10 Years Later "Official" Halo Anniversary Thread- Your thoughts

[DerpWithAGun]

Hey guys

I want to start this post to so we can have a proper discussion about Anniversary and discuss all the Pros and Cons.

And everyone no hate against other people opinions in this thread.

 

Firstly I'm going to be honest here, the multiplayer is still a bit bad and the only great thing about it is the new 7 maps. Some more fine tuning and we will be good to go. Things such as no bloom not 75% and decrease the magnum's rate of fire.

 

The campaign is SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. As soon as I saw those graphics my jaw dropped. I love mostly how they didn't touch the game play. I know for a fact I'm going to have a BLAST with this campaign on co-op mode with friends!

 

Discuss!

 

 

 

This is the "Official" thread for comments on Halo CE Anniversary! - ADog

[BirdieJuice]

campaign is perfect.

[snakeoiltanker3306]

Campagn is amazeing, it is so great to see what ten years of tech has done for up, and im not upself with the MP either. what i love most is that after i change my controls to classic, i was whooping this games ASS! and i like how they didnt mess with the pinpoint accuracy of the granade throwing, i always loved how far you thow them suckers. the MAG..... bring it! cuz i freakin love it, but it is a lil slower. i just wanna find the skulls and terminals thats all. and i will be happy. havent really seen the new maps too much but im sure they are great especially if there is an anniversary specific section, cuz if im play the ond maps if would be nice for all the new stuff to be taken away..... does that make sence or sound fair?

 

either way i see if getting a 9.5 i hope

[Ardent Prayer]

Have yet to try it! Can't wait to get it afterschool today!!!! YAY

[AgentLoFi]

So far it is everything I expected and I couldn't be happier (other than working today which blows). It took me all but 2 seconds to be sucked right back into halo, it was a serious flashback moment for me. Other than the updated graphics, the thing that really stuck out the most for me was the sound and soundtrack, wow, everything is just beefed up 10x. The AR is possibly the most satisfying to fire, just has so much more kick to it. All in all i'm happy and I could write more but I should global get back to work.

[Twinreaper]

I'll take a shot at this. The game is great. All parties involved in the development of the updated title did a phenominal job. Instead of placing a long list of winded pros and cons, I'll keep my aspects brief and listed......first time for everything!!!

 

 

Pros:

 

1. Execution of original game engine running along side newer stripped down variant version of Reach's engine is absolutely perfect. Ho hick-ups at all.

 

2. Bonus map pack is well worth over $40, after going through each one and seeing the amount of time and detail thery put into it.

 

3. The remastered textures and shader templates are amazing. In HD, you can't even begin to understand that this IS the original Halo....

 

4. Sounds are sweet. They did a great job upping the compressionr ate and variables in ambient and standard sound palettes. It sounds awesome!

 

5. The Co-Op play works seamlessly. I like the addition of Spartan Linda, as the Spartan player 2 is supposed to be playing. When you get to the

chamber above the cyro room, where the elites broke thru, take a look at the monitors. If playing solo, the monitor for John-117, shows vitals.

If playing Co-Op, the monitor next to it with Linda's info, then shows vitals and stats. very nice touch 343 and Saber Int.!!!

 

6. The achievments really fit the epic gamplay and difficulty of the original. It was really refreshing to see a nice non-standard and somewhat

at times obsurd achievment requirement list. Kill 3 banshees, and 100 flood infections and such. Epic!!!

 

7. Touched up cinematics are great. The updated shaders really bring to life, some of the smaller previously un-noticed little things that go into

them. Think the original detail on the POA. Some things now, just jump out at you.

 

8. The original gameplay is as epic as it ever was. 343 held to true to their goal of keeping CEA strictly CE and not outside newer engine influence.

 

9. It was only $40.00!!!!!

 

10. The grunt funeral skull is a way cool skull to have. The terminal are a very unique and great feature. The difficulty in finding them is well enough

replay value to keep you searching well into the Halo 4 holiday season.

 

 

Cons:

 

1. The co-op split-screen feature. Very poorly explained, and not well documented. It took me a good 20 minutes to get it all properly setup with a second

profile on my console.

