to play on LASO.