Halo: The Master Chief Collection

by Microsoft

• Halo: CE Anniversary
• Halo 2: Anniversary
• Halo 3 & Halo 4
• Halo: Nightfall (Digital Series)
• Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta (available starting December 29th)

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00KSQHX1K
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 11, 2014
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,187 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #2 in Video Games > Xbox One > Games
Manufacturer’s warranty can be requested from customer service. Click here to make a request to customer service.

Product Description

Platform: Xbox One

THE SEEDS OF OUR FUTURE ARE SOWN IN HIS PAST.

For the first time ever, The Master Chief’s entire story is on one console. Featuring a re-mastered Halo 2: Anniversary, along with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4, new digital series, Halo: Nightfall, and access to the Halo 5: Guardians Beta, this is the definitive Halo experience.

• The Complete Master Chief Story – Honoring the iconic hero and his epic journey, The Master Chief’s entire story is brought together as The Master Chief Collection. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4 are all included with Xbox One visual fidelity, 60fps, a total of 45 campaign missions plus more than 100 multiplayer (including the original Halo Combat Evolved maps) and Spartan Ops maps. Along with new prologue and epilogue cut scenes foreshadowing Halo 5: Guardians, this is the collection Halo fans have been waiting for, all on Xbox One.*
• Halo 2: Anniversary – Celebrating the 10 year Anniversary, the iconic fan favorite returns. Featuring a fully re-mastered campaign with “Classic Mode” allowing you to instantly switch between the re-mastered game and the original game from 2004. Uncover new Halo 5: Guardians story elements in hidden terminal videos and utilize all new skulls to experience the campaign in a whole new way. Including 23 original multiplayer maps just as fans remember them, plus 6 completely re-imagined maps. Play the game that defined online multiplayer on consoles and get ready for the next Halo chapter.
• Master Menu – Seamlessly navigate The Master Chief’s story using the all-new Master Menu. Play all four completely unlocked campaigns, beginning to end, or jump around as you choose. Enjoy cross title themed campaign playlists created by the games’ designers for new fun and challenging experiences. Easily find and play your favorite multiplayer game types from over 100 multiplayer and Spartan Ops maps. It’s everything Halo, on your terms, simplified.
• New Halo: Nightfall Live Action Digital Series – A strange and treacherous world exposes elite UNSC operatives to a much deeper danger in this live action series from 343 Industries and Scott Free Productions. Executive-produced by Ridley Scott and Scott Free TV President, David Zucker and directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan ("Battlestar Galactica" "Pillars of the Earth," "Heroes"), Halo: Nightfall is an exciting new story for Halo fans and fresh audiences alike.
• Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta – Be among the first to experience a new generation of Halo multiplayer in the Halo 5: Guardians Beta. Gear up for the Guardians beta by unlocking exclusive content in The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Nightfall. These exclusive items will carry over into Halo 5: Guardians.

*Halo: Nightfall: 5 episode live action series is streaming only, with episodes releasing on a weekly basis. Xbox One or Windows 8.1 and broadband internet required; ISP fees apply. Halo 5: Guardians Beta: Game disc required. Limited Time Beta Starts: December 27, 2014; Ends: January 22, 2015. Must be 17+. Xbox One, broadband internet (ISP fees apply) and Xbox Live Gold membership (sold separately) required. Halo: Nightfall and Halo 5: Guardians Beta dates, content, and features subject to change. See www.xbox.com/halo

*Some game features, including hidden terminal videos, require broadband internet; ISP fees apply. Online multiplayer features require Xbox Live Gold membership (sold separately). Halo 5: Guardians sold separately; release date not yet announced. Halo: Nightfall: 5 episode live action series is streaming only, with episodes releasing on a weekly basis. Xbox One or Windows 8.1 and broadband internet required; ISP fees apply. Halo 5: Guardians Beta: Game disc required. Limited Time Beta Starts: December 27, 2014; Ends: January 22, 2015. Must be 17+. Xbox One, broadband internet (ISP fees apply) and Xbox Live Gold membership (sold separately) required. Halo: Nightfall and Halo 5: Guardians Beta dates, content, and features subject to change. See www.xbox.com/halo

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

552 of 635 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars UPDATED, 3/5/15: Latest online patch fixes a lot of issues, but overall online multiplayer experience still needs lots of work November 16, 2014

By Hugo D. Hackenbush TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Platform for Display:Xbox One

(NOTE: Keep in mind that this review is based on MY experiences and MY opinions: your mileage with HMCC may vary.)

(NOTE 2: for those interested, skip down below to find the latest update to this review, UPDATE 13.)

Wow, what a disappointment! Nearly a week and counting, the multiplayer as of Sunday November 16th, 2014 is still not working on my end. Never mind bugs and glitches; I can't even connect to an online match ... not one! This is what I pre-ordered the game for!? Halo's multiplayer has always been one of the most dependable online gaming experiences for me; to watch this launch week fiasco unfold is inexcusable.

Yes, the campaign modes are playable and all, but for fans who have already played those modes numerous times, this is little consolation; besides, from what I've heard, the campaign modes have got plenty of bugs of their own, including disappearing save files, achievements not appearing or disappearing, glitches and freezes during gameplay and God knows what else. As much as I'm curious about the remastered campaign of Halo 2, I'm not going to invest my time in a campaign mode where I may lose my saves, fer'sure. In any event, everyone knows the biggest draw of Halo is multiplayer ... and when that mode is busted, you've got a gimped game, at best.

