Halo: The Master Chief Collection Review

   “Don’t Make A Girl A Promise… If You Know You Can’t Keep It”

[Author’s Note: All of the criticism expressed in this review is based on the state of Halo: The Master Chief Collection prior and after 343 Industries’ Content Update of November 20, 2014. Therefore, the final score reflects on what was played during the two week period following the game’s release.]

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is simply a dream come true for any fan of the legendary 13-year old First-Person Shooter franchise. I mean, who would’ve thought that 343 Industries would’ve actually gone through all the hard work of delivering the four original Halo games, plus a remastered Anniversary version of Halo 2, all while keeping their same engines and cranking up the resolution and frame rate to make them feel like revitalized experiences. Though The Master Chief Collection compiles some of the best video game moments of all-time, it is set back by unacceptable technical problems that can completely ruin your experience. In fact, MCC was outright broken on many aspects throughout the initial days following its release, and even though some of these issues have been resolved, it still feels like a work-in-progress as of right now, which is utterly disappointing for Halo enthusiasts who have been patiently waiting to re-experience Master Chief’s saga. Despite the fact, MCC is still the best deal in gaming you’ll ever get if you are a fan of First-Person Shooters, just be aware that it has some inexplicable flaws that can, ultimately, ruin your experience.

Just from the opening screen’s theme, I was instantly transported back in time to 2007 where I got my first taste of Halo’s addicting nature. It’s simply amazing to see that, despite the franchise’s age, each game holds up exceptionally well because the core mechanics are simply flawless, not to mention the 1080p resolution and 60 FPS frame rate upgrades that make the game look stunning on Xbox One. The best part is, you can instantly jump from one game’s campaign mission to another without having to complete each title. Yes, every single mission in Halo: The Master Chief Collection is unlocked right from the get-go, which means you can play whatever mission you want in no particular order. MCC also has a Playlists feature where it regroups certain type of missions, or some that you have selected and has you play through them without taking you back to the main menu afterwards. Want to play all the Halo missions involving vehicles? Well, you can with MCC, and it is all practically seemless.

Playing through Halo: Combat Evolved, which has its 2011 Anniversary version included in The Master Chief Collection, feels great and weird at the same time running at 60 FPS, especially when you are playing with its original Xbox graphics. It is obviously the most dated game of the Collection, but old-school Halo: CE enthusiasts will be glad to know that it is in MCC, and that they can play its Multiplayer online for the first time ever. Halo 3 (which is my personal favorite entry in the series) looks the same for the most part. Other than also having the upgraded frame rate and resolution, it got some reworked textures and lighting effects, making it feel a little bit more next gen. Halo 4, on the other hand, is the best it ever has been on Xbox One.  It was an already incredibly-detailed experience on the Xbox 360, but its technical upgrades make it belong on Microsoft’s new system. Though there are slight frame rate drops when the action gets too heated in all of the game, they still look and run fantastic nonetheless. The only real downside with all of the game’s involving Spartan 117 is that, if you have already experienced them in the past, there isn’t anything you haven’t quite seen before. Sure, they all look prettier and run a lot smoother, but some players will find it hard to justify a $60 purchase for games that they have already played over the course of the last console generation, and that is even if MCC has a ton of content.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s biggest selling point is definitely the fact that it has Halo 2: Anniversary, a remastered version of the 2004 title, included in the package. Regarded as the high point of the series by many fans, Halo 2: Anniversary keeps the essence and soul of the original game, all while making it feel like a true next generation experience. Redesigned level environments, brand new recorded sound effects and music, and absolutely breath-taking recreated cutscenes made by Blur Studio using motion capture technology create the definitive Halo 2 experience. Switching between the old and brand new visual look, which is done in real-time without any loading time, will absolutely blow you away, and I am not exaggerating in any way. Halo 2 has never looked, nor played as great as it does in MCC.   

