ABOUT Halo The Master Chief Collection
For the first time, the Halo series that changed console gaming forever comes to PC with six blockbuster games in one epic experience. This bundle includes all titles in the collection that will be delivered over time, beginning now with Halo: Reach and ending with Halo 4 in 2020.
PC Settings/Optimizations: Halo: The Master Chief Collection is now optimized for PC and looking better than ever at up to 4k UHD and at 60+ FPS.* Many games in the collection will include other setting options like the customizable mouse and keyboard support, ultrawide support, FOV customization, and more.
Campaign: Featuring Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST Campaign, and Halo 4, The Master Chief Collection offers players their exciting journey through the epic saga. Starting with the incredible bravery of Noble Six in Halo: Reach and ending with the rise of a new enemy in Halo 4, the games will release in order of the fictional story. When complete, the Master Chief’s saga will total 67 campaign missions.
Multiplayer: Each game released into The Master Chief Collection brings its multiplayer maps, modes, and game types. When finished, the collection will have the most diverse and expansive Halo multiplayer experience to date, with more than 120 multiplayer maps.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Halo The Master Chief Collection
MINIMUM:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7
- Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 960T; Intel i3550
- Graphics: AMD HD 6850; NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 43 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Direct3D feature Level 11.1
Review Halo The Master Chief Collection
The moment has finally arrived for the entire Master Chief Collection to come on PC since the first release of Halo on the original Xbox in 2001 to the remastered version in 2011. It continued to end in 2012 with the release of Halo 4. It’s still going as of this review! There’s probably more that will get added, but here is what I have now so far.
Characters
Halo: Reach—You play as Noble Six, part of the NOBLE team—Carter, Catherine, Jun, Emile, and Jorge. Who are called upon to push back the Covenant forces that are invading the planet Reach? Each character has strengths and weaknesses that make them enjoyable.
Halo: CE—Playing as a Spartan soldier as you maul down cowering Grunts, courageous Elite forces, and flood forms with your weaponry at your disposal is very satisfying. Each non-player character has their likable personalities, which makes them more complicated, especially the relationship between Cortana and Master Chief. The Monitor acts like a big know-it-all egotistical sphere that talks, but Sentinels are there to help defend and distract you from his blabbering. Johnson is excellent in this one.
Halo 2—Playing as the Arbiter may not be the same experience as the Chief. Still, you get to experience the perspective of one of the most prominent, willful figures of the Covenant that have sacrificed their lives to keep the Covenant force together. Campaign missions fluctuate between Chief and Arbiter, so you get a taste of both. Johnson is better in this one.
Halo 3(Inside EDITION)—You play as Master Chief. Perhaps the fans didn’t think The Arbiter was that fun to play as, so he’s more of an ally in this installment, but in the end, it’s refreshing to see his transformation. Johnson is in this one as well and helps you in the end.
Halo 3: ODST (TBD)—This time, it’s much different than any Halo game. You play as an orbital drop shock trooper and observe the post-destruction of the slip-space. The rupture is caused by a Covenant ship. At the same time, you are more of a detective who discovers artifacts left behind by fellow teammates who live through them and liberating a Covenant species before manipulating it.
Halo 4 (TBD)—You play as the Chief again, and this time his personality becomes more dynamic than any of the three previous games combined. More human, if you will.
Atmosphere
All the games, in general, have gorgeous, open-world environments and closed-off, tight corridor environments, and each one fits the levels correctly. Spaceships, the Halo ring, The Library, dense forests, snowy fields, beaches, and more. Halo: CE recycles a couple of maps but does it very well. All the other ones have their unique level designs.
Gameplay
Controls for each game are smooth as butter, even on 60fps and unlimited frames. Authorities can be bound to any key, and an instant controller is swapping on the fly. Skulls can be turned on to change the gameplay dramatically for any game. Overall, it’s enjoyable, but there are a few notes:
Halo: Reach—flying controls take some time getting used to because you control and lock the height, and you may easily get lost.