<<UPDATE 1: 343 and Microsoft have stated that there will be an update to fix the multiplayer, to be released on Wednesday, November 19th; meaning at least another half week of busted mutliplayer, with no guarantees that the update will fix everything; what a mess! <<END OF UPDATE 1>>

<<UPDATE 2: Microsoft and 343 have announced they are pushing back the patch yet again, from Wednesday 11/19/14 to some unspecified time towards the end of next week. Ugh. <<END OF UPDATE 2>>

<<UPDATE 3: On November 20th, at last a patch arrived from 343. The end result? Some aspects of multiplayer are finally working. I was finally(!) able to get in a multiplayer match a couple of times, through Big Team Battle and Team Slayer, but the wait times were longer than usual; unfortunately, I was unable to get on to other playlists. There is still no multiplayer ranking; the matches played very buggy; and Halo 4 multiplayer is still MIA in all but one playlist, Big Team Battle. Overall, they still have a ways to go before multiplayer is up to snuff ... "sigh". <<END OF UPDATE 3>>

<<UPDATE 4: It's November 26th, and multiplayer is (unbelievably) still busted. After two weeks of releasing the usual release statements for a debacle such as this ("rest assured we're working hard on correcting the issues", etc., etc.), 343's general manager has released a formal apology for this release ... which is as well he should. Furthermore, Microsoft has promised to give early purchasers of Halo some sort of compensation for their troubles ... but not their money back. Who-hoo ... free Xbox Halo avatars, here I come! <<END OF UPDATE 4>>

<<UPDATE 5: It's December 1st, and another series of patches have made their rounds. At last, I was able to get on to a few online multiplayer matches, but only on the Slayer playlists; I've had no luck getting on to any other playlists (to be fair, I would only wait for about ten minutes or so, before giving up on a playlist). The game is still wildly buggy: long wait times, opponents would disappear and reappear, lag would occur frequently, matches were always uneven, the game would freeze after the end of a multiplayer match, etc. Furthermore, Halo 4 is still MIA on multiplayer, except for Big Team Battle. I'm sorry, but this is just too much ... this game has been out for three weeks now, and this is the best 343 can do? Just what the hell is wrong with this game, anyhow?! <<END OF UPDATE 5>>

<<UPDATE 6: It's December 9th, and I've just downloaded the December 7th patch. After a few hours of playing, I have some good news to report ... FINALLY! multiplayer is more playable than ever on most of the playlists. There have been far fewer glitches and freezes, games are being matched up more quickly, teams are being matched up evenly more often, and overall playability is the best I've so far seen it (which isn't saying much, I know). Achievements are appearing without hitches. I can really appreciate the game in 60 FPS now, and it really does make a difference in the feel of the game. Now, the bad news: Halo 4 is still MIA in all playlists but Big Team Battle; there is currently only one ranked multiplayer playlist; there are still noticeable technical hiccups that occur during matches; lag still happens way too often; waiting times can still be quite long on occasion; teams are still occasionally being matched up lopsided; players are still forcibly booted from lobbies after a match is over, meaning you can't stay on for another match with those who you last played an online multiplayer match with; and players tend to quit when ever they start losing a match, as there are currently no penalties in place for quitting.

Finally, a note about the single player. At last, I settled in to play the remastered campaign for Halo 2, and for awhile I encountered no bugs or glitches, allowing me to at last get my groove on with the HMCC in some sort of fashion ... but then, guess what? My checkpoint saves mysteriously disappeared ... TWICE. ARGH! Needless to say, I quit campaign mode after that (it does look good, though). Overall, while the improvements are huge step up, the fact that already one month has passed since the HMCC has been released and 343 has STILL not fixed the game really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. At this point, I don't even think it's fair to compare this game to a beta, as I have played many betas that were far more playable than the way this game has turned out. Truly, this is an ignominious chapter for one of gaming's most hallowed franchises ... what a shame, indeed. <<END OF UPDATE 6>>

<<UPDATE 7: It's December 20th, and I managed to get in a good three hours of gaming with the HMCC online multiplayer. First, the good news. The multiplayer has continued to further improve with the latest patch. There is little-to-no lag on the playlists that I've tried. Glitches are rare. Waiting times for games is pretty short for most playlists. Achievements seem to be working. I can say that at last, I had some online multiplayer fun with HMCC ... ABOUT TIME! Now, the bad news. First, I was unable to find matches for Big Team Battle, try after try; I am not sure if this is because there were no players available or this playlist is still busted, which leads to my next issue with multiplayer: unlike past Halo multiplayer experiences, there is no indicator of how many players are playing online multiplayer at any given time, making it impossible to know if it is worth your time to hit a particular playlist. Other issues: Halo 4 is STILL MIA on all online multiplayer playlists with the exception of SWAT and Big Team Battle, which I was unable to play (those who claim that Halo 4 is working flawlessly online must be gaming via a multidimensional string theory formulation). There are still NO RANKINGS for online multiplayer playlists, outside of the Halo 2 Anniversary playlist. I was still booted out of a lobby the second an online match ended, with no way to continue playing with players from the last online match I played. There is still no penalty for leaving a match, meaning matches were constantly uneven, with players dropping out mere seconds after a game would start, an experience that would occur for me time and again. Furthermore, players cannot join a multiplayer match in progress, which would help offset the matter of players quitting.

Overall, the whole multiplayer experience felt extremely unpolished, a far cry from the masterful online multiplayer experiences of past Halo games. Finally, between the game install and all of the patches, HMCC so far has taken up nearly 70 Gigabytes of space on my hard drive ... with more patches to come. It's not at all a stretch to imagine this one game taking up at least a fourth of my entire hard drive space, when all is said and done. The fact is, the online multiplayer component of HMCC is (currently) inferior to every previous Halo online multiplayer experience I've tried in the past ... and it's not even a close comparison.

Yes, 343 is still plugging away at HMCC, trying to get the multiplayer up to snuff, but they've still got a long ways to go. While it's appreciated that someday months from now, 343 has promised to give early adopters of HMCC a free month of XBOX Live Gold, a bonus remastered Halo 2 multiplayer map ("Relic") and a 1080P 60 FPS version of HALO ODST's single player campaign (sorry, no "Firefight" mode), such gestures ultimately feel hollow when the core issue of the matter, the busted multiplayer experience, continues to remain unresolved, a full month and 9 days after release. A very sad fall from grace, indeed. At least the single player seems to be working at this point: I tried the first two campaign sections of all four Halo games, and lost no checkpoint saves. If you're in it for the campaign modes alone, then HMCC is worth picking up at this point, I suppose. <<END OF UPDATE 7>>

<<UPDATE 8: It's December 28th, and after hearing about the latest update for HMCC from December 22, I gave multiplayer a shot tonight. Incredibly, things actually ran worse on my end when compared with the last time I played. In a two-hour period, I was only able to connect onto two playlists: Halo 2 Anniversary and Halo CE; every other playlist, I sat around waiting to find a game for 15 minutes or so, before I would give up and (futilely) move on to the next playlist. Perhaps it was a server issue; perhaps it was the fact that most gamers have simply given up on the multiplayer; it's impossible to tell at the moment, as 343 has still chosen to deprive players of the ability to see how many people are playing HMCC online multiplayer collectively, or on each individual playlist, unlike previous incarnations of Halo (I wonder why ... ?). To sum up, all of my gripes from my last review update have been unaddressed (see update 7), while new ones have been added; way to go with the newest patch, 343! Oh, yeah ... Spartan Ops has been added (from Halo 4); if only I cared at this point.

