Microsoft's recent announcement that Halo Studios will be significantly scaled down, with the franchise moving to Activision's stewardship, marks a poignant end to an era for the iconic series. For longtime friends Clay Purdom and Eric Sams, this news serves as a catalyst to revisit their shared history with Halo, a franchise that has been a constant in their lives for 25 years.
Their collaborative journey with Halo began in November 2001, shortly after the original game's release. While life has since pulled them in different directions, with Purdom living on the East Coast and Sams on the West, their bond has often been maintained through shared gaming sessions. They have played every Halo game together, sometimes engaging in hundreds of playthroughs of the original campaign, finding meditative flow states in familiar levels.
"When he texted me to suggest that we should write something about the remade campaign, I thought: should we?" Purdom recounted, reflecting on his initial reluctance. "I spent several weeks emailing him encyclicals to argue that we should instead do literally anything else at all with our time. I would kill a man with my bare hands for four hours of free time."
Sams, however, saw the announcement of the remastered campaign, "Halo: Campaign Evolved," as an opportunity to bridge the geographical and temporal distance that had grown between them. "I had to maneuver around some of his stock excuses to persuade him to write this," he admitted, "but he caved, as I knew he would, and we strapped on the headsets one more time."
Revisiting the Ring
As they dived back into the remastered campaign, their contrasting playstyles and approaches to gaming quickly became apparent. Purdom, now a father with limited leisure time, expressed frustration with Sams' more relaxed approach. "I am noticing several things as we play now, among them that I cannot stand the way Eric plays video games," Purdom stated. "There is something wrong with him at a cognitive level that either has gone undiagnosed over the years or has gotten worse."
Sams, on the other hand, embraced his perceived shortcomings. "I’ve come to a point in my life where I’m fine with admitting that I’m bad at video games," he said. He argued that Halo's brilliance lies in its ability to reward precision without demanding it, allowing for "spontaneity of loose-cannon play" to create memorable "Halo moments." He contrasted this with what he termed "modern gamers" who prioritize stats and optimization over the experience itself.
Despite their differences, the core gameplay of Halo still resonated. Purdom noted, "Halo still feels incredible. Its physicality, enemy AI, and level design are just alchemical." He highlighted how the game masterfully creates emergent scenarios, from a grunt's surprising charge to the spectacular destruction of a Banshee. These moments, which they termed "Halo moments," are a testament to the game's enduring design.
Beyond the Game
The shared experience of playing Halo became a lens through which they examined their own lives and friendship. Sams reflected on the passage of time, noting that the Chief has not aged in 25 years, while their own lives have progressed through careers, marriages, and parenthood. "It’s sobering to realize that the Chief hasn’t aged a minute in the 25 years since he crash-landed onto the Halo ring. For Clay and I that same span represents a discomfitingly large portion of our lives."
Purdom, however, found himself increasingly pressed for time, struggling to reconcile his desire for leisure with the demands of his adult life. He admitted to playing games more aggressively and streamlined now, driven by efficiency rather than pure enjoyment. "To waste time well is a luxury," he mused. "To waste it with a friend is one marker of a good life. That is something I have lost."
Their playthrough was not without its challenges, including troubleshooting audio issues and Purdom’s admission that he had lowered the difficulty to Heroic without Sams’ knowledge, deeming Sams too unskilled to handle Legendary. "All that talk earlier about the glories of legendary mode was somewhere between nostalgia and fan fiction," Purdom confessed. They ultimately completed the game on Heroic.
The Enduring Connection
In the end, the act of playing Halo together, despite the changed circumstances of their lives, reinforced their enduring connection. "It’s in these moments when I can turn my attention entirely toward the game while Clay slurs about how Iceman is a meta-text about 'the concept of douchebaggery' or some shit," Sams shared. "And it’s because of these moments that I can definitively say that Halo: Campaign Evolved 'has the sauce.'"
He further elaborated on the deeper meaning of their friendship, stating, "Clay is. Of course this setup can—and does—veer into the polluted precincts of competition, jealousy, and insecurity, but when working properly it more often serves a calming function akin to echolocation, of orienting yourself in space. In some inarticulable way, knowing how Clay is doing contributes a small percentage to my understanding of how I’m doing."
As they finished the game, the familiar Halo theme song played, a comforting backdrop to their shared experience. The retrospective playthrough, filled with both shared nostalgia and present-day realities, underscored the profound impact the franchise has had on their friendship and the ways in which play can provide a grounding force amidst life's changes. Their final act in the game, a moment of playful betrayal with friendly fire turned on, solidified the enduring, albeit sometimes contentious, nature of their bond.