Halo and Philosophy

Halo is one of the greatest, most successful First Person Shooter (FPS) videogames ever to grace the world of gaming. While critics primarily lampoon FPSs for their aggressiveness and on-screen violence, gamers see something else. Although Halo is an FPS, it has a science-fiction storyline that draws from previous award-winning science fiction literature. It employs a game mechanic that limits the amount of weapons a player can carry to two, and a multiplayer element that has spawned websites like Red vs. Blue and games within the game created by players themselves. Halo’s unique and extraordinary features raise serious questions. These are tackled by writers who are both Halo cognoscenti and active philosophers, with a foreword by renowned Halo fiction author Fred Van Lente and an afterword by leading games scholar and artist Roger Ngim.