Truly, this is one of the biggest fails of online gaming that I have ever seen from a marquee video game title ... with no end in sight. I have no confidence that 343 can salvage HMCC's online multiplayer, at this point; by the time 343 finally gets things fixed (if they ever can), gamers will have moved onto other games, if it hasn't happened already ... and they'd be right to do so. Perhaps 343 and Microsoft will be soon offering a free 60 FPS, 1080P version of Halo Reach as its latest mea culpa for this ongoing mess ... certainly, fans have earned it. I do look forward to testing out Halo 5's multiplayer, but how much will it sting if that Beta release runs better than the supposedly finished product of HMCC's online multiplayer? In all, the disappointment continues. <<END OF UPDATE 8>>

<<UPDATE 9: As of 1/6/15, there's not much to update, really. I was able to find online matches more successfully this time around; it took an average of 5-to-10 minutes to find a game, but all of the problems listed in my earlier updates (specifically update 7) have been unaddressed, which is pretty inexcusable at this point. It's clear to anyone (who isn't a fanboy apologist) that this game should never had been released as early as it was, and was obviously pushed out to make Christmas sales. It was a really cynical move on 343 and Microsoft's part to release this buggy mess of a game in the state they released it.

The Halo Beta does indeed play better than the HMCC online multiplayer, in that you get find a game extremely quickly; however, the game is completely unbalanced in matching up players, making this fun for 24/7 Halo fiends, and not much fun for anyone else who has a life; still, it's intriguing to taste a sample of what's to come with Halo 5, and is definitely worth checking out while you can. FYI, for those in denial about the state of this HMCC's online multiplayer component (and judging by the reviews on here, there are a lot of them), one has only to look at what happened at the recent Halo Championship, where throughout the entire contest, the Halo multiplayer kept glitching, freezing and crashing, rendering the entire Championship a laughable mess. (SEE: http://www.inquisitr.com/1728921/halo-championship-series-puts-master-chief-collection-problems-on-public-display/)

All the fanboy Halo apologists should take heed; by defending 343 and Microsoft for this screw-up, you only encourage them to pull this type of stunt again in the future. What else is there to say? For those who love the campaigns, bon appétit; but for those who are looking for the deep, polished, balanced experience that was Halo multiplayer, the gaming turd that is HMCC continues to break hearts. <<END OF UPDATE 9>>

<<UPDATE 10: It's January 17th, and after hearing about the latest update from 343, I plugged into HMCC for yet another gaming session of online multiplayer for a couple of hours; there are some good things to report. First, for most of the online multiplayer playlists which I tried, waiting time for joining a match was the briefest I have thus far experienced, with wait times averaging approximately 4-5 minutes for a new game. Second, (at last!) Halo 4 has returned to HMCC with its own dedicated playlist, with many (but not all) of Halo 4's multiplayer maps. Third, matches ran very smoothly with most playlists I tried, with no freezes, glitching or bugs. In all, this was the most enjoyable experience I have thus far had with HMCC's online multiplayer since I started playing HMCC, way back on November 11, 2014.

Still, things are far from perfect, with major issues that will likely keep me from regularly playing HMCC until 343 addresses them. They are the following: with no penalty for quitting, players still tend to leave a match the minute the tide of the game turns against them; there are still NO RANKINGS for any playlist except for one (Halo 2 Anniversary), ensuring poor matchmaking between players' skill level, and no leveling up, killing any sense of progression/accomplishment with online multiplayer, while increasing the likelihood that newbies will frequently quit matches when they (inevitably) find themselves lopsidedly pitted against hardcore Halo fiends; I am still unable to find a match on the Big Team Battle playlist, as I gave up after waiting for nearly fifteen minutes; Halo CE and Halo 2 multiplayer playlists had occasional lag and clipping during matches; there is still no indicator of how many players are gaming with HMCC online multiplayer, either collectively or on individual playlists, meaning I still can't be sure that the reason I'm sitting around waiting for a playlist is either because the multiplayer is busted, or there are simply not enough players to match up with; players still get immediately bumped out of a playlist lobby the minute a match ends, meaning one can't have a rematch or hook up with players from the last match played (say goodbye to making new online Halo-gaming buddies); the enormous HMCC patches are slowly taking over my Xbox One hard drive, update by update ... when is 343 going to consolidate all of these updates into one reasonably-sized patch?

To sum up, the latest fix offered by 343 is definitely a step up from previous updates (it's certainly fun to play Halo 4 online in 60FPS). With the campaign modes working well (at least the single-player campaign modes) and most of HMCC's online multiplayer component finally functioning in a very playable state, I have revised my rating of this game for the first time since I initially reviewed it, from two to three stars. That being said, with HMCC missing so many of the little (and not so little) touches and polishes that made past Halo online multiplayer gaming so great, HMCC's online multiplayer component is still a shadow of its former predecessors. The fact is, at the moment, HMCC online multiplayer is (at best) a work in progress ... which is fairly pathetic news for a "triple A" video game title that was released two months and a week ago. <<END OF UPDATE 10>>

<<UPDATE 11: It's January 31, and unfortunately, my latest time played on multiplayer last night has revealed no improvements on the online multiplayer front; all of the issues mentioned in update 10 are still present, and in fact, I actually experienced more wait times, more lag and freezing than I did the previous time I played. In a move that I don't believe I have ever seen before on a gaming console, 343 has announced that they will begin BETA TESTING their latest HMCC patch before they release it! Beta testing a patch for a three-month-old commercially released triple-A video game title!?

