The CE Remake has to do better | A Critique of Combat Evolved Anniversary

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Halo: Combat Evolved was praised for many things: its ability to successfully bring the First Person Shooter genre to consoles, the intelligent and highly dynamic enemy AI, but also: the presentation. The simple - yet effective textures, combined with the clear level design, almost made the visuals tell a story of their own. But when 343 Industries and Saber Interactive made a remaster of Combat Evolved ten years after its release, it failed to live up to many fans’ expectations. It’s time to dive deep into one of the biggest misunderstandings of an art style: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
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[@Wernissage]

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[@jessejive1174]

Very impressive video! You’re incredibly talented.

[@Halofan9233]

For your next real life weapons in halo do the PP-19 Bizon, Kriss Vector, and CZ Scorpion Evo 3 A1

[@coffee0093]

I think Halo CE Anniversary opened my eyes as a kid to graphics not being everything, and how important art direction can be

[@RiTchieKII]

For me as a kid at the time, the only thing that looked better than CE was 2 back in early 2000s🤣

[@InnuendoXP]

@@RiTchieKII as a teen honestly 2 looked significantly worse than CE to me. Blurrier textures, more muted colours, smaller environments, less dynamic lighting playing off bump maps & specular lighting, more obviously blocky world geometry as it was taking earth-like environments & showing more close-up face shots in cinematics, and the normal mapping made most materials look like plasticine. While CE had loads of pretty convincing looking sand, wood, chrome, and brushed steel. Being able to zoom in & see 'more' detail was incredible, and Halo 2 lost that as it had to adjust its memory budget for more objects, enemy & weapon models .etc

[@SpecterDiego]

I can't believe just how much difference changing just the lighting and the color of the cryo area of the autumn did, makes me think that when they made it they thought the darkness was an issue to be solved instead of a big part of why the art direction is so good on the original

[@Wernissage]

Same honestly, I wasn’t expecting it to improve it that much. Yeah they really should’ve embraced the darkness🫶

[@Sargentsnakeeyes]

Especially along side other games that ether came out the same time or the games that came out one or few years before cough cough "batman arkham city" cough!

[@unknownusrname]

Hi specterdiego

[@SpecterDiego]

Hello there

[@jessejive1174]

The silent cartographer, where he actually finds that map room is my favorite seeing and probably all of halo and it was entirely because of the lighting and I even knew that when I was like 10! And then the remaster.. that room was done dirty. lol the rumors are true, I cannot wait for remake of this game!

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

I think replacing CE's artstyle with reach was a bad choice. CE had its own artstyle that deserved a high quality remake. not to be Decanonized and replaced with reach. CE had some of the best designs for halo and we have never seen them return. the elites looked so awesome.

[@alexanderrobins7497]

I like the concept of unifying art styles and having some cohesion, but it was done absolutely poorly. Aside from textures not lining up at all (especially with rocks), the Zealots were visually offensive compared to the original and the ones on Reach.

[@Arander92]

I think CE’s art style is still canon over CEA, cause in every other media depicting the events of the game, they always go, more or less, with the original art style. Remember how bastardized and overdesigned the outer layer of Installation 04 was? Yeah, that design has NEVER appeared again

[@NazmusLabs]

It’s the lighting my guy. people underestimate how powerful lighting is. With good lighting, you would have the correct atmosphere for C and also unify the look of halo across the series. and yeah CEA is over detailed in lots of places. But again, if you had proper lighting, the details would’ve been hidden anyway because of the shadow. Bro lightning can fix so many things May Allah (S.W.T.) guide you and bestow upon you His Blessings; Ameen. # F R E E P A L E S T I N E

[@CanadianTehGamer]

@@NazmusLabs Free Israel from Palestine control.

[@Spookyy24]

Even then, it was a piss poor imitation of reach's artstyle. The gritty Reach models feel so out of place in the colorful and bright CEA

[@bobweeny]

Think you shouldve redesigned the marines too. The design of the marines of CE is almost forgotten but is defo my favourite

[@bombomos]

It's so damn beautiful

[@deegee6062]

It feels like CE anniversary was remaster room by room with each team who did a room having no idea what the context or story was, like they technically on paper improved things, but completely missed the original intention of the artistic choices made for CE

[@itsthemumu8585]

I want to say I heard that they basically did a “search and replace” method for a large portion of this remaster. They made up textures of a type and just replaced everything in that category with the new textures they had created. One thing I think you nailed though is that the general storytelling of each room, the feeling it gives, was ignored in favor of an overly basic texture overhaul, which strangely ended up looking worse than a game that proceeded it by 10 years. It seemed like 343 learned their lesson with H2A, which is what remaster really should be. That game captures everything my little brain envisioned it to be all the way back in 2004.

[@joshuaellis3725]

When you look at a project like Aniversary, it's easy to see why the outcome was how it was, when you remember it was developed in a very step by step, quick fashion, likely by an outsourcing studio. When you get people in these studios to do work like this they can pour their heart and soul into it, but without a clear leadership direction you end up with an incoherent composition of that work. That's what anniversary is missing. Macro direction. The micro was almost too good!

