Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox, 2001)

When I was originally gathering ideas for The Great Video Games, I was fairly certain that Halo (2001) was not going to make the list.  However, the more I thought about it, I do have a lot to say about this game, and it does deserve a place in this archive.  The game did receive massive critical acclaim, and every one of my friends was into it.  I wasn't allowed to even play it (I was 8 years old when it came out, and my parents were adamant that I did not play M-rated games before I was old enough).  When I did finally play it ten years after its original release, I was fairly disappointed.
Why was I so let down?  Perhaps it was because of the unreal hype that the game had built up.  Every new Halo release was an Earth-shattering event for my friends.  I just brushed it off with a "meh" back then.  I didn't even have an Xbox so I didn't care.  I eventually did play the multiplayer at friend's houses, and I was fairly bad at it since I never had the opportunity to practice.  I had more fun fooling around than trying to be competitive.
Another thing that added to the aura surrounding Halo was the controversy.  Politicians at the time attacked this game for being something along the lines of "the deepest pit of debasement and scandal" due to its violent contents.  Halo was their poster child that video games corrupt our kids and that all games should be illegal.  There were reports that kids had committed gruesome murders because they were influenced by the game to do so.  I think the controversy was a bunch of hooey, anyway, since actually playing the game, there isn't anything truly morally repugnant about it.
So what is it about this game that makes it good?  Well, I think (even though I don't like it) it did shape gaming in the 21st century.  With its deep weapons and control systems, vehicles, and the popularization of online multiplayer, it may have perfected the first person shooter.  It doesn't scream of "2001" like a lot of other games do, it has a fairly timeless feel to it.  The controls are perfectly functional, the graphics are still impressive (even beautiful), and multiplayer death-matches have a universal appeal (who doesn't enjoy paintball-esque gunfights?)
The story is fairly great too.  You play as the Master Chief, a Spartan-class marine, the highest rank of soldier in the 25th century this game takes place in.  The human race is in a space war with a race called the Elites, who want to use the enormous ring-world called Halo (which is a life supporting planet, space station and weapon of mass destruction) to eliminate life on the planet Earth.  Their motivation is the most original I've seen in sci-fi.  They are waging war due to a religious conviction they have.  They will also unknowingly release the Flood, a species of aggressive parasite.  Master Chief and his army division crash land on the Halo during a raid by the Elites, and Master Chief must destroy it, while protecting the sentient AI Cortana, who holds valuable information that would spell disaster for the humans if the Elites got hold of it.
In retrospect, I do have a great amount of respect for this game.  Thinking deeper about it, I think it may be an accurate portrayal of the feelings and politics of the early 21st century, the same way "The Graduate" is a reflection on the 60's counterculture.  This was a time directly after 9/11 when the USA was headed for war against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and when national pride was on an upswing.  Master Chief represents the all-American man, the perfect soldier who will never back away from the fight for freedom.  The Elites represent that foreign entity we were afraid of, and the Halo is the WMDs.  Perhaps the future will remember Halo this way, as an artful meditation on the culture it was born from and not as "that violent video game that politicians hated".