This unprecedented move by 343 really does confirm all suspicions of this gaming debacle, most notably that Halo: The Master Chief Collection was a beta release packaged and sold as finished product. While I truly hope that they finally fix things for this mess-of-a-game, the idea that 343 and Microsoft sold this buggy junk as a triple-A title release really irks me. Not since the Red-Ring-Of-Death for the Xbox 360 have I seen Microsoft so blatantly attempt to swindle its fans in such a cynical fashion. I hope the extra Xbox One sales were worth it, 343 and MS: all it cost you was the formerly-sterling reputation of your most prized video game title ... and a lot of disappointed fans. At this point, after nearly three months and counting, I can't help but downgrade my rating of this title from three to two stars; you've well earned it, HMCC. <<END OF UPDATE 11>>

<< UPDATE 12: It's February 7th, and for those who still care at this point, Halo online multiplayer is still the same old buggy mess (as described in detail in updates 10 and 11) ... which is no surprise, since 343 has not released a patch in nearly a month. Also not a surprise, 343 has delayed the release of its upcoming patch. Here's the official announcement from 343, posted on the Halo Community Blog:

"As this update contains the biggest changes to the Matchmaking system yet, we've identified that additional time and testing is required, and we are currently evaluating both timing and need for a CU beta with the Xbox One Preview program, as well as the final public release date in February."

In other words, 343 is having second thoughts about Beta testing its next patch for HMCC. So, 343 is either feeling more confident about their upcoming HMCC patch, or they have become embarrassed over the unflattering press/criticism they have gotten over their recent Beta testing announcement (considering the fact that they have pushed back the release of this latest patch, I'm willing to bet it's the latter). Personally, Beta testing sounds like a good idea at this point ... whatever it takes, 343, so long as you finally manage to whip HMCC into the triple-A gaming experience it was promised to be (and sold as) at launch. Either way, downtrodden Halo online multiplayer fans will have to sit on their hands for yet a while longer ... or not, if you catch my drift. In all, the epic failure that is HMCC continues to disappoint. Of course, when 343 releases their next patch (due sometime this February), I will update this review accordingly. <<END OF UPDATE 12>>

<< UPDATE 13: It's March 5, 2015, nearly 4 months since HMCC was released, and at last(!), 343 has released a new online update that has promised to considerably improve the playability of HMCC's online multiplayer component (FYI, there are also some bug fixes and tweaks for the campaign modes included in this latest patch that I will NOT be addressing). So, has 343 finally come through? In one major respect, they have. Finally, I am able to get matches in three minutes or less on pretty much every playlist I have tried, including (finally!) Big Team Battle. The games I played were smooth and glitch-free experiences. After two hours of playing, I can honestly say that, at last, HMCC plays like it should have all along; overall, it was a blast playing these games in 60fps.

So, the caveats, which frankly haven't changed much since previous updates. Still no rankings on any playlists, excepting for Halo 2 Anniversary; which means that matchmaking is still broken, with noobs becoming target practice for hardcore Halo fiends in match after match; which means lots of people quitting in the middle of matches, particularly because there are still no penalties for consecutively quitting matches; players are still booted out of playlist lobbies the minute a match ends, preventing players from having a rematch or making new online Halo-gaming buddies; there is still no activity indicator for how many current players are gaming on any given playlist, which is helpful when trying to discern between joining a vibrant playlist full of active gamers and a dead playlist that gamers have abandoned; Halo 4 is still missing from crucial playlists like Team Slayer; all of which means that there is still a striking lack of progression, continuity and community when playing HMCC online multiplayer.

Overall, these issues add up in a big way for me, as the aforementioned missing features is what, for me, defines and sets apart the Halo online multiplayer from other online multiplayer gaming experiences. After four months, this the best that 343 can do? Give a neutered version of four previously existing online multiplayer games, in 60FPS? Sorry ... that may be enough for the rabid Halo fanboys who gladly drop the soap for anything Halo-related, but not for this life-long Halo gamer.

In all, a big improvement, enough that I am changing my review from that of two to three stars; however, what has improved here in no way washes away the bad taste that continues to linger from this whole experience, particularly when HMCC online multiplayer continues to be vastly inferior to all previous Halo online mutilplayer experiences.

"Sigh!" Give me what you promised, 343 ... I'm still waiting! << END OF UPDATE 13 >>

If I purchase a product, I expect it to work as advertised; is that asking too much? Do you think the same folks who are now defending the busted multiplayer in this game would be OK with purchasing a new car with a bum engine? How about ordering a pizza and receiving some bread with tomatoes and cheese?

Ignore certain fanboy apologists who are giving this game five/four stars, while trashing honest reviews of the playable state of this game; they appear to eagerly accept whatever crap is handed to them; those folks are so co-dependent on Halo gaming, they believe that we should all just thank our lucky stars that 343 and Microsoft are giving us anything, ANYTHING, Halo-related ... no matter how flawed.

I have a different take; 343 and Microsoft made a product that they intended for sale, in order to make a profit; they then went about selling that product on the strength of features promised to consumers; the consumer agreed to part with their hard-earned cash in exchange for the product as advertised and promised; and so a pact was made between the seller and buyer for a fair exchange of payment and services. I held up my end of the bargain, and gave up my hard-earned cash; 343 and Microsoft failed to hold up their end of the bargain, by selling me an inferior product that did not perform as advertised.

As for pre-ordering games in the future, I don't care what kind of bonus DLC they will be offering; from here on out, I will wait for reviews of a game before I commit to purchasing.

In the final analysis, I say this: if you are a consumer/gamer who wishes to avoid being sold inferior product like this in the future, do yourself a favor: let 343 and Microsoft know that it is unacceptable to release betas as a finished game, by avoiding the purchase of this title until they completely fix the busted half of this game. Read more ›

150 of 186 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars If you want multiplayer, WAIT! November 12, 2014

By Justin

Platform for Display:Xbox One|Verified Purchase

Single Player:
Got this on release day, as for differences to the single player campaign alone, this is instantly worth it. After not having played Halo 1 since early 2000's, I still remembered every bit, and being able to swap between that generations graphics and the updated versions amazes me. I find myself always hitting the button to see the difference every 5 minutes.