[@DGCpicturesEntertainment]

My main problem was always the atmosphere of the INDOORS of 343 Guilty Spark. There used to be so much blood and very little lighting in the original, where in the remaster, it’s the exact opposite. Great work as always. 👍

[@ReachTea]

The entire issue with the Forerunner aesthetic in CE is in Classic the art style is ancient civilisation, in Anniversary it's like they're still alive

[@adambelfast1]

Yeah. Forefunner architecture should have that dormant look and feeling. Like its barely alive or better yet, barely awake. Like its highly advanced but ancient tech that has the feeling of abandonement, but at a closer look you see just enough activity, a few lights dotted along corridor walls around, or a light slowly fading in and out on a panel by a doorway, stumbling across a few functional switches, then it shifts from technology that has been abandoned, to technology that has actually been laying in wait. Just barely awake.

[@mushsect7511]

we really need to push videos like these as the community to 343 or whoever is working on the remaster, not harass but help showcase what the fans want and maybe help them and whatever contract workers are on it if so know what halo ce is and give a glimpse into how it should be remastered

[@Wernissage]

Well said! It’s sad that the loudest voices in the community are the most toxic. Some of us just really wanna help in the ways we can 🫡

[@nobodykayaks1041]

343 sees they just do not care even in the slightest. they only want to destroy the game for the fans and some how gather a new group of fans.

[@mushsect7511]

@@nobodykayaks1041 that is kind of a dogshit take but okay 343 doesnt want to destroy, they want to expand the audience - even though it has kinda failed, though infinite would of been a success if they didnt fuck up the content amount plus we gotta be more positive than that

[@DraphmirEmpire]

​@@mushsect7511 yeah they don't want to destroy they want to make bank off of fans by reinventing everything but... That just destroys Halo so in a sense 343i does indirectly want to destroy Halo.

[@SSGLGamesVlogs]

Thing is, every fan wants something different, with no clear consensus. There's not enough resources to cover every want.

[@surfsidecrayon0702]

Bouta' watch the Swedish man flame 343 for 40 minutes

[@tTaseric]

Iirc Saber Interactive was generally responsible for "upgrading" the visuals.

[@MothFable]

@@tTaseric343 didnt make this at all, it was saber interactive.

[@TheDirvish]

"Shmersky Dershky und FORK dee-biiird!" Let the chef cook.

[@gmradio2436]

The lighting on the Halo in CE reminds me of clinical or hospital lighting. Clean to point of being sterilized. A clean room on planetary scale. Fitting considering the Halo's purpose.

[@benjudd3486]

One thing about the swamp area in the flood level is the grey, almost yellow fog. A little bit of foreshadowing to the grey yellow of the flood.

[@nanmwahrki1263]

20:40 I actually liked when you removed the blue light completely from the scene. It looks closer to the original and more ominous.

[@TenthSgtSnipes]

343 made the forerunner stuff just too busy and less ancient, it’s a shame that came into CEA as well. And yeh idk why the devs hated the idea of dark and moody atmosphere literally anywhere in the game. Just sticking lights literally everywhere!

[@coltonwatmough9651]

Somebody send this to the art and lighting directors for the Halo Remake now before it's too late!

[@zalrohglekgolo6149]

Important Context: CEA's graphics are a result of 2 things. -Players between 2004-2011 had been asking for "realistic" "modern" retexturing of Halo CE because thats what gaming was doing at the time and players who misunderstood how graphics and art style work kept asking for more hyper realistic representation. The idea of a "less is more" implied details for gaming had been thrown out the window in a post 9/11 world where players wanted simulated reality, not fantasy settings. All gaming stusios and publishers threw everything including the kitchen sink to make games look and feel less like a videogame. Players on Waypoint, facebook, KZbin, and other sites had been asking for what CEA IS for a long time. - When Bungie left and gave the keys to the kingdom to 343, Several comments before were made saying that Halo Reach was representing (for better or worse) how halo SHOULD have been (if they hadn't been micromanaged by Microsoft to devaite and if they had the technology and knowledge then they had now) visually, mechanically, and thematically. Halo Reach adds a lot of muddy, busy details to the original CE mark V concept for the Mark VB, Which was intended to be a retcon in production before the writinf changed to be about the SIIIs. That same "add more surface details" was applied to everythinf in reach for """realsim""". This was positively received. Note: i spent days on the forums agruing against this since basically its start wheb Halo 3 moved away from the graphics and style consistent between CE-2. I was boo'd off the forums. CEA injecting horrendous surface details to everything and making it busy, was celebrating at the time in 2011 after mods doing something simikair for years and the idea of "replacinf assets with modern ones" by the CMT with their various mods and SPV. I get why people are upset, but no one talked about in 2011, and the overwhelming majority of players until recently prefered CEA graphics, Especially New Halo players who think "the original graphics are too old looking etc" because they grew up in the time when "modern graphics" was the only thing out at the time. Now years later people finally figured out thwy dont actually like the Reach and 3 models dumped over the originals, but thats just too close to what Bungie would have wanted at the time (the ones that cared, most didnt by the time they left) and what mostnof thr fans wanted too. Side note About chief's armor. Originally it used the body of the Mark V B from reach and people hated it, and they changed it to what it is now. The armor itself looks bad only because of thebweord proportions of the CE model, when you see the CEA armor in other media (official digital paintings, Team Raven cameos, the Statue they released in 2011) looks really good, and the CEA inspired armor for Halo 4's mark V also looks phenomenal. Its not my preference, the fan made one by EXO Armor Labs is the one i think does it right. But the design is better represented when not locked to CE's inaccurate scaling of the body.

