Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary PC Tech Review: The Master Chief Collection Version Analysed!

[@HueyTheDoctor]

So in 2020 we're still dealing with the repercussions of Gearbox's crappy PC port from almost two decades ago? Sounds about right. Thanks, Randy.

[@TheBuckAK]

@Melissa Waterman the only good things that Gearbox ever shipped was Half Life: Opposing Force and the first 2 borderlands games.

[@TheScure]

Honestly they couldn't do anything if they got newer versions to port. Most likely X360 version instead of Xbox... maybe they didn't even know about the missing effects. Sadly all versions after original Xbox affected by these problems.

[@NovaPrima]

I think modders are of the view that Gearbox was given unfinished assets.

[@GarryTheGluestick]

I've always been under the impression that Gearbox is a grossly overrated development studio. I wasn't aware of the inferiority of their botched Halo CE port until recently, and it only served to further cement my opinion of them. Randy Bitchford and his studio are a bunch of hacks.

[@rfigueiredomusic]

@Melissa Waterman i liked the brothers in arms series

[@DigitalFoundry]

Hey everyone - we wanted to get this video live as soon as we could, but - as is often the case - KZbin's backend encoders are still chewing through the higher quality 1080p and 4K encodes. Watch now for the info and/or check back later for the best possible image quality.

[@TEMINIX]

^^^^ Hurry that wasn't a request! It was a direct order from master to slave!

[@fredsas12]

Ironically it was Microsoft that destroyed Hardware Accelerated Directsound in modern windows versions. Thus my living room's HTPC's Sound Blaster X-Fi Titaninum is sitting with its powerful onboard SPU under-utilised. Though, setting the card to gaming mode does result in a minimal in increase fps (about 5 to 7) in emulators like CEMU and Dolphin. Still, every PC i've ever had has a Sound Blaster card installed. From the original Audigy EAX to my main gaming rig's Sound Blaster Z.

[@Thalanox]

I watch most YT videos without maximizing them. I'm using a 1080 monitor, so that's probably a 720 resolution. I don't think it's going to matter for most people.

[@BrownOpsLeak]

Thalanox that’s your damn opinion m....

[@solid_snake9708]

Alex listing all the changes in the different versions of Halo, Sounds like my kind of weekend :)

[@SlyNine]

Was very disheartened to see the graphics are still broken for the classic graphics.

[@aceofhearts573]

Randy's stain will never be fixed

[@SlyNine]

@@aceofhearts573 Hey, I told you not to eat on the table after Frida... I mean, uhh who's Randy. (looks around suspiciously) and what's this about a stain.

[@gamesmaster1060]

I had no issues

[@AeroFix94]

Yeah, they literally took the gearbox port.... Must be extremly hard to fix i guess... They have it fixed on the Anniversary graphics. So they could have make it in the classic as well!

[@AeroFix94]

@@gamesmaster1060 He's speaking about here 10:19

[@rsolsjo]

"Some of these changes aren't that bad.." "The shield doesn't change colors when it's hit.." "Whaaaat is this heresy?"

[@HollowRick]

HERETICS!!

[@GruntyGunner]

What's funny is I reported this problem numerous times and they kept deleting it. Then after like my 9th attempt and revision they finally told me it was "solved." Game launches and it is not fixed.

[@HollowRick]

@@GruntyGunner I guess I wont be playing this verson of halo unless its fixed I'd rather play the modded original PC version which has most of the fixes

[@z3roo0]

@GruntyGunner that kind of attitude from developers is a no-go. Especially when you come with actual constructive criticism. Did they think people wouldn't notice this?

[@erwintorres1427]

Yep

[@duedah837]

Music playback is also screwed up. It doesn't loop any of the tracks correctly.

[@DigitalFoundry]

Yeah i noticed this as well

[@IwinMahWay]

Sad as its 33% why I play halo

[@IMZ44]

How Sway? I did notice this issue as well.

[@USA92]

@@DigitalFoundry Makes you realize these people know the truth about a product but your love of gaming and millions of consumers are nothing more than a number to them. Evidenced by the need to bullshit.

[@blitzkreig000]

Yes!!! Thank you for mentioning this, I noticed that too! Especially om Assault on the Control Room. Sound tracks are either wrong or just not there. Really took away from the atmosphere.

[@paulregan9304]

Me: This looks great! DF: There are so many problems with the graphic remaster. Me: Yeah looks worse than it should.

[@NathanJennings1222]

As a Gen Xer (born 1975) I find myself in awe at how we now knit pick over such minor stuff. I remember being ecstatic just at Mortal Kombat II on the SNES looking close to the arcade. Now, we comb over textures and gripe about 30fps. Geez, just enjoy playing the damn game for crying out loud.

[@Sonnymac81]

Nothing like a cold DF shower of facts to awaken the slumbering ree ree.

[@CDL_Gaming]

honestly, though, what kind of dweeb is going to care about how many fps the antennae on the tank are moving at? I didn't even notice the tanks had antennae until he brought it up.

[@UGOTNUKED]

@@NathanJennings1222 Oh shut up and have some standards. If we want to see games more than just mere products we have to value the artistry going into them. To have correct art is an important part of that, experiencing the game as it was intended by the original developers - without faulty assets or censorship. For movies it's a normal procedure to critique new releases based on their image and sound quality. A release changing the aspect ratio would be rightfully dismissed.

[@BLitzRunner77]

It would be wrong to interpret DF as saying you should not enjoy this version of the game because of it's short comings. DF is simply pointing out what is wrong with it so devs can improve it.

[@arecaidianfox]

So many KZbinrs have glossed completely over all these issues. Thank you DF for putting out knowledgeable content and showing community-made fixes like Chimera!

[@arecaidianfox]

@@GameComTrailer Thank you ^.^

[@daegnaxqelil2733]

a bunch of complaing tasteless fanboys

[@daegnaxqelil2733]

i still enjoyed the anniversary version.

[@MunkeyChips]

I can't believe 343 still hasn't fixed Gearbox's screw ups all these years later.

[@MunkeyChips]

@superbleeder98 and it took 2 decades for 'Ctrl+c > Ctrl+v'

[@afungai1649]

Are you telling me that you actually expected competence from 343?

[@afungai1649]

Melissa Waterman I am a bit pissy at them rn because I never got to play Halo CE back in the day, as I was still just a baby when it came out. As of now, the MCC version is the only way I can play the game, but since this version of the game is literally a bastard child of the original version, I feel like I shouldn’t have bought this, at least until they maybe fix it later on. And it’s a damn shame because the game runs well and is pretty fun, but the audio and visual glitches are incredibly noticeable and is sad to see.

[@Fallen608]

Well.. the network code is P2P instead of client-server. So if you remember the days of Halo PC where the host was playing on easy mode and you had to pull out your graphing calculator to take into consideration enemy movement, speed, distance and your ping to know just how many miles in front of him you needed to fire a hitscan weapon like the sniper to connect the shot. Things are much nicer now on that front.