Extras:
The Halo channel that shipped with the game is fantastic. Nightfall, documentaries and behind the scenes footage of various projects is always interesting to watch. Very well organized.

Multiplayer:
Review incomplete. I purchased this game to play multiplayer mainly, and since release, have only managed to get into 3 matches. 343 Industries has released server side patches but with no results as of yet. Ranking systems are offline, map options in lobby dont match to what you may be playing on. Big Team rounds for those 3 games I played were only 6v6. And some achievements are not displaying correctly for some users. They have alot of work to do, which is to be expected for releasing a broken multiplayer experience. If all you want is multiplayer, wait until you hear fixes are being made and are ACTUALLY working. For that reason alone I give 3/5 stars. If you can enjoy all the campaigns until you get a completely working title, the purchase will be worth it, I have no doubt in my mind.

82 of 104 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed that Co-Op doesn't work due to extreme input delays! November 24, 2014

By Commander Crash

Platform for Display:Xbox One

I love Halo, I played every single release multiple times. I'm extremely disappointed in this release! Many many other reviews already talk about how multiplayer is broken -- and it is. Long wait times in the loading screen, missing levels, no leaderboards, etc. But not a lot of people are talking about how broken the co-op mode is. I wanted to replay the entire series with friends and discovered that anyone who isn't the main host (the person who invites others) ends up with a significant (1-2 second) input lag that makes the game unplayable! Sure you can play the campaigns alone and most things work, but that's not what most of us want to do!

123 of 167 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate Halo single-player campaign omnibus, online MP not so much (although it is getting better) November 11, 2014

By Relytia TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Platform for Display:Xbox One|Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

Hey Folks. Just wanted to point out a couple very important things real quick about the collection and this review.

First, I personally love TMCC. I love it because it was the single-player campaigns that drew me to the series in the first place, and it is still what gets me most excited about upcoming releases. I love Halo's story, its characters, its writing, its pacing, its presentation, etc immensely. Very few gaming series delivers the incredible feeling of adventure, mystery, and discovery the way Halo does. I love it so much that I've devoured most of the extended fiction as well. If you are predominantly a fan of single-player Halo as I have always been, then TMCC is a wonderful product that is and has always been definitely worth purchasing. That is something I have not and will not budge in with regards to TMCC. I have never experienced any problems whatsoever with TMCC's SP content. Whether it's the stellar Anniversary editions of Halo 1 and 2, or the upgraded 1080p/60 fps Halo 3 and 4 campaigns (with Halo 3: ODST {I believe that stands for "Omnipotent Deities Serenade Turkeys"} soon to join them), the collection has been a dream come true for me. Everything plays smooth and runs like a dream, looks better than ever before, and the fact it's all in one convenient place like this is fantastic. You easily get your money's worth just with the single-player content alone. That's my opinion anyway.

HOWEVER, that leads to my second point. The collection's myriads of unfortunate, inexcusable online MP problems are well-known by now. A lot of them have been ironed out, sure, but I implore you to read the reasonable reviews on here that are critical (key word being "reasonable," and they are rare, trust me). That's the beauty of Amazon: their review system will expose you to differing views from people with their own perspective and backgrounds. For me, I approach Halo with a single-player first priority, but it's good to get a well-rounded perspective from people who view it from the MP angle, and there are plenty on here worthy of consideration. The top review on the collection is pretty good in that regard, if a little harsh in my personal opinion. Still, it's always good to get other perspectives. That will help you make sure your hard earned money isn't wasted.

Lastly, this review is ridiculously long. Honestly, it was super long on its own, but given the bizarre and unusual circumstances surrounding The Master Chief Collection and its launch period it has become WAY longer because of all the updates I've had to write about it. I've labeled my review so you can easily skip all these and go straight to the original review at your convenience. Sorry for the length, but again, because TMCC is so unusual, it feels like you'd get an incomplete picture of this release if I just deleted all but one update. So there you go. Hope that clears things up and you enjoy this review. Have a wonderful day. Toodles.

*Update 1/28/14: Well, here we are, a few months after release day and TMCC works very well now. It's just too bad it had to take months to get this game up to a level where it should have been at release. 343 are constantly releasing updates and patches that makes the online component work better in various, incremental ways. Overall, TMCC is worthy of a purchase now, but I don't think it's worthy of anything higher than 3-stars, just because of the principle of it all. The biggest upcoming patch is actually going to be offered to select Xbox Live members as a BETA to test it out before it's released to public. I'll let that sink in for a moment... Yes, 343 are literally holding BETAS for CONTENT UPDATES for TMCC, TWO MONTHS after its release date. Wow. You cannot make this stuff up. I understand that 343 originally wanted to just make Halo 2 Anniversary and Microsoft essentially forced them to take up the mammoth task of making this a collection of Halo 1-4, with each game getting their own various updates. To do this, 343 essentially had to contract out each component of the collection to other companies, with Saber Interactive making H2A, Certain Affinity handling the MP and H2A MP updates, Ruffian Games handling the collection's ports Halo 3 and 4, etc. 343 DID work on the online networking and interfaces, however. Evidently they did test the online components prior to launch, but weren't prepared for the huge load on their servers after release day and ended up having to rebuild them from scratch. This is all very unfortunate and, for me at least, it's easy to feel bad for 343 given the circumstances. It was extremely unlikely that a release of this scope wouldn't release with significant problems, and as it turns out, it did. I don't think 343 are the evil harbingers of Halo's doom the way so many people rush to accuse them of being. The Halo 5 beta proved to me that they're passionate about the series, listen intensely to fan feedback, and want nothing but to give Halo the hyperbolic treatment a legendary series like this deserves. Weirdly enough, I'm more confident in Halo 5 than I've ever been after the beta. Still, this does not excuse the terrible launch of TMCC, a release that should have been legendary unto itself and one that could have cemented people's confidence in 343's stewardship of the series. Sadly, that's not what happened. It just makes me sad. So yeah, TMCC is quite good overall now. It's probably 4-stars good objectively speaking (even though me, Single-player Halo guy would give it 5-stars because I really do "love it" as Amazon says that rating means), but out of principle I'll keep it at 3-stars.

