Now with a decade past and HD remakes being all the rage, we have been presented with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a revival of the famed Spartan’s original outing, with a fresh coat of paint and a bunch of new maps to deal some damage on.
For those not well versed in Halo lore, Combat Evolved weaves the story of solitary ‘Spartan’ super soldier Master Chief, who after being awoken from a cryogenic sleep, is forced to defend humanity from an invading alien race known as the Covenant. It’s when Master Chief and the crew of the ‘Pillar of Autumn’ crash land on the mysterious ring shaped space station known as ‘Halo’ that the one man army must wipe out Covenant forces while discovering the secret and deadly origins behind the mysterious location.
Why won't this work? Xbox... ON!
To help satisfy both long term fans and newcomers alike, Anniversary simultaneously runs two engines, both the classic Xbox engine as well the revamped, remastered version. At the press of a button, you will be launched between decades and their respective engines on the fly. What were once dull, green, flat mountain lands will become lush and clear, with bright skies and an abundance of more detailed fauna. While some models are still a little rough and not as sharp as Halo Reach or some the series’ competitors, you will still be amazed the vast differences between the two. It’s a not only a fantastic feat, but a true testament to how far the videogame industry has evolved in such a short amount of time, and a single generation. However, while it’s a neat party trick, it's doubtful that many will choose to play through the entirety of the campaign in the original state, especially after seeing how much work has been done to improve on the old environments. Sadly though it’s also this function that (at least during the time of this review), appeared to cause a few hefty glitches, the most major of which caused a couple of complete freezes; forcing a reboot of the system and restarting one of the game’s early levels time and time again.
Upgrade or no upgrade though, Combat Evolved's gameplay remains as tight as ever, with rock solid control and fluidity the order of the day. It won’t take long for you to be once again pummeling grunts, lobbing grenades with brutal precision and taking part in deadly dances with hunters in order to deftly take them down. All your favourite weapons like the classic Assault Rifle, Needler and the gloriously overpowered pistol are back in action and it’s almost refreshing not having to look down their sights every time you need to take an enemy down. Instead you can merely focusing on filling them with a magazine worth of lead as you smile while watching them fall.
Yep, it really can look pretty.
It's not all happy memories and fond giggles though, as the trip down memory lane also highlights some of the title's original misgivings, primarily some poor level design decisions. With no map or compass in sight, it will be a common occurrence to be wandering around some of Anniversary’s levels at a loss of where exactly you’re meant to traverse to next. It happens more often than you would like, and coupled with some fairly repetitive environments it can all get rather frustrating when all you want to do is crack some skulls. Checkpoints can also be a mixed bag, sometimes occurring rather frequently, while others will have you fighting through waves of enemies only for you to die and be forced to do it all again.
While the single player campaign has received its fair share of love, the same sentiment can not entirely be shared for the game’s multiplayer component, which although remaining as a top tier avenue for multiplayer gaming, acts like more of a map pack for last year’s Halo Reach than a remastering of the modes you fell in love with all those years ago. It’s a feeling that is only bolstered by the fact that owners of Reach can bypass the retail campaign entirely and obtain the maps via the 360 marketplace for 1200 Microsoft points.
Explosions: the solution to all of life's problems.
Despite all this though, six classic Halo maps have still been re-imagined, utilising Reach’s foundations and graphics engine including ‘Damnation,’ ‘Beaver Creek’ and ‘Prisoner’ along with a brand new Firefight map ‘Installation 04.’ They are all still a blast to play, but those hoping to relieve classic LAN memories on stages like Blood Gulch will be sorely disappointed. Fan favourite competitive modes like the traditional Slayer, Team Slayer and newcomer Headhunter also return and it’s all backed by what is still some of the best matchmaking around. It may not be the complete rehaul of Combat Evolved’s multiplayer like many hardcore fans were hoping for, but it’s hard to stay angry for long when what you do have to play with is as polished as it is.
As an overall package, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is exactly what Halo fans have been craving for years, with 343 Industries presenting not only a stellar upgrade, but one of the best HD remakes on the market at a budget price. The main campaign will keep your nostalgia firmly in place, playing just as you remember it while multiplayer, despite its rather minor upgrade, remains rock solid experience and one of the best competitive console experiences for gamers. With a few technical hitches and the return of some poor level design choices it’s not perfect, but if you’re a hardcore Halo lover biding time for the looming round four, or wondering what on earth all this Master Chief business is all about, you would be doing yourself a major disservice if you didn’t pick this bad boy up.
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