[@rokor3578]

@Cypher name me one thing they've fixed?

[@Dantai]

12:33 look at the bolts right above the plasma pistol - it's higher res and more detail in OG Xbox than MCC! Textures broken there on MCC

[@a1do255]

These are not the only textures which were also ruined. Look at the clouds at 12:41 and 13:38. The MCC has the worst textures of them all! Also I noticed the amount of steam was much less at around 14:17.

[@spitfyre1085]

Really disappointed to see that age old issues haven't been corrected in the MCC Halo release on PC.

[@user-ky9ou5dz9q]

They cant be without going back and rewriting some of the code. This was completely free of charge. I'm more than satisfied with something we were never told we were getting orginally, and I had no expectation for a year ago.

[@rowingaway]

@Fuck You Then why were modders able to do it years ago?

[@Bruh-vr4ew]

Rowing Away because they changed the code

[@kevboard]

@@user-ky9ou5dz9q I really have a hard time seeing what you mean by getting for free? the MCC costs money... it's not free in any way, shape or form

[@user-ky9ou5dz9q]

@@rowingaway those mods have their own issues that can snowball. People say this all the time for tons of games "well modders did it" and it's like yeah. But did the do it to the point that itd be commercially viable and that they can 100 percent for certain know it wont mess with anything else in the game. You also have to remember these are people doing a JOB. And everything they have to do costs money and needs to be budgeted. This is a free update to a game that's years and years old. They dont have the luxury of simply going all out and spending whatever time it takes out of pure passion. They have to pick and choose their battles. Have you played the orginal port to pc? It's much much worse than this. Both 1 and 2 had serious issues on pc when bungie released them. And these are old ass games. It's not easy to make it all run smoothly cross platform with cross play will porting the anniversary version over to a platform it was never intended on being on. This was free, they did more than a passable job. So I was satisfied and I think we all should be. They did this for the fans and to help spread the halo brand. We dont have to be so critical of every little thing. They are clearly doing their best to make up for past mistakes and I think we should show a tad more appreciation for that. It's rare in the industry

[@MajesticRice]

I'm glad more people are addressing these issues. The only thing that also needs to be said is the design of the HUD too.

[@user-ky9ou5dz9q]

That's all subjective. The main complaints are visual changes. Which arent valid is objective complaints. The remaster looks better imo. This version is just as good as the one on mcc. And infinitely better than the orginal release on pc.

[@pikachu896]

@@user-ky9ou5dz9q They are valid as objective complaints when you choose the original visual and they aren't actually the original visuals but downgraded graphics with a HUD that isn't the original at all. That isn't subjective at all. Not to mention all the audio and gameplay bugs.

[@user-ky9ou5dz9q]

@@pikachu896 what?? It's the same exact anniversary edition that was on console. No downgrade it graphics here. And have you played the actual orginal pc port that was released under bungie? It was garbage. This is so much better than the orginal pc port in every single way. The graphics arent worse either. Are you talking about the anniversary graphics? Cause those are like 10x better looking than the orginal graphics... the changes to lighting and stuff is 100 percent subjective.

[@pikachu896]

@@user-ky9ou5dz9q I'm talking about the original visuals. The PC port has downgraded visuals from the Xbox version, and it was developed by Gearbox not Bungie. The Anniversary version is based on that same broken PC port. Also, I find it funny you say graphics and lighting are subjective just after saying the anniversary graphics are better than the original lol

[@brethnew]

@@user-ky9ou5dz9q I have played all versions of halo, I can say without a doubt that Halo CEA is objectively the worst version available. HaloCE on the original Xbox looks amazing compared to the "original graphics" option in MCC. I have nothing to say about the new graphics as I like some of it and dislike other parts.

[@MaNameizJeff]

EAX no longer exist. However the differences in audio you mention are far more likely deficiencies from the difference in sound libraries and mixing. It can be fixed, but since the person managing the audio port thought it sounded fine or better, they left it, even if it was different. What ever the case may be, I do not believe the audio change was actually intended by the original sound designer.

[@delukard07]

not to mention that as a pc gamer, EAX died with Windows xp. i have played with alchemy enabled games on vista or 7 and its not the same. thats why i keep a Wxp pc for those retro games that use eax search for F.E.A.R eax here on youtube.

[@Mkilbride2599]

IndirectSound can restore 3D Positional audio in EAX games.

[@SFGMegaJD16]

Halo custom edition also has a workarround mod for it

[@nathanddrews]

I still use my Audigy 4 Pro with Alchemy drivers from Creative. EAX still works for Halo PC.

[@matcarfer]

Of course this can be added back, as there are many audio engines and plugins that do it. An OpenAL implementation would fix this. Of course, money and time has to be spent from Microsoft. I think the port is solid despite the issues.

[@jas0nuk0]

Game looks good but what a shame about the graphical issues compared to the original Xbox release - it still isn't a "definitive" edition of the game.

[@USA92]

I agree. As I'm sure others do as well. It's this common strange need to screw with original artistic intent. Some "cooler" things for flash and shiny to supposedly attract. When I'm thinking others like me want some better looking and smoother but not such disregard for original design. Bioshock remastered was screwed up by being screwed with in silly ways. Same here. Makes you think these conversations with employees of 343 are kinda fake. At least when it comes to statements of like or love of Halo. A fake respect. A job where the don't get its tell the artist this is how it's going to be.

[@Silverdogz]

This is all do to Gearbox fucking up the original port of the game back in the early 2000s.

[@NoBodysGamer]

Its not the remake, the issues are in the old game, who cares? Why would you even play it if you can play the superior remake?

[@brethnew]

Black Mesa is the best remake I can think of... Probably because it's made by fans.

[@whodatninja439]

Remember how they said they were looking into it at first and would work with modders??? Yeah none of that happened.

[@ZenithTech35]

UPDATE: Practically all the noteworthy graphical discrepancies between the OG Xbox version, and MCC have been updated! Super happy with the updates as well! They actually very faithfully fixed them! ; ) The sad part about the visual issues that are present in the PC port of Halo 1 is that they have actually impacted the development of the remastered visuals as well. If you look at the broken energy animation on the ceiling at 13:27 (the one present in the MCC version), apparently the remaster team thought that was supposed to be smoke (which it clearly isn't meant to be if you played the Xbox version), and so the animation they replaced it with in the remaster is actually just smoke. Hopefully the developers will fix these issues - not only with the original game's visuals - but with the remastered version's as well.

[@Finger112]

I think they will hold off on fixing these until after Halo 4 is released. 343 seems to be first focused on the gameplay to make sure it functions well on PC before they do the aesthetic upgrades (which are definitely needed)! One thing that hasn't gotten much attention is the Halo Reach campaign cutscenes are capped at 60 fps, which is probably the same issues with the animations as well.

