Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Overview

Halo, now remastered in HD

Announced at E3 2011, Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary is a fully remastered version of the original Halo: Combat Evolved , released, as the title suggests, on the ten-year anniversary of that game's release, and featuring modern updates such as co-op over Xbox Live as well as six classic Halo multiplayer maps and one new Firefight map for Halo: Reach. The original gameplay engine, physics, and controls remain intact but with an updated graphics engine. 343 Industries have said that the gameplay is absolutely identical to the original game. Players are literally able to switch between the remastered visuals and the classic visuals in real time with the press of a button in order to see the difference more clearly. Halo: Anniversary was released as a full retail title at $40.

New Features

For the most part, Halo Anniversary is a perfectly faithful retelling of the story of the Master Chief's adventure on Installation 04. However, there are several new features to enhance gameplay; for example, terminals such as those found in the final levels of Halo 3 are present throughout the game's campaign, adding more depth to the storytelling and containing bits of information that 343 Industries have indicated are tied to the story of the upcoming Halo 4. The information on these terminals are presented as motion comics.

As well as having remastered graphics, the game also supports Stereoscopic 3D.

Another new feature is that the game features optional Kinect support. This was announced during a GameSpot interview with Microsoft Games Studios' Mark Spencer:

As a first party, we believe that Kinect will be important to all genres of games, be it racing games with Forza, combat games like Ryse -- even games like Halo Anniversary has Kinect integration.

343 Industries stressed the fact that any and all Kinect support would be entirely optional, and not required for full enjoyment of the product. During gameplay, players can say "classic" or "remastered" to toggle back and forth between the original appearance of the game from 2001 and the HD visuals created in 2011, respectively. They can also say "scan" while pointing their reticule at a weapon, vehicle or enemy (alive or dead) to get an exclusive "Library" entry on the thing they are scanning.

Players can access the multiplayer maps whether or not they own a copy of Halo: Reach, although the Halo: Anniversary disc will only allow them to access the seven new multiplayer maps, not any maps included with Halo: Reach or its DLC packs. Several playlists in Reach were created to coincide with the release of Halo: Anniversary featuring these maps and modified gameplay settings to more closely approximate the gameplay of previous Halo titles. A code is included with each new copy of the game that can be redeemed to download the new maps to the hard drive and played in Halo: Reach proper. Those who do not wish to purchase Halo: Anniversary can purchase the new multiplayer maps from the Xbox Live Marketplace in the form of a map pack.

As befitting the game's status as a remake, six of the seven new maps are remakes of Halo: Combat Evolved multiplayer maps. These include Damnation, Hang Em' High, Beaver Creek, Prisoner, Headlong, and Timberlands. Installation 04, however, is an all-new Firefight map, which was merely inspired by the setting of Combat Evolved. The most popular Halo: CE level, Blood Gulch, is not included because a version of it was already included in Halo: Reach, under the name "Hemorrhage".

Renamed Multiplayer Maps

• Penance (Damnation)
• Battle Canyon (Beaver Creek)
• Ridgeline (Timberland from Halo PC)
• High Noon (Hang 'Em High)
• Solitary (Prisoner)
• Breakneck (Headlong from Halo 2)
• Installation 04 (Firefight map)

Pre-Order

Months before the release of the actual game, 343 was giving out game bonuses if pre-ordered at any supported retailer (i.e. GameStop, Best Buy, EB Games, Amazon.com, etc). The pre-order bonuses can be purchased for the standard edition of the game.

Pre-order bonuses include:

• Master Chief Avatar Armour - Heroes never die, and the Master Chief is reborn and remastered! For the 10th anniversary of the introduction of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, gamers will finally be able to change their Xbox Live Avatar into an iconic war hero by outfitting him or her with the signature Master Chief MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armour.
• Grunt Funeral Skull - An exclusive, game-modifying skull that will change the rules of story mode gameplay. "Grunt Funeral" sends Grunts into a flaming blaze of glory. While the skull is activated, any Grunts who are killed will violently explode, with about the force of a plasma grenade detonation, finally forcing players to put some distance between themselves and the weakest members of the Covenant, but also essentially transforming them into walking red barrels.