Review
Played on: Xbox One, revisited on Xbox Series X
Released: 2022
Released: 2022
Firstly, it launched with a 20GB patch, apparently all the multiplayer stuff isn't on the disc and must be downloaded as a patch. On top of this, the multiplayer turns out to full or bugs, simply not working properly. Even the achievements are faulty, unlocking at their own will.
This messy situation continued for fair length of time after release, with patches still not fixing multiplayer issues entirely. A big mistake, considering the multiplayer is a very important part for Halo players. These mistakes have given Halo MCC a bad reputation.
This messy situation continued for fair length of time after release, with patches still not fixing multiplayer issues entirely. A big mistake, considering the multiplayer is a very important part for Halo players. These mistakes have given Halo MCC a bad reputation.
Luckily, 343 and Microsoft put a lot of effort into fixing the bugs, something they really had to address, considering the popular demand from the Halo community. To be fair, 343 has had a difficult task at hand, porting four different games to run on new hardware.
For me, the multiplayer aspect didn't matter, and as such the bugs didn't affect me directly, apart for the glitchy achievements. My intention of buying MCC was to replay all the singleplayer campaigns of Halo. Luckily, all of the achievements were unlocked after a later patch and solved my problems entirely.
For me, the multiplayer aspect didn't matter, and as such the bugs didn't affect me directly, apart for the glitchy achievements. My intention of buying MCC was to replay all the singleplayer campaigns of Halo. Luckily, all of the achievements were unlocked after a later patch and solved my problems entirely.
Update 2022: Fast forward from July 2015 and Halo MCC has regularly been updated, even after the developers went into a long hiatus of silence. Both Halo 3: ODST and Halo Reach have been added as DLC along the way too.
Xbox One X support was added down the line, pushing the resolution from 1080p all the way up to 4K. Fixes recently were made to make the original first Halo look even more authentic to the OG Xbox version, much to the hardcore fans delight.
Then, it recieved a current gen Xbox Series X/S patch, and on my Series X it now features a FOV slider and can be ran at 4K@120fps!
The collection evolves around Halo games that feature Master Chief, the main protagonist in the series, so Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach are not included on the disc. It's all about the main Halo series in this package.
The increase in resolution and framerate make all the titles in the collection look amazing, especially Halo 4 which looks like it could have been from the XB1/PS4 generation! It's a bliss playing them upgraded, and even though I have played them all before, I loved every minute of it.
Halo 2 was the one that stuck out the most, as I've not played it since it originally released on the first Xbox back in 2004. They've done a considerable job in remastering it. Halo 1, if you recall, already was remastered on the Xbox 360, running at a sub 720p at 30fps, and looks sharp at 60fps.
All the Halo games are fairly different experiences, I know they're all fire-from-the-hip old school shooters but they're different in their approach within their franchise:
- Halo: Combat Evolved is a more slower moving shooter, with a great sense of feeling alone and rather small in it's dramatic and large landscapes. It has a more dark style to it as you unravel something shocking as you progress into the game.
You could accuse the first Halo of dragging out it's lifespan by making the player backtrack a lot of the areas towards the end, but me being older now and more patient than when I played it back in 2001, I actually enjoyed these parts better now.
Combat Evolved has a unique sense of the scale, exploring deep into the Halo ring and the struggle of fighting your way back home again, rather than ending it as a one way trip.
- Halo 2 is the opposite of the first game's rather conservative and slow changing settings. Every location is distinctly different: layout, colours and type of environments are really mixed up nicely in H2. Though there's a more abrupt change from level to level, H1 felt more like one big world.
The dangers of the Covenant are more apparent too, with fighting and attacks towards earth taking place. The variation is impressive for a old game like this and it's further shown when you take part as a Covenant and play from their perspective.
The remastered graphics are really great too and breath new life into the game. At times the anniversary graphics look better than Halo 3.
- Halo 3 takes the formula from both 1 and 2 and mixes it in a smart way. It retains the variation of settings from Halo 2, but kind of connects each level with each other. Once again it feels like one long journey just like the first game. Halo 3 really turns up the amount of enemies and vehicles from H2 thanks to the game being on the new Xbox 360 platform back then.