[@daegnaxqelil2733]

@@ZenithTech35 stop wanting evrything.

[@ZenithTech35]

@@daegnaxqelil2733 I wouldn't say I want "evrything." I'd just like the graphics fixed. Luckily, 343 agrees with me, which is why they're fixing them in the next big update =)

[@daegnaxqelil2733]

mods are the dumbest things on halo series. they won't faithfully fix the graphics. Someone should report zenith tech for harassment

[@ZenithTech35]

@@daegnaxqelil2733 You keep doing this, where you talk big like you have any reason to say what you are, but when you're called out on it you literally repeat yourself as if you're adding anything to your argument. You're not. You sound like an idiot. You know that, which is why you keep deleting your comments. Once again, the original post is mine. I'll comment my perspective all I want. And as such, I would love to know how or why you think mods are "the dumbest things in Halo series". Most of the Halo series has only been on PC for a year now. There hasn't even been enough time for much modding to happen in the first place, and it isn't even supported yet. Even still, why do you care if they add mod support? If you don't like mods DON'T INSTALL THEM. THAT'S ALL. Stop acting like it makes the games worse for everyone. It literally DOES NOT IMPACT YOU. Stop bitching like a toddler. Also, we have no idea how the fixed graphics will turn out. They could be EXACTLY like the original graphics for all we know. What is so wrong with letting them try to fix them? If they're not able to, then so be it, at least they tried. The only other major thing they're doing is adding mod support, it's not like it's the end of the world. Chill the FUCK out. You may stop responding now.

[@DaRockCandy]

"Just like you remember it" "Ready when it's ready"

[@BSEUNHIR]

Thanks for putting this together! I bought the MCC on steam when CEA/PC was released. I don't like the "enhanced" graphics because they don't match the original art. And the classic mode had way too many visual issues for me to enjoy. Performance is GREAT, when you're actually shooting things it's like a dream, at least in terms of movement and mouse input etc. But the laggy cutscenes and visual issues made me refund it after an hour and some thinking. Hope it'll get fixed. Halo deserves to be preserved properly.

[@XcN3Retrogameplays]

A refund? Just for that... what an idiot you are. This can be fixed on a patch. That’s why these DF videos are useful, so developers can use the feedback like they did on doom, by example.

[@pikachu896]

@@XcN3Retrogameplays A refund for a flawed product is perfectly reasonable. The devs will get their money when they do their job properly.

[@rokor3578]

@@XcN3Retrogameplays lol keep crying fanboy the ports are bad amd have taken FOREVER how anyone is even hyped anymore is beyond me

[@XcN3Retrogameplays]

Rokor I love when ignorant people like you calls someone fanboy without knowing it. Ignorant Trumper

[@drhank33y]

@@XcN3Retrogameplays The irony of you doing the same right afterwards. Lol, trumper?

[@Fallen608]

On the plasma pistol overcharge sound bug. This bug will "stack" so to speak if you keep firing the plasma pistol. Until you are being deafened by 20x overcharge simultaneously.

[@rokor3578]

LMAO wow I'm done with 343 microsoft and halo the series is dead. MCC is a fun nostalgia pick up but halo is dead it's so obvious they dont care anymore so why should I?

[@felipedorosario4793]

Plus the bug is present on MCC for Xbox as well.

[@Williezhue]

The gun fires weirdly as well, sometimes randomly firing the charged shot without actually pressing down fire. Most likely because of the added FPS so the game thinks you're pressing the fire key longer than you actually are. It's my best guess anyway. So if it was 30fps before, 144fps means you're pressing the fire 4 times longer than before.

[@adamgray1753]

So far Concerned, this audio bug has not seriously impacted me. I got the Master Chief Collection because I can not get an XBox and the newer ones. I really enjoyed the original Halo on the PC many years ago. Despite Microsoft's completely effed up "Only on Vista" BS with Halo 2, I could not Activate my paid-for Halo 2 game on my main computer back then. So I wound up falling out of love with the Halo games and pretty much forgot about the Halo franchise until I looked it up on Steam when I managed to get a somewhat crappy home broadband Internet connection over a month ago. Despite the audio issues and "glaring" graphical updates the game has yet to crash for me. Game crashes and CTD errors to me are the most unforgivable video game problems. The game runs smoothly for me and has no major issues beyond the audio one. So I am glad to be able to start getting back into the Halo games again.

[@Fallen608]

@@adamgray1753 Don't get it mistaken. I played Halo PC for years and I have already put more hours into MCC for CE than I had for reach over all these months. I'm glad these ports are happening. It's just good, not perfect. That said a bug that goes all the way back to the Xbox One MCC release is kind of ridiculous.

[@SCMabridged]

Damn, aside from resolution and framerate, the original Xbox version looks better than the Master Chief Collection in all of those comparison. This is a perfect example why art direction is more important than raw graphical fidelity.

[@Mud9]

Half ass porting is all it is.

[@PLAYER_42069]

It's a prime example of why game preservation needs more attention... Especially, console games that are tied to specific hardware versus PC games. It's great to have a remaster that gives us higher resolutions and frame rates, but not at the cost of the original artistic presentation developers and artists intended when they developed and released the game.

[@damsen978]

Well, and also direct feedback, like the red coloring on the energy shields, meaning you hit them.

[@elimalinsky7069]

The MCC XBox One CE release with original graphics was also botched to death, because 343 decided to work from the botched XBox 360 port, and not the original XBox release. This is mindboggling, since OG XBox release was already based on x86 code, while the XBox 360 port was built around PowerPC. Instead of working on the already existing x86 source code that existed in the original, they decided to convert a PowerPC code, itself converted from x86, back to x86! Why 343, why are you so stupid?! I'm beginning to think the original source code is lost.

[@canmufu3923]

Don't forget about the Gearbox PC port, which created all of the graphical effects errors that were grandfathered into every version of the MCC.

[@EJ_Crough]

Wow, great video! Really nice job pointing out a lot of the differences I was hoping this port would finally address on pc.

[@praxxor718]

The plasma pistol charge sound bug happened in the insider flight as well, AFAIK it happens when you spam it instead of charging, it also lasts if you swap to your other weapon.

[@KalahiMd]

Ikr, annoying AF

[@praxxor718]

@@KalahiMd Yeah, especially when I use the plasma pistol all the time lmao

[@praxxor718]

@@null643 I did report it so I did my part lol

[@bbc6rgf57ytty5yxyw5gt]

@@null643 The CE flights were way to close to it's release for a good amount of bugs to be fixed. Guess they're trying to get all the MCC games out before Infinite.

