Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Recently, 343 Industries, the current licensed owners of the Halo series, released The Master Chief Collection, a four game collection which includes all four numbered entries in the Halo series. The Halo series is great reminder of how good this first person shooter game was. Giving a review of this collection itself would simply be reviewing the separate games, so I decided to also include reviews about other parts of the game, like the combat, engine used, and the graphics. The first two games in the collection, Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2, have been re-mastered so they have improved graphics, more content, but still have the capability to be played in the old, nostalgic, not so great graphics they were originally released in.
The Collection
The game has been released only on Xbox One, and I have started a co-op play (the hardest difficulty) with a friend of mine, and so far it has a rather good combat, physics engine, along with rather well played out scripting. With some moments of intense combat against difficult enemies, and other moments of small firefights with easier enemies. Another interesting part about these games, are their famous skulls. Skulls are optional settings to the usual gameplay, that add a different aspect, like less ammo, doubled enemy health, or the aspect of grenade happy enemies. There have ever been challenges to complete each game LASO style, which means you turn all skulls on, and play the game on the hardest difficulty, which, if you are looking for a game to rage at, LASO Halo is what you are looking for. Any Halo game to me, is a game that I can spend hours playing and has excellent replay value.
More Players, More Problems
The multiplayer, has its ups and downs, some of the upsides is the fact that there are one hundred and six multiplayer maps, dozens of new and classic game modes, and the same beloved combat gamers have come to love over the years. The downside, on the other hand, is that for whatever reason, it takes a rather long amount of time to start an online game, and sometimes, you won’t even get put into a lobby. But, I believe that in the next patch, any and all issues with the game will be thoroughly fixed.
Overall, I give Halo: The Master Chief Collection a 9 out of 10. The only reason it was not a 10 out of 10, is due to the minor problems with the multiplayer lobby’s, and that its only on Xbox One. Some other rather prominent reviews gave this game a similar review, like IGN, GameStop, and GamesRadar. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone with an Xbox One, whether they are a long time Halo fan, or new to the genre. Four whole games, one hundred and six multiplayer maps, endless hours of gameplay, and a great replay value, all for only $60, clearly a good deal to me.
