Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Developer(s) 343 Industries[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s) Microsoft Studios
Series Halo
Platform(s) Xbox One
Release date(s)
  • WW November 11, 2014[1]
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s)
Distribution

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a compilation of first-person shooter video games in the Halo series remade for the Xbox One. Released in November 2014, The Master Chief Collection was primarily developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios. The collection consists of the original trilogy developed by Bungie—Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2, and Halo 3—along with Halo 4, the first installment from 343 Industries. The games received a graphical upgrade for the release, with Halo 2 receiving a high-definition redesign of its audio and visuals that are exclusive to the collection. Access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta and the live-action series Halo: Nightfall are also included.

Each game in the compilation retains its original story and gameplay, though Halo 2‍ '​s cutscenes were extended by Blur Studio using pre-rendered computer-generated imagery (CGI). The multiplayer mode features every map released for each title, along with six remakes of original Halo 2 maps. Critics generally praised The Master Chief Collection for its updated audio and visuals, as well as its quantity of content, although many criticized inconsistent matchmaking experiences, which 343 Industries vowed to remedy in future updates.

Gameplay

In the Halo 2 anniversary campaign mode, players can switch between the original game's graphics (top) and new graphics (bottom).

The Master Chief Collection consists of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, the anniversary edition of Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4, replete with their full catalog of extras, including all multiplayer maps and gameplay modes.[2] There have been no story or gameplay changes to the original releases.[3] The games are first-person shooters with vehicular combat that takes place from a third-person perspective. All four campaign modes can be played alone or cooperatively via split screen or Xbox Live. Each campaign has four difficulty levels and access to gameplay modifiers known as "Skulls".

As in Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 players can swap between the original and upgraded graphics on the fly. Additions to Halo 2‍ '​s campaign mode include "Terminals", and new prologue and epilogue cutscenes to link the series for Halo 5‍ '​s debut.[2] Since only six of the game's multiplayer maps were remastered, there are two Halo 2 multiplayer modes. The Halo 2 anniversary multiplayer mode uses the six remastered maps, while the standard Halo 2 multiplayer mode includes all of the original game's released maps with a full graphical update but no remastering.[3] The Collection multiplayer includes Mission Setlists, curated lists of levels selected from throughout the series.[2]

The Extras menu includes access to live-action video series Halo: Nightfall and the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta.[4] The compilation features new Achievements, and all difficulty and play modes are unlocked from the start.[2] The game launched with a total of 4,000 Gamerscore spread across 400 Achievements—the largest amount of Gamerscore given to a game since its introduction—with another 500 Gamerscore, spread across 50 Achievements, being released in a day-one update.[5]

Synopsis

Setting

All four games within The Master Chief Collection are set in a science fiction universe during the 26th century, with the first three occurring in the year 2552 with the third stretching into 2553 while Halo 4 taking place four years later in 2557. Humans have colonized numerous worlds using slipspace travel, although their colonies on other worlds have since been eradicated by an alliance of alien races known as the Covenant. The Covenant worship a long-lost race known as the Forerunners and seek out their relics, including the Halo Array. The Halo Array is a series of seven massive ringworlds scattered across the galaxy and are believed by the Covenant to be a way to transcend from their existence due to incorrect translations from Forerunner to their own language. However, the true purpose of the Array is to contain and study the parasitic life form known as the Flood by eradicating anything with sufficient biomass to support the flood.

Characters

In each of the four main series games, the player controls Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (Steve Downes[6]), a cybernetically-enhanced human supersoldier. He is accompanied by an artificial intelligence (AI) construct, named Cortana (Jen Taylor[7][8]). During the Halo 2 campaign, the player controls the Master Chief and a disgraced Covenant Shipmaster, Thel 'Vadamee (Keith David[9]), who is given the role of the Arbiter to atone for his sins in letting the first Halo ring be destroyed in the first game on various missions. Thel later appears in the Halo 3 campaign, where he accompanies the Master Chief during certain missions. During co-op play, the second player plays as the Arbiter, while the third and fourth players portray two other elites, N'tho 'Sraom[10] and Usze 'Taham[10] respectively, although neither character appear in cut-scenes between levels.[10] In Halo 3: ODST, a stand-alone side story that bridges the gap of what happened on Earth between Halo 2 and Halo 3, the player takes control of Lance Corporal Rookie, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST), who is separated from his team in New Mombasa. Unlike previous protagonists of the other games, Rookie does not speak in game and is simply referred to as "Rookie" in game.

