Ten years ago, the original Xbox launched with a title that revolutionized console FPS gaming and took off in student dorms everywhere. The game was called Halo: Combat Evolved, and it swiftly became one of the biggest franchises to come out in the past ten years (alongside Call of Duty, Gears of War and Uncharted).
Most of you know what Halo has become over the past few years, but not all of you may know how it all started. Halo was originally a Mac real-time strategy game before Bungie changed directions when purchased by Microsoft after a powerful showing at MacWorld. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a remake of the original, is a shiney, feature packed, budget title that lets old fans revel in nostalgia and newer fans continue the story where Halo: Reach left off.
The redone HD graphics are stunning and the ability to switch on the fly between the original look and the remastered version is amazing. As a games design student, the ability to see ten years of graphical evolution with a button press (and by waiting about two seconds or so) is an amazing feature and it really does show how much has changed. The load time between the two states can be a little long on occasion and it’s not a good idea to swap while in combat.
There are some great Easter eggs hidden in the new graphics too, not just regarding the Skulls and Terminals either. Fans intimate with the extended fiction will be pleased with one of the rooms in the first level, one that was basically pointless in Halo: CE that now hides a nice little nod to the Halo novels.
Also worth noting, the HD graphics look almost exactly like my memories of Halo: CE on the Xbox. To clarify, my head has ‘prettified’ the old Xbox version’s graphical ability and Saber Interactive and 343 Industries have made the new graphics match up perfectly with the original image improved by my selective memory. Having the ability to switch back and forth really helps point out just how much Halo: Combat Evolved has been built upon by the more recent game’s graphics.
The sound has been re-recorded and re-mastered too, with weapons sounding more robust and the music now fully orchestrated. Audio can’t be swapped out in-game between the original and the remastered like the graphics, however, and has to be set through the options menu. Cut scenes are also locked into the mode you enter them in.
Speaking of audio, I only have one complaint; the sniper rifle just doesn’t sound quite right any more. Yes, the sniper sound may be a minor point, but I miss the screech it used to have that seems to be missing from the new version. It’s made up for by the new noise for the rocket launcher though, which actually sounds like it has a motor now rather than sounding like a rolling barrel.
There is a tiny bit of Kinect integration with this title too. If your Kinect is plugged in, you can shout a few commands at the sensor rather than relying solely on navigating menus for certain things. You can change brightness and contrast on the fly, so if you’re in a dark room (there are a lot in ‘classic graphics’ mode) you can say “brighter” and it will update the setting without taking you out of the game. The menu items available through Kinect are a great idea that should certainly be integrated into more games. It’s really useful being able to tweak stuff without taking you out of the action.
There is also a library of models and information on things in the game that you can only access with Kinect. If you say “analyse” your HUD will change to something akin to the Scan Visor in the Metroid Prime series. A new cursor appears, scanable items appear bright orange and you can shout “scan” to register them in the library for later viewing. It’s mostly pointless, but as a small feature, it’s pretty cool.
You can also activate your flashlight, throw grenades or change between the two graphics settings with Kinect, but all of these are also available via the controller, thus rendering voice commands fun but rather pointless. It is a nice novelty though and is a great way for your friends to screw with you by shouting, “GRENADE!,” while you’re trying to sneak around sleeping Grunts.
The gameplay is mostly untouched from the original, with Skulls and Online Co-op being the only added exceptions. The old engine is running underneath the new graphics engine to ensure that it plays exactly how it used to. There is a small but noticeable load between game and cut-scenes which can be slightly jarring. The mid-level load boundaries freeze as much as they did on the original Xbox.
While some were hoping for a total rebuild of the old Halo: CE multiplayer, 343 Industries have been saying since the start that it won’t be happening due to the difficulty of reworking the back-end of the engine and how it handles networking. As a mostly welcome trade off, there are 6 new multiplayer maps and one new firefight map for Reach, both on the disc as a separate mode (for those who didn’t pick up Reach) and as a download code in the box so you can integrate them into your Reach Suite.
All of the maps are extremely pretty and play nicely. Once integrated into the multiplayer and people are more used to them, I’m sure some holes will appear. While the three shot pistol is nice in a nostalgic sense, it can make games feel frustrating at times due to the even shorter average lifespan (especially when you first jump in and are confronted by a horde of people who have already learned to use it). This was a last minute, single-player balance change rather than an intentional alteration, but it was sorely missed by fans and it is nice to see it back as a tribute.
While the game certainly appeals to my nostalgic side and the new graphics and maps are brilliant, Halo: CE Anniversary still feels ten years old. It shows its age with some checkpoints being a little too spread out and the levels can still get you turned around, even after ten years of occasionally jumping back into the old campaign for fun. It’s a much nicer way of doing a HD re-release than just applying slightly up-rezzed textures and is packed with extra, but mostly pointless, toys for the hardcore Halo fan. With this in mind, if you’re not a Halo fan, this probably isn’t the best game to jump in with. If you are a fan of the newer Halo games however, give this one a look. If you’ve been a fan since the beginning, like I have, Halo: CE Anniversary is a must buy. For anyone else, it will feel dated while looking like a modern title.
If looks are the only thing that matter to you, Halo: CE will probably work as a bargain title that will kill quite a few hours at higher difficulties. The game is certainly worth a look if you are interested in gaming history, but I don’t expect it to turn anyone into a new fan of the series if they aren’t already. As a person who generally avoids playing older games unless there’s a significant reason to do so, I’d only recommend this to a fan or if you want to relive one of the biggest contributors to FPS gaming on a console.
Overall Score: 7.5/10
Pros
Nostalgia and a piece of gaming history
Still plays well
New Halo Reach maps
Extra features for the fans
Budget price
Cons
The game is starting to shows its age
The ever-present loading gap when swapping graphics modes
Limited on disc multiplayer
Co-op is still only 2 player, even over Live.
Recommendation: Buy it! (If you’re an old fan, you’ve already bought it. If you’re a new fan, buy it. If you’re not a fan, go buy Reach first and see how you feel.)
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I want this game.
I bought it awhile ago, but I haven’t played it much. I honestly don’t know why.