I have been a fan of Halo ever since I got to play the first Halo game, Combat Evolved. Since then every Halo game besides 2(didn't have a working Xbox at the time) I played or I owned. Right now you go through my collection I have Halo 3, Reach and 4. Now I have Halos 1-4 thanks to The Master Chief Collection.
I don't usually buy remasters but since I just got a new Xbox console and there was a remaster of all the main entries to the Halo series in one disc with access to the Halo 5 Multiplayer beta.
My thought was "Why not?"
But not everything is perfect in this remastering of what is probably the most iconic first person shooter.
Walk in his footsteps
As stated earlier, this collection has Halo 1 through 4. To serve as a quick refresher to remember just how Master Chief is going to get to where he is in Halo Guardians.
Discovering the Halo ring, how the Arbiter became the Arbiter, Uncovering The Ark and learning that all Forerunners are not gone.
Re experiencing each Halo before 5's launch is something that those who don't remember what happened prior to 5 and 4 should play. Just so you can be caught up with where we are in the Halo story.
No more strings to hold me down
Now that Halo has been designed on more powerful hardware, each and every Halo game will be running at 60 frames per second. The Halo CE Anniversary visuals return and Halo 2 Anniversary sees it's own visual upgrades. Halos 3 and 4 however only get a FPS boost.
Don't get me wrong though, both Halo 3 and 4 still look very good. Especially Halo 4 as it looks like it was really designed for the Xbox One.
In the Halo anniversaries you can now switch from remastered graphics to the original graphics by the simple push of a button. You will be amazed on how big of a leap there is in the graphics.
Halo, Halo, Halo and more Halo!
The Master Chief Collection as soon as you get it at the main menu instantly starts off with the iconic Halo menu music from the original and then when you begin to navigate the menu, you will find that you have access to every mission from all four Halo campaigns.
Once you begin to play these games, they begin to show their age and the improvements and changes that were made in each new installment.
From the simple single weapon wielding of Combat Evolved to the extensive dual wielding options of Halo 2. It does feel like you're going through time as console technology improved, especially when you go from Halo Combat Evolved to Halo 4.
Like in the original Halo games there are the hidden skulls in the game which can make the game harder or add a fun little twist to what happens with enemies like Grunt Birthday Party. On top of the hidden skulls there are also hidden terminals which will show small cutscenes serving as a backstory to some of the Halo lore.
That's a pretty nice setup for replayability. The four Halo campaigns that you can play through not only to replay the Halo games but also to find the hidden skulls, terminals and play the campaigns on Legendary with friends.
The cherry on top is gone
The would be cherry on top of the whole Halo MCC package, the multiplayer, unfortunately is a mess. At first it was long wait times to get into a single match of the multiplayer, but now the problem is that although the wait times have been reduced. There are still playlists missing from the multiplayer menu,
Multiple server updates are probably still in the works and you can expect many of them to continue arriving in the weeks to follow.
I did get the chance to play a few games shortly after one of the updates and it did work fine. No lag, 60fps Halo multiplayer looked good and the Halo 2 anniversary multiplayer also looks and plays great.
But as of now, the Halo MCC Multiplayer is best categorized as incomplete and has a few issues.
The Verdict
The Master Chief Collection is a no brainer for many people who enjoyed all the Halo campaigns or for those who have not experienced all of the Halo campaigns. It's four games packed into one.
With many hidden secrets and collectibles to be unlocked, there is also good replay value in the package.
However, the most disappointing factor of the Master Chief Collection is the multiplayer. Playlists being removed in order to fix several issues at the games launch and many issues still present today.
It is difficult for me to give this collection a solid recommendation or list it as a reason to buy the Xbox One.
For these reasons I give Halo The Master Chief Collection a 7 out of 10
Thank you for reading.
I don't usually buy remasters but since I just got a new Xbox console and there was a remaster of all the main entries to the Halo series in one disc with access to the Halo 5 Multiplayer beta.
My thought was "Why not?"
But not everything is perfect in this remastering of what is probably the most iconic first person shooter.
Walk in his footsteps
As stated earlier, this collection has Halo 1 through 4. To serve as a quick refresher to remember just how Master Chief is going to get to where he is in Halo Guardians.
Discovering the Halo ring, how the Arbiter became the Arbiter, Uncovering The Ark and learning that all Forerunners are not gone.
Re experiencing each Halo before 5's launch is something that those who don't remember what happened prior to 5 and 4 should play. Just so you can be caught up with where we are in the Halo story.
No more strings to hold me down
Now that Halo has been designed on more powerful hardware, each and every Halo game will be running at 60 frames per second. The Halo CE Anniversary visuals return and Halo 2 Anniversary sees it's own visual upgrades. Halos 3 and 4 however only get a FPS boost.
Don't get me wrong though, both Halo 3 and 4 still look very good. Especially Halo 4 as it looks like it was really designed for the Xbox One.
In the Halo anniversaries you can now switch from remastered graphics to the original graphics by the simple push of a button. You will be amazed on how big of a leap there is in the graphics.
Halo, Halo, Halo and more Halo!
 |
| Got a good feeling about that Grunt |
Once you begin to play these games, they begin to show their age and the improvements and changes that were made in each new installment.
From the simple single weapon wielding of Combat Evolved to the extensive dual wielding options of Halo 2. It does feel like you're going through time as console technology improved, especially when you go from Halo Combat Evolved to Halo 4.
Like in the original Halo games there are the hidden skulls in the game which can make the game harder or add a fun little twist to what happens with enemies like Grunt Birthday Party. On top of the hidden skulls there are also hidden terminals which will show small cutscenes serving as a backstory to some of the Halo lore.
That's a pretty nice setup for replayability. The four Halo campaigns that you can play through not only to replay the Halo games but also to find the hidden skulls, terminals and play the campaigns on Legendary with friends.
The cherry on top is gone
The would be cherry on top of the whole Halo MCC package, the multiplayer, unfortunately is a mess. At first it was long wait times to get into a single match of the multiplayer, but now the problem is that although the wait times have been reduced. There are still playlists missing from the multiplayer menu,
Multiple server updates are probably still in the works and you can expect many of them to continue arriving in the weeks to follow.
I did get the chance to play a few games shortly after one of the updates and it did work fine. No lag, 60fps Halo multiplayer looked good and the Halo 2 anniversary multiplayer also looks and plays great.
But as of now, the Halo MCC Multiplayer is best categorized as incomplete and has a few issues.
The Verdict
The Master Chief Collection is a no brainer for many people who enjoyed all the Halo campaigns or for those who have not experienced all of the Halo campaigns. It's four games packed into one.
With many hidden secrets and collectibles to be unlocked, there is also good replay value in the package.
However, the most disappointing factor of the Master Chief Collection is the multiplayer. Playlists being removed in order to fix several issues at the games launch and many issues still present today.
It is difficult for me to give this collection a solid recommendation or list it as a reason to buy the Xbox One.
For these reasons I give Halo The Master Chief Collection a 7 out of 10
Thank you for reading.
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