Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: 343 Industries (campaign), Certain Affinity (multiplayer), Bungie (original)
Platforms: Xbox 360
Release Date: November 15, 2011
We are entering a time where all the old school games are being rehashed or brought into the HD world. And for the most part this has been met with varied reviews. I have been one of those people to look at these games with a bit of disappointment, mainly because it lacks originality to redo a game or to bring it “up-to-date” by simply changing the definition within the game.
For the most part HD games have only succeeded in showing the short comings of graphics at that time period. You can make a game HD but unless you decide to overhaul all the textures and update the experience there really hasn’t been a reason for it to exist. The flip side to this of course is taking an old game and completely changing it until you realize it’s just a piece of crap, yes “golden eye: reloaded” I am talking about you.
Well Combat Evolved was released not too long ago and it had the same stigma for me. Why would I pay money to just buy a game I already own and have fond memories of? This was a question I continuously asked myself until the game was released, than the gamer in me weakened at the sight of Master Chief and it ended up as a part of my collection.
With that said let’s talk Halo.
Functionality:
It is worth mentioning that while this game is a genuine remake there are some issues with the fact that the code used is pretty much the exact same as the original game. This makes sense since the point of the remake was not to replace the experience just its look.
With that said the game will at times seem to lag a bit or feel clunky. This could for sure be that it’s based off an older coding language that worked pretty well on the original xbox but since then we have upgraded in tech and programming languages. I feel the development studios should have made that a top priority and try to rebuild the entire game. Keep the level layout and the overall feel of the game intact but just make it so the code functions better with our modern day consoles.
If that was done the game could have possibly been a lot smoother and feel less like you’re playing a port of an old school xbox game.
Visual Changes:
Well let’s get it out of the way. The main difference between this re-release and any other HD release is that it is actually redone in the sense of a complete overhaul of its visual look. Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition is beautiful. I mean really beautiful.
343 studios had went through the levels and added in as much detail as possible to put the original title to shame. Covenant look more like aliens, landscape has scope and depth, marines look a bit more human, ships look like ships and not like boxes floating in space, and the weapons are given a fresh coat of paint.
But was that it for 343, no they wanted to make things more interesting by providing a system to allow the gamer to swap in and out of the old school game and new age graphics. “By one simple click of a button” they boasted “the game will transition seamlessly through the original title and the new version”. This was stated continuously as a method to promote personal nostalgia while playing.
All I found myself thinking “you can swap in ship, you swap in a field, you can even swap in a battle” as Dr. Seuss played on and on in my head. But alas this method proved to more of nuisance than a blessing. The transition takes around 3-4 seconds to really change over, sometimes even longer. You see, the issue is that the transition involves a “fade to black” than “fade in” mechanic that makes it ruin any sense of flow within the game.
If you choose to do this during battle you will find yourself dead by the time it fades in with the alternate version. This just ruined the entire concept and will leave you staying with the new age graphics without really bothering to swap back and forth the way they originally intended. You see the concept was great, I mean who wouldn’t love that type of mechanic in a game. But they should have used a simple side swipe method or a box to take over your screen. That way you skip the fade and incorporate a mechanic that won’t interfere with the gamers ability to move or interact with their environment during the change. Granted this takes a bit more work, but it looks a lot cooler and would incorporate the idea in the best possible way.
I mean do that or at least make the game pause during transitions! There is nothing more frustrating than playing Halo on hardcore and accidently hit the transition button to later find the Chief on the floor dead. With an Elite T-bagging him…
Guns and the power associated:
Another area that 343 claimed with pride was the adjustments made to the weaponry in Combat Evolved. The idea was that the weapons would be equaled out better to allow the gamer to really use different means to go through areas. You could still walk through an area toting the pistol, but if you decided to try out the assault rifle you could do so with the same amount of success.
This unfortunately was met half way. A lot of the weapons work better but only on certain enemies. Well they work on everything except for the flood.
Assault rifle rounds bounce of incoming flood as if you were throwing spit wads at them. Except the spit wad is made out of a cotton ball, and you are tossing it from non-dominant hand, which is broken, and you’re blindfolded. All together it is just useless. Making the premier weapons for the flood the shotgun and pistol, which are not available all over the place when you are in the Library.
So I would say that the weapon adjustments really seem to be more of a hindrance to the game, I mean they work rather well early on but once you switch to the flood you are up shits creek. Which is unfortunate considering the flood are the main thing you fight in the game.
Coop?
Now if you have played the original title you will remember that this was back in the day when creating games that are pure coop experiences was not very common. Most of the time you would just split screen game and the story would only be aimed at the one main character. This was never a big deal in the Halo franchise because they were always so one sided that involving two bad asses would just seem ridiculous. I mean two men falling from orbit and surviving is just unheard of right? Come on its only Master Chief that can!
Well this game was released with the concept of incorporating the illusion of two people in the game. This was done through cut scenes and other means where the game would make it appear as if both players where there. And not like one went out for a smoke during important moments in game.
This however only meets it half-way since it is only very few select moments, like a second, where it gives the illusion of two people. The main moment is a brief period where an additional pod randomly appears at the beginning of the game so there are two Spartans getting out. But this appearance only occurs right before Master Chief gets out, so you get a small segment where there is one pod than randomly there are two.
Now if 343 wanted to impress people with the idea they would have actually incorporated the concept in the full scene or make it seems like there are two Spartans throughout the game. Not just one random scene. Granted this pushes away from the original games concept but in all reality the original game was geared towards single player experience so including the coop element would be its own entire thing. So you do have a little bit of freedom to adjust the talking to fit two people instead of one.
Or you are extremely sneaky and make one a marine, that way you can have an actual character who survives with Master Chief throughout the entire game.
Re-mastered Soundtrack:
One of the great things about the Anniversary Edition is the fact that they went through and re-recorded the entire soundtrack. So you get a much more crisp and solid sound with the game. That was one of the best things about the game for me, just hearing the original theme in all of its cleaned up glory made the experience for me.
Halo Combat Evolved had by far the most iconic and well-designed soundtrack of the entire series, it was just perfect for what they game was and what the series represented. And with that said the Anniversary Edition captures the feeling perfectly.
Although there is a small inclusion of the electric guitar but that is used as an additional element and not the foreground sound which prevents it from butchering the sound, like Halo 2 did. Still would have been better if they left it out, but I thought it was great.
Check out this vid to hear the main theme!
Free Content:
If you decide to purchase Halo Anniversary Edition you will also get some pretty cool free stuff! You will be given an access card with:
- Avatar costume for him or her, makes you look like the original Master Chief.
- Combat Evolved Re-mastered map pack, which can be used with Halo Reach.
Is it worth the price tag?
This is really up to the gamer, if you remember playing Combat evolved and loved every second of it than I would say that the Anniversary Edition definitely provides some great nostalgia moments. And for only like 30 bucks it feels right. I would, however, say that you should be warned that the game will ruin any chance of you playing your original xbox game and that there will be moments when you curse the heavens. These moments are mainly in the Library level, go figure.
Also you get the map packs from the original game, for free, which makes the purchase even more awesome to anyone who loves competing online.
Overall I would say that this game is a definite buy for me, not just for the updated graphics but also the soundtrack and experience that comes with it. It is the perfect way for 343 to thank the Halo fans for their support of the franchise and them as the new developing studio. Plus this is probably the most well done remake on the market at this moment.