[@Wernissage]

This was an Interesting read, thank you!

[@3mpt7]

I tried introducing someone to Halo Reach. They were a PC player, and their first complaint was screen tear and film grain. Or something. Then they went back to playing Arma 3 for 14 years, and I lost contact. Chasing CoD and Tom Clancy is silly. SPV3 did something that Halo CE Anniversary did NOT do--create extended campaign missions featuring Alpha Base, seen in the novels, adding in the Sparrowhawk, Brutes skewering marines on meat hooks, having missions with the Arbiter combating the Flood, and rogue Brutes, and adding the three mission Spartan May campaign. Halo CE Anniversary, as I'm sure you're aware, was a gimmick, with 3D TV and Kinect integration. These days it's alongside Halo 2 Anniversary and the Blur cinematic scenes, which means that people can directly compare it to other games, and it doesn't have the 3D TV, Kinect, or Halo Reach multiplayer map pack attached, so people can see what it is--a heavily rushed, cheap cash grab designed to foster good will between the community and 343 Industries, before they arrogantly shoved the camera and the audiences faces right onto the Chief's armourless [censored] (see the start of Halo 4's Infinity). Plus there's the fact Marty O'Donnell went through the first campaign mission of CE Anniversary and pointed out WTF are those piston things supporting the walls in the Pillar of Autumn. They had out-of-work bridge constructors in the development team, so they knew structural engineering. 343 Industries had Japanese and Russian developers from Final Fantasy and Timeshift. Yeah, it's painful when the only person with a different view (that later turns out to be correct) is forced off the forums, or gets ill--and now there are no forums.

[@chattering_arc]

The fact that a lot of HCE modders (yes CMT, i'm talking about you people) were pretty much into ugly realism and Reach models while the community throws shit at 343 for doing the same is something that anyone barely talks about lol.

[@3mpt7]

@@chattering_arc Because SPV3 added new campaigns and modified the maps, and did it for free, so porting files from other games is to be expected, whilst Halo CE Anniversary was a commercial release we paid for, perhaps?

[@Commander_Appo]

When I was playing the og halo trilogy for the first time on MCC last year, I remember really not liking the look of CE because it was set to CEA graphics by default. My biggest fault was just how… not good the cutscene mocap looked. It reminded me of that movie Food Fight.

[@Wernissage]

You're definitely not alone there! And yes, the mocap is very distracting. There's something beautiful with the stiff animations of the original.

[@MeddlerPropagandist14]

Why is Commander Appo here💀 bro forgot about the younglings in the temple💀💀🙏🙏

[@Commander_Appo]

@@MeddlerPropagandist14 dude I’m on my lunch break, even the empire gives breaks

[@MeddlerPropagandist14]

@@Commander_Appo so basically… disobeying order 66? Uhmm ok

[@Commander_Appo]

@@MeddlerPropagandist14 I can’t kill Jedi if I have hunger pangs

[@shanebriley1265]

Loved your redesign of the MK V armor, but what I'd really kill for is to see an updated version of CE's marine armor. It's easily my favorite in the franchise, but just got left in the dust with the first game and it makes me sad

[@LilSticcBoi]

The only thing I ask of the remake, is to please for the love of god, keep the OG warthog design. The new design with the fuel tanks on the back has always felt like such a downgrade to me, I think it looks so much worse than the OG

[@cg_spiritedensemble]

Haven’t finished the vid yet. This gonna be good! EDIT: Finished it. It was really good.

[@TheLastArbiter]

I want them to basically massively upscale the original art style. Keep the same aesthetic and color palette. Take inspiration from Marcus Lehto’s recent update design. Just make it crisp and shiny. And for the gameplay, I want them to be respectful of the original feel, while maybe expanding on the intent of the original missions with enhanced technical capabilities, like making the areas bigger or more story-detailed (in an atmospheric way, not adding pipes and lights and lines everywhere). Stuff like the jackals and humans fighting the flood together. Similar to the Resident Evil remakes. With the Flood, have some sections be dark and needing the flashlight, covenant blood seeping down the walls, empty echoes and the hun of forerunner structure. Do not shy away from the blood, gore and violence. Also maybe even adding extra missions or optional bonus ones outside of the main campaign, like halfjaw’s mission on the flood-infested ship Infinite Succor.