*Update 12/27/14: The title says it all. The game is working better every day. The value here is pretty astounding. There's just SO MUCH content for $45-55, even with its (increasingly disappearing) issues. AND if you were an early adopter of the game, you'll get to download Halo 3: ODST's campaign in 1080p 60FPS (one of my favorite Halo games ever!) AND the classic Halo 2 map "Relic" remastered all H2 Anniversary style. Very classy response by 343 to a very unfortunate flub on their part with such a major release, but things are thankfully getting better every day, and I am merciful. What's there now is a very good value. The single-player campaigns are more than worth it by themselves, the MP is quite fun now, and most of the smaller bugs have been totally ironed out. Hopefully the Halo 5 MP beta runs smoothly on the 29th. We shall see. Until then, take care, and toodles.

*Update 12/19/14: Another small update is in order. Many of the multiplayer issues that I experienced for the first couple weeks of the game's launch have been largely ironed out. The truth is, this game is worth the roughly $45-50 it costs right now based on the single-player content alone IN MY OPINION. Just playing through these campaigns alone will take you about 40 hours to do. To say nothing of the substantial updates that Halo 2 Anniversary has, as well as the smaller visual updates and performance improvements all the other games received. As far as multiplayer goes, the online functionality is much, much better. It's becoming harder and harder to fixate on the failings of the collection now. Of course, many are irrationally going around down-voting any positive reviews simply because they refuse to stop being crybabies, pretending as if the game's problems are still there even after having been fixed. To say this collection is irredeemable and only worth 1-star is nothing short of childish and irrational. Grow up. If you're a fan of Halo's SP like I am, this collection has always been a good choice, and if you love Halo for its Multiplayer like many are, then this is definitely worthy of consideration now. It's only getting better each week too. All that's left to fix are smaller bugs that don't really hamper the experience much anymore.

*Update 12/2/14: This will be a smaller update. After the last few updates/patches, the online MP is working a lot better for me now. Some playlists are better than others, but I haven't had a pretty good time finding matches and staying connected (Maybe I'm just lucky, lol). The BTB and Slayer playlists are the safest bets, it seems. So yes, things are working a bit better than they were before. It's not perfect though. From what I understand 343 has another big patch for later this week. Hopefully that irons out the rest of the problems, but we'll see. Again, single-player/story fans of Halo will be very happy with this package. Even with its issues, it's hard not to get your $60 worth with four fantastic campaigns (with one receiving a full-on Xbox One makeover and the rest receiving nice visual and performance enhancements) and a bunch of neat extras. I've beaten all the main campaigns on heroic difficulty, found all terminals and skulls, and am going through again because it's just so fun. HOWEVER, if you want this purely for MP, it's true that things are better now but I'd still wait a bit for them to make it perfect. Thanks for reading my review. I hope you find it helpful. Take care. Toodles

*Update 11/25/14: Whoo boy! Two weeks, a full-on update patch, and several smaller updates later and we're barely closer to functioning matchmaking online than we were on release day. In fact, it seems that where some issues were fixed, others popped up to replace them. I don't know what to tell you guys. From what I understand, the main cause of the problem is that the matchmaking has to juggle four different games (five if you include Halo 2 anniversary MP), with each one having its own unique engine. I have also read that they've brought in major Microsoft (not just Xbox) engineers in to fix their servers. They evidently tested the game before launch, but not under the kind of load a game this hyped would inevitably bring. For shame 343. To try and make good with players who bought the collection and had to deal with these issues, 343 is planning on giving everyone some sort of compensation. My fingers are crossed for free downloads of the SP campaigns from Halo 3: ODST and/or Halo Reach at 1080p 60 fps), or Halo 5: Guardians at a discounted price and/or with extra content, but who knows? They do say it'll be good enough to make every Halo fan happy, which is a tall order considering the chaos and rage that rules the fanbase these days, lol. As always, I'll update my review as things come to light. While a lot of these explanations about the issues make sense, they're still inexcusable for such a major release for such a major franchise from such a major company. Again, the single-player stuff here absolutely kicks ass and if you love Halo for that, like I do, then this is a great collection. However, it's becoming harder and harder to grant 343 and this collection mercy as these completely inexcusable online issues persist. I know this update isn't much, but for what it's worth, I hope this, the other updates, and the review itself was helpful to you. Take care. Toodles.

*Update 11/18/14: Wow, a week in and STILL the MP problems have not been resolved. To be fair, there have been SOME improvements over the course of the past week, but as it stands, the online matchmaking is still in shambles. I REALLY hate to do this, but I'm going to have to dock another star off my score until these issues are fixed. A whole week of this is simply unacceptable and unprofessional. Thank GOD I bought this for the single-player campaigns, because those have been nothing but stellar. However, if I was like the majority of people who bought this for its MP, I'd be furious as well. If you want this collection for the SP campaigns, story, and local co-op, then this is an awesome collection. If you want this collection for MP, WAIT. From what I understand, 343 is planning a massive patch for later this week that will hopefully fix everything, but until then, I cannot in good conscience give this anything above 3-stars for now. I hope you find my review helpful. I really appreciate you taking the time to read it, even if there are a bunch of crybaby haters downvoting all the top, vaguely positive reviews because of their frustration with the collection, and not based on the quality and merits of the reviews themselves (grow up please, lol). Take care. Toodles

