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Halo: The Master Chief Collection

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Halo: The Master Chief Collection
File:Halo Collection.jpg
Developer(s)343 Industries
Additional work by:
Publisher(s)Microsoft Studios
SeriesHalo
Platform(s)Xbox One
Release
  • WW: November 11, 2014[1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an upcoming compilation of remastered first-person shooter video games from the Halo series for the Xbox One. It consists of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, and their multiplayer modes, complete with their full set of add-on content. All games received graphical upgrades for the release, but Halo 2 received a Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary-style high-definition overhaul. The release will also ship with access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta.

The games received no changes to their original stories or gameplay, but the Halo 2 cutscenes have been redone by Blur Studio using pre-rendered CGI and are slightly longer than they were in the original game.[4] The collection includes a Mission Setlists mode, where players can create and play custom sets of missions from any of the four games. The game will launch with 4,000 Gamerscore spread across 400 achievements.[5] with an additional 500 Gamerscore being spread 50 achievements which becomes available in the day one update.[5]

Gameplay

The Master Chief Collection consists of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4 (with Halo 2 receiving the Anniversary treatment), replete with their full catalog of extras, including all multiplayer maps and gameplay modes.[4][a] All of the games run at 60 frames per second and have received lighting upgrades; all but the Halo 2 remake have a native resolution of 1080p.[7] Combat Evolved Anniversary is based on the high-resolution remaster of the original released in 2011 for the Xbox 360. Halo 2 is receiving a similar graphical overhaul treatment and is thought to be the core of the collection. Halo 3 and Halo 4, already in high-definition, receive only standard upgrades.[6] The compilation features new achievements, and all difficulty and play modes are unlocked from the start.[4] There have been no story or gameplay changes from the original releases.[6]

As in Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 players can swap between the original and upgraded graphics on-the-fly. Its cutscenes were also updated.[4] Since only six of the game's multiplayer maps were remastered, there are two Halo 2 multiplayer modes. Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer uses the six remastered maps, while a standard Halo 2 multiplayer includes all of the game's released maps with a full graphical update but no remastering.[6] The Collection multiplayer includes Mission Setlists, curated lists of levels selected from throughout the series.[4]

The Extras menu includes access to Halo Nightfall and the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta.[8] Nightfall is a series of weekly, episodic digital videos directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzen and produced by Ridley Scott designed to lead up to the release of the Halo 5 beta and connect the series to the upcoming game,[4] and the Halo 5 beta runs from December 27, 2014, to January 22, 2015.[8] The release also includes new prologue and epilogue cutscenes to link the series for Halo 5's debut.[4] The game will reportedly launch with a grand total of 4,000 gamerscore spread across 400 achievements which is the largest amount of the gamerscore ever to be given to a single game since its conception,[5] with another 500 Gamerscore being released in the day one update spread across 50 Achievements.[5]

Development

The collection was developed by 343 Industries in conjunction with Certain Affinity, Ruffian Games and Saber Interactive.[8] While 343 designed the interfaces and online networking, Certain Affinity developed the multiplayer and Saber developed the updated Halo 2 campaign.[8] The updated Halo 2 cutscenes were produced by Blur.[4] The original Halo 2 multiplayer designer, Max Hoberman, returned to work on the game's remastered multiplayer levels.[6] The Halo 2 "Anniversary" update coincides with the tenth anniversary of its original release.[8] Ruffian is developing the Halo 3 and Halo 4 ports.[9][10]

343 Industries confirmed that the collection will be available to download from the Xbox Games Store[11] on the day of release.[1] On October 18, 2014, the game had been declared gold, indicating it was being prepared for duplication and release. [12] It has also been revealed that the episodic content, "Spartan Ops", from Halo 4, would be delayed in its release until December.[2][1]

United Front Games worked on the Unified Interface that works across all games.[3]

Release

The collection will be released worldwide on November 11, 2014, with the exception of Belgium, Japan and France who will receive the game on the 12th, 13th and 14th respectively.[2][1] It has also been announced that the game will come with a 20GB patch that will unlock a small portion of the game's content, although it has been promised that the campaigns will remain playable while the patch installs.[2][1] The patch went live to those who had digitally pre-ordered it through the Xbox Games Store on November 6, 2014 and was discovered to be 5GB smaller than previously announced, instead taking up 15GB worth of space.[13][14][15] Microsoft have also confirmed that it is possible to digitally pre-order the game which will cause it to install ahead of time, although it would still remain locked until the day of release.[1] The day one patch will also be download ahead of time in this scenario saving those who pre-order digitally time.[1] Players who pre-order through the Xbox Games Store will also receive early access to the "Boom" skull which provides double the explosion physics in the Halo 2 Anniversary Campaign.[1] All pre-order bonus skulls go live to all players on December 12, 2014.[1]

Reception

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^ Games that did not feature Master Chief in a prominent role, such as Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach were not included.[6]
Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sarkar, Samit (October 17, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection up for digital preload, Spartan Ops delayed to December". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f nnw (October 17, 2014). "Halo Master Chief Collection Day-One Patch Weighs 20 GB". National News Wire. Retrieved October 19, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Eldiablomechanico (June 9, 2014). "UFG/Microsoft: Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h McWhertor, Michael (June 9, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection brings four Halo games to Xbox One Nov. 11". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c d Bravo (November 1, 2014). "THE NEXT 50 ACHIEVEMENTS". Waypoint.com. Halo Waypoint. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e Hsu, Dan (June 10, 2014). "Understanding Halo: The Master Chief Collection (FAQ) — playlists, Forge, control schemes, and more". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley. "Halo 2: Anniversary campaign isn't quite 1080p, Microsoft confirms". Eurogamer.net. Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e McCaffrey, Ryan (June 9, 2014). "E3 2014: HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION, HALO 5 BETA ANNOUNCED FOR XBOX ONE". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Ruffian Games. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Giant Bomb. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  11. ^ Bravo (June 19, 2014). "THE HALO BULLETIN: 6.19.14". Halo Waypoint. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Connor Sheridan (October 18, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection UK release moved up". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  13. ^ Seppala, Timothy J. (November 6, 2014). "'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' has a smaller day-one patch than expected". engadger. [engadget.com]. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "WorthPlaying's Twitter". November 6, 2014. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Dan Ayoub's Twitter". November 6, 2014. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Gamerankings. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  17. ^ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  18. ^ Gies, Arthur. "HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION REVIEW: THE LIBRARY". Polygon. Retrieved 9 November 2014.