The fighting often takes place on rather large areas, giving me almost a feeling of playing an online session of the Battlefield games. Halo 3 is probably my favourite in the series, varying from bright locations to dark ones, from huge open battlefields to corridor shooting.
Mainly Halo 3 feels very open and it takes great use of vehicles at your disposal. I really appreciate them taking down the graphical detail a notch for having more enemies, bigger areas and more clever AI than other games from it's generation.
- Halo 4 is a testament to how far you could push the Xbox 360 graphically, it looks incredible still. At times it almost gives me a Metroid Prime feeling with it's varied planets, helmet visor HUD and alien landscapes. The scale of the battlefields are taken down slightly from Halo 3 though, it may still have some fairly big battles, but it's more tied down to smaller areas and corridors. I'm guessing the graphical lift went at a cost back on the old hardware. Halo 4 is very different than Halo 3, but I really think it's for the good. In fact, I enjoyed that Halo 4 didn't just take the Halo 3 formula and copy everything, it makes playing them after each other two distinctly different experiences.
My original Halo 4 review for the Xbox 360 can be found here.
- Halo 3: ODST (DLC) is a spin-off of Halo 3 and takes part during the New Mombasa attack. You play as a Orbital Drop Shock Trooper that, you guessed it, gets dropped over the city to fight the Covenant. I really like the difference this game has in style and approach to the original Halo 3. It has a much darker and melancholic theme, with a fitting soundtrack accompanying it's loneliness and atmosphere
The ODST soldier you play has to investigate the city at night and find his other troop members by investigating clues at crash sites. Doing so gives you a flashback to what happened and thus gives the game a varied new mission level, spanning different environments and settings.
ODST should be recognised for it's different approach to a Halo game and showing other struggles than Master Chief's story. My original Halo 3: ODST review for the Xbox 360 can be found here.
- Halo Reach (DLC) is Bungie's swan song for the franchise, before 343 Industries took it over, and is a brilliant prequel to all the Halo games. Featuring an early planet to be taken over by the Covenant. The story told is cruel downwards spiral of how humanity loses lots of civilians, soldiers, cities and spacecraft.
You play in an elite unit being transported around to attack specific critical human resources. What's neat about this is the variety in locations and reminder of how large some of the battlefields Bungie managed to make before the series went a little more corridor like in Halo 4.
Memorable moments like attacking a beach, then fighting through a building and lifting off on a rocket to take part in a massive spaceship battle in outer space are just amazing moments of this game.
My original Halo Reach review for the Xbox 360 can be found here.
There you have my opinions of the four Halo games, I added ODST & Reach later on, included to this superb collection was a unique opportunity to try out the multiplayer beta of Halo 5. Which I did just after the new year began. It's nice to see it focuses on the 60fps framerate, which seems to have become a industry standard for online shooters on consoles after Call of Duty's huge success in the last generation.
I have a positive feeling that 343 are really going to deliver something special with Halo 5 and after the glimpses we witnessed at E3 this year I doubt we'll be disappointed!
If you've never played the Halo games, perhaps the Xbox One is your first Xbox console? Then I warmly recommended picking this package up, with most the multiplayer bugs fixed and the fantastic value for money with four incredible shooters in one game, you're in for a treat. The framerate boost and resolution bump give an even higher enjoyment of some of the most memorable first person shooters made.
The Halo gameplay feels more like an older type of shooter, relying a lot on your movement and dodging skills, while firing from your hip, rather than iron-sights aiming like most of the newer shooters. This type of gameplay really holds up well and, in my experience at least, never becomes boring. It's about movement skill more than pin point aiming accuracy. You'll be coming back to play ever so often.
The Halo gameplay feels more like an older type of shooter, relying a lot on your movement and dodging skills, while firing from your hip, rather than iron-sights aiming like most of the newer shooters. This type of gameplay really holds up well and, in my experience at least, never becomes boring. It's about movement skill more than pin point aiming accuracy. You'll be coming back to play ever so often.
I can't stress enough that the gameplay really feels even more precise, smooth and overhauled with the framerate boost.
A legacy of first person classics, with hours and hours of entertainment. Halo 3: ODST and Halo Reach are out now as a cheap DLCs for the collection too, get it and prepare for Halo 5 later this year!
Play these games coop online with a friend if you have the chance and get even more enjoyment out of them that way. Some of the best coop games made.