[@InnuendoXP]

Lol but 'spamming' it is just how you shoot it anyway if you don't want to be doing charged shots all the time. See the jackals spit shots like a minigun on legendary, that's what we need to out-spam! Guess I'm gonna be hearing a lot of buzzing!

[@MerryBlind]

I’m so disappointed the PC version doesn’t have splitscreen so far :( that was the way to play I was most looking forward to... I really hope they’ll patch the feature in.

[@SonGoku-hr5kz]

They will add split screen, you need to remember they are working on 6 halo games and halo infinite, this ain't easy

[@alejandroquinones3636]

Probably not. It is one of only selling points the Xbox one version has over the mcc on PC. Microsoft knows it.

[@Thalanox]

Splitscreen and co-op are what I consider core features of Halo. Hell, with computers and multiple monitors being really easy to do, this should be even easier to do on PC.

[@Geassguy360]

@@alejandroquinones3636 They literally said it will come. Microsoft don't give a shit about any kind of xbox exclusivity anymore, it's just a cheaper entry point option now.

[@Westball]

Man that's so disappointing, I hate when PC games remove console features like this that could actually run better on pc

[@ZenithTech35]

TL:DR - The old bump-maps from the Xbox release can only be seen with the flashlight now. One major issue that I don't think you covered in this video is the bump-map problem. While playing through Halo 1 on the MCC with the original graphics on, you may notice that a lot of the textures for walls and floors look really flat, whereas in the original release this was not the case. Well apparently Gearbox's port had an issue where the bump-maps that the original release had - used to give textures the illusion of depth - are only visible when you shine a "dynamic light" (such as the flashlight) on them. Try it out by shining your flashlight against a rock wall or a Covenant floor. Actually most of the environment has bump-maps that you can only see with the flashlight. Hopefully this gets fixed. EDIT: Turns out they _did_ deem this worthy of being fixed! Halo 1 now has both it's bump-maps back on MCC!

[@somebonehead]

They've had 17 years to fix it. We're stuck with these issues.

[@runemaster96]

Check out Halo CE Refined :)

[@ZenithTech35]

@@somebonehead Well, to be fair, these graphical problems _are_ included in the Known Issues page on 343's website, but only time will tell if they deem them worth the time to fix when they have 3 more games to get out before the end of the year, and 4 if you count Infinite

[@AB-cu8nw]

I think this requires a complete rework of texture assets. It'll probably go in the "Known issue, won't fix" category.

[@BlazingsNL]

As someone who played Halo CE on the original xbox back in the day, I really hope this gets fixed in the future. But I don't really have high hopes.

[@Bizargh]

It really is disappointing that even with a prominent Halo: Combat Evolved PC modder among the engineers at 343 Publishing, the fixes seen in the Restoration Mod nor Chimera still don't seem to be able to make it through the development pipeline into the game, minor as they may be compared to the improvements since the Xbox 360 & MCC 2014 releases. It really is making me think that the Collection's ports to PC as a whole are being released in "acceptable for release" states with unfinished refinements or pending issues being left to post-launch patch work (Or being taken out of the oven just a little early if you prefer the analogy). Assuming these don't get at long last officially followed up on in the post-launch patch queue (Halo: Reach did receive improvements in the recent patch, but they were notably improvements to mouse & keyboard input with the audio issues and Forge & Theater still pending), I certainly hope the unofficial fixes can be implemented in the re-release without much complication in their absence. As happy as I am that I have both high frame-rate console & easily available PC options for some of my all-time favourite games (The latter making the console modding community's creations such as Halo: Reach Evolved far more accessible than ever before), I do hope that at least by the time Halo 4 arrives on PC & the Collection is complete for the platform, there won't be much left to be desired still being waited upon for either games and the bigger improvements on the table such as PC Split-Screen or even Cross-Platform Play between Xbox One & PC (Cross-Platform File Sharing is thankfully already available) will see progress if not completion.

[@by2083]

christ

[@cameronabshire1195]

These kind of issues are called "known shippable" in the QA and Programming departments at any given game studio. Companies creating accurate or improved ports of old games is no longer possible due to an extreme profit margin incentive. Even Bluepoint and Nightdive do not have profit incentive to make accurate ports. These issues will never be fixed until they cut into profit, and most of the issues never cut into profit, because the only thing that sells a game is popularity, be it by marketing, brand, word of mouth, etc. The average consumer has no idea about these flaws and will never learn about them.

[@Bizargh]

@@cameronabshire1195 That's the phrase for it!

[@jasonhill8696]

The MCC releases are being rushed so everything will be out before infinite drops at the end of the year

[@Parker--]

I was under the impression that TMCC was still a work in progress on PC across the board. Also I just don't see splitscreen being a thing on PC. Sorry but the same "PC standards" where people expect PC ports to have higher resolutions and framerates and a myriad of graphical settings options and they should all work are the same standards that say "Don't expect to see splitscreen. You're sitting in front of a monitor." You might disagree with those standards but concessions have to be made somewhere especially for the smaller platform (and make no mistake, there are not 40+ million legit gaming rigs capable of properly playing TMCC like there are Xbox Ones).

[@Wogle]

Halo: CEA was always a weird remaster to me when it was first released. I've never been a big fan of the blocky human character models and stiff animation of the original Halo: CE, but the "improvements" were odd. Animations of characters were over exaggerated, and Master Chief's posture and animation, really didn't really fit him.

[@migii820]

It’s was halo CE with a reach skin over it

[@byebye1813]

And none of the hit boxes matched the models and parts of the world geometry in the Anniversary obscures your view but not the enemies.

[@ConorDoesItAll]

The remake completely changed art style also making the original look cleaner and sharper.

[@jamez62982]

Original > anniversary remaster

[@user-ky9ou5dz9q]

It's because it's the exact same game with an overlay. Because they were scared of hardcore fans complaining if it felt any different. So they tried to just improve the visuals while not touching the underlying game. I feel bad for them honestly. They are clearly trying to make things up to us and people are just hyper critical of everything they do.

[@stradi7128]

6:24 I think you've accidentally switched original and performance screen.

[@agenticex]

You're right :P

[@burretploof]

You're really covering all the bases in this video. Thanks! The thing that surprised me the most about Halo: CE MCC was the non-interpolated animations you mentioned. It really annoyed me back with the original version and it's still really jarring to see nowadays in this remake/remaster. I'm just wondering why they didn't bother fixing that in this version...

[@AimingAtYou]

The sound from charged pistol isn't random. Its a bug that kicks in when tapp shooting and the heat reaches about an 8th of the meter. It's not supposed to be there, but you can't say it's random.

[@mayorofbagtown9097]

It happens on Xbox One as well. Been like that since mcc came out i think.

[@Afterburner215]

It's a bug all the way from CEA's original release in 2011

[@Mr.KittensAndGibberish]

I hear it every time I fire the damned thing, because I have a quick trigger finger, I rarely charge the plasma pistol up.

