ORIGINAL GAME PREVIEW / GAME OPENS ON CREATOR'S SITE
SHOOTER / CAMPAIGN SOLO OR ONLINE CO-OP FOR UP TO 4; ONLINE SLAYER FOR UP TO 16 (NOT TESTED)
Halo: Combat Evolved (browser port)
Bungie's 2001 Halo in a browser tab: the campaign, four-player co-op and 16-player Slayer, from a lobby that lists live matches you can join.
Classic games in your browser: every port with its download size →
OUR TAKE / EDITORIAL
Why it's on the wall
Real Halo in a tab, campaign and all, with a Battle Creek match seven players deep when we looked in.
Written by Neon Gamewall. An opinion, not a player rating.
GAME BRIEF
What's the game?
Open Halo CE is a recompilation of the Xbox game from the Halo 1 decompilation project, not an emulator. Confirm that you own the original and it plays Halo's opening cinematic, then drops you into the Pillar of Autumn's cryo bay to calibrate your look. The lobby beside the game lists matches as they start: Slayer and Slayer Pro on Blood Gulch, Prisoner, Hang 'Em High, Battle Creek, Derelict and Rat Race for up to 16, and the campaign in co-op for up to four, from The Pillar of Autumn to Assault on the Control Room on Legendary. Matches still running show a Join button, and the lobby has a chat.
BEFORE YOU PLAY
What to expect
Unofficial: Halo: Combat Evolved was made by Bungie and is owned by Microsoft. The site calls itself a non-commercial, open-source project and asks you to certify that you own a copy of the game before it loads; it supplies the game data itself. About 63 MB before the opening cinematic in our Chrome test: a 10.7 MB engine plus 52 MB of game data it keeps in the browser for next time. No ads and no account that we saw; 40 people were in the lobby when we checked. The same OpenCE code also runs on Windows, Linux and Android with a disc image of your own. Halo belongs to Microsoft, so this site could be taken down.
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or a gamepad; touch controls are listed too. There is a Controls button under the game. We checked it on desktop only.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
Common questions
Can you play Halo: Combat Evolved in a browser?
Yes. openhaloce.com runs the 2001 game, recompiled from the Halo 1 decompilation project, in a browser tab: the campaign solo or in co-op for up to four, and online Slayer for up to 16. It asks you to confirm you own the original first.
How big is the Halo CE browser download?
About 63 MB before the opening cinematic in our test: a 10.7 MB engine and 52 MB of game data, which the browser keeps so later visits start faster.
SOURCE & CREDIT
Meet the maker
OpenCE is a non-commercial, open-source project that recompiles Halo: Combat Evolved from the community's Halo 1 decompilation. The same code also runs on Windows, Linux and Android.
The game's AI build is not independently verified. Visit the creator's game page for current details.
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KEEP PLAYING