Halo 2—The difficulty Legendary is very unbalanced; your shield is pertinent for survival, and if you are exposed to any plasma fire, you are dead within seconds.
Halo 3—I recommended that you do NOT turn the non-scoring skulls and play it on Legendary because it makes the first Scarab battle (The ARK) very difficult to the point of aggravation and frustration. I only got past it by using a tank and manipulating the scripting sequence of the Scarab so it would stay near the sea, and at one point (got it on video) it was pushed to the boundary, and it retreated out of bounds
Halo 4—Co-op is bound to the main character when it comes to action sequences, and it’s not very well communicated. Plus, the ammo that you receive from Sentinel Knights is very little to none, and the wooded snipers early in this game are deadly.
Enemies/Allies
Enemies in each game have their strengths and weaknesses:
Grunts are weak and are usually in the front
Elites are more forceful with shields and enemies cower when they are killed
Jackals have guards (except snipers) that protect them, but they are more vulnerable to grenades and weapons that destroy their shields
Hunters are very vulnerable in Halo 1 and require more precision to kill in Halo Reach, Halo 2 and Halo 3 (Halo 4 Hunters are probably the hardest ever)
Drones can fly all around, but they are easier to dispatch with rifles and sub-machine guns
Brutes have armor but can lose it with repetitive shots and energy weapons and be more vulnerable to headshots
Flood forms are mostly close-combat and can have guns and shields, but most are susceptible to headshots and grenades, plus the infection forms are more dangerous in numbers. Be aware that in Halo 3, they can change shape, from long-range foes to fast foes to slow-and-methodical opponents, so keep both eyes and ears out.
Sentinel enemies are fast and teleport like crazy, especially the Knights; those Knights are very tough.
Engineers in Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach are enemies that strengthen enemy shields in combat; they are vulnerable to plasma weapons and must be destroyed to make battles easier.
—Allies, for the most part, help you out most of the time, on more natural difficulties. Still, sometimes they throw grenades and miss, and end up killing themselves or their allies, and in Halo 3 marines are NOTORIOUS for launching rockets on mongeese and hitting their partners; probably the most unreliable allies in any Halo game ever. The Arbiter is the best ally because, in Halo 3, he distracts enemies and temporarily dies, then once the enemies are cleared, he magically comes back.
Story
Halo: Reach—There is only one word that perfectly describes the entirety of the story for this game: sacrifice. This story has meaning.
Halo: CE—Kill Covenant, land on Halo, rescue the Captain, figure out what Halo is, discover something awful, get involved in a crossfire, fly to the Autumn, blow something up, and escape. We’re just getting started.
Halo 2—Betrayal, religious conspiracy, distrust, separation, and an insult(?) is possibly the worst cliffhanger ever.
Halo 3—Kill Brutes, ride vehicles, blow sh*t up, post-traumatic Spartan disorder, sacrifice, and keeping a promise.
Halo 3: ODST—Survival, teamwork, and freedom.
Halo 4—Vulnerability, degradation, and compassion. In short, it made me cry.
Bosses
Not a lot of boss fights. None in Halo: CE and Halo 3: ODST. Halo: Reach has a small boss fight, Halo 2 has two rows, Halo 3 has a scripted boss fight near the end, and Halo 4 has a heavily-scripted boss fight. Otherwise, LOTS and LOTS of enemies to kill.
Graphics
Graphics can be switched on the fly in-game: CE and Halo 2 from the old graphics to the new graphics with a touch of a button. There are three graphical presets: Original, Enhanced, and Performance presets. There are probably more options that will release for later games, but those are the default I’ve heard most about.
Music
Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori wrote some of the best music that I’ve ever heard since the first game’s release, and to this day, it still manages to bring me back. 343, Pyramind Studios, and Sumthing Else Music also did a fantastic job with the remastered editions. I prefer the former soundtrack and highly recommend that you listen to it.
Recommended for any newcomers, and highly recommended for people who played the first Halo on Xbox in 2001.