[@mayorofbagtown9097]

@@Afterburner215 yeah, you right.

[@_BitJager_]

Sadly MCC is not delivering the original presentation but a severe downgrade of it. Because it is based on the graphical flawed PC port of Halo Combat Evolved executed by Gearbox software. The original game on Xbox by Bungie looked way better compared to the classic graphical presentation of MCC and the remastered Graphics could have been a lot better if they took the original Xbox Bungie version as baseline instead of what Gearbox screwed up.

[@Ebalosus]

llama llama from what I’ve read, 343 is aware of the issue, and is working on a fix

[@migii820]

Evan Robertson doubt it. The problem is the port to MCC as a whole is from the halo PC port not original Xbox port. They would have to start from scratch to fix

[@MlSTERSANDMAN]

I noticed the banding a lot.

[@Someguy189]

I didn’t think that was a problem everyone was having. I thought it was just me

[@FyreWulff]

Thought my graphics card was starting to kick it when I saw it

[@nilsaulin5790]

Man, Alex is putting in some work! Much appreciated!

[@ZinhoMegaman]

Thankfully I have my Xbox and Halo CE here in perfect condition.

[@zezzz38]

Same here, that's how it all started 😉.

[@ShindlerReal]

Unfortunately 343 doesn't seem to be interested in fixing any issues with MCC games and are just rushing out the next one.

[@smash461986]

Rushing?

[@ShindlerReal]

@@smash461986 They didn't fix a single thing in Reach including the atrocious sound.

[@smash461986]

@@ShindlerReal it came out in December and they have only just released halo 1. That's what I meant by "rushing?" They are taking the piss.

[@chrisblack6258]

@@smash461986 Well, that's probably because only a small team of 343 staff working on the MCC PC. Most of 343 is working on Infinite right now. So yes, the MCC PC team is rushing the release of the next game.

[@leonthesleepy]

Take a shot every time Alex says "wrong"

[@unvergebeneid]

12:37 oh wow, it's staggering how much better the water looks on the XBox!

[@aceofhearts573]

That custom GeForce 3 on steroids that the original Xbox used. Love that console

[@unvergebeneid]

@@aceofhearts573 I never had one but seeing that water, I can't disagree with you there. Even in some modern games, you still see a repeating pattern in water textures sometimes. To see a game this old that somehow tricked its way around this... kudos to the developers!

[@EricTheCleric93]

Are you kidding me? They STILL haven't fixed these issues?

[@killermoon635]

The only big issue I had with Halo Reach is the audio

[@xm1808]

@Melissa Waterman I even put on a 2star review on the pc gamepass "store" saying that the multiplayer was kind of dead and that they still didnt fix any of the issues, and my review got removed . Thnx Microsoft.

[@bluedragon219123]

The first time I ever played Halo, or even really saw it except for a brief part at a friends house, was seeing my brother play it(Halo 2003 Version), and the level 343 Guilty Spark and then I was able to play on my PC and it was awesome. This was just before Halo 2 launched for the Xbox too. Good times! LOL!. :)

[@InnuendoXP]

Thank you for drawing attention to the omission of splitscreen. Splitscreen is rare enough in PC games as it is, and it doesn't make any sense to me to remove a feature that existed in the original release 19 years ago. Local multiplayer experiences are becoming harder than ever to find, particularly on PC, and with modern PC performance, there's no reason why a single PC shouldn't be able to have 4 player co-op through splitscreen. Halo: CE is not a CPU intensive game at all by modern standards. For a lot of people who game on PC today, many will have fond memories of co-op & deathmatch splitscreen sessions on gamepads on the original xbox. 343i seems to be missing a real opportunity here as local multiplayer in a AAA release really is something very rare these days, but 343i could make Halo a popular party game for PC players simply by being the defacto best option. I really hope robust mod tools are made available if nothing else. I feel that the community could correct many of the artistic missteps of the anniversary remaster to bring the visuals in line with the atmosphere of the original, similar to Halo 2: Anniversary; if given the tools to do so. And for the community to be able to port the visual, animation & sound fixes to the Anniversary release if 343i isn't going to do it.

[@es5845]

inb4 mandatory neckbeard reply insisting that devs shouldn't "spend time making" pc splitscreen despite being an already done cut/hidden feature due to awful mandates in the dev team.

[@InnuendoXP]

@@es5845 "why would PC gamers want splitscreen support when so many games have LAN support - oh wait"

[@dreammfyre]

Can we please have Alex do every PC related video? You know he loves the platform and won’t drop bullshit like “you need a monster PC to run this better than consoles”, or try to downplay its merits and try to show it off from its worst side at every opportunity. EDIT: Maybe you should have made it a bit clearer that these issues are not PC-specific, but also occur on the X1 because that version is also based on the old PC version.

[@teneesh3376]

I would usually say gameplay over graphics. But this game is nearly a decade old. So the old graphics shouldn't be worse. But I'm cautiouly optomistic. 343 are really listening to fans. Also they said they will fix the gameplay issues first then the other issues Edit: sorry meant two decades. Which is weird to think about

[@crazydude2352]

"343 are really listening to fans" Eh, not really. I won't crap on them relentlessly like some people have, but they certainly haven't been taking what fans say to heart. Even when it's legitimate constructive criticism.

[@teneesh3376]

@@crazydude2352 maybe really listening was a bit much on my part, but that are listening. Give it time

[@specter_of_thestars2500]

They’ve been listening since 2018 with CEs graphic fixes lol. I’d keep expectations low given the time, but that’s just me. Better than not listening I suppose

[@Yarbo119]

2001 was when the first game was released, thats nearly 2 decades my friend...

[@teneesh3376]

@@Yarbo119 it has? I feel old

[@ReprobiCrucesignati]

"We have located him in a desert about 300km away" *Spawns in that desert* EVERYTHING IS LUSH AND GREEN Brah...

[@MrUngoBrumboBlab]

343 could be given the clearest instructions on how to bake a perfect cake and still find every way of screwing it up

[@thatoneguy5383]

XEROPAIN This is really gearbox’s fault, but 343 used did use the pc port.

[@rickygforce4217]

I wouldn't be too harsh on them considering that the entire studio is split into 7, 1 for each game and then the majority on Infinite

[@demonking8528]

WOW talk about attention to detail!! Amazing work man!!

[@HYDRAdude]

Gearbox Software: A Legacy of Failure

[@N0RTH3RNxL1GHTS]

Maybe in this port but their in house franchises are some of my favorites brothers in arms/borderlands

[@mightylink65]

The animations in Halo 1 and 2 didn't use key frames that would of been scalable to higher framerates, they used a different method that just saved all the bone positions 30 times a second so its impossible to fix that without redoing all the cutscenes from scratch again.