[@itsthemumu8585]

Would love it if you did a video for Halo CE’s NPCs (Elites, Grunts, marines, etc) along with one of the rooms inside the weapons cache on 343 Guilty Spark, and some of the other levels that you didn’t touch on in this video. This whole time I thought 343 had overdesigned, but your video has shown that it’s more than that, and I’d love to see so much more of this. 100% make this a multi-part series.

[@Shotgunky]

An ideal remake doubles down on what works and improves what didn't. If 343 wants to craft a remake of Resident Evil 2 or Dead Space quality, they need to maintain the visual simplicity of CE, and instead focus on redoing the weaker second half of the campaign. Keep the same biomes, but create new routes so you're not just backtracking everything you've done before.

[@Taron_HaiTar]

I think most will agree to what I will propose here: Somebody (or somebodies) proficient in modding and art aplication *absolutely NEEDS* to make a mod (mostly) graphically remastering Anniversary edition, with Wernissage art from this video as a reference! Maybe even call it "Halo Combat Evolved: Wernissage Edition"!

[@wmv8996]

I'd almost prefer if they went nuts and remade 1, 2, and 3 into one huge campaign. Adding cut content and further connecting the games together.

[@IvoryRune]

That would be amazing but it would take way more time than any modern videogame company is willing to accept, sadly

[@--mr4yo]

Some fans are/were doing that. It's called Halo: Reborn (I think) There's also another project remaking and modernising CE in Unreal Engine called Ringworld Alpha

[@alexanderrobins7497]

I would prefer if they (343i) didn't make it, and if the Halo franchise were left in the hands of some more competent developers (like ID Software or Certain Affinity).

[@robertnewman4854]

343's problem with Forerunner designs has always been that they don't treat these structures as ruins.

[@joelkreiser9851]

I lighting in cea was one of the major reasons I didn’t look how cea looked

[@slate8409]

Marcus Lehto already beat you to the Mark V remake. Man was part of the original Bungie art team and put out an updated model a year or two ago. Looks amazing and is currently in use in a Halo 3 remake mod for Halo CE.

[@FootedGhost]

I absolutely love your videos man, please upload more if you can. The facecam here was a nice touch too 👌

[@Wernissage]

That means a lot coming from you, right back at ya! And thank you! It’s kinda uncomfortable putting yourself out there like that, but I like being as transparent as possible. Appreciate you!🫡

[@darkreflection9087]

I’m gonna be honest I clicked on this by accident

[@Wernissage]

yet here you are 🧐

[@4TheWinQuinn]

I clicked on it on purpose :)

[@Greg-df5ut]

@darkreflection, did you enjoy it?

[@unknownusrname]

I click after i saw a discord notification

[@SSGLGamesVlogs]

I sense that could be a bad omen.

[@coltonwatmough9651]

10:50 Holy crap! That looks so much better!

[@Wernissage]

Thank you!

[@sporgultimes2]

H2A is the definition of learning from your mistakes. That remaster was as perfect as they could get it.

[@Wernissage]

H2A really is beautiful

[@tysonwalsh9063]

I never really stopped to look/appreciate the artwork, but after you made the adjustments to the silent cartographer, im feeling like we missed out on something truly amazing.

[@PackHunter117]

*For me personally I think the Reach art style made sense since the Covenant and UNSC just came from Reach. But definitely the environments and Forerunner structures needed to be much better.*

[@Dricon1997]

It's always the change to lightning that makes me surprised, seeing how you darkened the environment opened my eyes to how bright the anniversary really is... they added too much information for the eyes, too much crap, too much light. As if the ones who made it were afraid that no one would notice their awesome texturing. It's as if artists would erase clothes from their characters, just because they want people to see how good their drawing of anatomy is, leaving us without realism with clothes and armour. Or when hollywood takes of a helmet from a fake 117 to proudly show emotions. I prefer your vision for lightning, over the anniversary lighting.

[@AlyxGMusic]

Haven’t even had enough time to hear what you have to say but I already agree

[@Wernissage]

jokes on u, ce anniversary is actually my all-time favorite halo game!!😈

[@mythicq8246]

Yes, this And Lieutenant McKay, we need her presence and the other ODSTs in the remake if they ever make a good one

[@unknownusrname]

To be honest i think halo cea suffers from being Overdesigned, thankfully they learned and improved on that aspect in halo 2A

[@PormithipicusProductions]

The temple hallway for the second one came out beautiful

[@Wernissage]

Thank you!

[@spongemanicecone2736]

My biggest hope is that they dont try to shoot for a T rating

[@myrb2622]

The lighting drastically helps the game's aesthetic out, but the visual detail vomit on everything everywhere still just makes it look bad to me. Just visual overload. It really is to me such an odd choice to slap so much detail on everything to make things look more "alien" or "futuristic." To me it just takes me out of the fiction because it looks like it is trying too hard to be "alien"

[@syd4952]

"Liminal spaces" Is the perfect descriptor. I hadnt even thought about that and have been lacking a good term to give off the vibe the old ruins used to give vs the 343 ones.

