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'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' heads to PC with 'Reach' included
After years of waiting and more than a few hiccups, Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to the PC. Microsoft and 343 Industries have unveiled plans to release the whole anthology one game at a time on both the Microsoft Store and Steam, starting with the prequel that has been conspicuously absent in the MCC since its debut: Halo: Reach. This may prove to be slightly tortuous if you're a fan of the main story, but it will give you a chance to play the title while taking greater advantage of modern hardware.
'Halo 5' will run in 'true 4K' on Xbox One X
Halo 5 is getting the "true 4K" treatment with the Xbox One X. During Halo 5's pre-release hype cycle, Microsoft said that it was so focused on hitting 60 frames per-second with the game that there weren't any sacred cows -- including split-screen co-op, a series staple. Maybe don't expect that to return with the Xbox One X's more powerful innards, though.
I played through 'Halo 5: Guardians' solo and hated it
This article contains spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. Halo 5: Guardians is not the Halo you remember. It's a different kind of game altogether, something that more closely resembles a modern first-person shooter that focuses on multiplayer rather than a strong solo experience. This isn't the first time that's happened, but it is the first time in 11 years that a new Halo campaign feels like a massive step backward compared to its predecessor. Microsoft-owned studio 343 Industries is capable of better than this and proved as much with its killer freshman effort, Halo 4. But instead of addressing what it got wrong with that installment (e.g., an unexplained main villain) and doubling down on what it did right (e.g., an emotional storyline and constantly varying gameplay), the team fundamentally altered how a Halo campaign works to horrendous results.
Microsoft: We won't skip 'Halo' betas from now on
When Halo: The Master Chief Collection launched last year, it was supposed to be ultimate fan service: four of the most renowned games in the series, all in one fancy package loaded with extras, all on Xbox One. The final product was... well, problematic. To this day it still isn't 100 percent functional all the time, with a rash of issues like game crashes still persisting. "It was our first game on a new platform, and it was essentially five engines [with] a wrapper," 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross explained to me this week. All that to say, because the game wasn't a native Xbox One game is why it had so many issues. Still that makes it incredibly difficult to get excited for this fall's Halo 5: Guardians. Will it be as heartbreaking on a technical level as MCC? I briefly spoke with Ross about how she and her teams are working to overcome and address that very valid concern.
'Halo' tournament canceled because Xbox One game is still broken
Halo: Combat Evolved may have been one of the first console shooters to hit the competitive gaming circuit but a recent tournament was derailed because almost six months later, The Master Chief Collection is still broken. The official Halo eSports league, Halo Championship Series, had to cancel the first online cup of the regular season over the weekend due to connectivity issues. Seriously. As Eurogamer reports, games took place on Saturday but went off the rails on Sunday for the competition's conclusion.
'Halo' on Xbox One gets even more 'Halo' next month
If you've stuck with Halo: The Master Chief Collection this long you deserve a reward, and folks who played during the game's disastrous launch window last year will soon have theirs. As a 343 Industries rep writes on Halo Waypoint, the promised, free Halo 3: ODST expansion is "on track" to be part of next month's content update. Beyond that, the patch also adds the revamped "Relic" multiplayer map into the fold. Remember -- ODST isn't a total overhaul along the lines of Halo 2, it's just the old game running at 1080p and 60 FPS. "Relic," however is getting the full remaster treatment and even a new name that'll be revealed at a later date. For the rest of this month's patch notes, be sure to hit the links below.
Halo, goodbye: Microsoft cancels beta for 'Halo Collection' patch
The public beta for an upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection content update, designed to tackle ongoing matchmaking and party system issues, is canceled. Matchmaking has been busted in myriad ways since The Master Chief Collection's launch in November on Xbox One, and Microsoft-owned development studio 343 Industries has issued a handful of patches to address these problems already -- this update is expected to be a big one. In January, 343 said that "given the scale of the update," it would invite Xbox One Preview Program members to test out the patch ahead of launch. And no, that's not the normal way these things work.
