Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
As the original game in the Halo franchise, Halo: Combat Evolved also comes with the most baggage - it's nearly 14 years old and has been ported several times over with varying degrees of success. In fact, the version of Halo included in The Master Chief Collection is actually a port of a port - Saber Interactive's Halo Anniversary for Xbox 360 converted over to the Xbox One. It seems like a straightforward enough project, but it's clear that the team has encountered a few problems along the way, resulting in a remaster that isn't all it could have been. We still enjoyed reliving the original Halo experience, however, and most importantly the core elements of the original Halo have been carried over successfully.
What works:
Image quality: It's Halo Combat Evolved at 1080p. Unlike Halo 2 Anniversary, both the classic and Anniversary modes have been upgraded to support full 1080p and they look smashing. Assets haven't received any additional improvements over the Xbox 360 version of the game, of course, but it looks and runs much better than it did on either of Microsoft's previous consoles. Crucially, the classic multiplayer maps, including the full set of PC-exclusive maps, have made their way into the collection and are playable online. It's as complete a collection of Halo: Combat Evolved as one could hope for.
What doesn't:
Split-screen performance: Halo CE multiplayer was built on split-screen and it's how many people played it originally. This feature is thankfully maintained here, but it doesn't work as well as one might hope. In classic mode, performance is mostly acceptable with a slightly unstable 60fps, but in Anniversary mode it can become downright choppy. Frame-rate dips below 30fps occur regularly with torn frames appearing primarily along the top half of the screen (sorry, player one). It feels jittery and difficult to enjoy when using this mode and we'd have to recommend sticking to classic visuals if that's how you want to play. At least it uses a rather wide field of view that doesn't restrict either players' viewpoint.
Halo 2 Anniversary
We've already taken an extended look at the excellent remastering of Halo 2, but coverage of The Master Chief Collection as a complete package wouldn't be complete without its inclusion. We were quite impressed with the work done on this project and feel that it is the most impressive piece in the collection. Unlike the original Anniversary, the new art created for Halo 2 feels much more in line with Bungie's original assets, which - by the way - haven't held up particularly well. Delivering fairly solid performance, beautifully remastered visuals and audio, and the Halo 2 gameplay you expect, Halo 2 Anniversary is a success.
What works:
Shadows: Halo 2 was initially designed with the idea that objects could cast and receive shadows but this was eliminated due to lack of horsepower. Halo 2 Anniversary makes this a reality and gives the game world the depth it could have used in the first place. It makes a big difference in the presentation and the fact that even particles receive shadows goes a long way towards making a cohesive presentation.
Audio design:It's not only the visuals that have received an overhaul. Halo 2's entire soundscape has been re-crafted for this remaster and the results are generally quite good. What really makes this work, though, is the fact that jumping back to classic mode switches to the original Xbox audio allowing you to both see and hear the difference. While it would have been nice to mix and match the audio mixes, it's still a great feature.
What doesn't:
Split-screen performance: As with Halo CE, the split-screen frame-rate in Halo 2 is rather poor. In Anniversary mode we found performance improved on average compared to Halo CE but it never really feels particularly smooth. Unfortunately, the classic mode also suffers from performance issues this time meaning that there's no way to enjoy a full 60fps split-screen mode with Halo 2. It should also be noted that, while the field of view is wider than the original Xbox game, it still feels somewhat narrow compared to Halo CE Anniversary.
Halo 3
Halo 3 marks the series' first outing on the Xbox 360 and stands as one of the most ambitious titles of its day. Bungie introduced its next-generation renderer, with Halo 3 using two 1152x640 frame buffers to more accurately simulate high quality HDR lighting, to breathtaking effect. The studio also introduced Forge mode for the first time in addition to the in-game DVR functions. The feature set was vast and impressive but the game was never quite perfect on the performance and image quality side. A low resolution in combination with minor frame-rate troubles ultimately kept the game from feeling as polished as it could have been. This was also the game that left people wondering whether or not Bungie could model the human face properly. Still, it's an amazing Halo experience and it's fantastic to finally have an enhanced version of the title available.
What works:
Frame-rate: Halo 3 delivers a smooth 60fps and, more than any other game in this collection, holds it the vast majority of the time. Halo 3 on the 360 ran at 30fps but suffered from noticeable frame-pacing issues that prevented it from ever feeling completely stable, and this too has been eliminated. The one exception seems to be the beach landing in 'The Covenant' mission, where frame-rate drops into 50fps territory or worse.
What doesn't:
No additional enhancements: This is a no-frills port of Halo 3 that makes no attempt to address some of the issues with the original game. Foliage and scenery detail features an aggressive LOD system that becomes more distracting at a higher resolution and we would have liked to see these details pushed out a bit. Additional modern rendering techniques, such as ambient occlusion, would also have made a world of difference, especially with the indoor sequences.
Lack of anisotropic filtering: Halo 3 makes use of flat, open areas that would have benefitted tremendously from a bit of AF. Texture work is compromised greatly by the lack of it and results in lost texture detail throughout. Without dense foliage or other details to help cover the terrain, many of the hills and structures of Halo 3 wind up looking less detailed than they otherwise could have as a result.
Halo 4
Halo 4 stands as perhaps the single most impressive technical showpiece on the Xbox 360. 343 Industries were given a massive budget and plenty of time to create a game that pushed the visual envelope of the system while attempting to adhere to Halo's penchant for large maps. Halo 4 is an interesting piece of the collection as it represents an attempt at porting one of the most technically advanced 360 titles to a new console - not unlike Naughty Dog's attempts with The Last of Us Remastered. Unfortunately, Ruffian wasn't quite as successful as the Dogs, and Halo 4 on Xbox One suffers from a few problems.
What works:
Image quality: Halo 4 already featured excellent image quality on the 360 and the bump up to full 1080p elevates it further. This improvement really helps reveal how impressively detailed the game's assets originally were. Visual quality was high enough that the Halo 4 engine actually served as the basis on which the Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer maps were built. One cutback sees the water animation completely absent - a shame, especially bearing in mind that this was already pared back in the original Xbox 360 title compared to Halo 3.
What doesn't:
Frame-rate: Halo 4 aims for 60fps, as with the rest of the package, but fails to deliver a consistent experience. The game appears to struggle in two different areas - decompressing data while entering a new area and simply handling the load of heavy combat. Nearly any time the player walks into a new, large arena, the game engine seems to buckle under load, resulting in substantial frame-rate dips all the way to the 30s. These drops can persist for upwards of 20-30 seconds and definitely impact the initial moments of many battles. Even once that has settled, the performance often struggles to maintain a stable 60fps, producing frame-rates in the 50s pretty regularly. There are times when the game feels just perfect, of course, but these dips occur far too regularly for our liking, and there's the feeling that what could have been a stunning Xbox One conversion just feels a touch too unpolished.