[@WeaponizedAutism7]

A 40 minute video about Halo aesthetics is exactly what I didn’t know I needed today

[@LaperLarden]

That Segway into the sponsorship was 🔥 Excellent video as always! Here's hoping the CE Remake Devs are taking notes.

[@Wernissage]

Gotta figure out ways to lure everyone into buying banger earbuds 👀 I mean it seems whatever you and I say becomes reality, so they BETTER be 😤

[@LaperLarden]

@@Wernissage Very soon we'll have to start suing "number company" for royalties 😂

[@Anubis_F0X]

Bravo on the visual corrections! I am all for these types of videos

[@Wernissage]

Thank you! I enjoy making them:)

[@3lectric220]

I would absolutely love to see a video series where you edit assets from CEA to make them look more the original like you did here

[@remor698]

What always impresses me about your workflow is how much mileage you get out of such individually simple seeming actions. Like just needing two colors for most details to just work and somehow blending well into the image of a fully textured in-game asset to the point that it originally took me multiple videos of yours, where you didn't have a timelapse, to even realize that I wasn't looking at 3D models is insane to me. But yeah, you definitely found a really good middle ground between CE's intent and CEA's detail. I don't intuitively see why people like the look of early 3D era games like the original CE, so this kind of breakdown and redesigning effort really helps to illustrate where the critcism is coming from.

[@Wernissage]

I really appreciate that, thank you so much!

[@coltonwatmough9651]

Halo Anniversary is a perfect example of too much a good thing. Colour and light are a good thing, but sometimes less is more.

[@Wernissage]

My thoughts exactly!

[@theia1653]

In the Library, the level a lot of people love to hate, stand and look around when there's a break in combat to take everything in. Notice how dark and derelict and foreboding it is, the only activity being blue pulsing light trims or monitors, and you don't know what's beyond, with an eerie and unsettling ambience. In CEA the place is well lit, alive and jumping, including bright mosaic holograms that weren't there before. So they missed the point of Forerunner structures being arcane and abandoned for millennia. When Halo 2 was still in development, there were early screenshots of the structures even being in pitch black, which I had hoped was the style they went with.

[@corvax8644]

This is one of those game remasters that I try to just not think about because of how mad it makes me. Literally destroyed. The OG vision of CE. I’d love to see Nightdive take a crack at remastering CE if they got the license. They did an extremely good job with the system shock remake

[@scotti2hotti542]

I hope they make it have a late 90s early 2000s sci-fi aesthetic. So it can look like what Combat Evolved was going for but with better graphics.

[@nathan4599]

343 needs to be fired

[@Android_ELITE]

that’s pretty wild that you were already making a video on cea when the announcement happened

[@bigporkens5439]

I love the changes! I agree that 343 butchered the original atmosphere of combat evolved. I'm excited for the remake but they are going to have to respect the originals amazing visuals.

[@TheOldest]

Agree that drastically changing the art design was a big mistake and it's been brought up many times over the years. I'm curious why it's never been modded to my knowledge.

[@GlitchyGamers18]

I think also one of the main problems with cea is forerunner architecture is the lack of bronze and soft lights

[@scottwatrous]

Whoever re-designed the armor in anniversary must have been literally huffing jenkem.

[@xproflipscarab]

I'm so torn whether I want a faithful remake or a faithful reimagining... I adore Halo CE but I feel like if you remixed its weaknesses, added extra content from the Halo The Flood Novel while keeping the best missions you'd have a near perfect game on your hands... Halo SPV3 is a pretty great example.

[@henry7696]

the biggest sin the remaster commits is having lighting data where there are no real light sources present in the level. its why the cryo room looks like crap compared to the original. there wasnt a lightbulb on every single surface for no reason back then and it created a nice mood, almost accidentally. now there isnt such limitations, so they went ahead and bathed everything in millions of point lights. its so jarring because you can literally see there shouldnt be so much light in some areas. also the forerunner texture detail is over the top and distracting. i always considered forerunner architecture to be utilitarian when looking at the original. simple flat sheets of metal on most surfaces, because they were so advanced everything was hidden. the remaster ruined this by greebling every single surface. it looks ridiculous when you walk into the silent cartographer and the random walls to the left and right of you are covered in some gigantic repeating pattern for no reason at all. i think the level artists were given a mandate by the "higher ups" to make it look "betterer" without actually knowing what makes something look good.

[@SunnyMitten]

Don't even get started on how they ruined 343 guilty spark, that's the most infamous edit. 😂

[@AudibleFist]

Now to beg the modding community to take on the task of fixing it this way!

