REVIEW: Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Instead of review each game individually, I’ll review this gargantuan collection’s merit as a box set. Halo reviews have been done to death. I think it’s fair to assume that the vast majority of Xbox fans know all about Master Chief’s journey throughout, there’s little more to be said on the quality of these console-defining games.

The easiest comparison I can draw to Halo:MCC is that of The Orange Box, Valve’s Half Life, Portal and Team Fortress collection of yesteryear, which featured Half Life 2 and all it’s expansion content on one disk (or one download). Halo:MCC goes quite a bit further. It includes Halo 1, 2, 3 and 4, all previously released multiplayer maps, and ties all that content together with generally robust systems and polish.

The Halo Experience

Booting up the Collection, I was greeted with an instantaneous nostalgia bomb. The music of Halo is as much a character in it’s own right, eschewing thudding action music of big budget movie blockbusters, and instead opting for classical tones that reflect the majesty of the game’s setting.

Hitting the back button flips you from Halo 2’s remake to Halo 2 classic, truly slamming home the amount of work that has gone in to the creation of this re-master. Much of the games sound track has been completely re-done. The Needler for example has a punchier, more devastating sound, whilst retaining its familiarity. As mentioned previously, music is integral to the Halo experience, and 343i have done an incredible job of remixing some level’s music.

The first level featuring a playable Arbiter really stood out. In Halo 2 Classic, the music was quite standard electronic loops designed to compliment a chase sequence. Halo 2: Anniversary drops the synth for electric guitars, creating a track bordering on melodeath metal. It had me grinning ear to ear.

On graphics, Halo 2 Anniversary truly shines. This is definitely a re-master, not re-make, as many of the game’s assets and levels retain their structure. Literally everything has been re-textured. New foliage and details have been added throughout, and I encourage you to hit the back button to see the scale of 343i’s work.

The game’s weapons enjoy new models, as well as Halo’s iconic enemies. From the Elites, to the hulking Flood, even the xenomorph-like Flood balloons, all enjoy new gen textures and models. Elites in particular gain a boatload of personality in Anniversary, more closely resembling their Halo 4 counterparts.

Halo 2 Anniversary sees the inclusion of impeccably detailed CGI cutscenes, the likes of which had my girlfriend question whether they were indeed CGI or human actors, they look that good. Jaws will drop at the incredible Gravemind re-imagining, which surely joins the ranks of the most terrifying sci-fi creatures, right up there with the Queen Mother xenomorph and Jabba the Hutt.

I think I truly held an under-appreciation for Halo previous to this, I haven’t played Halo 2 since my OG Xbox was stolen, and to do so again has been a wonderful experience. My older self can appreciate the subtle uniqueness that is Halo, the thoughtfulness of its Chief-Cortana paradigm that truly flourishes in Halo 4, and the out-of-the-blue plot twist that was the Flood. This collection isn’t just pure nostalgia, but it’s an important reminder of how Xbox’s iconic franchise has grown with its audience. 343i have more than proven they are the right team at the helm.

Although Halo 2 is the only game to receive full re-mastering, the other Halo games have aged well and stand up for themselves. Halo 1 is the re-mastered version previously seen on the Xbox 360, and whilst less impressive than Halo 2’s re-mastering, the game is a timeless classic and stands amongst Half Life and Doom for its services to the FPS genre.

Despite Halo 4 being a port of the 360 version, the bump in resolution and frame rate create a distinguished experience, and reiterate how impressive Halo 4 actually was. Although 343i’s first take on the series was ill received in the multiplayer department, I find the story to be by far the most appealing. The dynamics between Cortana and Master Chief really come into their own, and present a haunting philosophical conundrum (no spoilers, save to say it’s cool). Graphically, Halo 4 could’ve been an Xbox One launch title, and is a testament to 343i’s impressive capabilities.

Systems

Instead of expecting gamers to go through each level chronologically to unlock content, Halo:MCC offers a different approach. The menu system is layered like a buffet, and offers access to all content instantly. You can jump into any level you like, tweak difficulty settings, add skull modifiers and invite team mates. Halo:MCC also offers scores based on your performance, skulls and difficulty, which it then tallies against your friends and the rest of the world via leaderboards. The added layer of gamification to Halo should heap on the incentive for people to play the campaign, if they were perhaps purchasing only for Halo’s multiplayer.

Halo:MCC also provides playlists and associated achievements, unifying all multiplayer modes across all games into a single experience. Playlists might include Halo 1:CE, Halo 2:A, and Halo 3, mix and match to your hearts content and experience the games in their original glory, glitches and all.

Unfortunately, Halo:MCC has suffered on-going issues with regards to match making and connectivity. I’ve only been able to play one match thus far due to this. When in the game, it ran fine, but Halo’s complex systems have yet to prove themselves stable enough to provide a solid experience. In theory, if Halo’s dedicated servers are down or fail to connect, it shifts games onto a peer-hosted infrastructure. I’ve yet to see this actually work.

Although 353i are working around the clock to solve the issues, it’s hard for me to be entirely sympathetic, given that Halo:MCC should be a system seller, and represent the first Xbox One experience for many newcomers. Failing to adequately test the game is an egregious error that is becoming worryingly frequent amongst large scale releases.

Conclusion

What Halo – The Master Chief Collection represents above all else is value for money. This retails for the same as any brand new game, but includes a whopping 4500 gamerscore across 4 critically acclaimed classics. Throw in the thunderous 100+ multiplayer maps, the meticulous reconstruction of Halo 2 and unbeatable nostalgia for an entire generation of gamers – and you’re on to a winner.

I’m not a massive Halo fanboy, I find the sci-fi tropes to be tired (although treated well), and the hip-fire orientation to be less immersive than ADS (personal preference), but Halo is impossible to ignore. Master Chief is to Xbox like Mario is to Nintendo. To dismiss the impact Halo has had across the industry would be an exercise in pure ignorance. Multiplayer issues aside, 343i prove once again that the franchise is in very capable hands.

A patch to repair match-making is set to hit this week (as of Nov 18th), which will hopefully vindicate doubts in 343i, until then I’m scoring Halo:MCC based purely on the campaign experience which makes a strong case all by itself.