Development

The collection was developed by 343 Industries in conjunction with Certain Affinity, Ruffian Games, Saber Interactive, Blur Studio, and United Front Games.[4][11] Following the announcement of The Master Chief Collection at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's Xbox division, stated that the collection originally began as just a remastering of Halo 2 to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. 343 Industries decided that it would be a great opportunity to release the other main Halo titles for the Xbox One in preparation for the 2015 release of Halo 5: Guardians.[12] 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.[13] On October 18, 2014, the game had been declared gold, indicating it was being prepared for duplication and release.[14]

Combat Evolved Anniversary is based on the high-resolution remaster of the original released in 2011 for the Xbox 360.[3] Kinect features from the Xbox 360 version are not supported in the Xbox One collection.[13] Ruffian Games was responsible for developing the Halo 3 and Halo 4 ports.[15] Halo 3 and Halo 4 received only a simple lighting upgrade, and an increase in both frame rate and rendering resolution.[3] 343 Industries designed the interfaces and online networking. United Front Games worked on the unified interface that works across all games.[3] Coinciding with the release of The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries developed the Halo Channel, an application for the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. It is a successor to the Halo Waypoint app that was released on the Xbox 360. The Xbox One app is integrated with the collection, allowing players to access Halo: Nightfall and "Terminal" animations, unlock rewards for the game, and launch the games directly from the app.[16]

Halo 2 Anniversary

Saber Interactive, which co-developed Combat Evolved Anniversary, assisted in remaking Halo 2‍ '​s campaign.[3][13] It received complete visual overhaul.[13] Weapon audio and other sound effects were updated as well.[13] The refined Halo 2 cutscenes, as well as two new cutscenes serving to set the scene for Halo 5: Guardians, were produced by Blur Studio.[2][17] The recreated cutscenes used the same structure and timing of the originals. Motion capture was used for animation.[17]

"Terminals", a feature first introduced in Halo 3, were added to the Halo 2 Anniversary campaign.[17] The aim of the Terminals was to "create a connected tissue" for stories within the Halo universe. 343 Industries wanted to use them to explore the relationship between the different races within the Covenant and the events that led towards the breaking of their alliance in Halo 2. Terminals also gave 343 Industries an opportunity to introduce Spartan Locke, a main character within Halo 5: Guardians.[17] Once again, visual effect studio The Sequence Group collaborated with 343 Industries in animating the Terminals in Halo 2 Anniversary;[17] the group had previously worked on the Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 4 Terminals.[18][19] Several voice actors reprised their roles as characters in the new Terminals, including Keith David as the Arbiter, John DiMaggio as the Heretic Leader, and Tim Dadabo as 343 Guilty Spark. Mike Colter voiced Spartan Locke.[17]

Once the Halo 2 Anniversary project was green-lit, Dan Ayoub, executive producer at 343 Industries, contacted Max Hoberman of Certain Affinity about working on the multiplayer component.[17] Hoberman was the original Halo 2 multiplayer designer and founded Certain Affinity after leaving Bungie.[17][3] Certain Affinity was tasked with remaking six multiplayer maps from Halo 2.[17] The team found it difficult deciding which six maps to recreate from the original twenty-four; they eventually chose two small, two medium, and two large for variation.[17]

Along with the visual upgrade, Halo 2‍ '​s original score was re-recorded with the San Francisco Symphony at Skywalker Sound.[13][17] Guitarist Steve Vai returned to play on additional tracks with Misha Mansoor.[17][20] The Halo 2 Anniversary soundtrack was released on November 11, 2014, digitally and in two physical formats: CD and vinyl record.[20]

Release

On June 9, 2014, Halo: The Master Chief Collection was announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo with a trailer titled "Hunter and the Hunted".[4][22][23] The trailer was created by animation company Digital Domain, which had previously collaborated on other Halo commercials.[22][24][25] The trailer recreates a moment from Halo 2, in which the Master Chief rides a bomb into a Covenant ship. It is narrated by Keith David, who voices the Arbiter.[23] Several other trailers were released prior to launch, showcasing the updated cinematics and Terminals featured in Halo 2 Anniversary, and gameplay from all titles across the collection.[26][27][28] On October 31, 2014, 343 Industries released a documentary, Remaking the Legend – Halo 2: Anniversary, chronicling the history of Halo 2 and the development of Halo 2: Anniversary; it also features interviews with developers at Bungie and 343 Industries. The documentary was initially broadcast on Twitch.tv, and was later available on the Halo Channel, Xbox Video, and YouTube.[17][29]

