Halo: The Master Chief Collection Reviews
While I think I would have given up playing a Halo 2 remaster on its own after a few months, The Master Chief Collection will keep me busy for quite a while. The sheer number of maps, variants, playlists, and rulesets will keep me interested for months on end. I can already envision myself joining groups of friends who only like particular games, forming separate communities within the collection. Not only that, but this is also the perfect way to replay each campaign if I ever get the itch instead of finding multiple discs. This is the new gold standard for remakes. Well done, 343 Industries.
Rarely does a game deliver everything its players could ever ask for, but Halo: The Master Chief Collection does just that. Everything is here that should be here: the campaigns, the multiplayer engines, the maps and the visuals.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is one of the best collection games I've ever played, and that is due to the actual hard work that has been put into making this excellent bundle of arguably Xbox's biggest series of all time. I've never played Halo 1, 2 or 3 before, so this collection was the perfect reason to finally say I've played these great games, and I recommend any new Halo players reading this review to buy this game just for the crazy amount of Halo content you will be getting in one game. I was also extremely impressed with the visual upgrade of Halo 2's campaign, which has set the level of quality you should expect from remakes on current gen consoles. Many wondered whether a masterpiece could be remastered, and in this case it can.
The 343 could not be wrong with this collection and, by God, they did not. The Master Chief Collection is a pack with mammoth content, which contains the best versions currently available of all the adventures of Master Chief, as well as a monstrous and potentially infinite multiplayer compartment and countless extras. We're not usually big fans of HD remakes, but when the quality is that we can just bow our heads and let it pass. If you love Halo and have an Xbox One, this collection is a must have.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is as close to a masterclass in the field of remastered collections as we've seen to date. It's lacking in some areas - like those pesky (just about) untouched versions of Halo 3 and 4 - and there's the odd glitch here and there, but that's just nitpicking. The interface alone (kudos to co-developer United Front Games, there) blows away these concerns, and you don't even shoot anything with that.
Whatever else might be in included in the Master Chief Collection, that feeling is at the heart of the game: it is a remembrance of things past, and those things are not as they were. The Collection is an instantaneous embrace of past and present that combines gaming's powerful sense of nostalgia with its perpetual arms race of processing and graphical power. It is part of a growing appreciation of the past in a medium which until recently was resolutely forward-looking. Proust would bloody love it.
Packed with content and freshly remastered, Halo: The Master Chief Collection is the definitive celebration of a series and its fans.
If you disliked the original Halo games, odds are this collection and its new coat of paint will not convince you that a sci-fi FPS is right for you. If you loved the Halo games, odds are you have this title ordered already and are anxiously awaiting dozens of hours of story content and potentially hundreds of hours of online play.
Even with these minor gameplay concerns, Halo: The Master Chief Collection offers the best version of each game contained within - and the fact that there are four games here (complete with four games' worth of achievement points) for the price of one makes this a thoroughly worthwhile package. Longtime Halo fans get the opportunity to quickly and easily revisit their favourite levels, or jump into a reinvigorated multiplayer; newcomers to the series get the best, most seamless experience of the Halo series.
For me, being able to finally play Halo 2 multiplayer again was worth the price of admission, but toss in 100 maps, Forge, Spartan Ops (coming) and four of the best FPS campaigns in history and it is impossible not to recommend this. If you own an Xbox One this game is a must own. If not, it might be time to buy one.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection sets a new benchmark for remakes, HD collections and re-releases by delivering thirteen years of excellence in a single purchase. Four restored campaigns, comprehensive multiplayer, one cohesive experience that reminds us just how important Halo was to videogames and the FPS genre... and how much fun it still is.
This is a dense, content-rich package that raises the bar for remakes and re-releases. Whether you want to relive the campaigns or revisit multiplayer, you can find something here to enjoy
As mentioned earlier, this is the best fan service (on any console) that I have seen. If you're feeling nostalgic, the purchase is a no-brainer. If you want a piece of gaming history, same rule applies. Master Chief has returned to Xbox and he's better than ever.
What was intended as a nostalgia trip has also become a blueprint for how remastering games ought to be done.
With four complete single player campaigns, over 100 multiplayer maps, and a ton of other extras, Halo: The Master Chief Collection stands as the greatest compilation and remake in gaming history. Anyone with even a passing interest in the series will find a lot to love in this package.
Yet it's hard to get hung up on slight missteps when The Master Chief Collection is already so generous. It's a grand celebration and a potent reminder why the green Spartan rose to a level of prominence that few can match. Many HD collections or remasters are often pleasant trips down memory lane, but this feels like more than that. It's a gripping reintroduction into all things Halo and something that will likely be enjoyed for years to come.
A great collection for all shooter and science fiction fans. As well as Halo, of course.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Halo Master Chief collection is the most massive and quality port package ever. 343 industries managed to overhaul the campaigns, also very well combine different types of multiplayeres from each title while maintaining their specific style and now in 1080p and at 60 fps.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
In the end, The Master Chief Collection brings a better version of the first Anniversary, a similar treatment for Halo 2 producing even more impressive results, and tweaked versions of Halo 3 and 4 for good measure. That's a no-brainer for both singleplayer and cooperative fans, but the weight of the multiplayer – re-capturing the gameplay and maps of Halo 2 to the finest detail – can't be underestimated.
Based on my experiences with the four Halo campaigns, it's clear that Microsoft and 343 Industries have set the new bar for remake collections. They could have easily just packaged Halo 2: Anniversary as a stand-alone title, exactly like they did with Halo: CE Anniversary on Xbox 360, and it would have been justifiable to recommend. Add in three more full Halo games, all with graphical and framerate enhancements, and The Master Chief Collection is very easy to recommend.