[@DarkIzo]

bungie: "hmm, doesnt feel quite right, lets try something else..." 343: "wohoo, finished early. time for some call of duty"

[@NateN34]

Those random Plasma Pistol charge sounds I remember happening on the Gearbox version, back in the day.

[@NoToeLong]

The myriad of issues that are piling up with each release (predicting muffled audio in Halo 2 next) would be a lot more forgivable if the entire collection released at once, but the fact that each game is pushed out piecemeal over the course of months makes it very disappointing. They claimed that the point of the staggered release schedule was so that every game got the attention it needed, but bugs that have been known about for almost two decades and have already been fixed by fans are still being included. It feels like they're just rushing it out the door so that they can be done with it.

[@leonthesleepy]

exactly. The audio in Reach is still incredibly dissapointing, but it seems like people either dont care or look past it whenever i bring it up on forums. I'm guessing all remaining releases will have similar issues, and the community will just accept it because its Halo on PC since forever.

[@-Lindol-]

Halo 2 won't have muffled audio like reach, the problem with reach is that it was built originally to exploit the audio hardware and software of the xbox 360. Halo 2 was an original Xbox game, and that console's audio set up is basically the same as PC audio.

[@IwinMahWay]

Thats 343 for ya. Overambitious devs that get over encumbered.

[@anasevi9456]

crappy sound quality seems an issue with the MCC, far better off with the Halo CE original release with the Refined or SVP mod tacked on.

[@arbiter-]

That's exactly what they're doing. "Ready when it's ready" my ass. They really need to sit down and make these games right, but based on how long it took them to "fix" MCC on Xbox I don't have much faith. So far both games released on PC have major issues and were clearly not ready, Halo 2 will probably be even worse.

[@GraveUypo]

you make the best df videos by far, guy who made this whose name i don't know. you're the reason i'm still subbed in fact.

[@TheGoncas2]

Hey Alex, have you heard about the Unreal Engine Console Unlocker? Apparently you can activate the console in any UE4 game with it, and you can activate Dynamic Resolution Scaling and even Temporal Super Sampling in some of them!

[@alexanderbattaglia6048]

I have! Frans Bouma made it I think :) I will look into it some time :D

[@sundarchip]

I love how you used A Walk in the Woods as the intro

[@JUANMAS7ER]

"Let's see if 343 stick the landing" while the video shows the pod crashing. Fitting.

[@BRIANSTECHTHERAPY]

Great job Alex! I may have missed it in the video but why is HDR missing on this release as it was on Reach. Considering it's on XBOX ONEX and on Reach why is this missing on these releases. HDR looks great on those releases so I'd much rather play them which is actually a shame. Great job as always!

[@unusable4evar636]

"lower resolutions like 1080p" that hurt me

[@slot9]

Thank you for the attention to detail! 2003's PC Halo release is the first way I experienced the Halo campaign and it was great!

[@natsuki_kay]

I remember them saying in an old blog post where they managed to get some original xbox devkits in hoping to restoring the original graphics for CE. Not sure if any progress was made since that post.

[@DJHeroMasta]

Awesome!!! This review was unexpected but wished for at the same time!!! Thanks as always DF!!!

[@Realmasterorder]

The Master Chief Collection is already awesome pressing 1 Key to change between original and remastered is just great.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Seeing your demonstrate both the Chimera mod and the Halo CE Restored mod, I think I'll stick with my 2003 PC disc.

[@Vartazian360]

Honestly the PC version of Halo CE Anniversary is MUCH better than Reach on PC. Reach 60 fps is complete garbage. Halo CE Anniversary is completely uncapped and of all the issues that you mentioned, almost none of them effect a normal person playing the game except for the sound bug with the plasma pistol. I really enjoyed this port. Played all the way through on Heroic and it was awesome.

[@bbc6rgf57ytty5yxyw5gt]

I think Reach is alright now when it's uncapped.

[@dushikorsou1]

I had zero issues when playing uncapped in reach a month ago.

[@Vartazian360]

@@dushikorsou1 Its still broken. You must not have a high refresh rate monitor or not be used to playing at high fps. I just tried it today thinking oh halo ce was awesome i guess they fixed the framerates for mcc. They didnt for reach. It's still playable but only the player view is uncapped. Everything else is 30 or 60 fps and it feels terrible on high refresh rate monitor. Switching to halo ce does not exhibit this problem. Coming from I9-9900k / 2080S - 240hz 1440p high end system. I know my framerates and reach is not fixed.

[@dushikorsou1]

@@Vartazian360 well i got a 1440p 165 hz screen with gsycn and worked fine for me. 2080ti with a 8700k @5ghz 32gb ram

[@Vartazian360]

@@dushikorsou1 You must not be sensitive to it. Digital foundry even mentioned it in this video that reach had interpolation framerates problems that halo ce does not.

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

The last time I came this early my son was conceived

[@DarkReturns1]

😂 good one lmao!

[@KatalistProductionsKozzySasha]

Love having Halo on steam

[@Reinhardovich]

So much content dished out by Alex recently. Man's working HARD! Keep up the good work!

[@Gohan11217]

Really Great video, I hope 343i fixed the problems that ngearbox left behind, like how the textures on the walls look so flat if they do not have the flashlight on, those problems makes me sad because I can't play a proper version of halo Combat evolved, if I leave it in classic mode those issues are really noticeable and if I put the Anniversary mode I do not like it either because of the art style changes that were made by 343 But appart from that I have grateful Halo is making a comback to pc after so many time

[@mat8448]

They haven't even fixed Halo Reach yet, they're a bit incompetent. So I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you

[@whodatninja439]

They did not fix those issues at all. Even though modders did that years ago.

[@andymath89]

another great review. Thank you, DF!

[@KyleJohnsonVA]

The EAX audio of the original PC release will never be restored officially, because Microsoft killed off DirectSound hardware audio acceleration with the release of Windows Vista. Sound cards lost 90% of their purpose when that happened, now they only serve to make sure you have a clean signal free of interference that integrated audio on your motherboard can experience. Microsoft's actions crippled sound design in games for over a decade (Creative Labs is also to blame for their predatory business practices), with developers only recently rediscovering and recreating audio technology that has been possible since the late 90s (HRTF, occlusion, reflection, etc.) It is possible to restore EAX audio on modern hardware and operating systems when playing the original PC release if you have an old Creative Labs sound card and are running their official ALchemy software to emulate (somewhat inaccurately) the EAX functions on your CPU. The sound card is not used, but the software does a hardware check to ensure that you have one installed before running. It is possible to remove the hardware check from the software with a modified version of it, but it will be up to you to know where to find that.

[@Cobble_Stone]

You forgot talking about the sniper rifle screen of "The truth and reconciliation" that used to show the world while walking in MCC consoles version and now it doesn't anymore.

[@Sco3000]

I'm just gonna wait until Halo 3 comes out, then I'll scoop the collection.