[@RynerGT]

Halo CE's art style being simple yet effective can really be applied to every aspect of it. The story is simple yet effective. The combat is simple yet effective. The music is simple yet VERY effective. The weapons are only a few (compared to later titles) but again are simple and effective. I think in many ways to have a good "Remake" in a literal and philosophical way, they have to do 1 thing that is probably never gonna happen. Bring back, even if only a few, of the original devs for it. Not necessarily to program or make the art, but to give some feedback and knowledge so something similar yet new can be gained from it. Funnily enough Halo CE Anniversary was a prime example of when that doesn't happen. Maybe even, not the objective but, change some things that were left out due to the time crunch and rushed launch of CE (It's funny how people talk a lot about Halo 2's rushed development but Halo CE was also incredibly rushed). There is a middle ground from falling into the George Lucas trap of thinking you have to mend all the mistakes you want to fix and still keep that thing people loved in the first place. At the end of the day, while it's graphics may be objectively outdated... Halo CE still is incredible.

[@Green-IV]

I wish 343 wasnt so focussed on graphics and more so the story/chain of events in the gameplay and the story itself I played Master's Halo CE mod; Halo Spv3 and omfg, the music, new items, the MAPS- there are new map areas on Silent Cartographer and other maps that made me bust several amounts of nut and I felt as though it was an expanded version of CE made by Bungie. CE levels are my fav and SPv3 took it an extra step forward. There's a mission where you have to evac marines who are getting clapped at alpha base and after you clear the area- multiple pelicans all surround the valley coming towards you all filled with survivors, you can see them unload and secure the base later on near 04's demise, chief (the player) finds himself back at alpha. Packed with sentinels- big and small ones, flood, covenant, and a few desperate marines were all fighting over Alpha base, after you arrive the objective is for the marines to stick with you and gtf out b4 more enemies come to shrek everyone there Most all die xD but at the end you have to get to a downed pelican with a handful of marines, defend against the flood while cortana makes repairs and then you finally gtfo with a couple survivors if youre quick enough to kill the hordes of flood Just the idea that the covenant all died, the marines were the next meal in line for consumption, then chief comes and saves their asses after barely making it out of the library and the infested T&R alive. Best part of 04 was chief being like the one true utility against the flood; doing WHAT HES SUPPOSED TO DO: before anything else- he is THE BANE OF THE FLOOD. As he should be. To me that was always his real purpose. Everything else was just him doing his job best he could until he was really needed Everyone on the Autumn died on 04 because they were following orders to secure cortana, Keyes, every human on the Autumn, all died for her- save for 5 survivors being Chief, Johnson, Locklear the pilot and that oni agent (I think?). And without our green-bean-killing machine, theyd have lost her not just to the covenant but to the flood. Theyd have been doomed if that happened CE remake needs to illustrate all of that, like how Spv3 did. Show us NEW elements/unused story that adds onto the existing remastered missions and doesnt compromise their authenticity and original progression/vibes. Thats what Spv3 did, its altered for the better, building on top of the originals in an expanded way that makes the player reminisce on the old while learning the new all at once. Instead of just one or the other.

[@ErikLosLobos]

Also don't forget this game was made so it can be played in 3D!

[@gipro1]

I remember thinking when I first saw the Anniversary announcement trailer that it didn’t look quite right but I was just glad to see more Halo. In the end it definitely felt like something was lost. Your touch ups really improved the vibe. You made it feel more ominous and spooky which is really how Halo CE felt.

[@Lagrangeify]

We seem to have gone through a prolonged philistine phase with these remasters - the age of 'Monkey Christ' restoration. Capcom are leading the way with their remakes, showing a deep appreciation for the aesthetics of their beloved IPs. So hopefully we do one day get to play the Halo CE of sweet and unreliable memory made fully real and in all its spartan glory.

[@DraphmirEmpire]

Level 1: I would have left the colors in expect dimmed them to match the lighting but otherwise done the same as you did. Next Levels you did it perfectly. Armor: the helmet ended up looking too much like the reach MK V that is too tall and thin like it was smash in from the left and right at the same time

[@nobodykayaks1041]

i have zero faith that 343 can remake halo ce without injecting their own story, plus they might integrate the halo tv show into the game? evil cannot create only destroy.

[@jafooli]

Remaking Halo will be one of the most difficult tasks ever. I want a complete re-imagining with modern gameplay and new levels, but also don't want them to butcher what was great about the original. Your redesigns were great btw.