In August 2014, UK retailer Game revealed two special editions of The Master Chief Collection. The "Limited" edition includes a steel book case, a map book, and an in-game modifier, while the "Mjolnir" edition includes all the content from the Limited edition, along with a 1-foot (0.30 m) statue of the Master Chief.[30] In October 2014, Microsoft announced a white Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle for Brazil and other "select markets".[31] A second Xbox One bundle containing the collection was announced for release in the United States during March 2015.[32]

The collection was released worldwide in November 2014.[1] 343 Industries confirmed that the collection would be available to download from the Xbox Games Store on the day of release.[1] A 15-gigabyte patch went live to those who had digitally preordered it through the Xbox Games Store on November 6, 2014.[33] Players who preordered through the Xbox Games Store also received early access to the "Boom" Skull, which provides double the explosion physics in the Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 campaign mode; it became available to all other users on December 12, 2014.[1]

Post-release

At launch, many players experienced problems with online matchmaking modes. 343 Industries released numerous updates to address these issues.[34] On November 24, 2014, Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries, issued a public apology noting issues "that have resulted in a frustrating experience, including long matchmaking times and low session success rates".[35] On December 19, 2014, Microsoft announced that as an apology for the issues, it would give a free month of Xbox Live Gold, a special avatar and nameplate, and a free downloadable copy of the Halo 3: ODST campaign to those who played the game between its launch and December 19, 2014.[36] On December 22, 2014, Spartan Ops, the episodic content originating in Halo 4, was released as downloadable content for The Master Chief Collection.[37] Additional Achievements for Spartan Ops and the multiplayer mode were released on January 8, 2015.[38]

Halo: Nightfall—a series of weekly, episodic digital videos directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzen and produced by Ridley Scott—launched soon after the collection was released. The series was designed to connect the stories of previous Halo games to the upcoming Halo 5.[2] The Halo 5 beta launched on December 29, 2014, and ran until January 18, 2015.[39]

With the release of The Master Chief Collection, Microsoft and 343 Industries announced an official competitive-gaming league, the Halo Championship Series (HCS). 343 Industries partnered with the Electronic Sports League, live-streaming platform Twitch.tv, and other tournament organisers to foster the competitive multiplayer community in Halo. The first season of HCS, featuring Halo 2: Anniversary‍ '​s multiplayer, launched in November 2014 and ran until March 2015. It served as a test bed for ideas and future plans that 343 Industries has for electronic sports in Halo 5.[40]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings85.23%[41]
Metacritic85/100[42]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer9/10[43]
Game Informer9.25/10[44]
GameSpot6/10[45]
IGN9/10[46]
Polygon8/10[47]

Halo: The Master Chief Collection received generally positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave it scores of 85.23% based on 51 reviews and 85/100 based on 69 reviews, respectively.[41][42] Reviews praised the graphics, frame rate, and content included in the bundle, but criticized the prominent matchmaking issues that prevented players from playing online multiplayer modes on release day.[47]

The technical issues deeply affected the game's online experience. Forbes‍ '​ Paul Tassi wrote the game on release "was just flat out broken", and though improvements have been made, it "may very well be the worst major game release in a decade."[48]

