Halo: CE Anniversary Review

It has been no less than 10 years since the original Halo: Combat Evolved was released for the Xbox. The game has quickly gained cult hit status and is often credited for reinventing the first person shooter genre for consoles. It managed to secure a place in gaming history alongside the strong competition from the likes of Counter Strike and Unreal Tournament. With Anniversary, the new studio behind the Halo franchise 343 Industries has attempted to recapture that magic with an HD remake of the original. For better or for worse, Anniversary plays much in the same way as its predecessor and is bound to satisfy fans.

Halo: CE Anniversary is strictly speaking an almost one to one remake of the original campaign. The story takes place in a uniquely presented sci-fi setting created by the original developers Bungie. Humans have developed technology which allowed them to travel to the far reaches of the galaxy at extreme speeds, and setup colonies across the universe. In 2525, humans meet the alien race known as the Covenant and a religious conflict breaks out. Players assume the role of Master Chief, who is a soldier that barely escapes a destruction of the planet Reach by the Covenant. The Halo itself is a large ring-shaped world created by artificial technology, and where most of the game takes place.

Fans who have already experienced the campaign in Combat Evolved won’t find anything new in Anniversary, which is probably just fine with most gamers. Similarly, if you happen to have missed out on the game when it was originally released, you’ll be in for a fun and lengthy adventure. This could be a double edged sword, however, particularly for newcomers. Many of the gameplay shortcomings of the original, such as the poor design of the Library level, make a full return and will prove frustrating for gamers unable to cope with such outdated game design – or even those that have played the later, more refined Halo titles. It could be perhaps unfair to expect that the various tweaks from later games, like the ability to trade weapons with teammates, to be incorporated into this remake, but it would have surely made the game more approachable.

Much of the gameplay remains unchanged, so everything that fans loved about the original, such as the overpowered Magnum, is still present. At the same time, the AI also remains untouched, and showing its age with very basic behavior and lacking to put up a fight on even the normal difficulty setting. Anniversary does, of course, support a new control scheme suited for the Xbox 360 controller, but if you want the full original’s experience, the classic controls are included as well.

Among the new features is the Analyze mode, which lets players scan the environment in a sort of x-ray vision and find items of interest. These items are added to your Library and provide great insight on the background of key items such as weapons and vehicles. Terminals, if you find them, also provide some background lore information and also contain potential hints for Halo 4. These new modes are operated by Kinect support, which is actually a day-1 patch so you’ll need to get online if you want to use your motion controller. In-game players can also use Kinect to do voice commands such as switching weapons and throwing grenades. Kinect support is a neat addition and brings together all that is actually new to this remake.

A common trait which unites all of the remakes in today’s market are the new HD visuals, and Halo: Anniversary is no different. Featuring a completely new look, the new graphics are actually overlaid on top of the old engine – allowing the game to have a very cool ability to switch back and forth between classic and HD modes on the fly. The difference is indeed staggering, as the remake benefits not just from brand new textures but also improved lighting, effects, and depth of the environment. What the engine doesn’t do is modify any code, as mentioned before – which means you’ll be stuck with the same enemy and player animations from 2001. Given the new high resolution look of the game, some of the action can look fairly clunky in comparison. There’s no question that you’ve never seen Halo quite like this, as Anniversary uses the best of the Reach engine to breathe a new life into this old title, at least on the surface. The game also features 3D TV support and a re-mastered soundtrack – though sound effects (such as weapon fire) are unchanged and can sound a bit out of place.

Perhaps the segment of Anniversary which has seen the biggest changes is the multiplayer. The remake comes complete with what is essentially a Halo: Reach MP component, featuring six classic maps recreated for the new engine (thus lacking an ability to play them in classic visual mode). The six vintage maps are taken from the classic mode of the original game, while seventh is a firefight map. All of the maps were touched up and rebalanced in order to allow for the evolved weaponry and tactical options such as the jetpacks of the modern Halo. Players who get Anniversary are essentially stuck with these maps, in a sort of demo of what the full Halo: Reach multiplayer experience is like. On the other hand, owners of Reach can get these very same maps as DLC. The four-player split screen multiplayer in the original Combat Evolved has been removed, and so has split-screen coop – instead replaced by the option to play cooperatively online. Fans who considered the multiuser options of Combat Evolved a staple of the experience will thus be disappointed. But for players today, it shouldn’t be a huge deal, especially to newcomers.

At the end of the day, whether or not you will feel that Halo: CE Anniversary is worth your time will depend on a number of very personal factors. There’s no doubt that 343 Industries poured a lot of effort into prettying up a very old title and making it look very modern. Hardcore fans will be pleased that the gameplay and campaign are largely unchanged in their mechanics, but will also likely pass on the new Kinect-supported features. New players, meanwhile, will feel at home with the upgraded presentation and the ability to switch back to classic mode is a very neat feature. At the same time, the dated gameplay design may prove frustrating, even for Halo fans who joined the series at the third installment or later. It begs the question, then: will fans of the original feel that a limited multiplayer and largely unchanged campaign with a new coat of paint worth the price? Or will new players be able to adjust to the sometimes frustrating design of yesteryear just so they can experience what is considered to be one of the greater shooters of any generation? It depends fully on personal opinion, and the winners might just be those players who fall into neither category.