Thirteen years of Halo games, all multiplayer maps ever released for each of them (including DLC and maps previously exclusive to Halo PC), 45 campaign missions, remastered and upscaled visuals, this thing is the real deal.
I am one of those hardcore fans that have been playing since the original Halo: Combat Evolved on Xbox. And this collection feels like it was made just for me.
*What it Includes*
First of all, before release, I was curious what the physical copy included exactly. I wasn't sure if it would be four separate discs, one for each game, or what. It is one disc inside a standard size Xbox One case, and download codes for things like the upcoming Halo 5 multiplayer beta (begins December 29th) and the Halo Nightfall video series. No extra frills or fun stuff, unfortunately, and no special/collector's/legendary/etc edition to dump money into for fellow hardcore fans. Amazon pre-orders also got an exclusive skull download code, but that's not that big of a big deal since in a month or so it will be available to the general public. Just to clarify, you are getting Halo 1 Anniversary (re-release of 2011 Xbox 360 re-release of original Xbox 2001 release, and includes both original and updated graphics), Halo 2 Anniversary (brand new re-release of original Xbox 2004 release, includes both original and updated graphics), and Halo 3 & Halo 4 (both releases in higher 1080p resolution with silky smooth 60 frames per second, textures and polygons are the same as original release though). It does not include the two games which were spin-offs of the Master Chief story: Halo 3: ODST & Halo: Reach.
*Physical vs Digital*
I am glad I purchased the physical version simply for the sake of having a visually complete Halo collection on my shelf with all my other Halo games. I also like the feeling of actually owning something physical that I can lend to a friend or resell (I won't be selling this one though). Being the Halo nerd I am, I also purchased the digital copy, which gives you the benefit of being able to launch it without switching game discs, and that is a legitimate plus.
*Download/Installation*
This thing takes up 60-80GB of your hard drive space. When you run out of space, you'll eventually need to start deleting games, then doing the whole shuffling game. If you delete Halo MCC and want to re-download/install it again, prepare to give up an entire day waiting for that to complete. It takes FOREVER. The Day 1 update alone was around 20GB. Maybe it depends on your region, but my Xbox Live caps at around 10mbps on my very reliable 50mbps connection. Even overnight while sleeping for 8 hours you'll be lucky to be finished by then.
*Experience*
I started playing through the campaign playlist right after the midnight release, and played nearly all day since I was lucky enough to have Veteran's day off of work. It was an incredibly enjoyable and nostalgic experience, though there were a few hiccups along the way. A new feature is campaign playlists, which group various campaign missions into one themed session. There's one for all the boss missions across the four games, for example. I just started a co-op Master Chief Saga playlist, which is every single chronological campaign mission of the four games. We went through Halo 1 without a hitch, but midway through Halo 2 things began to get weird. Achievements stopped unlocking, we had some co-op (XBL, not split-screen) disconnects, trouble re-inviting him back into game, and at one point our co-op game became out of sync, and we weren't in the right spot in the game. It was both hilarious and frustrating. Our movements were still registering across the network, but our character positions were all wrong. I was walking around in a field, but on his screen it was showing me stuck way earlier in the level walking into a wall like an idiot. Dying didn't fix this, so eventually we just quit out and restarted the mission, and that fixed it. But it took about 10 minutes for us to get connected and back in.
I think half of the issues were Xbox Live related (apparently other games experienced difficulties and achievements not working, etc), and half were due to issues with 343 Industry's servers. I do appreciate that within 24 hours they had acknowledged and took full responsibility for the issues, and even had an in-game main menu pop-up acknowledging the complaints and promised speedy fixes. We ended up taking a break at the peak of the issues and resuming the next day, and everything was working much smoother. There are still some bugs they need to iron out, and they have already promised they are working on them, so I guess we'll see what happens, but I'm pretty confident they will be addressed.
*Multiplayer*
Halo has always been my favorite multiplayer experience, which makes this collection nearly perfect. You can select any of the four Halo engines to play multiplayer on, which is amazing. They all have their own quirks and features. I tried each of them, and they each brought me back to a different era of nostalgia. The original Halo was always fun due the skill involved in pistol sniping, as well as the quicker, more responsive, and indestructible vehicles. But additedly, these types of characteristics are also what may be frustrating to those that never played the original. Halo 2 brought us our first online multiplayer and matchmaking, which was truly revolutionary. It also added dual-weilding, the energy sword, noob combo, and an excellent collection of maps. Halo 3 added abilities, armor customization, a bunch of new vehicles, and FORGE (which is usable across all four games in this release)! Halo 4 continued to expand the collection of weapons, vehicles, abilities, maps, and added a whole new race of enemies: Promethians. In Halo MCC, you can select whichever spot along the evolution of Halo multiplayer is most to your liking. In all cases, you can create endless custom maps (Forge) and gametypes (with hundreds of settings & tweaks) which alone give nearly infinite replay value.