Microsoft will beta test a patch for the still-busted 'Halo' collection
343 Industries is beta testing its latest patch for the horribly crippled Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Yes, you read that right: Redmond's internal Halo studio is asking a portion of MCC's players to be canaries in the Covenant coal-mine ahead of the latest (hopefully last?) update that'll address the myriad issues still surrounding the game's multiplayer. The test is available to North Americans in the Xbox One Preview Program, and furthermore, if you opt in it'll limit who you're playing with to those also in the beta. The test surrounds changes to the game's matchmaking and party systems according to 343i, with further details coming once the update gets closer to a final release. Sign-ups start this Friday, and only those with the "highest levels of engagement" with the game are going to be selected. Everyone else? You're just going to have to dream of what a revamped "Relic" will look like.
Microsoft apologizes for broken 'Halo' multiplayer with more 'Halo'
You know Halo: The Master Chief Collection's multiplayer has been, well, problematic since launch despite numerous patches. We know it and Microsoft does, too. That's why it's making it up to everyone who's played it with freebies. Those include a remastered Halo 3: ODST campaign, an overhauled "Relic" multiplayer map from Halo 2 and a free month of Xbox Live Gold. The former two won't be available for some time yet, but 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross notes on Xbox Wire that they'll be available gratis for anyone who's played between MCC's November launch and today. What's more, you'll also get an exclusive in-game nameplate and avatar for your troubles. And before you ask about ODST's killer wave-based multiplayer mode, "Firefight" making a return, the official FAQ is out to crush more than a few dreams (ours included) -- the outfit says it doesn't have any plans to include it for now.
Why are so many video games broken at launch?
Allow me to begin with my very best Andy Rooney impersonation: When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a "day one patch." I went to Video Station on Saturday with my parents -- if I was lucky -- and came home with a single rented game for the weekend. James Pond or Bubsy the Bobcat or Blast Corps or whatever. Maybe I'd have to blow out the cart, or erase the last renter's save file before playing whatever game I rented. Let's imagine a similar scenario today: You go to a Redbox kiosk or GameFly mails you a disc for your Modern GameBox™. Upon inserting said disc, your GameBox turns on and begins installing the game. The wait begins. It's now several percentage points in and ready to start running. You hit the button. "An update is required to play this game." This is when you take a moment to swear under your breath. This is "the future"? Now imagine your next step is finding out that multiplayer is broken, or that the game won't load, or that it barely runs. You've got our current situation.
Playdate: We're livestreaming 'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' on Xbox One! (update: game over!)
You'd think that ten years after Halo 2 launched, Master Chief saying, "I need a weapon" would have less of an impact. I thought that, anyway, and I was wrong. Like, super, super wrong. In Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Microsoft's Halo studio (343 Industries) has made a decade-old game shockingly relevant once again. Halo 2 "Anniversary" (as it's known) is gorgeous, it sounds dramatically better, and the cutscenes are completely re-made by the CGI masters at Blur Studio. But let's not kid ourselves -- unless you're a hardcore Halo dork (like me), you're here for the wealth of online multiplayer, right? Follow us below for a stream of both Master Chief Collection's campaigns and all that multiplayer.
'Halo: The Master Chief Collection': The Joystiq Review
Before Halo 2 launched in 2004, I must have watched the trailer a hundred times –- easily accessible from its permanent home on my college computer's desktop. Like many fans, my anticipation for the Xbox follow-up was ... let's say substantial. And, like many fans, I was a little disappointed by the campaign and its abrupt, cliffhanger ending. Thankfully, a genre-defining multiplayer suite did more than enough to salve any abrasions left behind by the rough campaign.
'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' has a smaller day-one patch than expected
We have some good news and some bad news for your data cap, folks. The Halo: The Master Chief Collection title update that adds multiplayer and a few other things is now available for download. It's smaller than expected, too! But it's still pretty sizable; 15GB to be exact. It's 5GB slimmer than what was initially promised, sure, but depending on your internet speed it could be a time-consuming roadblock standing between you and your first killtrocity on "Sidewinder" -- if you're buying a physical copy, of course. In case you've made a digital pre-order, you can grab the patch right now should you have auto-downloads turned on, according to 343 Industries executive producer Dan Ayoub. You have to wait until November 11th to play it, naturally. You still have plenty of Sunset Overdrive on Xbox One to keep you busy until then, right?