 

2. Grunt Funeral Skull is very dangewrous. Although it is quite useful in campaign on high difficulty settings, it just sucks they gave the damage

multiplyer the same effect to the player. They should have reduced the blast to only knock out your shields....not completely descimate you.

 

3. Kinect only feature. While I thought originally this was a great feature....it is not. the only thing that I base this on, is that you have to use the kinect.

I have a family that likes to sleep. they should have included an option to use the headset as a secondary option, when playing in solo.

Using the kinect requires you to raise your audible vocals to a level that wakes everyone up and annoys neighbors.

 

4. Map Map Map, Map what? The multiplayer portion is not exactly as describes. They failed to drive home the point that with the CEA maps on the

disc, you are limited to only the CEA Playlists, and not the general population playlists. I was totally pissed that i couldn't just launch Firefight Doubles

on Installation 04, from CEA, but rather had to download the map pack firast, then switch over to Reach. It was a general understanding that all

playlists would be available to CEA owners without the need to switch over or buy Reach when using the CEA maps.

 

5. Although not explained or touched on by 343 or SI, I find it very sad that they used the original games bsp collisions for the updated version running

along side the original. I was under the impression, that the new geometry they added, would have added to the exploration of the original title...

not just stop you completely by what appears to be "player walls" blocking you from doing so. When playing any game that appears to be larger in

terms of mobility, you tend to think you can use the expanded geometry to your advantage on the battlefield. Although not a big deal, I find it

strange they didn't just compile the bsp over with new collision, and just new bsp mesh....tends to instill laziness. It only takes mere minutes to

compile collision data.

 

6. The skulls. In every halo title, grabbing the skulls instantly triggered the effects of said skull. I'm kinda let down that you have to find them, then

activate them via the lobby. I would have preferred a mish-mash of Halo 2 and Halo Reach on this. I would have liked the option to trigger the

effects instantly, and keep them until rebooting, or choosing a level, and then using them at will. Nothing big here either that breaks the deal....

just general annoyance.

 

7. Default controls. Now I know everyone has a default control scheme he or she likes, but with Halo 1, we had gotten so used to using the "b" button

for melee attacks, I was completely thrown off when playing CEA. I was not expecting them to use the bumpers in the same way the default controls

for Reach are layed out. I can't remember how many times I tried switching grenades only to end up meleeing the air. Very annoying until I got used

to it.

 

8. The skulls themselves in general. When we first saw the names and the icons, we got a first impression that they were adding new skulls, not

recycled ones with updated looks. The only new ones that haven't been tweaked based on a constant title ones, is the infinite ammo and pinata ones.

 

9. Too many updates to apply and too many codes to enter. The updates are annoying. Seems like everything Halo that you had gotten used to executing

from the game library required an update. The codes for everything were a pain, especially the map pack. I am a firm believer that if I choose to

install CEA to my harddrive, that there should be a cooperative effort between the new CEA maps and the standard Reach engine that allows those

new maps to play off the installed game, not going thru the process of doing another 1.32gig download just to use them in standard reach disc play.

 

10. The switching of game modes. Yes giving us the ability to flash back to what the game used to look like was a great and very pain staking feature to

add, but I am not sure I like the continual playing of the game while switching. What if I accidentally hit the switch button in the heat of battle? While

the screen fades out, and back in, battles are still going on, and there is no pause in combat. that can lead to some very fustrating scenarios.

 

In the end, I give this a 9.5 out of 10. greta concepts, execution and great game. All of my issues with it are mostly technicall code execution, but then again, that's the realm in which I mostly reside. BTW, sorry it ended up turning into the standard novel i usually post. Cheers!!

[kpm5065]

Campaign is amazing! so true to halo 1. I love everything about it. Multiplayer??? This is not the halo 1 I grew up with and spent countless hours playing. I thought we were going to have the anniversary magnum? That was the one thing we were promised right? The magnum only has an 8 shot clip in HCEA but it had a 12 shot clip in HCE... And then bloom? How is bloom classic at all? It has only been part of one halo. Halo 1, 2, 3, and ODST all were without bloom. No bloom is what made halo such a competitive game. It made players rely entirely on skill of aiming and shooting while moving; no bloom eliminated "lucky kills". I guess I just don't understand how this could be considered a remake to halo 1 to celebrate its 10 year anniversary. The only thing you needed to do was remake the entire game as it was, and you would have sold 10x as many copies as your going to. Hopefully you can update it soon and make it the way it was meant to be.

