Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved is a First Person Shooter released in November of 2001 by Bungie Software for the Microsoft Xbox. The series continued with Halo 2 and soon to be future Halo 3.

Speed Runs

The Speed Demos Archive hosts Halo competition. Halo runners compete on a variety of different levels and difficulties; the current combined time for Legendary on Single Player is 1 hour, 35 minutes, and 57 seconds.

Speed Run Strategies

General Tricks

Backpack Reloading

When you have to (or want to) reload your gun, press X, X, then Y (or equivalent). This will result in you being able to switch weapons, but your gun will still reload. This lets you fire your other weapon while the other one is reloading in your pocket.

Grenade/Rocket jumping

Simply throw a grenade on the ground, stand over it, and jump when it explodes and it will propel you higher than a normal jump. Very useful for getting to high places. Rocket jumping works the same way and gets you higher than just a grenade, but you need to put more distance between you and the explosion (by jumping off a small ledge or something) because it does more damage.

Double Melee

Simply press melee, grenade, and melee in rapid succession. This will allow you to punch twice in a row incredibly fast; very useful for situations in which you need to dish out a lot of damage in a short amount of time. The one drawback to this trick is that you end up throwing a grenade, so make sure you run out of there quickly.

The Pillar of Autumn

Triggering the Bridge Cutscene Early

Walk straight into the small-ish hallway leading to the bridge, and just before you have to turn left, simply walk backwards and the cutscene will trigger.

Shortcut in the stair room

About 2/3 of the way through the level, there is a room with a set of stairs. Normally, you have to walk up both flights of stairs and around the room to exit. You can, however, toss a grenade (preferably plasma) on the platform halfway up the stairs, then jump off of it onto the ledge above you, and proceed into the next room. Note: If you are having trouble getting the grenade on the stair platform from the bottom of the stairs, try aiming up at the ceiling so the grenade falls down onto the platform. This method can be seen in Condorman's Pillar of Autumn run for the Going Nowhere Fast contest.

Halo

Shortcut to the Light Bridge Switch.

In the light bridge room bridge in the large tunnel, you normally turn right and go through a small hallway to get to the light bridge switch. This shortcut isn't much faster in that it doesn't cover less distance, but it definitely reduces the number of enemies you have to fight, which is something you will need if you're on the higher difficulties. Instead of going for the small ramp/hallway to the switch, drive past it, almost to the edge of the cliff, and position your hog next to the large ramp on your right. Get out of the hog and hop on top of it. From there, you can jump up to the large ramp and proceed to the switch without having fought any enemies.

Truth and Reconciliation

Shortcut, no enemies, and finish the level early (Co-operative)

When you enter the loading bay inside the T&R, (Large room where dropships can fly in/out), head to the opposite side of the room, and look for a stack of purple boxes that is two boxes high. Put one player on top of the top box, then with the other player jump on top of the first player. Now toss a plasma grenade on his head, and jump when it explodes. If timed correctly, you should be able to jump up to the ledge above. Now proceed to your right, and you will notice a number of effects. You will have skipped a significant chunk of the level, there will be no enemies for a while, and the level will go to the cutscene before you actually complete it.

Shortcut, no enemies, and finish the level early (Single Player, Heroic-Legendary)

This is the same trick as above, but accomplished in Single Player mode. When you first enter the room, turn hard right and look for a small, raised, slanted, platform. Hop on the purple box near it, then hop on top of the platform. (Note: You may have to clear out the room of enemies before doing this trick). Here comes the tricky part. You will notice a small gap in the wall a foot or two above the ledge you are on; keep that in mind. Now toss a plasma grenade on the lower platform in front of you, then a frag grenade into the gap on your left. Place yourself about 5 feet away from them, and jump just as they go off (You will need to start off with full health). If performed correctly, you will be pushed up to the second floor. Proceed through the closest door and complete the level. You can see an example of this trick in Cody Miller's T&R Run for GNF.

Assault on the Control Room

Hopping the first bridge and erasing all enemies in the level (Single Player)

At the start of the level when you come out onto the first bridge, turn left and jump off as far as possible. You should land on a ledge below with little to no damage. Now turn around and jump down to the cliff below so as to land in the sort of "V" shaped crevice in the cliff edge. Now proceed along this ledge, hop down to the rocks below and land on a slanted part so as to reduce damage taken. This is illustrated in Sean Oehrle's AoCR run.

Hopping the first bridge and erasing all enemies in the level (Co-operative) As stated above, get onto the ledge to the left of the first bridge. Now have one coop player jump off and die. With the second player (who is on the lower ledge), jump off the ledge right before the other player respawns, jump to the right so he lands on the V-shaped formation on the cliff. Watch the movie here for a better demonstration of the the whole trick. (Source: HBO Tips & Tricks)

343 Guilty Spark

Quick way to the installation When you first exit the dropship the the start of the level, turn left and head down the path to the left of the crashed dropship. Keep going until you get to the end of this pathway, hop on the rock and then up to the ledge above. Turn left and you're at the installation. This saves time and skips a number of enemies.

'Quick way to the Flood room When you enter the third room (not counting the elevator room) you normally turn right and go through a door. Instead, turn left, throw a plasma grenade at the base of the purple crates, then quickly hop on top of them and jump at the ledge above. The grenade should propel you up onto the ledge. Proceed forward through the door in front of you and you will be at the flood room early.

External Links

• Halo Speedruns (hosted by the SDA, but only has runs from the Going Nowhere Fast), which was held in 2004.
• High Speed Halo Complete Halo running coverage.