Lets face it. Whether you like the Halo franchise or not – you can’t ignore the fact that it changed gaming on consoles forever. It was the first series to bring the competitive multiplayer scene into the living room, and continue to evolve it over time. It also influenced a whole generation of gamers and developers, and does so till this very day. Microsoft knows all that, so in a clever move it decided to release Halo: The Master Chief Collection so that everyone cant watch and learn how it’s done. By everyone I mean all the Xbox One gamers who can now learn how it all started.
And what a collection it is. Halo: The Master Chief Collection contains the four main games in the franchise, all after an extensive cosmetic overhaul and support full HD visuals and 60 FPS. Believe me when I say this alone totally changes the playing experience. Halo 2 received the largest upgrade in the bunch: All the cutscenes are now longer and with new CGI visuals. The upgrade is very similar to what we saw in Halo: Anniversary, but spills over the game’s iconic multiplayer mode, though not in its entirety.
Every map from the last four games is here, but only six of them received any enhancements. Players can switch between the new and classic graphics with the push of a button, just like in Halo: Anniversary. All the modes and difficulty levels are unlocked from the get go as well.
As someone who only played the first Halo on PC, and then years later Halo: Reach, this collection nearly blew my mind. For me, it served two purposes: The first one is pretty clear – play all the games in the series and and experience the full story and to experience gameplay I haven’t played since th original Unreal and Quake. In a time when Call of Duty and Battlefield bring realism into the competitive multiplayer scene, The Master Chief collection is a breath of fresh air for the genre that remind us not everything needs to be so gritty.
For a shooter from a decade a go, Halo 2 feels much more intelligent then game I play today. It reminds me fondly of a time with no Quick-Time Events, when gamers had to think before engaging with the enemy. Even today the AI still catches you off guard from time to time, so you have to constantly strategies and evolve your fighting style.
The second purpose of The Master Chief Collection is mostly educational. This a collection that covers 10 years of Halo legacy; it contains countless moments of nostalgia that are bound to make fans smile, but it feels new enough so that newcomers can enjoy this epic journey. This is collection that will take you back to a time where shooters weren’t about who can pull the trigger faster; a time when getting to know the maps and controls were much more important.
But that’s not all. Halo 5: Guardians is currently in development, and if you choose to buy Halo: The Master Chief you’ll gain access to the multiplayer beta when the time comes. Not interesting enough? You’ll also get a weekly TV series on Xbox One (produced by Ridley Scott) that ties everything together and leads to Halo 5. On the Achievements front you have 4,000 points to accumulate, so there’s that.
For the price of a single game you get four complete games a an entire legacy. Halo: The Master Chief Collection bundles together some unforgettable experiences for when you play by yourself or with other in multiplayer. Experiences that can put to shame even the biggest names in the genre. Microsoft and 343 Industries have concocted a great collection that stands all on its own and then some. It’s the definitive collection that all future ones should takes as an example and aspire to be like.
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