[gordlonious]

Campaign is amazing! so true to halo 1. I love everything about it. Multiplayer??? This is not the halo 1 I grew up with and spent countless hours playing. I thought we were going to have the anniversary magnum? That was the one thing we were promised right? The magnum only has an 8 shot clip in HCEA but it had a 12 shot clip in HCE... And then bloom? How is bloom classic at all? It has only been part of one halo. Halo 1, 2, 3, and ODST all were without bloom. No bloom is what made halo such a competitive game. It made players rely entirely on skill of aiming and shooting while moving; no bloom eliminated "lucky kills". I guess I just don't understand how this could be considered a remake to halo 1 to celebrate its 10 year anniversary. The only thing you needed to do was remake the entire game as it was, and you would have sold 10x as many copies as your going to. Hopefully you can update it soon and make it the way it was meant to be.

 

Yeah, i was hoping that there would actually be a real CE multiplayer instead of just a map pack for reach. However, i really enjoy the maps and the gametypes. Anniversary Classic is the way to go! Oh, and i think i just assumed they would have ALL of the maps from CE. But i think i was wrong...Is there Derelict, and what about Chill Out?? i wonder if they're on here.....

 

As for campaign.....not much to say. good graphics. classic

 

I feel like like Microsoft is making BANK off of selling this for 40$...but hey...what's new? haha, i don't have too many complaints!

[Adam91]

i really like the anniversary but does any one else think that sgt johnson is bit messed up looking

[psychokiller407]

I think that the single player is amazing. It really brings me back to what I love about Halo. But what I really missed was the hours of joy i got out of system linking with my friends. The multiplayer maps are great and i love that they have been redone and updated, but it is the game play that really matters. WHY IS THERE STILL BLOOM?!?!? why does my pistol not have 12 shots? I really hope to see an update in the near future because if you plan on "staying true" to the original game, we would not be having this conversation.

 

Edit: I would also like to add that it takes 3 meles to kill someone...are you kidding me?

[DIRT M4GIRT]

They did a great job with the campaign. Love it. The multiplayer is fun (if my Internet would come back up). But if the magnum had 12 rounds in mm that would lead to countless triples w/o a reload. I can already take on 2-3 on a single clip.

[Spectral Jester]

Campaign is amazing, kinect is a good add on, however, whilst playing the game it has a tendency to pause whilst kinect is plugged in due to something said in the game lol. very annoying.

Glad to see the skulls return, ive found just over half of them have located 2 more but can i remember how to do a grenade jump? nope is the answer

 

Overall for me would say 9/10. music could be longer, so many times theres no sound just firing, would of loved to hear the music more and more

[SilentCO1]

If only my check came a day earlier... It comes tomorrow, so I can't pay off my pre-order until then, so I'll post in probably a month, when I decide to take a break from how amazing it's going to be. Today I'll be playing Reach all day though.

[kpm5065]

I think that the single player is amazing. It really brings me back to what I love about Halo. But what I really missed was the hours of joy i got out of system linking with my friends. The multiplayer maps are great and i love that they have been redone and updated, but it is the game play that really matters. WHY IS THERE STILL BLOOM?!?!? why does my pistol not have 12 shots? I really hope to see an update in the near future because if you plan on "staying true" to the original game, we would not be having this conversation.

 

Edit: I would also like to add that it takes 3 meles to kill someone...are you kidding me?

100% agreed. 12 shots per clip, no bloom, and make the damage done from melees the same as halo 1, also bring back fall damage and allow for the rockets at prisoner to be picked up by jumping from underneath.

[gordlonious]

100% agreed. 12 shots per clip, no bloom, and make the damage done from melees the same as halo 1, also bring back fall damage and allow for the rockets at prisoner to be picked up by jumping from underneath.

 

<b>NO WAY.</b> in order to impliment these changes the <i>firing rate</i> of the pistol would have to be reduced. I say keep it the way it is, or literally make a HALO 1 multiplayer just like the system linking back in the day but on xbox live!....not a reach version of HALO 1 multiplayer...