Another big selling point with The Master Chief Collection, or any Halo game for the fact of the matter, is with its highly addictive Multiplayer component. The Halo franchise has always been regarded as one of the best games to experience in online Multiplayer because of its diversified and unique game modes, maps and overall feel. Once again, The Master Chief Collection accomplishes a very ambitious project by inserting every single multiplayer component from each Halo game (all with their original visual style and feel), along with a Halo 2: Anniversary-dedicated Multiplayer experience with six remastered Halo 2 maps. Unfortunately, it breaks my heart to say that it is the most broken aspect of the entire Master Chief Collection. Long Matchmaking times that can take 10+ minutes, frequent crashes, unbalanced teams and user interface issues are among some of the many problems I encountered during the first days following MCC’s release, and are still present even after the recent content update released on November 20. This makes for an inherently  frustrating and unstable experience all around that completely ruins MCC’s most engaging feature. Though I know 343 Industries are working day and night to fix these problems (and they’ll all be irrelevant once the game is fixed properly) it is unacceptable to launch a Multiplayer-centric game with that many issues and expect players to wait more than a week until something is resolved. 343 should’ve prepared themselves a little better, knowing that Master Chief Collection is their biggest release of all-time and had high expectations coming from the community.

That being said, when Master Chief Collection’s Multiplayer works, there are just no words to describe how amazing the experience is. The best part is that certain Playlists (like Big Team Battle or Team Slayer for instance) compile all four games in it, meaning one game could be a Halo 2: Anniversary match and the following one could be a Halo 3 or Halo 4 match. Though some might find the game switch disorienting because the mechanics aren’t identical in each game, I found it added an extra challenge by never knowing what the next match would have in store for the lobby. Plus, if you only want to commit to a single Multiplayer game, 343 Industries currently has three playlists dedicated to single titles (Halo 2, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3) and plans to add more when the problems are completely resolved. Playing Halo’s Multiplayer at 60 frames per second is the best way to experience the game, and I cannot see myself playing these games at a lower frame rate speed anymore. As I spent countless hours in the Multiplayer component of MCC, it finally occurred to me: I am addicted to Halo‘s Multiplayer, and I am not even surprised at all.

The biggest highlight out of MCC’s Multiplayer, just like in the Single-player side of things, is Halo 2’s Multiplayer, which also got its own Anniversary treatment. Though I would’ve liked to have more than six remastered maps to play it in, I cannot argue when all of them are some of the best Multiplayer maps ever made. Warlord, Stonetown, Zenith, Bloodline, Lockdown, and Shrine (all remastered versions of Warlock, Zanzibar, Ascension, Coagulation, Lockout and Sanctuary respectively) have all been tweaked with a few environmental exploits that can shift the momentum of a game in an instant, which adds an additional layer of complexity to the teamwork. H2: Anniversary’s Multiplayer feels like an entirely new Halo game, except it simply isn’t. Certain Affinity, the studio in charge of this remastered Multiplayer, did a stellar job using a brand new Xbox One engine to create this mode around, without changing the gameplay feel of the original game. Halo 2’s multiplayer was always considered the franchise’s best, and Anniversary only makes it even better.  I simply cannot stress enough how good The Master Chief Collection’s Multiplayer is, and especially Halo 2 Anniversary’s.

Not only does MCC offer a solid gameplay experience – when it works – but it also gives players additional content that doesn’t have anything to do with the game specifically. For starters, players who have the game gain instant access to the Halo: Nightfall digital series directed by Ridley Scott, available on the brand new Halo Channel Xbox One app. Although only two episodes were available at the time of this review, it’s a well-produced series that explores the backstory of Agent Locke, one of Halo 5: Guardian’s main characters. Speaking of Halo 5, MCC also gives you access to the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta that will launch this December. Hopefully, the Beta will not have as many problems as MCC. I cannot forget to mention the staggering amount of 450 Achievements to unlock throughout all four games, which will certainly keep you busy if you are an Achievement Hunter. If you take a step back and analyze what Halo: The Master Chief Collection is offering you for $60, you’ll notice you’ll easily get your money’s worth with this compilation in terms of content. 

VERDICT

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is one of the best compilations of all-time, and one you should definitely not miss out on if you are a First-Person Shooter fanatic. Unfortunately, it is very hard for me to forget all about the game’s disastrous launch on the Multiplayer side of things. Though we will all laugh about these issues once 343 get its act together, the constant problems are just unacceptable for a franchise as legendary as Halo. Despite the fact, you still get four amazingly-crafted and upgraded titles that offer tons of content and replayability with The Master Chief Collection. It’s just very disappointing to see that its greatness and fun is held back by problems that appear to be quite difficult to resolve as they are still apparent nearly two weeks after the game’s release.