Halo The Master Chief Collection Xbox One Review
Halo The Master Chief Collection Xbox One Review
Halo: The Master Chief Collection release date - November 11 2014
We might not be getting Halo 5: Guardians this year, but if you want to call Halo: The Master Chief Collection a stopgap, then it’s the most epic stopgap ever made. You can almost feel the weight of it.
First, we get all four Halo games, with only Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach omitted. All come remastered in 1080p at 60fps, with the original Halo arriving in its Anniversary incarnation, and Halo 2 rebuilt with new graphics, textures and effects.
Then we get all of the multiplayer content, with over 100 maps and all the play modes from Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4, with six classic Halo 2 maps remade to match the visual enhancements of the remastered version. On top of this already generous bundle we get the Ridley Scott-produced Nightfall video series plus early access to the Halo 5: Guardians beta when it launches in December.
It’s all held together by a central hub, where you can play through the campaigns in order, skip straight through to favourite levels, or even set up playlists of your favourites, giving masochists the scope to play all the Flood levels in one painful stretch. 343 Studios will be curating its own playlists, and will also be doing the same for multiplayer, picking classic maps from all four games and bundling them into interesting themed playlists for fans of, say, vehicular mayhem or intense Spartan vs Spartan combat.
The whole shebang ties in with 343’s new Halo Channel, which will provide even more info on the world of Halo and its stories, and also combine Twitch gameplay streaming with some slick interactive features, enabling you to check out some action, then leap straight into the same map and match-type to try it for yourself.
The centrepiece, of course, is the new and improved Halo 2. As with the Halo Anniversary, 343 Studios has focused on modernising the look of Halo 2, while leaving the feel and the gameplay unchanged - and you can still switch between the new look version and the Xbox original at the click of a button. That means new textures, new objects and new character models that bring the game closer into line with what we’ve seen in Halo 4, plus new surface effects, new particle effects and - perhaps most importantly - a whole new lighting model.
Meanwhile, new cut scenes feature more realistic characters and better facial animation, and even the sound has been redone to make more of the Xbox One hardware and modern surround audio systems. The result is a significantly better-looking game, as you can see pretty quickly when you flick between versions.
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And while Halo 3 and 4 haven’t had the same loving treatment, they still benefit from many of the changes. From what we’ve seen, the new lighting engine and higher resolution transform the look of the last two Halo titles, making them look crisper, more lustrous and more packed with detail than you might expect. You’ll still know that you’re not playing games from the same era as Destiny or Killzone: Shadow Fall, but the difference might be smaller than you expect - particularly when it comes to Halo 4; a game which stretched the Xbox 360 to its limits.
It’s an interesting approach: one that’s more about preserving the experience than about making Halo more relevant to a new generation of gamers. Whether you’re playing Halo 2 multiplayer or trekking through the dense jungles of Halo 3, you’ll be playing exactly the same game you would have played up to ten years ago. But what does that actually mean in practice?
Well, the tiny portion of Halo 2’s single-player campaign we played at Microsoft’s preview event didn’t really show the game at its best. We had a quick sample of the game’s first mission – the Covenant attack on Cairo Station – and even with the enhancements it still looks and feels, well, a bit dated. Bungie’s brilliance shines through in the mechanics of the combat and the unpredictable behaviour of the covenant troops, but we weren’t exactly blown away by the experience.
The multiplayer, however, is a different story. We had the chance to tackle the enhanced versions of Lockout, Zanzibar and Sanctuary, and while the run-and-gun action feels a little basic, even dated, in an era when we’re used to the more complex action of Battlefield, Call of Duty and Titanfall, something about it still clicks. It’s fast-moving, the weapon set is both hugely varied and finely balanced, and the revamped maps look great, particularly those that benefit most from the HD textures and water effects.
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These maps also remind you how good Bungie were at putting multiplayer maps together, creating spaces where the action flows, or where snipers can do their dirty work yet still be vulnerable to surprise attacks. You’re constantly moving, switching weapons and varying tactics. It’s not just about precision or choosing a loadout; it’s a question of guts.
Of course, there are elements that remind you that you’re playing a game from an older time, not least the restricted size of the levels and the oddly static plants or drifts of snow, but this is Halo 2 multiplayer just as you remember it – and it still feels great.
Will everyone want to spend hour after hour playing it? Maybe not. Serious Halo fans might still treat Halo 2 multiplayer with reverence and nostalgia, but some of us will always prefer the experience with the enhancements added by Halo 4 and Halo: Reach. The good thing about The Master Chief Collection is that we have the choice; you can stick to the classic Halo 2 or give Halo 4’s multiplayer a whirl (sadly, you’ll have to do without the maps and modes of Reach), while the chance to sample Halo 5’s multiplayer is another irresistible lure.
So much choice might cause arguments, but then the beauty of the structure is that you can choose maps from any Halo era you want. The extensive selection, with over 100 maps bundled in, should make the experience varied, and 343 has been smart about controller setups, so that you can play multiplayer with the original control setup for that Halo, or use just one setup across all four.
And it’s this strength in breadth that makes The Master Chief Collection so much more enticing than your average retro remaster. Personally, I’m not too fussed about replaying Halo 1 or even Halo 2 for the umpteenth time, but I am excited about going back to replay Halo 3, and I don’t mind the thought of going straight on to re-conquer Halo 4 while I’m there. Most of us who have loved Halo at one time or another will have our own wish list of maps to replay or levels to revisit. The glory of The Master Chief Collection is that it promises them all, looking and moving even better than we might remember.
Verdict
Even with some impressive graphical enhancements, Halo 2 can look and feel a bit dated. Luckily, the classic multiplayer still shines and there’s so much more to enjoy in this Halo bargain bundle. Fans of the Master Chief should be in for a treat.
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Halo The Master Chief Collection Xbox One Review
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