[imtoogood]

Two major problems with this title. Six of my friends and I went and got this at midnight. 10 years ago we played halo for over 6 months straight at house with two tvs upstairs connected to two tvs downstairs connected with a hub, 16 player halo action was going on all hours of the day and night. Literally that is all we did for 6 months. People failed out of school (or at least a semester in my case), lost jobs, girlfriends. We are Halo fans, the people this title is obviously supposed to be for since it was not marketed at all (that is the second issue).

 

We were utterly disappointed in every way shape and fashion. Then why on earth can anyone tell me why SIDEWINDER (the board we played on 98% of the time) and BLOOD GULCH the two boards that made up 99 percent of everyone's time who played this game are not included? That is like having a Resident Evil remake but not having the mansion!! All they had to do was port the PC version of Halo's multiplayer, that is all any Halo fan has ever wanted since Halo one. We knew going into it that it was going to have bits of Reachs mutliplayer and right away we were disappointed but thought at least we would turn off as much of it as we could and enjoy Halo ones multiplayer maps.

 

Secondly even though I am utterly disappointed in the final product as a halo fan I still think the single player campaign alone updated needed more love, attention and MARKETING. The only thing I see about the biggest videogame franchises relaunch is on xbox dashboard? how come Ocaraina of time is 15 years old looks like a n64 game is on covers of magazines getting 9.5s and game of the month and commercials when Halo comes out and I hear nothing? Why don't I have 15 players on my friends list to play the legendary single player campaign with? Besides my friends that I had to call up and coerce into buying the game (which they all want me to reimburse them for now since the multiplayer was non existent sorry headlong doesnt count as halo one multiplayer) not ONE person on my 100 person friends list put in the game or Halo Reach all last night or today. Why did i have to call everyone of my friends who played Halo for over 6 months straight of their lives and no one knew the game was coming out or anything about it?

 

If you marketed this game right it could have outsold the original Halo instead because you marketed it to NO ONE, the only people who picked it up are Halo fanboys like myself and my friends that are then utterly disappointed because you did not remake half of the equation that made Halo the phenomenon that it is today. Hence Epic failure.

[iBotPeaches]

Well the campaign is great, but then I'm going back to Gears.

 

I dislike Reach tremendously. Even after a title update the game is clunky and doesn't play like any old Halo. I adapted to H3 and I began to like it. I gave Reach a few months and never cared for it. I used to get pissed when I lost a Halo 3 match. I don't even care if I loose/quit in Reach. The additional CEA maps were great for MP, however they don't play at all like they used to.

 

In my opinion, they made Reach to compete with other game titles, and ignored the fanbase. The fans that made this series were left in the dark. So now you have the big load of players that left for other games, and yep only about 60k people online. Halo 3 still has 1/4 of that. Dedicated halo players will always play. Once 343 realizes that, they'll make a game thats worth playing.

 

Ideally,

Mixture of H2/H3 for me. Never got to stress test H1 MP gameplay, for the sole reason that it wasn't there.

[DIRT M4GIRT]

I agree 100 percent with you peaches. It really seems like they were just trying to be like cod with reach. The difference between reach and h3 are tremendous. But so has been every halo game if you look at it mp wise. We just have to have faith that 343 is listening and makes h4 as amazing as it could be.

 

What makes halo so much fun is how different the pvp is from other titles IMO. They need to realize they're their own being. Sry if that went off topic. Bit of a ramble.

[Twinreaper]

Ok, stay on topic guys. Save the Reach bashing for the "Reach threads of the Reach section. Keep it strictly CEA talk pelase. Thanks.

 

To add to this discussion, what about the game dissapointed you? For one thing, don't start flaming around about how the game uses reach multiplayer, or that the campaign is not what was expected. I have stated this before and will state it again for those who have a hard time reading and comprehending...

 

YOU HAD A LITTLE OVER 9 MONTHS TO RESEARCH AND WATCH HOURS OF GAMEPLAY, INTERVIEWS AND RELEVANT POSTED 343 INDUSTRIES DATA ABOUT WHAT THIS GAME WOULD BE!!!

