Review | Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Nostalgia is a cruel and deceptive mistress. When I was younger I thought Bugs Bunny’s Birthday Bash was a great game and dry instant noodles were delicious. Things usually don’t live up to the hype created by your own mind, but Microsoft and 343 Industries have banked on the original Halo bucking that trend all in the name of a 10 year anniversary. It may or may not surprise you to hear that the game still holds up very well, and a few new kinks have been added to celebrate.

Brass tacks, the campaign mode is identical to the game you played 10 years ago. You escape the Pillar of Autumn, crash land on the giant space circle, fight your way through the Truth and Reconciliation, meet the Guilty Spark (and hate him all over again), fight off the scourge of the Flood and make a daring vehicular escape from an exploding space carrier. It’s definitely Halo. Not a bad start, considering it was the game that helped prove first-person shooters on home consoles were actually a good idea. The fundamental gameplay is still very solid, offering a nice mix of traditional human weapons and more exotic Covenant laser pistols and exploding purple crystals. The quality of Bungie’s original work shines through in the enemy behaviour, with Covenant flanking and using cover as the situation demands. The unpredictable nature of the AI is what kept the original game feeling fresh every time, and it continues to  excite.

Except for the Flood, of course. You remember those things, and how there were less of them in each subsequent Halo game. When they first appeared there was a certain terror elicited as they poured forth and threatened to overrun the galaxy. But they were always the antithesis of the more intelligent enemies in the game, running at you mindlessly as you empty every bullet into their squishy bodies. This time around it manages to be even less fun primarily because you remember how much fun it wasn’t last time.

The same can be said for The Library, that most infamous of Halo levels wherein the Master Chief is forced to walk down seven thousand dark blue corridors filled with zombies. Aside from that stain, the level design holds up well with only a few repetitive sequences.

But this anniversary edition isn’t a remake, it’s more of a lovingly restored antique. Apart from those niggles, not much really needed fixing and it’s nice to see that 343 left well enough alone. The controls are still superb, with every action logically placed and perfectly implemented – something some modern console shooters still struggle with. More recent additions to the series such as energy swords and assassinations are obviously absent, but not missed, especially with the welcome return of the blatantly overpowered magnum pistol.

The additions to the game are small but not insignificant. Most obvious is the total graphical overhaul, which gives the game visuals on par with the other Xbox 360 titles in the series. When I first booted up the game I didn’t think much of it, but it’s easy to forget how far technology has moved in the last decade. Luckily there is an option to switch back to the “classic” graphics, and it’s worth flipping to see the difference. The engine and models are the same, they just look pretty now. This results in somewhat robotic animations, but a bit of polish and someone new to the series would struggle to pick this as a 10 year old game.

There are, of course, a whole new set of achievements attached to the game, which will no doubt entertain the completion junkies among us. If you are a Kinect owner, a set of voice commands are also included. They don’t add anything to the game which isn’t already available through other means, but it’s oddly entertaining to yell “grenade” or “change weapon” at the screen to make things happen. And I’m pretty sure I spoke the words to switch between old and new graphics about a hundred times, just for kicks.

It’s clear on booting up the multiplayer that the focus for this edition was on the campaign mode. It isn’t bad, but it is essentially the multiplayer from Halo: Reach with six classic Halo CE maps added on. All the weapons and physics are from Reach, which feels a little odd if you’ve just come in from the single player levels. The system all works as it should, and if you enjoyed multiplayer in previous games then that’s exactly what you’re getting.

No doubt Microsoft is eager to keep Halo in gamers’ minds at the moment, with the upcoming Halo 4 in development and the changeover from original developers Bungie to 343 Industries. Anniversary isn’t a mind-blowing re-imagining of the franchise and it doesn’t push things in any new direction, but it does provide a reminder of just how great Halo CE was – and still is. For fans of the series or new players wanting to see where it all started, this is the best version of the original Halo experience.   [8]