![]() ![]() So read on to find out what I thought about the second PC port from Halo: The Master Chief Collection.Įxperiencing Noble Six's journey and the story behind planet Reach was cool and all, but getting to jump back into the action as Master Chief is definitely a great feeling. I won't be diving deep into details of the storyline as I'm sure there are plenty of folks who haven't experienced this now almost 20-year old adventure, but who are finally getting into the Master Chief Collection on PC to catch up before Halo Infinite drops later this year. The Anniversary remake developer Saber Interactive has thankfully returned to handle this new PC port. I can't imagine the convoluted process of diving into code that's originally written by Bungie, then ported to PC by Gearbox, followed by an Xbox 360 port, which is now running enhanced on modern PCs. As its base, the remake actually used the 2003-released PC port, developed by Gearbox Software of all studios. The Anniversary edition is the 2011 remake of the 2001 hit, Bungie-developed, original Xbox game Halo: Combat Evolved. Following a successful launch that brought in millions of new players, Microsoft surprise dropped Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary edition on PC earlier this week out of nowhere, starting the hype train back up again.īefore starting the review, here's some interesting history on the project. Literally walking backwards through the game after figuratively walking in circles for eight hours is the definition of adding insult to injury.Microsoft began a new venture to bring its Halo games over to PC last year, and Halo: Reachkicked things off by landing in December as the opening act of Halo: The Master Chief Collection ( MCC) on the platform, starting fans off on the storyline in chronological form. In the next mission, Two Betrayals, you have to backtrack through the entirety of mission five,Assault on the Control Room. The entire mission is just one long walk counter clockwise through dozens of rooms that all look exactly the same. One of the worst offenders is the seventh mission, The Library, where you follow The Monitor up four identical floors while fighting an endless swarm of Flood. The exterior missions where you’re driving around aren’t bad, but all the missions where you’re either on the Covenant ship or exploring the depths of Halo are a nightmare of repeated environments. It’s so easy to get turned around in Combat Evolved, in part due to poor sign-posting, but mostly due to the fact that every room looks exactly the same. There’s an intelligent way to reuse assets and squeeze the most fun out of every level, but it feels like the Combat Evolved developers were told to make a ten-hour game out of three levels and just started clicking copy+paste. Deathloop is one of my top ten games of 2021, and that entire game is just four zones you explore over and over again. Some of my favorite games are roguelikes, and they’re all about playing through the same maps over and over. I’m all for being economical in order to maximize value. The frequent backtracking is one thing, but the way every room, bridge, hallway, and building is repeated over and over in every mission made me feel duped. ![]() How did we let Bungie get away with reusing the same hallway 500 times and calling it a video game? There were limitations of the hardware, no doubt, but Halo’s level design is unbearable, at least by today’s standards. Related: Oddball Doesn’t Suck, It’s Just Poorly Incentivized Those are all the nice things I have to say about Halo: Combat Evolved. ![]() Halo 2 is arguably a better representative for the series as a whole, but Combat Evolved certainly started things off in the right direction. It's remarkable how many mechanics originated in Halo that became staples of the genre, like recharging overshields and weapon swapping. The enemies have a ton of personality and the weapon variety is great. Escaping the Pillars of Autumn and crash landing on Halo in the first mission sets an incredible pace for the game and establishes the kind of fearless badass Master Chief is. So much of what Halo came to be known for was present right from the start in Combat Evolved, including, of course, the iconic hero Master Chief. Before I go in on the most beloved shooter of all time, allow me to pay Combat Evolved some compliments. ![]()
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