As promised, Eric Ruth’s highly-anticipated Bungie-inspired demake, Pixel Force Halo, has now arrived! Originally announced back in December, Eric’s Contra-esque platformer is available on PC for free download below. Be sure to hit the jump for more information, trailer, and developer interview:
Download Pixel Force Halo Now!
Being the mastermind behind the 8-bit versions of both Left 4 Dead and (the tragically C&D’d) DJ Hero, we weren’t entirely surprised by his decision to pixel-i-fy the Xbox’s flagship series. The result, however, is much more than we had anticipated.
Using standard NES controls, the character runs, jumps, shoots, and chucks grenades with the select button. The demake parallels the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, recreating each of the ten levels in side-scrolling platformy goodness, complete with end-level boss fights. (Word on the street is that PF Halo even has a “Legendary Mode”, which can even be unlocked after blazing through the game once.) Being a one-man team, Eric carefully coded and crafted all of the gameplay, visuals, and chiptune remixes to best fit the classic shooter, and the result leaves us with a satisfying single player experience.
Once again, we had the chance to chat with Eric about his latest creation.
Piki Geek: Eric, what a pleasure it is to sit down with you once again, this time to talk about your most recent project, Pixel Force Halo.
Eric Ruth: Its always a pleasure to talk, Dac. Glad I could be here.
PG: So, let’s get this out of the way, after we wrote about how your previous Pixel Force game, DJ Hero, got cease and desisted, there was quite a lot of buzz and fan outcry. What can you tell us about that whole experience?
ER: Well, it was a bit of a headache trying to reason with an industry rep whose ultimate goal is his paycheck, and not what’s actually right or wrong. Other than the email exchange, the whole situation boded well for me and landed me a lot of great press. News sites that don’t even deal in video game news even reported on the ordeal. Overall, I’m surprised to have dealt with a negative stick from UMPG since the project was most likely beneficial to them monetarily. Oh well. What can ya do?
PG: Very true. So, on a happier note, Pixel Force Halo has just released. We’ve played through the entire game and absolutely love it. What made you choose Halo?
ER: Aside from being a phenomenal FPS series, I happen to think the colorful landscapes and heavy shooting action would make a graceful transition to the technologies of old. I didn’t know if I wanted to go through with it at first, so I designed all of the Master Chief sprites and rustled up a quick engine to see if my thoughts on the title would work. So, when I was done making the little test engine, I left the project to go do other things (including Pixel Force: DJ Hero), but ultimately came back to it and started building the rest of the game off from where I started. I actually really like how the final product came out. I hope others feel the same way.
PG: It definitely seems like you took a lot of inspiration from Contra for this project. What other big influences were there?
ER: Well, aside from the obvious Contra nods in the game, there’s also a bubbling soup of influence from Mega Man, Mario, and Metroid. I mean, I take influence from everything I play, but those franchises, in particular, really rubbed off on me to help complete this game.
PG: Now, all of your games, so far, have been released as free downloads. Have you ever given consideration to releasing a title on the iPhone or even XBLA?
ER: I have given plenty of thought to it, actually. I have several projects in mind for various platforms, but I’m not an XNA, Apple SDK or iOS developer, so the only thing I can do is try to find some folks willing to collaborate on some great future projects. I guess on that note, I should mention that if anyone reading this happens to have experience programing for the aforementioned platforms, shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out one day soon.
PG: Alright, then in that case, what’s on the horizon for you? Have any new demake projects in mind?
ER: Well, I’ve always got a short list of projects I’ve got in mind, but I’ve just recently started on another Pixel Force project. Now, I can’t say what it is yet, but know that it is a completely different spin on multiple properties. Its not a “demake” per se this time, but you’ll know just what I’m saying when it hits the net this spring.
PG: Spring? Hot damn. As always, is there anything you want to leave us with?
ER: Thank you to everyone who has made my life better by partaking in my work and sharing your opinions, be them good or bad. I use everything possible to always try and move forward and become better at what I do. Thank you, Dac, for your time here, and thanks to the readers for giving a damn about who I am and what I do.
The level with the arbiter (gold elite) as the boss keeps looping over and over
Redownload and try again. =)
No Mac love?
NOOOOOOOOOOO!.
Mac da asco, eso es para maricas.
hey why would u post something spanish when some of us dont know wut u r saying
He says: Mac sucks, that’s is for fags ¬¬
by the way, He’s not saying “that’s for fags”, it’s my opinion about his thoughts about mac
For future updates please add a change control option. the controls themselves are annoying to get used to unless your using a controller and my 360 controller is not soo great either.
great job but controls uh….. need patch
))
Hmmm, it won’t boot in Linux.
respawning enemies sucks!
Mac!!!
hahahaha mac? hahahaha XD
Anyway we can get this ported to the the new Windows Phone 7? My Samsung Focus would thank you…
the sound isn’t working for me. i re-downloaded twice and the sound worked once and now it’s gone again. also the controls suck balls. other than those issues this is a great game though!
no sound
this is so well done
controls?
This should be made into a gameboy game.
Port to Mac, immediately.
>:O An unexpected error occured while starting up…
how the hell do i exit the game?
I’M SO CONFUSED.
Why no Linux version? Come on, it’s a 2D game, cannot be that difficult…
your fukn download dosnt work
amazing!
where are the controls?
I want Ubuntu GNU/Linux version.
were can i pppppppppppppppppppppplllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy thhattttttttttt?
is it possible to save this game i keep having to statr from the begining
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the download link no working T_T
Whenever i click on the download link it says “Page not found”. Why can’t i download it?
Добрый день
Занимательный сайт
Хочу купить ссылки на вашем вэб сайте
Киев
Наверху и можно слева в сообщениях. Ну или каких-либо других интересных рекламных мест.
Возможно по тематика вашей странички подойдёт для рекламы сайта
для этого проекта могу заказать более дорогие статьи и обзоры.
Поясните, как вы работаете?
Хочу регулярно покупать статьи, и др. с надеждой что эти сайты подойдут для ваших посетителей.
Я покупал рекламу на разных сайтаx всего за 1750 руб. в месяц.
Буду благодарен если, напишите вашу цену. Нужно для отчёта
yo i dont know how 2 download it can someone help?
Yes, try google
File not found, can’t download!
The link for download not work
This should work: http://www.shacknews.com/files/get/25149
Thanks for the link
Thanks for the new link.
it keeps saying not found