*Update 11/13/14: I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to take off one star from my score due to the egregious multiplayer mess-up so far. I don't know if 343 wasn't ready for launch but didn't want to delay it past Halo 2's anniversary date or what, but they probably should have delayed it anyway. I am astounded at how badly 343 botched the online MP for such a hugely anticipated release. The online matchmaking is virtually non-functioning at this point, casting players into the limitless void of lobby purgatory with no hope of joining a match in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time. I have no doubt once they figure out the server issues, then things'll be great, but as of now, it's very hard for most to find a MP match. It's a damn shame, because everything else about the collection is fantastic. So there you go. Once 343 fixes the matchmaking issues, then I'll edit this review once again to 5-stars without hesitation. IF you want this collection primarily for the multiplayer, then I'd recommending holding off until its problems are fixed. If you're like me and you love Halo most of all for its single-player campaigns, co-op, and story, then this collection is, right now, top-of-the line quality and most definitely a MUST-BUY immediately. I hope that helps. It's been very sad for me to see all the anger and negativity surrounding this game. Everyone should be happy and celebrating Halo together right now, not turning on the game, 343, and each other, but alas, that is the world we live in these days. Thanks for reading my review at any rate. Also, thanks to all the haters giving out kneejerk downvotes to the top/positive reviews based on them enjoying and scoring highly a game you don't like, rather than the actual quality and helpfulness of the reviews themselves (Remember, reviews are, ultimately, subject to a reviewer's personal opinion/experience. Time to grow up ladies and gentlemen). Take care. Toodles.

*Original review*

Once in a blue moon, the gaming industry can bestow a gift that seems almost too good to be true. When I had read about the rumors of this collection before its official announcement, I laughed derisively. I thought there was no way a collection THIS good could possibly see the light of day. AT BEST, I thought MAYBE we'd get Halo 2 Anniversary, and we did. We also get something much more grand along with it. I love the Halo series. It is definitely in my top 3 favorite gaming series of all time, and I've played every entry within it to death. Now, I get to play it all again, and boy is it glorious. Fair warning: I'm going to try and keep this review concise, but I do want to be informative to all those wondering exactly what is in The Master Chief Collection, and whether or not it's worth its asking price (spoiler alert, it is, ten times over). If you don't like long reviews, you may want to skip this one.

*Halo 2 Anniversary*

I don't know about you, but it has always been the single-player campaigns and their great stories that have captivated me about Halo, and Halo 2 is no exception. As a matter of fact, Halo 2 is my favorite game in the series largely because of its SP campaign. It took the great sci-fi adventure format introduced in the first Halo and expanded it to new heights and depths. I always loved the overall melancholic, pensive mood in Halo 2's campaign. New characters, the Arbiter in particular, were really awesome additions to Halo's lore. It also refined and expanded on the gameplay in wonderful ways, and cemented Halo's place as THEE console first-person shooter. To be able to play its campaign with brand new visuals and audio is thrilling beyond compare. I had high expectations for this remake, as Halo 1 Anniversary is my golden standard for what a remake can and should be. Needless to say, Halo 2 Anniversary has not disappointed me. In fact, to my shock and surprise, it has exceeded my expectations.

If you played H1A, you know what to expect here in H2A. The updated visuals were built from the ground up for the X1 and are incredible. They are faithful to the spirit of the original while also updating things to make it feel brand new and to connect it more to games that came after its initial release in 2004. Awesome. The audio is likewise fantastic. The sound effects, including those of all weapons, have been redone and while they sound faithful to the original, they definitely pack a lot more punch than before, which I love. The incredible soundtrack by Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori was also rerecorded by Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and it sounds incredible. Perhaps the most impressive upgrade in H2A is that they hired Blur, the studio who made the stunning CG cutscenes inHalo Wars, to remake EVERY cutscene in Halo 2 in CG. Words cannot describe how breathtaking these are. It is almost literally like watching a live-action Halo movie at times. It's incredible.

Something to note about Halo 2 Anniversary is that it, like everything else in the package, plays at a smooth 60 FPS. While the rest of the package is all in 1080p (1920X1080), H2A alone has a resolution of 1328 X 1080, so not quite true 1080p. This is due to the fact its constantly rendering 2 engines simultaneously. It's still gorgeous though. Like I said, there are two engines running at all times during H2A. One is the actual, unaltered original game engine, which is constantly running so that the game plays EXACTLY as it did when it first came out, and then overlaid on top of that are the new visuals/audio/additions of Anniversary mode. Like in H1A, you can hit a button on the controller and the new engine disappears entirely, leaving you with the original Halo 2 in all its 2004 glory, old visuals, sound, and cinematcs in all. Unlike the 360 version of H1A, however, the switch between classic and anniversary mode is instantaneous. You can even do this during cutscenes, which shows just how advanced the new CG ones are by comparison. Awesome.

Just as in H1A, there are some new additions to the game to refresh things too. In addition to the classic skulls, they added in several new ones that are unlocked by default that change the game in various ways, which keeps things refreshing. There are also terminals hidden in each level ala H1A and Halo 3 that, when found, unlock videos that greatly expand on the lore surrounding Halo 2, with the Arbiter being the biggest focus. Since the Arbiter is one of my favorite Halo characters, I loved learning more about him. You can never have too much Arbiter! The terminals also offer glimpses of where the series is heading in Halo 5. Great stuff. There's also online co-op for the campaign, which is always swell.

Something I LOVE about 343's Halo remakes is how they update and enhance the original game's experience, while also showing great respect to the source material so as not to change/ruin any of it. You can tell they're cognizant of the original's greatness and celebrate it by updating all that has aged. I applaud this. Actually, they did that more here than they did in H1A, which had used some of Reach's art design to change the look of elites. Not here. Elites and their rank are only reflected in their armor color. Personally, I liked what they did with H1A, but oh well. They still did a great job.

*Halo 1 Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4*

While Halo 2's campaign obviously received the most attention in this package, the other games were not left in the lurch. You also get H1A, Halo 3, and the more recent Halo 4, great games all. Each of these play exactly as they did before, but now in 1080p and 60 fps. Each game has seen some other visual upgrades too, mostly in the form of enhanced lighting and shading effects. For some games, this will only make them prettier. H1A still looks great in my opinion. Halo 4 already looked like an Xbox One title to begin with, and these small enhancements only make it look more fantastic. The only game that looks noticeably aged is Halo 3. While it still has the same great art design it always had, and all the visual enhancements certainly make it look nicer, it's definitely the odd-man out compared to the rest. Here's hoping we get a Halo 3/Halo 3: ODST Anniversary collection in 2007 *fingers crossed*. Each entry's co-op mode is included and they all play online. There's not much else to say about these games really. They're awesome games with upgrades ranging from marginal (lighting/shading) to massive (the new framerate). For me, the single-player Halo guy, the inclusion of all of Master Chief's games really elevates what was already an awesome package.