Notes

  1. ↑ Additional work was done by Saber Interactive, Certain Affinity, Ruffian Games, Blur Studio, and United Front Games. The original trilogy (Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3) and Halo 3: ODST were developed by Bungie, while the original Halo 4 was developed by 343 Industries.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Sarkar, Samit (October 17, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection up for digital preload, Spartan Ops delayed to December". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 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.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 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.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 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.
  5. ↑ B is for bravo (October 31, 2014). "THE NEXT 50 ACHIEVEMENTS". Halo Waypoint. Microsoft. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  6. ↑ Berghammer, Billy; Tim Dadabo, Steve Downes (February 27, 2007). "Voicing Halo: The Steve Downes And Tim Dadabo Interview". Game Informer. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Jen (narr.) (2007). The Cortana Chronicles (Halo 3 Legendary Edition). Bungie Studios.
  8. ↑ Taylor, Jen; Staff (May 3, 2006). "SiN Episodes Voice Cast Interview". ritualistic.com. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
  9. ↑ David, Keith (2007). Mass Effect Voice Acting Interview (FLASH). Bioware. Event occurs at 00:42. Retrieved November 7, 2007. The difference between [acting in video games as opposed to animation] is slight. Acting is acting—it's either good acting or it's bad acting.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Bungie.net : The Tru7h About Co-Op in Halo 3 : 7/31/2007 1:49 PM PDT". bungie.net. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ Eldiablomechanico (June 9, 2014). "UFG/Microsoft: Halo: The Master Chief Collection". United Front Games. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ McCaffrey, Ryan (June 10, 2014). "E3 2014: Halo: The Master Chief Collection's Origin Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Albert, Brian (October 7, 2014). "The Horse You Rode In On (A Halo: The Master Chief Collection Story)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  14. ↑ Sheridan, Connor (October 18, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection UK release moved up". Computer and Video Games. Future plc. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Ruffian Games. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ McCaffrey, Ryan (October 8, 2014). "Halo Channel Developer Walkthrough". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 17.9 17.10 17.11 17.12 "Remaking the Legend - Halo 2: Anniversary". YouTube. November 3, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Halo: Anniversary". The Sequence Group. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Mo-cap on a budget: Halo 4 ‘Terminals’". Fxguide. February 21, 2013. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "The Halo 2: Anniversary Original Soundtrack Launches Day-and-Date with Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Nov. 11". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. November 7, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Halo 2 Anniversary (Original Soundtrack)". iTunes Preview. Apple Inc. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Halo: The Master Chief Collection "Hunter and the Hunted"". Digital Domain. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Halo The Master Chief Collection". YouTube. June 9, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Halo 3 "Starry Night"". Digital Domain. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  25. ↑ "HALO 4 "Awakening"". Digital Domain. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection Terminal Trailer". YouTube. July 5, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Halo 2 Anniversary Cinematic Launch Trailer [Official]". YouTube. October 29, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Halo: The Master Chief Collection Launch Launch Trailer". YouTube. November 5, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  29. ↑ Macy, Seth (October 24, 2014). "Halo 2 Documentary Gets Release Date". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  30. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 6, 2015). "£170 Halo: The Master Chief Collection Mjolnir Edition has 12" Master Chief statue". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  31. ↑ Sirani, Jordan (October 8, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection White Xbox One Bundle Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  32. ↑ Sheridan, Connor (March 9, 2015). "New Xbox One bundle includes Halo: Master Chief Collection". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  33. ↑ Seppala, Timothy J. (November 6, 2014). "'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' has a smaller day-one patch than expected". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  34. ↑ Haywald, Justin (November 14, 2014). "Halo Master Chief Collection Developer Says Matchmaking Solution Coming Soon". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  35. ↑ Ross, Bonnie (November 24, 2014). "A Status Update From Bonnie Ross on Halo: The Master Chief Collection". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  36. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (December 19, 2014). "Halo 3: ODST remaster coming to The Master Chief Collection for free as apology to players". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  37. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (December 22, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection gets Halo 4's Spartan Ops and more fixes today". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  38. ↑ "'Halo: The Master Chief Collection' Getting New Achievements, Fixes Over Next Two Weeks". Inquisitr. January 6, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One Multiplayer Beta to launch next week". Punch Jump. December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  40. ↑ Gies, Arthur (November 5, 2014). "Halo gets serious about eSports with the Halo Championship Series". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 "Halo: The Master Chief Collection". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "Halo: The Master Chief Collection for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  43. ↑ Ditum, Nathan (October 11, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  44. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (November 9, 2014). "Halo: Master Chief Collection". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  45. ↑ Watters, Chris (November 15, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  46. ↑ Maccaffrey, Ryan (November 6, 2014). "HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION REVIEW". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Gies, Arthur (November 7, 2014). "Halo: The Master Chief Collection review: the library". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 19, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  48. ↑ Tassi, Paul (February 20, 2015). "100 Days After Release, Continued Mourning For 'Halo: The Master Chief Collection'". Forbes. Retrieved February 20, 2015.

External links