[@user-yf3cr5ev5p]

I think the remaster devs, in being told they needed to redo the graphics, set out to correct how dark and empty the original game was. And, of course, the remaster was redoing the art to try and match what Bungie had evolved into for Forerunner, Covenant, etc. so it looked cohesive. I think the darkness was a common criticism from players. I know I definitely hated how dark the library was and how my flashlight kept cutting off. Other games of this era also used this flashlight mechanic, like Half Life. I think it was partly because it was a big "wow" factor at the turn of the century. Almost all lighting was static because it was baked into the textures when the maps were compiled. Computer processors couldn't handle anything other than simple dynamic lighting. A flashlight was one of the few dynamic lighting effects of the day and developers turned it into a gameplay mechanic. One where you couldn't have it on all the time, because they put a timer on it for no reason other than to take it away from you. I hated that mechanic. You can argue that it adds to the mood when fighting zombies, or zombie-esque enemies, but to me it's not at all fun to not be able to see what you're being attacked by or shooting at. I especially hated those parts of HL:EP1. It artificially adds difficulty, but hurts bad players more (which included myself back then--I was definitely not that good or skilled). So I think Bungie made some levels darker to set the mood but also to force the flashlight mechanic. Technical limitations would also have mattered because every extra light in a level adds to the time it takes to compile the map, and dynamic lights had to be used judicially, so overall, fewer lights. When I first played the remaster in 2011, I wasn't initially aware of anyone's criticisms. I saw it was much brighter, but I didn't really think about it other than, oh, this is pretty! And it's a lot easier to see the Flood now. Hallelujah! I've seen some videos on the topic, and I get it now. It does indeed change the vibe. Your photoshop work really does bring home how "busy" the remaster was and how overlit it is. The original was too dark, repetitious, and bland (because of the times), but the remaster really went all the way in the opposite direction. In fact, I find this is a problem in modern video games--there's too much detail now and it actually makes it harder to play (FPS's is what I'm thinking of). I'm by no means an awesome gamer, but it's a lot easier to see what's going on in Halo 1 vs. Halo 4. Halo 3 is something of a sweet spot to me. I don't know how much of that is actually the art but it feels the most comfortable. I think the Halo 2 remaster does a good job.

[@Brightside117]

I happily clicked on this on purpose, its always good to hear more about how the next Halo game can implement new things to give new and old stories a clean polish

[@Therippedpackage]

I played Halo CE for the first time with this anniversary edition and I remember I kept trying to convince myself to play with the new graphics because of better quality but the original was just so much more aesthetic, atmospheric almost haunting. It was more visually pleasing but I couldn’t tell why.

[@deadman9335]

I still want to see X-com aliens in a Covenant art style and Covenant in X-com's advent style. Elite wearing something Advent Officer like uniforms and something like a muton or Berserker in brute or hunter like armor.

[@PandaJerk007]

Cool to see your edits to CE:A artstyle :) The 2nd one I like a ton (20:42) I didn't think you would be so bold to try and redo Master Chief's armor! It turned out great though

[@Wernissage]

Glad you liked it:)

[@UrBoiEthanMikl]

I love the fact that most of the anniversary maps were fixed by making it darker

[@blazeneko3384]

When you were redesigning Master Chief, I was thinking how the black parts needed more blue, as so much detail was hidden, and some of it blended together, you can see this working, as the old Master Chief had the blue, and it helped with the detail, and the black parts didn't blend together (it was the pouches that blended together mostly)

[@davidpelaez7176]

343i will watch this and say: "we can do it better and our way, Bungie sux", and then fumble another whole game...

[@MegamanZero410]

Art direction, sound design, music, and themes all play a pivotal role in conveying a story.

[@dreadn1ght11]

The only level that anniversary does somewhat right is the outside areas of silent cartographer. Seeing your way of fixing the forerunner room reminded me of halo 3s a bit

[@TheLocalForecast]

These were great but that CEA Chief rework was SUCH a glow up! I love him.

[@rodneyabrett]

I'm just glad you can still play this game in the original art asset mode in the Anniversary Edition which is my preferred way of playing it(when I'm not playing it on my OG Xbox that is). I've been a professional character modeler/rigger in the games industry since the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era, and there's a lot of things this remaster does wrong from an art aesthetic point of view. They're crushing the blacks and whites by going too high contrast with the textures. With this particular ad hoc lighting and rendering, you need to make sure your tones are tethered in the middle range. Meaning you don't want to paint colors too bright or too dark because it'll get lost in the more limited lighting mode that gives you less range. Either you light the environment properly or you "paint" light in the texture maps and use some sort of low cost vertex lighting or something. Also, when it comes to games from the Gen 6 era, there's a delicate balancing act you have to play when it comes to three things. -Texture resolution -Polycount -output resolution of the image When one of these is out of balance, things look off. For example, when texture resolution is too high for the existing polycount to support it, it gives it that flat fake billboard effect.. and when the texture resolution is too low for the existing polycount, it makes everything seem "blurry" and blobby. This isn't the fist remaster that has made these mistakes. Bully Scholarship Edition and the Price of Persia remasters on PS3/X360 were both awful for the exact same reasons. Great video, btw! I agree with all your points.

[@William_Shaxxspeare]

other than art style, I want 343 to add more thing to Halo CE remaster like wild animals and more missions telling a greater picture of how Pillar of Autumn's crew and Chief fighting in Installation-04

[@theaverageclownhole3369]

Remastering the remaster damn this looks so much better

[@Cocostinkypaws]

Man, I’m glad it wasn’t just me that noticed the cryo room had way too much unnecessary yellow in it. Just yellow stripes everywhere. Also, great video as always. You’re becoming a legend! Each video gets more impressive!