 

If you were let down or felt cheated, then clearly you did not research your purchase investment very well. It was clear from the beginning that this remake was to update the look of Halo 1 and to bring new classic Halo 1 maps into the curretn multiplayer experience. At no point in CEA's creation did 343, Microsoft, Saber Interactive or any other entity besides yourselves, mislead you in what you would be getting for this $40 purchase.

 

As for those people who keep posting about epic LAN matches...if it was that epic, as you clearly say it was, then why not pull out your xbox\s and have on? Oh wait, don't tell me...people have better things to do...or they dont live close anymore...or some other reason why you can't right? Tell you what everyone, find me some links to a place where someone who doesn't own Halo 1 or an xbox anymore, can locate a fully functioning unit and a copy of Halo compelte with two controllers and all the cords plus headset.....for less that $40? Seriously try to find it.

 

$40.00 is steal for what we recieved in DLC map pack content for Reach alone.

[Tommy]

I've been enjoying the campaign a lot! I love the fact that you can change back and forth to classic and remastered. Small issues that I have are some things they added to the game(indents in rocks and small stuff like that) don't really have any physics to them. But it's really small and can deal with avoiding it

[FIREN4]

I love the campaign, i just hate how it's only 2 player. I REALLY hate how they just had to put it. I mean, what happened to 4player? I mean just why

[Twinreaper]

Good question Firen. It is strange they decided to stick with a strict 2 player co-op rather than the standard four. I may have to poke around to find the reaosn why this is...

[FIREN4]

I was really sad... i love the 4-player co-op. It was fun

[DIRT M4GIRT]

Sorry brother I wasn't reach bashing. I hate reach bashers. I was just replying to the post above me. Anyway back on topic.

[kpm5065]

Ok, stay on topic guys. Save the Reach bashing for the "Reach threads of the Reach section. Keep it strictly CEA talk pelase. Thanks.

 

To add to this discussion, what about the game dissapointed you? For one thing, don't start flaming around about how the game uses reach multiplayer, or that the campaign is not what was expected. I have stated this before and will state it again for those who have a hard time reading and comprehending...

 

YOU HAD A LITTLE OVER 9 MONTHS TO RESEARCH AND WATCH HOURS OF GAMEPLAY, INTERVIEWS AND RELEVANT POSTED 343 INDUSTRIES DATA ABOUT WHAT THIS GAME WOULD BE!!!

 

If you were let down or felt cheated, then clearly you did not research your purchase investment very well. It was clear from the beginning that this remake was to update the look of Halo 1 and to bring new classic Halo 1 maps into the curretn multiplayer experience. At no point in CEA's creation did 343, Microsoft, Saber Interactive or any other entity besides yourselves, mislead you in what you would be getting for this $40 purchase.

 

As for those people who keep posting about epic LAN matches...if it was that epic, as you clearly say it was, then why not pull out your xbox\s and have on? Oh wait, don't tell me...people have better things to do...or they dont live close anymore...or some other reason why you can't right? Tell you what everyone, find me some links to a place where someone who doesn't own Halo 1 or an xbox anymore, can locate a fully functioning unit and a copy of Halo compelte with two controllers and all the cords plus headset.....for less that $40? Seriously try to find it.

 

$40.00 is steal for what we recieved in DLC map pack content for Reach alone.

Yes, it was clear that this was going to be a reach remake of the halo 1 maps. But it also said that the "classic magnum" was going to be back. I don't know what your definition of the "classic magnum" is, but reach engine or not it should have 12 shots in the clip. And please, we shouldn't even call this halo combat evolved anniversary because this game is not halo combat evolved at all, its halo reach, with old awesome maps, that you still managed to change parts of too. All in all a very poor piece of a "remake". I hope you don't represent 343 because that was one of the most condescending pieces of writing to fans of halo I have read in a while. I loved halo 1 more than any game I have ever played, and my friends and I still do go back, pull our xboxs out, and system link it because its 100x better than reach. You made a few successful steps creating this anniversary map pack, but if you would have called it that instead of halo combat evolved anniversary you wouldn't have let down all of the true halo fans with this weak weak addition. Stop doing everything your fans are saying not to...