I have a Spartan II emblem tattoo. That’s enough for a guaranteed spot on the list, right?

Joking aside, Halo: Combat Evolved nails one of the most important elements of a great story: mystery. I like not knowing exactly what’s happening. That’s one of the reasons I love games like Dark Souls, or television shows like Lost. The allure of The Hatch, for example, was irresistible.

I was on a ship. We’d fled from a battle. We found a giant floating ring in space. Then we had to land on it, and we had no idea what we’d find. That was a trail I wanted to follow, even when I could clearly see the box trap down the line.

I played plenty of Perfect Dark and Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64, but Halo was the first console shooter I played where I didn’t wrestle with the controls. Remember when switching to your grenades was a thing? Or switching to your melee weapon? Halo was the first game I played where gunfire, grenades, and melee thwacks were all one touch away. Also, being able to hold