[@madness0169]

Tbh, I enjoy the *Halo: CE Anniversary* remake we have today. It has great lighting, holds up nicely and it has great weapon sounds and music. *Halo: CE Anniversary* and *Halo 2: Anniversary* were amazing in terms of remakes. Now the only Halo game I would want is *Halo 3: Anniversary.* Imagine the graphics, music and even the transformation of Flood hosts. 👀🔥👍🏻❤️

[@NOLNV1]

The lighting likely has to do with a trend around the time (and somewhat still ongoing) toward brighter games for better visibility on any monitor and under any conditions. Also with regards to the "ambient occlusion" it's actually a baked lightmap, something the new engine, and most new engines, can't do. It's a static, very large image of every shadow that was rendered out for the map that can't change, only be lit up.

[@Variant-III]

11:17 i'd say if you're unsure, add some glows to the blue strip lighting in the bg, maybe play with the console lights. Glows go a long way if you know where to put'em. The added underlights under the bridge was a really good touch.

[@TheOutsider69]

Damn I havent seen a Raycon sponsor in a minute. Thought they died.

[@bombomos]

Halo CE is probably my favorite game ever. It's beautiful. Everything about it. Especially Master Chief's Mark V armor

[@SeFu2006]

I didn’t really like the more kiddy friendly tone of the music in Halo 3, but Marty’s work on Halo 1 and 2 is literally gods work

[@natayaway]

2:15 - anniversary's soundtrack did disappoint though, they literally changed the rhythm of a section of the melody, it sounds and feels wrong...

[@RadicalEdward2]

If CE was done right, they would have replaced the blueish Jackals with Skirmishers (just to visually acknowledge the difference them and the orange).

[@fearlesswee5036]

CE:A's worst offense is less the lighting, and I think the desecration of the art style as a whole. It's basically a Reach asset flip, and not only does this lose the mysterious, almost dreamlike 90's mecha-anime inspired visual style that CE and no other Halo since has had, but the Reach models just straight up do not align onto the CE skeletons properly. Jackals have no necks for example. Hunters look a bit silly since it's this big, bulky Reach model scrunched up to fit on the smaller CE hunter body. They also didn't model a chamber for the Magnum. In CE on the equip animation you see into the breach and see a round being chambered. In CE:A there's literally nothing there, just a big featureless flat slab of metal staring at you. It's hilarious it was missed since it's so obvious.

[@alanjeanvazquezpena1133]

My brother in christ that master chief armor you made is just chefs kiss

[@michaellacy3699]

I think time has not been kind to CE anniversary. It was definitely respectable for 2011, especially considering that Saber only had a year to make it. Game remakes have come a long way since then, which has raised people's expectations. I would love to see CE get the same treatment that Halo 2 got.

[@0Defensor0]

Halo Reach also had a Chief model, I'm surprised they didn't use that for the Anniversary version, and just update everything else around it. Could have been a nice continuity. Personally, my main problem with the remaster was the gimmick the built the game around: switching between old and new graphics. A nice idea on it's own, but when you have an action game, things will fall apart quickly. Hitboxes were the problem, even if you play with the new graphics, the hitboxes follow the original assets, leading to a situation when you can't hit things that you clearly see, because the old models weren't as smooth as the new ones. The corners of the Covenant corridors are the worst cases of this.

[@whyNotGuy557]

To think, this Halo leak could've been a Halo 3 Remaster. I know this comment will probably get a lot of "Halo 3's graphics still hold up" or "Halo 3 doesn't need a remaster because of *insert here*". I don't care bout all that. I just wanna experience Halo 3 again with the graphics we can achieve with todays technology. Like we did with Halo 2 Anniversary.

[@nervigeskind3131]

in my opinion, most of CE's graphics arent dated at all. many games strive for the art style CE gracefully pulls off.

[@deathsicon]

damn, the work you did to those levels is AMAZING, i think you may have swung the pendulum just a little far back on the armor, but fixing the proportions was huge and the work is still awesome

[@JanoschNr1]

CE's allready is perfect, more egonomically curved, looks more like the armor tryin to contain the beast of a muscle he got going, the one on the left looks and stands like Jeff, your local tank station employe

[@daeamiralis]

I didn't grow up with halo, I don't have any nostalgia for the old art style. In playing this game with a friend who did grow up with it, we would spend a lot of time after clearing areas just looking around, flipping between artstyles. Its painfully obvious how much more coherent and intentional the artstyle of the original CE is, how much more well put together it is. Alien architecture doesnt need to be designed like an rgb gamer keyboard

[@daeamiralis]

In levels like Keyes, its more directly detrimental to the experience. What should be a dark, confusing, thrilling flood level is instead brightly lit and neon, removing the need for the flashlight and all the suspense

[@jefflukey123]

If they remake Halo they’re gonna have chief take his helmet off just like the TV Show.