Halo: The Master Chief Collection now on Steam

Tried the new release. I like it significantly better than the CE remaster so far. Much more faithful to the original, and as far as I can tell, the classic graphics aren't broken (there are some problems with sound, which is disappointing, and becoming a bit of a recurring theme). I hear there are a lot of multiplayer bugs. Haven't encountered any in the campaign yet, but early days. At least at this point most of the issues with 2: Anniversary are largely technical ones, rather than the principle of preserving the original experience like it is with CE, the bar is that low now. Broadly speaking though, can confirm, it is a functional port.

 

halo 1 is sorta nice... HALO2 IS DOGSHIT DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

The final levels of Halo CE are rough tons of mindless cannon fodder sometimes armed with a fucking rocket launcher for cheap deaths, the fact that all the levels are recycled doesn't help either.
Halo 2 is fascinating feels like completely different game aliens now have names and faces and even for some reason Cortana is flirting now with the master chief now. Also, the levels are now just corridors which are disappointing. Still, the gameplay is still fun and the remade graphics actually look good this time. No idea what happened with CE some of the new textures and object looks completely out of place while CE itself had a very nice consistent style.

 

Managed to finish Halo CE and enjoyed it more than I thought I should, but couldn't be bothered finishing Halo 2. It's too fast paced and lacks the magic of CE.

Hope Halo 3 will be better.

 

Digital Foundry's PC guy being so obsessed with 4k60 is really annoying when 1440p144 panels are waaaaaay more popular. He's supposed to be the PC expert but it really makes him seem like a TV gamer.

 

Actually, H2 has an actual plot and many other things that make me wonder what even made the first game popular enough for it to start it's own franchise. It's so bland, repetitive and generally uninspired that it's hard to slog through it, especially on legendary...

 

H2 has an actual plot, yes, but isn't worth paying attention to. It's just trying too hard being another Call of Duty military FPS. At least CE tried to be its own thing.

 

Halo was big, halo was fun, halo had co-op and multiplayer, halo was mostly well designed. Master Chief is a mostly quiet, faceless uber marine that can be whatever you want that kills enemies.

Halo predates the COD and the modern military fps popularity.

 

At the time, it was more WW2 FPS, with the first COD being released one year before Halo 2

 

Halo 2 is awful.

 

Wow, that Halo 2 ending has to be the worst cliffhanger ever, it's like the producer pulled the plug in the middle of a cutscene to ship the game. Overall worse than CE and Reach but still fun.

 

Really? I thought the Iraq war did that.

 

The gearbox port developed the online code for it.

The original xbox graphics will likely never be restored and I'm actually amazed we're getting any of these games. Bungie were sloppy with the back end at the best of times, and it must be an absolute mindfuck to sift through the source of multiple games from nearly two decades ago.

Just played through all three back to back. Never played Reach and thought it was alright. The CE remake was ugly as fuck tbh. Halo 2 remake was quite pretty though, atleast at 4k with a decent HDR implementation on my OLED. Halo 2 is the second best Halo game after 3 IMO.

 

Then we never even got Halo 3 on PC. Fun stuff.

 

Finished Halo 2 Legendary tonight in my warmup for my next duo LASO run. The beginning of the game is noticeably harder than the end. Music is probably the best out of 1-3, or tied with 1 if you weigh ambient and minimalistic pieces more. Environments and story are probably the best of 1-3+ODST in my opinion, due to the variety and ramping up of all aspects from politics to destruction. 2 was my least played in the mainline series because it was hard to get a hold of, but this game really pleasantly surprised me. No AR in 2 thank fucking god, can't believe the spotlight weapon was consistently dog shit through the entire series. The SMGs aren't much better, especially on Legendary when you are forced to use specific weapon combos rendering them obsolete, but still better than the AR. Jackal snipers 1-shotting on Legendary proved that no one actually played that difficulty before shipping the game. I can see why people call 2 the hardest, but with patience and a little planning/foresight, any encounter is beatable... unless you're packing the wrong weapons.

LASO is gonna make me hate it immediately, though.

 

Have you never played it?

 

Nope. Only ones I played before this were 1 and 2 on PC. Reach was okay but felt very "Xbox 360" for lack of a better word. That period wasn't great for PC shooter fans. Expecting Halo 3 to feel the same but who knows.

 

I haven't played it since 2007, but I remember it being a combination of 2 and CE, level design returned to being more open on certain missions. The colourful art style returned as well, although if any game deserved high resolution and AF, it was Halo 3.

Only 360 game I played online for more than a few days as well. (until MS banned my chipped console lol)