[@azzaprime7257]

Halo 2 Anniversary is a great remaster, I recommend at least trying Halo 2.

[@Sco3000]

@@azzaprime7257 yea but not if each release is gonna be buggy.. i'll see what happens

[@brethnew]

@@Sco3000 Halo CEA isn't buggy, or is less buggy than Reach because CEA had a PC port in the past. Halo 2 was also released on PC in the past and can be assumed to be extremely playable at launch. Halo 3 has never had a PC release, I'm expecting it to be as buggy as Reach still is.

[@afungai1649]

Sco Most of the weird issues come from the Combat Evolved anniversary. If I remember correctly, Halo 2 and 3 on the MCC are actually all right.

[@azzaprime7257]

@@Sco3000 Buggy? Far from. Remember these are remasters not remakes. They will never be perfect unless 343 decides to full Remake the games.

[@ollysherratt4220]

The graphics are finally being fixed! REJOICE!!

[@ElricSowrd]

I like that the PC Version finally has the Coop Mode. I never got a new XBOX since the original. I got PS3, PS4, Nintendo Wii and Switch instead.

[@damsen978]

Even the restoration mod isn't 1:1 with the OG Xbox, it's just the best the modders could do, another thing they can't restore are the Xbox buttons on the UI. So i think this is all up to Saber Interactive/343i, which again, i don't think they'll ever remedy any of this.

[@mrratchet]

I am still disappointed by this release, as I was with Reach on PC. Microsoft need to give 343 more time to actually polish the releases, this build has almost all the same issues the flight had as well as the same core issues Reach has. These include mouse latency, frame interpolation issues and broken sound. For a 'PC' release, it's falling well short of expectations and I am very sad to see that. I'm happy to see Halo get new life on PC again but I'm gutted it's being released in a poor state.

[@arbiter-]

343 IS Microsoft. I guess to them "ready" has an entirely different meaning.

[@mrratchet]

@@arbiter- It's more that 'Microsoft' would hold the decision when to release it whilst the 'developers' at 343 would have to do what they say. Kind of like how they're not fixing mouse and keyboard because Microsoft wants Cross-play for MCC, rather than implementing input based matchmaking they're doing the same old flawed 'nerf m+k' that never worked out.

[@Gorgula]

@@mrratchet they have been running the PC version on Xbox since mcc's release in 2015. How much time should they have? They are a joke.

[@mrratchet]

@@Gorgula They took the PC versions because the bulk of the work had already been done. They cut corners basically with Halo CE and Halo 2. MCC was dropped after release though so they've only really been working on it for a year or so. Not saying they don't deserve criticism - they do. It's been horrifically mishandled but then it depends on what the shareholders want.

[@TheWarlord9883]

Include a graphics glitch/bug. My Halo Anniversary is running the performance setting while I have it at enhanced since the launch of Halo Reach. This particular DF video with the image comparisons confirmed it for me. The graphics felt off as soon as I played Halo Anniversary.

[@halometroid]

3:53 I have the same problem with the plasma pistol charging sound!

[@MadnessMan13]

I could listen to Johnson say “AM I RIGHT MARINES?!?!?” all day long 😂😂😂😂

[@dbzwarrior4321]

mmmhmm damn right i am NOW MOVE IT OUT DOUBLE TIME

[@sanelb1147]

Actually I am playing the game on highest difficulty and it's such a great game. Finally a game that gives me what I missed for such a long long time

[@CipherFiveZero]

I guess you could sort of say this is DF Retro: Halo: Combat Evolved Part II.

[@SubnormalEntertainment]

This is the exact video I wanted to see the moment it came out :D

[@Xedilian]

3:55 This bug was in the beta, i remember reporting it because the sound in the beta was basically defining. you could not hear anything while using the plasma pistol. I can't believe they never fixed it? what was the point in doing Flight tests and sending invites out?

[@CastledCard]

I had no idea OG Keyes had a better looking model

[@gigitrix]

Whole lot of attention to detail in this that frankly would escape me during gameplay, but the thing with Jackal Shields not even having health-based colour is really disappointing!

[@Big_Gulps_Huh]

I don't know crap about audio engineering, but those muffled gun SFX could never escape my notice.

[@desmondbrown5508]

I think with the sound effects they were trying to go for a "more realistic" environmental noise where sound would bounce off and echo in the ship. But the ending result was that you just couldn't hear very much. This is one of those situations where you should design something to be less realistic for the sake of clarity and for the player to be able to understand what's going on more easily. Sure the echos might be more realistic, but they don't really add anything to the scene that we didn't already know from looking at the background.

[@whereswarren3719]

So, my chimera + refined install is still superior for a campaign run? Did they fix the Reach issues yet? I guess I could boot it and have a look.

[@mikedude2724]

@@doltBmB your comment aged like milk

[@mikedude2724]

@@doltBmB It took them 2-5 months to fix some things on PC. which is better than taking 3-4 years on Xbox. I was referring to the second part of your comment. Also, your comment was on Reach, not CE. You literally said, "They'll fix nothing and just rush out every game as fast as possible." Shouldn't you be happy you were wrong? 343 actually fixed some stuff. They didn't fix everything, but fixing some things is better than fixing nothing.

[@BattlegroundsAlpha]

So just wanna point out that the audio in MCC at the beginning with the guy yelling at the soldiers doesn't seem to be of lower quality, but they did add an echo effect to be a bit more in line with how voices would travel within a large metal space like that.

[@gtafan110010]

This is a good video. That said; i would've liked a comparison between the remastered versions, too. How does the PC version compare to the xbox 360 original remaster?

[@chrisrichfield8906]

@5:27 he shows the original graphics vs the enhanced graphics settings. The only difference would be resolution and framerate.

[@andrerevolution455]

What a great lesson Alex, congrats 👏👏👏👏👏

[@wile123456]

so, best version is to pirate the original abandonware pc version and using mods

[@kamilpotato3764]

Yep. Played a bit anniversary on Pc and so many things are kind of messed up :( Came back to community fixed pc version which is not perfect but still better than this

[@SonGoku-hr5kz]

Good luck downloading mods which takes a long time and no matchmaking lol

[@chrisrichfield8906]

@@SonGoku-hr5kz pretty sure the mods are small in size. Also they get server browser which is better.

[@waterheart95]

@@SonGoku-hr5kz A modded Halo CE installation is only a couple of gigas

[@s1ndrome117]

@@SonGoku-hr5kz It took me 1 minute to download and install mods. Servers? they're plenty of them in the custom edition

[@xBINARYGODx]

The charge-sound affect bug was in the original Xbox released in 2001. Interesting that is survived into other versions.

