On November 15, exactly 10 years to the day after the original Halo: Combat Evolved and the original Xbox launched, 343 Industries and Microsoft Game Studios released their monument to the franchise with a full on HD Remake of the greatest campaign of the century.
The idea was great and the hype was high among Halo fans and 343 Industries do not disappointed with the first of their Halo titles into the franchise. To begin with everything about the game is nostalgia. From the menus to the cinematics, it will remind you of the reason you owned the original Xbox. Most re-releases that are based on nostalgia alone usually wear thin pretty quick, but Anniversary could be the exception to the rule. 343 Industries has done so much and put so much effort into the game, it feels almost like a new game that some how you’ve played before.
The actual gameplay is still there. It feels like you’re playing a 10 year old game, but at the same time the controls are so solid at times it plays better than lots of FPS games that are less than a year old. 343 has made little to no changes to the gameplay, but it just goes to show that Anniversary was ahead of it’s time. As I was playing through the campaign I said to my co-op team mate several times that it almost plays better than the Reach campaign. The controls feel solid and tight and very seldom do you run across any issues with the core gameplay. Yes, you can’t jump as high and you may move a little slower, but it all just feels right. Even the vehicles feel sluggish, but after adjusting to the slower speeds and reaction time they to become just as solid as the movement of the Chief himself. The traditional Halo difficulties are there and in full form. The campaign on Legendary is just as challenging as the original and even later halo games. I was a little upset that the co-op campaign only offers two player co-op, but when you take the fact that the original had no LIVE support being it was before LIVE, it’s nice to see the option at all.
The graphics have received a complete overhaul while retaining the core look of the game with updated character models and environments. 343 has added in the unique and interesting ability to hit the back button and switch the original graphics on the fly at anytime. This is a fun factor all the way through the game and makes for interesting conversation while playing with friends, especially when stopping to admire the view in key locations of the game. The difference is amazing! While playing the game with updated graphics, everything from the characters to eh weapons look really impressive. While noticing certain weapons during the game, I almost wish that the weapons and some of the characters looked like that in the later games in the franchise. Even the menus and loading screens all look original, but with that fresh updated feel. All HD remakes of any franchise to this point can’t compete with the amount of care and attention has been put into how good the game looks in both the updated look as well as the classic.
Every sound in the game sounds amazing. The sound of the AR is something I could not get enough of. All the weapons and voice work sounds great along with the new music track. The soundtrack to the Halo franchise always sticks out when you hear it, but when you put it with the classic sounds of the weapons and even the more scary covenant enemies screaming and grunting it really makes you want to crank the volume up when playing the remake. To be honest I’m not sure if the sounds have been remastered or if they are new sounds, but either way they fit right along with all the new bells and whistles that this solid HD remake has to offer.
The Multiplayer is a huge factor in any FPS franchise especially Halo. Anniversary is no exception to the rule. When you buy it new you receive a digital download code for the classic maps. These maps include classic like Hang’em High and Beaver Creek. These maps have been beautifully restored. They also have special Anniversary gametypes that can be accessed through the Anniversary disk. You play these maps on the Reach server and with Reach graphics and sounds. The Anniversary gametype changes include taking damage when falling, no armor abilities and a couple of other tid bits that make the game feel more classic. The biggest change in combat would be the Magnum being scoped to be more like the original epic Magnum from Combat Evolved. Things like overshield drops and active camo are on the maps and brings back a nice feeling to see these familiar items makes a comeback.
343 has also added extra features in the game like the ability to find skulls like in later entries in the franchise. Also, terminals have been placed through the game that when inspected will give you some information on where the franchise may be heading with Halo 4 coming out next year.
All in all, Anniversary is a solid title for the $40 asking price. Even though I had some issues with what I wanted as a fan, the game is a solid purchase for any fan of FPS games and especially any fan of Halo. If this is the kind of care and consideration that 343 Industries plans to give the franchise I don’t think core fans will be upset at future games from the new handlers of Halo. I would suggest giving Anniversary a try just to see how unique and original the game is. If all Halo fans enjoy the game as much as I did I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Halo 2 HD Remake sometime in the distant future.
