Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved changed the course of videogame history and its name is etched on a list of titles that defined the medium. Before Bungie’s milestone was released in 2001, the gulf separating console and PC development philosophy was considered too large to bridge; there were games on consoles and there were games on the PC. This first-person shooter not only redefined the genre with its vast pool of combat options but successfully mapped its mechanics to a controller, opening the door for those developers to find a whole new audience.

And ten years later, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary celebrates that classic. 343 Industries first project after taking over the franchise walks a tight rope between honoring the integrity of the original and playing within it.

They started with a full overhaul of the original game’s art assets. Gun models and map textures have been brought up to modern Halo standards and character models have largely been pulled out of Halo: Reach. The new textures are full of detail and all do a terrific job of updating the well-known designs in ways that feel familiar. Look out at the majesty of that iconic Halo stretching out and loop back into itself- it’s just as breathtaking as the first time you saw it. The game looks great. Sounds great too. Marty O’Donnell’s orchestration and his legendary monks have been completely rescored. The battles are more epic, the isolation more profound. For the nostalgic, both of these updates can be toggled on and off to relive the original Xbox’s graphics.

But all that’s revamping the original. Halo: Anniversary has been seeded with collectibles that offer fans plenty of reason to return to installation 04. Easily the most important of which are the Terminals that offer new pieces of fiction that add to the already substantial Halo lore. Found in each level, these cinemas are well produced, appear in mostly logical places in the environment and contain relevant information to the story as its transpiring. Also added were about a dozen skulls that modify the gameplay. They are simple, optional tools that allow new gameplay variations into a decade-old title. Hey, also, Halo 1 Achievements.

But all these additions have done something strange- they highlight how anachronistic the core gameplay is. Since Combat Evolved, Halo’s mechanics have too and in staying true to the original game, 343 had to make some tough decisions. Some were right, some were wrong.

Starting in Halo 2, Master Chief was given new combat options. Dual wielding, vehicle jacking, the plasma sword- these were additions that streamlined the combat and made it more about engaging the enemy head on. They weren’t in Halo: CE; they aren’t in Anniversary. This has created a Frankenstein’s monster of modern aesthetics and antiquated mechanics. Some of them are sensible- dual-wielding would have broken the game’s balance, being able to steal the ghost that’s charging at you, wouldn’t. There’re probably technical reasons for it, but their absences remains unfortunate.

Unfortunate, too, is how the beauty of the new textures makes the environment feel repetitive. While that was definitely true in 2001, those once-sheer walls are now intricate and ornate and as you see them approach and pass in your vision, you’re aware of how long you’re staring at them as you run down a hall. What’s more, the textures of those long halls don’t stream fast enough, creating a blur you’ve got plenty of time to notice. Coupled with level and object geometry that creates invisible walls that extend far further out than they seem to be able to, and you get the idea that the original design might not have been as tightly built as you’d remember.

The game takes some 7.5 gigs to install. Go home and clear every bite you can on your HDD. Do it immediately. Until I did, I lost my progress to four crashes and witnessed rampant texture pop-in. Installing won’t fix everything but makes it more bearable. The last level in particular had textures that took seconds to load and was hit with a curiously low frame rate. This is by far the most disconcerting part of the whole package.

For the campaign. What will end up being the most controversial part of Anniversary is how it handles its multiplayer, the legacy of which stands as one of the most successful parts of its release. It was so popular that adding network play into Halo 2 not only made Xbox live a viable platform but into the premier console online service it is today. Segregated on the disc is full Halo: Reach integration that imports that games Noble 6 into an anniversary playlist comprised of only a few maps inspired by a handful of ones found in Halo, its PC port and Halo 2. Depending on how much time you spent with deathmatch a decade ago, that could be a real sticking point. Since this mode is exclusively running off the engine that powered Reach, its not affected by the strange technical bugs of the story mode, which only makes them more curious.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a hard package to qualify. There is much about the original Halo: CE that’s worth celebrating, but this package has made some concessions to stick closely to its ‘integrity’. It simultaneously evades addressing its issues and creates some new ones. This anniversary is less the party for the office vet that everyone adores and more the awkward cake for the weird guy everyone avoids.