*Replay, Value, Replay Value, Bungie, and Destiny*
Speaking of replay value, let me tell you why I think this is the greatest deal currently on Xbox One. As a huge Bungie fan, I was also thrilled for the Xbox One release of Destiny this September. It was fun, and I sank more time in it than I should have, but MAN what an overall disappointment. After the extremely short campaign (done in four hours), all that's left is grinding for materials, grinding for gear/loot, grinding for bounties, and the Vault of Glass raid. That raid is legitimately fun, and a great team experience, but beyond that, there's nothing substantial left to do in the game. Bungie promised the world and delivered Idaho with that game. The Master Chief Collection, on the other hand, delivers at least about 25 hours to get through the campaign once. Then there are 4500 points worth of achievements to collect (by far the highest of any single initial game release). These include revisiting the campaign missions at various difficulties, using various skull combinations, doing a variety of tasks to complete missions in untraditional ways, and discovering a plethora of easter eggs. It's an incredible value. Halo 3 & 4 also expand co-op from 2 players to 4, which is a fantastic standard team size compared to Destiny's general limit of 3 per co-op team ("sorry friend, only room for three here, and you've been voted the lease favorite!"). As far as the story, the Halo saga is captivating, innovative, and even emotional at times. Destiny's was, well, it would be a lie to even claim there is a story there.
Comparing Destiny's PvP (Crucible) to the Halo MCC PvP is an even starker difference in both quality and quantity. Destiny's Crucible offers *no* local, split-screen, or system link multiplayer. System link LAN games were a huge selling point to me for all of the Halo games. I love some good XBL multiplayer, but when you can gather a big group of friends and family into one room, there is no replacement for the in-person energy and smack talk involved in a good LAN game. Destiny also has absolutely *no* custom games. It's just five game types that are all variations of the "kill people for points" formula. No CTF, no King of the Hill, just kill people. There is a mode which gives bonus points for controlling spots, but even that mode amounts to getting to a point goal first, and kills give you points in all modes. Destiny has no pure objective types where kills only act as support and don't give points towards winning. It's extremely barebones. When you then compare Halo's gametype library, which is extensive, along with all the possible custom games and maps (MCC's 100+ maps compared to Destiny's NINE), it's really hard to even comprehend that both games cost the same amount. Add Forge custom maps to the mix and Halo is even better of a deal. They always add some really fun and fresh community-created maps to the multiplayer playlists.
*Summary*
Here's what I love about Halo: The Master Chief Collection:
[+] Huge campaign with 2-4 player co-op
[+] Biggest collection of multiplayer maps I've ever seen (over 100)
[+] Includes even Halo PC maps which most have never seen before, many are surprisingly good
[+] Completely remastered visuals for Halo 1 & 2
[+] Upscaled 1080p visuals for Halo 3 & 4
[+] Silky smooth 60fps framerate upgrade from original versions (more on this below)
[+] Custom game types and custom maps with Forge for all four games
[+] Infinite replay value
[+] Some of the best music ever released in a video game (with Halo 2's audio newly remastered as well)
[+] HUGE achievements list to encourage even more different ways to play and goals to work towards
[+] Plethora of customization options for campaign, multiplayer, custom modes, armor/character, etc
[+] Captivating story from beginning to end
[+] Local and system link multiplayer, which seems to be a dying breed this generation
[+] Best value on Xbox One *by far* as far as how much gameplay time you can get for $60
What I don't like:
[-] Some launch day server issues & other bugs
[-] Takes up an ungodly amount of space on your hard drive and takes forever to download/install
[-] Sadly does not include Firefight/Spartan Ops modes (not sure if this will come later)
[-] Framerate sometimes drops during Halo 2A split-screen multiplayer
Other thoughts:
[*] I would LOVE the same treatment with a Halo ODST & Halo Reach bundle and/or DLC. I hope they can make this happen.
[*] Not sure how much support this collection will have with Halo 5 on the horizon. I'm hoping they keep Halo MCC a priority as far as bug fixes and new content. Even after Halo 5 comes out, I will definitely spend a good amount of time switching back to MCC.
*Conclusion*
At the MSRP of $60, I think this is by far the best value right now on the Xbox One. When you think that in a few months it will likely drop to $30-40, it's even more of a no-brainer purchase. 343 Industries has, in my opinion, done a great job and continuing the Halo legacy. When I see what Bungie has accomplished with Destiny (very little), it makes it easy not to feel so bad that they left Halo in the hands of a new company. This collection is the best fan service release I have ever seen, and I am looking forward to years of fresh and fun gameplay to come.
Join me for some classic Blood Gulch CTF, XBL Gamertag: Xyjar.
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Takes a while to download. Be patient and most of all enjoy the games.
It works great. Glad that they were able to put all 4 of the games on one disk! I even love that they put in the combat evolved and the 2nd game in there with all the classic cut scenes with updated graphics. Looks almost to real. Love it!
Top reviews from other countries
Joseph De La Paz
El juego definitivo de casi toda la saga de Halo de Xbox 360 para Xbox One.
Reviewed in Mexico on May 8, 2017
