-undeniably so fucking jingoistic and patriotic it’s kind of sickening in like a /neg way. I mean I wanna give the devs some excuse here, 2001 was a wildly diff time in American history and hopefully the sequels calmed down politically but also I doubt post 9/11 games do at all and by the time they do they’re so caught up in their silly goofy lore. also idk I have had to excuse right wing/libertarian art I like a lot more than I like this but still leaves a bit of a gross taste in ur mouth.
-suppose it helps that the actual plot here is a fucking bore. master chef and blue minx Cortana boring fucking characters, idc about them or what happened to them or why ur fighting aliens lol. which sucks cuz the world here is so fully formed and fleshed out but I’m not watching rlly boringly directed cutscenes to figure out how we got here nor am I reading some nerd ahh book.
-environmental storytelling here hits though, like I feel like I’m able to glean enough from how the maps are laid out to come out w a more satisfying plot line than whatever is actually happening in the foreground. like rlly cool stuff implied about the balance between nature n tech which is like more apropos in ‘23 than ‘01. idk I live in a major metropolitan city w no greenery or nature to speak of whatsoever which is so diff than my rural upbringing. there’s a real seeming living breathing ecosystem here and that’s cute and smth more games should attempt to do.
-tbh I don’t even mind that the back half of this game is just more or less the same maps from the first half slightly tweaked. I like it like thematically, Ie the effects of war and how nothing ever rlly changes, everything is cyclical. real ending of watchmen/beginning of guns of the patriots wave. btw I don’t like watchmen I’ve just read it and think silk spectre/nite owl are cute.
-played through the middle chapters on my phone w game pass while watching the sex and the city reboot w my bf….and I was wearing new brandy melville shirt….life is good
-consistently felt like Michael Cera in Superbad when he’s playing ps2 game and he keeps complaining about how unfair it is.
-the vehicle controls are actually so awful omg, why would accelerate ever be anything other than the triggers or the action button, actually so evil

Not a fan.

I thought that being able to swap between the CE and AV graphics at the press of a button is really cool!
Until i realized AV still uses CE collision for everything.
For example: a hill in CE is 3ft tall, and is 2ft tall in AV but, still acts as if its 3ft tall, so it blocks your bullets despite nothing visibly being there.

The lighting and atmosphere is also a significant downgrade. this is most noticeable in the levels "Truth and Reconciliation" and "343 Guilty Spark". in CE the lighting was perfect for the setting and in AV they just used pretty ordinary lighting so what used to be some of the best looking levels in the game is just...kinda eh?

I'm not really one to care about graphics, so messing up atmosphere in trade for drab generic "modern" lighting, when CE did atmosphere so well it just kinda...defeats the point of remaking it?
i guess at least the new lighting makes it so you can actually see 3ft in front of you in "The Library", so that's something AV improves.

Oh, and also, NO 4 PLAYER CO-OP? REALLY??? just, COULDN'T manage that? I absolutely would forgive the iffy collision and boring lighting if they added 4 player co-op! or hell, ANY significant gameplay upgrades? like maybe make NPCs be able to drive for shit? fix the shitty co-op check-pointing? nothing?

Just, overall a pretty shit remake. it's still a fine way to play the game, but it completely fails to improve on CE or justify it's own existence.

I feel like I am the inverse of what people like about this game since my friend who I played this entire thing with told me the Library level was widely hated and that level for me was the absolute highlight due to its strong atmosphere and more condensed level design. I really don't like how big and empty a lot of levels in this game feel, especially coupled with the ridiculously slow walking speed. I do think the game gets better as it goes on, starting with a good opener but then dropping you into a couple levels that I really did not like for aforementioned reasons but then coming around again towards the end in the last three or so levels. The music is really good throughout and the original look is great and that pussy ass Master Queef is funny but sadly I just didn't have a lot of fun playing it most of the time.

It's the same great Halo you know and love with some shiny new textures and models and lighting, though unfortunately most of these graphical changes compromise the game's art direction and make it look rather garish and inconsistent, and the classic mode graphics have some visual regressions and downgrades from the original Xbox version. Multiplayer is also a disappointment in the Xbox 360 version as instead of the original multiplayer it includes what basically amounts to a pack of remade Halo 1 maps for Halo Reach, and whether you like that is going to hinge on whether you like Halo Reach, though luckily the original multiplayer is restored in the MCC version.

To be blunt, I never had a whole lot of interest in coming back to Halo 1, but having decided to do so anyways, it holds up surprisingly well! I had a good time with it, you can really see why it was influential. It does start running out of steam after the big flood reveal, but everything that leads up to that and the excellent final setpiece do a lot to make up for it.

I actually think the anniversary visuals are a fun novelty, but obviously the original version is absolutely the way to play. The terminals however feel like a weak afterthought, and do nothing but muddy up a solid story. They might be worth experiencing just to say you did, hell maybe they sparked something for hardcore fans, but I'd say save them for a second playthrough if at all.

Halo with a fresh coat of paint but you'll likely revert the graphics to the originals anyway. Everything thing good and bad about the original Halo still holds true here, with gorgeous but at times repetitive levels and simple but satisfying FPS gameplay with a good variety in the enemies you face down. One con of playing this on PC is the default keyboard controls are horrible and I had a hard time finding something comfortable for me. It's a great time with or without a friend, and the multiple difficulty levels with added modification options and achievements to unlock give you plenty of reason to replay if you so desire.

Sometimes when beginning a series with an older game of a genre I don't always fully enjoy, I do worry about my experience

However, Halo CE Anniversary Edition has totally made me reconsider. The game at its core is a perfect length, has just the right amount of complexity, a well thought out world, very good level design, a story you can actually follow while running and gunning with a handful of well thought out characters, and (of course) an addictive combat. Tie this together with the (mostly) all the positive charm of this generation of games, along with the revamped graphics, sound, HD rumble, and lightning loading times - you've got a hell of a fun 5-7 hours with a buddy (I recommend highly)

My main qualms are just the very slight repetitiveness of gameplay in some parts as well as some random buggy pauses in the game (one that resulted in a crash), and some forced platforming with terrible platforming mechanics

Platform: Xbox Series X
Date Started: January 2nd, 2022
Date Finished: May 6th, 2023
Time Played: Unknown

"Just dust and echoes."

I was really looking forward to jumping back into and replaying this franchise, even now for the third or fourth time, but in the back of my mind I always kind of dread the majority of this first game.

Repeated levels, same-same corridors filled with seemingly endless waves of enemies that can kill you instantly even on the medium difficulty, backtracking through the same missions on reused maps, tedious level design that feels directionless and repetitive - in my eyes Halo: Combat Evolved doesn't hold up in it's second half near as excellently as it does in it's first.

It's a shame, too, because the story and characters, the world and the gun-play all stand the test of time, but during certain levels I couldn't wait to get to the end.