*The Multiplayer*

While I've always loved Halo for its single-player and co-op most all, I do have a long history of enjoying its famous multiplayer as well. I don't usually play games for their MP, instead viewing it as a nice diversion once in a while at best, but Halo is one of the very rare video game series where I've sunk countless hours into the MP component. Within the collection, you will find the entire multiplayer modes from Halo 1-4 mostly intact, especially with regards to custom games, matchmaking less so. The engine from each game is perfectly preserved. Every Halo MP map ever is here, and that includes all expansion packs and even previously PC exclusive maps for Halo 1 and 2. That's over 100 MP maps to play on! The menu system is fairly intuitive and easy to use, so you'll be able to pretty much jump into any general type of Halo MP experience you'd want. The amount of playlists are decent, with most matches giving you several options of maps from across that playlist's games to vote for. Each of the MP modes get their own dedicated servers, so theoretically you can play the entire MP suite on display here online in matchmaking! For Halo 1 players, this is a first on console! I have to say, the memories of 16-player LAN parties with huge, clunky SD TVs playing Halo 1 and 2, or being in awe at playing against other people online when I first bought Halo 3, have come flooding back. It's pretty awesome.The ONLY problem, and it is a BIG one, as of now as that the severs are virtually non-functioning. It takes FOREVER to find a match, if you can find one at all. This is unacceptable. I'm sure once these issues are fixed, it'll be great. Now though, this is probably the only blunder in the package.

HOWEVER, I do want to point out that when I say these are the original MP modes, I do really mean original in every way. That means the graphics from each ORIGINAL game is perfectly preserved, including clunky, aged 2001 Halo Combat Evolved graphics. So if you expected them to remake all the MP with this console generation's graphics, you'll be disappointed. Still, for the sheer amount of quantity and quality of fun to be had here, it's hard to complain. I like the nostalgia factor, personally. Like I said, the memories just keep rolling in, and I love it.

In addition to the original Halo MP modes being present, they also included a Halo 2 Anniversary MP mode. This features 6 classic Halo 2 maps, remade from the ground up in a new engine for the Xbox One. They even brought back developers who had worked on the original maps way back in the day to do this. Not only is it incredible to play these classic maps with spectacularly gorgeous visuals, they also freshened up the gameplay as well. Most of these remade maps feature "gimmicks," for lack of a better word, that would have been impossible in 2004. These really mix things up and keep matches very interesting. This mode also features online matchmaking. Personally, I really enjoyed the Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer mode included. It's pretty awesome.

Oh yeah, and then there's also a little thing called the Halo 5 MP beta included as well. Obviously it's not out yet, and once it is, it will be for a short, limited time, but still, Halo 5 MP Beta guys! Awesome.

*Miscellaneous schtuff*

There are a few things to address that don't really fall under any of the earlier categories, so I'll just stick them here. The collection features some new cutscenes that tease Halo 5, which is neat. Each Halo gets their own entire set of new achievements and 1000 gamerscore to unlock. Some are limited to a specific game, others are tied to the collection as a whole, and others are tied to MP. So, in this collection, you get a grand total of 450 achievements and 4500 gamerscore. Crazy! A lot of them are brand new to the series too. Everything in the game is accessible from one central menu system, so it's not like you have to select which game you want to play and then reboot to get to the others, which is great. They included playlists for the SP campaigns as well, such as one where you play all vehicle-focused SP levels across all games in a row, or play from the beginning of Halo 1 all the way to the ending of Halo 4 in one sitting (and one that adds all skulls active on legendary, wow, lol). When you factor in the ridiculous amount of MP playlists, as well as the expansive Forge options you get in the game, you get a collection that pretty much caters itself to every Halo fan. That's true for the controls as well. You can set a control scheme for each game individually, or one across all games. I appreciate that level of customization.

*Day One Patch*

Finally, I figured I should give you guys fair warning about something. There is a MASSIVE patch you have to download when you first pop in the disc. From what I understand, this was to keep the collection experience seamless, as there's so much content it would have taken two discs to fit it all. So, yeah, day one patch that is roughly 15 friggin' GB big. It is a pain to have to wait while it downloads, but once its on, everything's gold. I'm glad they did it this way as opposed to just printing 2 discs that I'd have to switch between frequently. Delayed gratification is the name of the game here I suppose. Once the patch is downloaded, everything runs smooth.

Whew... this collection is quite a package. I bought my copy at a midnight release party and have played it for several hours now, testing each part of the collection. I've played all of this content for countless hours before in their original format, so I feel I'm more than qualified to judge the quality of this collection. It's really common sense. Now I've peeled myself away to write this review. TMMC is absolutely bursting at the seams, filled with a ludicrous amount of content for something costing $60. Honestly, I'd have paid that much JUST for Halo 2 Anniversary alone. Not only do we get that, we also get the ultimate Halo multiplayer collection, Halo 1 Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4 which all received some pretty nice additions and upgrades, a ton of new achievements, new skulls, hints of Halo 5, the Halo 5 beta, the Halo Nightfall TV series... I mean, it just goes on and on and on. I am absolutely floored by the sheer value on display here. Even Microsoft/Halo-haters have to admit this is an astoundingly good value when you weigh the content versus the cost. Just like Halo 1&2 Anniversaries have set my golden standard for remakes, so The Master Chief Collection has set my standard for gaming collections. Many game collections will come and go through the years, but I doubt any will be able to top this one for a good long while. If you're a Halo fan, buy this IMMEDIATELY, you will not regret it. If you've never played Halo before and want to get into the series, this is the perfect way to do so. This is, in my opinion, an absolutely essential purchase for every Xbox One owner. In fact, I JUST bought my Xbox One the other day specifically for this collection and I have no regrets. It's a superb collection at a splendid price. So buy it, prepare yourself for some incredibly awesome gaming ahead, and enjoy the ultimate omnibus of a legendary sci-fi game series.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have more Halo to play... Read more ›