Let's look at each game console's lineup of exclusives for holiday 2014
Can you smell that? It's the aroma of game lovers' tears everywhere as they realize their bank accounts likely can't sustain buying every title coming out in the annual deluge of fall video game releases. That's to say nothing of the amount of time you'd need to play absolutely everything that's come out since September. Or even on November 18th alone! But what is each console offering exclusively this holiday? That's a bit more manageable, and we compare them below.
'Halo 2: Anniversary' edition shows some games get better with age
Halo: The Master Chief Collection promises to be the ultimate compilation for fans of John-117's adventures and online competitors alike, featuring remastered versions of all four numbered Halo titles (and access to the Halo 5: Guardians beta when it's live). Undoubtedly the most exciting part of the package is Halo 2: Anniversary, a fully remastered version of the 2004 title that set the bar for online multiplayer gaming on consoles. With attentive level design, balanced gameplay and a strong online ranking and matchmaking system, the game spawned a pro scene that's persisted from sequel to sequel, console to console. Halo: Combat Evolved may have introduced us to Master Chief's world, but it was Halo 2 that assured the franchise's legendary status, and it's coming back for more.
Microsoft flashes its 'Halo 2' remake and Atari documentary at Comic-Con
What do Halo: The Master Chief Collection and the Atari landfill-dig have to do with comic books? Not much, really, but that doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't at this year's San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) trotting them out to those in attendance. Let's start with Master Chief. The big green galoot has a boxed set of the games he starred in coming out this November, Redmond has seen fit to drop a trailer for the collection's gorgeously overhauled Halo 2 cinematics and we've embedded it below. What's more, MCC's developer Certain Affinity announced that the map that introduced the world to Halo 2's multiplayer, "Zanzibar," is getting the remake treatment alongside "Lockout," "Ivory Tower," "Coagulation" and "Ascension." The final of the six remastered maps will be revealed at Gamescom in Germany next month. If that isn't enough Halo news, we've also embedded video from the Halo: Nightfall panel that recently took place at SDCC.
Here's the first look at Ridley Scott's live-action 'Halo' project
Back at this year's E3 we learned that Halo: Nightfall would tell the origin story for a new character in Halo's sci-fi universe, and we're finally getting to see some of the show in motion. And, well, there are a couple of instances where it looks pretty similar to the Alien not-a-prequel, Prometheus. That almost assuredly isn't a coincidence given the fact that Prometheus' director Ridley Scott is serving as executive producer for the show. It's hard to tell exactly how the episodic series is going to turn out based on a teaser trailer (embedded after the break), but we can tell you that in its 74 seconds there's a distinct lack of Master Chief and a whole lot of talk about an element that "selectively kills humans." How's that for mystery? You'll be able to check out the exploits of Agent Locke and his crew after Halo: The Master Chief Collection releases this November. Update: Video of the entire Halo: Nightfall panel from Comic-Con is also embedded after the break.
'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' has what you expect and a whole lot more
We told you that Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC) existed before anyone else, but thanks to the package being officially official, we now have a veritable truckload of details about it. When the game releases November 11th, just over 10 years after Halo 2's launch, it'll pack remastered audio and visuals, four whole games on one disc, a staggering number of multiplayer maps and even a few surprises.
'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' coming to Xbox One this year, collects 'Halos 1-4'
Master Chief is getting a facelift with an HD collection of his exploits. We've learned that Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4 are being collected in a Master Chief-focused HD remaster coming from Microsoft. Our sources say that the set will zero in on Halo's most famous soldier to refresh audience's memories ahead of Halo 5: Guardians' release, so curiosities like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach likely won't be a part of the package. The game's developer is unknown at this point, but considering that Saber Interactive handled Combat Evolved Anniversary and is also working on an unannounced Xbox One project, the team is a likely suspect. Also unclear are plans for digital distribution, resolution and frame-rate (Microsoft bragged that that the next Halo will run at a "blistering" 60fps), piecemeal releases, or if the games will surface on other platforms as well (PC, anyone?).