[@xBINARYGODx]

Anyway, a lot of the stuff at the ending of the video has you sort-of confused when those issues were in the PC version of the original Halo and it is widely known that that version was what was used for MCC. So, why the surprise? Did you think after not fixing that on Xbox One they would for PC? What really needs to happen where is for the original OG Xbox codebase to be brought forward to serve as the basis for Xbox One/Series X and PC. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

[@HaloTupolev]

Although it's present in the OG Xbox version, it's a very occasional quirk. In the MCC version it's almost a constant presence when spamming plasma pistol.

[@HaloTupolev]

​@Melissa Waterman No, it's definitely present in the original game. I fired up my OG Xbox just now and managed to trigger it a couple times in just 5 minutes of aggressively spewing PP pips around on AotCR.

[@hanslanda7319]

If reach' audio is anything to go by it won't be fixed. I waited a long time for this collection and it's half assed

[@Big_Gulps_Huh]

Have they seriously still not fixed that muffled/crackling audio yet??? I put Reach on the back burner to wait patiently for a fix, but still their patch notes say nothing about what is arguably the SOUL of a Halo game (both sound and music).

[@hanslanda7319]

@@Big_Gulps_Huh seriously still not fixed, I have the weapons fire super low volume issue.

[@Big_Gulps_Huh]

@@hanslanda7319 Aww... I just can't play a Halo game without great audio. It feels so wrong.

[@hanslanda7319]

@@Big_Gulps_Huh exactly

[@steffydouglas]

I played this pc game back in the winter of 2004

[@hotrodhunk7389]

Please move the subtitles into the middle of the screen. On a 21:9 screen it gets cutoff. Thanks.

[@armorgeddon]

No! This is 16:9 content!

[@nihren2406]

So one thing to point out is that in the recent blog post on Halo Waypoint, 343 Industries announced that they've partnered with Formosa Group to restore and enhance the audio for all the titles in the MCC. Apparently there were a lot of problems that 343 themselves, or rather Splash Damage and Ruffian Games who are the actual developers porting these games, were running into with regards to the audio which was encoded for a PowerPC platform(Halo 3, ODST, Reach, and Halo 4 specifically. CEA and H2A are a different matter.). IMO what 343 needs to do is give each game it's own graphics settings, and go even further and separate each graphical option for you to tweak as you please. As it currently stands, there's a simple one-size-fits-all setting for "Performance", "Original", and "Enhanced." You can't change any other settings, and it's just applied across all games. If Ambient Occlusion were a standalone setting for CEA, you could turn it off and use Reshade's MXAO in its place.

[@vesselinkrastev]

Yeah, I doubt that any of these things will ever be fixed officially but I played through the original PC release without that restoration mod and mod and it looked fine to me. Without having played the XBOX version I really didn't any way to know that it looked 'wrong'. I'd probably check out that mod at some point but I'm also curious to play through the game with the remastered visual even though I'm not a huge fan at first glance either.

[@getsbaked]

Wow, amazing video Alex! Thank you so much for covering differences between original xbox, original pc port, original MCC and this newest version, I knew if you didn't cover the original xbox differences I was going to have to do some work myself :P so glad you got the expert to talk about the og xbox vs gearbox port. You are the man! Thank you for being so good at what you do, you are the only PC technical analyst I can trust because you are a real PC gamer, you were there back in late 2000s tweaking every setting of Crysis just like me, and well before that! Cheers! So disappointing they did not fix the art bug from original port, I hope they can address the issues.

[@Hobo_X]

I wish you had mentioned the broken enemy AI, the PC version is significantly easier than the OG Xbox and it's not because of keyboard and mouse. Enemies don't dodge as much for example

[@TheColemancreek]

Not shilling for MS, but I didn't notice any broken AI.. and am like 1/2 way through the campaign. Elites still dodge better than in subsequent Halo games in the PC version. I hate the Window Store and how crappy some game run on it, but honestly this version of Halo 1 runs well and is comparable to Reach in performance.

[@Medic_Medulla]

I finished legendary solo yesterday... yeah, i didn't notice any issues with the AI outside a few spots you can head glitch and kill enemies without them reacting if anything i found the AI to be more responsive and dodge more frequently then the original Xbox and Anniversary versions >.> Visuals is where gearbox and this version poorly represent the classic game

[@rotmgpumcake]

i didnt notice anything, as a matter of fact, i feel they they dodge way more frequently

[@pcgameboy8407]

Mouse and Keyboard do make a big difference.

[@christopherchilton1955]

Just played through the entire game today on Heroic. Didn't notice any differences. Seems pretty much the same.

[@CakeMelons]

Just bought it on Steam. It's been 4 months since this video and 7 months (!) since Halo Reach release, none of the issues mentioned by Alex are fixed. :(

[@krankymann]

These issues are as mentioned known and Microsoft and 343 never fixed them on XB1, this is what you get. I can only assume that dumping this version of Halo onto PC is merely an attempt to get a few more game pass subscribers. Prove me wrong.

[@Rezinstance]

That plasma pistol audio glitch was present in the original Xbox version, if you pressed the trigger repeatedly fast enough the audio glitch occured, however it seems to be more prevelant on the MCC PC release. It might actually be an issue tied to framerate.

[@NicThePyro]

Concerning the latency in online co-op. In my personal experience, it is still fairly noticable but definitely not as bad as Reach.

[@N8TM8T]

I agree, reach was nearly unplayable when i tried co-op a few months ago, though I felt next to no latency for Halo CEA when i played co-op last night with the same person.

[@BasedSif]

I have now memorized the entire Johnson speech. Thanks, DF

[@Paelorian]

Heh, there are four versions depending on difficulty setting. The higher the difficulty, the more intensity in the speech. From a lackadaisical walk in the park to white-knuckle blood and guts. I remember most of the great Legendary difficulty speech. I remember from playing in the early 2000s on my Xbox when I was a huge fan. That's the only difficulty cutscene change apart from a bonus scene during the ending cutscene on the highest difficulty.

[@TEMINIX]

God... They just cannot get this game right can they? Xbox is still the only way to experience the game as it was originally designed.

[@BrainDead184]

Slight correction - Gearbox released two versions of Halo for PC. Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: Custom Edition (both CE, yes confusing). Combat evolved was what was released on the disc that you could buy in stores. Custom Edition was a stand-alone MULTIPLAYER ONLY version of the game that you could download online. Both installed using the same CD-Key but had distinct installers, and multiplayer servers. This was quite annoying at the time as it split the player base. Why Custom Edition was not a patch for the original game is a story I would love to hear... Custom Edition had a few extra features, the most notable being able to use custom user-designed maps. However the footage here is indicated as being from Custom Edition which is incorrect as there was no single player campaign available in Custom Edition.

[@alinh2]

You can add SP campaigns to Custom Edition. I think you only needed to copy the campaign files and a new menu UI (to include the campaign button). I remember I tried this more than 12 years ago and I think it worked.