When it comes to FPS games, I'm generally not scared. The main reason for this is because you're so overpowered and practically invincible that there's never a reason to be. Take Half-Life 2 for example. A lot of build-up was made to make Ravenholm seem like an eerie place, an abandoned city taken over by zombies, headcrabs and more. Yet getting there feels somewhat underwhelming. The over-abundance of health packs and ammo doesn't really help. Even going through using just the gravity gun isn't so bad thanks to exploding barrels and circular saws placed all over the streets.

However the Flood is a different story. A race of alien parasites that just don't want to die, they instilled real fear into a game pre-dominantly filled with bright colours and beautiful enemy designs. Their look is rather disgusting in itself, especially after taking over a host. Sliming soldiers and Covenent alike, no one is safe from them. While before it was simple enough to take out a herd of Covenent, the Flood require some thought. You can't just gun them all down. There's simply not enough time to take care of every one on the screen, and that is what makes them so annoyingly frightening. Knowing that however much you try, all it takes is one Flood parasite crawling along the floor and attaching to a host, and you're back in the middle of another fight.



"Cortana" from Halo 3 is the greatest argument for this. Most Halo fans agree this is the worst level in Halo 3, and perhaps even the Halo series in general. The design is odd to navigate around with no real clues of where to go next, the hallways of High Charity are tight and awkward to walk through along with the Flood, and there just isn't enough ammo to make it through the ship. The main problem comes from the Flood parasites constantly swaming the place, many times running alongside Master Chief, looking for a dead body to take over.

I remember landing on the ship and making my way through the first room, and you can instantly tell the Flood have completely taken over the place. The rooms are bright, but not in the sense of Covenent design. It has a fleshy look it, walking around you hear squishes through the speakers from the surface. The walls are covered in some kind of sludge that tends to make enemies blend in to the scenery. The doors have this disgusting design that widens, usually on slanted walls that make no sense. High Charity is a prime example of how dangerous the Flood are. Once the Covenent's prize ship, it now stands covered to the rim in the Flood's twisted nature.



And then there's the flashes of the Gravemind and Cortana. While Cortana has been leaving Chief cryptic messages throughout the game, it's only on High Charity that we see what kind of shape she's in. Laughing maniacally, crying in Chief's visor, watching her break down and in a monotonous voice say she's willing to give up all the UNSC's secrets, and knowing there's nothing you can do about it. The Gravemind (While just plain annoying at times) ups the tension throughout the level, basically taunting Chief, provoking him to try and save her (Something the Flood are obviously ready for when their numbers increase significantly later on). There's a real sense of urgency that you have to rescue her. It suggests rushing through the ship's terrible and disgusting design, although this is a strategy that usually gets you killed on later difficulties.

The thing about the Flood is that they almost always require a personal and up-close strategy to kill them. Shotguns and plasma swords work ridiculously well against them, but of course this leaves you open to attack from all sides. Seeing several hosts jumping throughout the air and landing infront of the Chief as other Flood scurry across the floor, it's not exactly a fun time. High Charity also has several weapons scattered around that are just absolutely useless against the Flood. Flamethrowers, assault rifles, pistols and plasma pistols. On the other hand, several sections are filled with Lurkers, brute-style Flood who can transform into turrets that stick to walls and ceilings. Again, there isn't enough ammo in plasma rifles and battle rifles to even take care of these while gangs of them fire needles at Chief. There's been countless times I've hidden for a good 5 minutes behind cover, hoping one of them unsticks from the ceiling and stops firing. Of course they never do.



The lack of ammo is the most worrying thing about the level. I spent moments rushing through, trying to work my way through the maze-like design, dodging any encounters I could to preserve precious ammunition. It's frustrating, but it's very tense, so calling it bad design could be a compliment. High Charity was designed to make the player feel isolated and helpless, and it does a very good job of this regardless of how the player wants to feel.

Then there's that last feeling; That you're alone. Every other level of Halo 3 will have you alongside UNSC soldiers, the Arbiter or rather ironically the Flood, fighting off the Covenent. Here it's just you and what little ammo you can find. There are dead bodies scattered through the ship, but they only serve as hosts for those crawling bastards. Knowing that you can't depend on teammates to take care of anything is unnerving. While playing through on Legendary, it's so hard not to get pushed back by the herd of Flood that eventually come after you. Not having anyone else to help you out doesn't exactly help that thought.



The Halo series has been somewhat critisized for their single player work, with lots of complaints against back-tracking and odd level design. "Cortana" is all these complaints balled into one level, with a few new ones to add to it. Several have even proclaimed it the worst level design of all time, although I wouldn't really go that far. In all respects it's a terrible level, but that's what makes it genuinely scary. "Cortana" is a challenge, and a big one at that. Throw in Halo 3 and try and make it through on Legendary alone. Go on, I'll wait. You'll soon learn it's a nightmare of loading screens and gunfights, but the feeling you get from finally rescuing Cortana and blowing High Charity to kingdom come certainly warrants the pressure of the level.