Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary (Xbox 360)

Halo redefined the FPS (First Person Shooter: You see through the character's eyes) genre and became the game every other FPS had to measure up to. You can sum up why Halo excels above other FPS games in a single word, variety. Like food, games quickly get dull if you just keep doing the same thing over and over. So it can pay dividents to mix things up a bit to keep the player interested. The problem with this is that you can end up with a game that doesn't know what it is. The designers try and cram too much into it and it ends up trying to do everything and doing none of it well. When you scrutinise Halo, you find it is stuffed with variety. There are driving sections and flying sections in there, but they don't seem tacked-on, they form a natural, seamless part fo the gameplay. The weapons provided are varied too, and importantly, sometimes choice is given, and sometimes you don't get a choice of weapon, you have to use what's there. The environments are varied: with lush, open vistas, swamps, cramped corridors, alien ships etc. The enemies are varied: From chimp-like Grunts, through fast, feline Elites up to the imposing Hunters. The gameplay is varied: The provision of a shield allowed a fundimental change in the was the FPS is played. The player is empowered to be brave for so long as the shield lasts, but when low, the player must seek cover. This results in a wonderful variety of emotions as you go from bold attacks to cowering behind cover desperately hoping your shield will recharge before the enemies catch up with you. The difficulty is varied: Many games adjust difficulty very cheaply by adding more enemies and taking away weapons and health packs. Not so Bungie (and now 343). Yes on higher levels, there are more enemies. But the enemies are stronger and smarter. Your mad charges that cut swathes through them on the lower levels will see quickly you cut down on the higher levels. This forces you to change your strategy and as you do, you discover that you can prevail. The feeling of elation when you take out your first Elite on the Legendary setting is quite a rush. All that I've written is valid for the original XBox version of the game. The 360 version builds on this by ramping up the graphics dramatically, and making the game look fantastic. 343 have converted the game with great care, attention to detail and with obvious affection. A masterful update. Oh, and there's multiplayer too, apparently.... ;-) The "wink" there signifies ironic understatement. The original Halo multiplayer was excellent, and gave a choice of co-operative play or competitive play on a good selection of environments. Halo Anniversary has all that, and adds the benefit of a decade of improvement to the Halo multiplayer experience. This is a classic game that you really must play if you have any interest in the FPS genre.

Having played both this and every other Halo game thoroughly I can tell you this game is a real worthy remake of the Original Halo CE. Campaign; - The game preserves Halo's classic storytelling qualities and the sense of wonderment the game so effectively put across when it was released 10 years ago. - The new graphics feel great and will inspire even the most hardest Halo fan to replay the campaign, also the ability to switch between old and new graphics is a well thought addition and really emphases the previous point - The Old favourite Magnum retorns in full power along with Halo CE's other famous attributes - The return of 'Skulls' from Halo 2 & 3 is great and provides purpose to exploration - Terminals... I'll let you see for yourself - LIVE coop... something CE really needed. KINECT; - The voice recognition may be a tad sketchy at times but a fun gimmick nonethless - Changing the graphics with voice is probably the best command - The 'Library' and consequent 'analyse' and 'scan' modes really makes it feel good to own a Kinect... while this isn't worth buying a Kinect for it is certainly a nice feature Multiplayer; - Use all your Reach stats and Spartan.... works like a brilliant map pack - 6 Classic maps from Halo 1 & 2... great to re-visit - 1 Firefight map... the perfect classic setting in Halo 1 that was just bursting for firefight -brilliant- the addition of four or so ODSTs to assist you is great Edit; 3D! - Having just purchased a 3D monitor I was able to try out this less well known about feature. It definitely works. It's physically possible and feasible to play through the game entirely in 3D as it adds depth but doesn't interrupt play or strain your eyes or distract you in tense moments. Definitely not a required feature to play the game but if you possess a 3D screen it is worth taking this feature for a spin. However; This is a remake... and in that league this is the best by far that I have seen, but despite remastered, the Graphics are not on par with newer games, also as the game is true to the original the AI and easy-to-get-lost levels are back, probably for the better for Halo fans but gamers new to Halo may not appreciate that in the same way. The multiplayer is basically Reach but the addition of a few specific playlists allow for classic Halo play... but this is how I would have wanted it to be. In conclusion this is a remake really worthy of it's title and a must buy for fans of the franchise... but newer gamers may wish to read into the story a little first etc to appreciate it for what it is. Also the very reasonable price tag reflects these points.

I should start by admitting I was a huge fan of Halo when it first released on Xbox. I'd never really been into consoles and playing it at a friends made me decide to go out and buy an Xbox at the time. I'd always been a fan of PC gaming and never thought consoles could host a first class shooter; this game proved that very wrong and delivered (at the time) the best sci-fi shooter I had played. Ten years on the game was remade. Fundamentally it's the same excellent game, with exactly the same campaign based around Master Chief and his battles with the Covenant but there have been some major improvements. The most important for me was the addition of online co-op. Myself and a friend did find a way of using system link and gamespy arcade via our PC's to play Halo over the internet as if we were playing on a lan at the time but it wasn't too reliable for us. The addition of built in co-op over xbox live with the usual integrated voice chat and ease of use made a big difference and led to a wonderful few Thursday nights playing our way back through this. The game also contains a bunch of classic Halo multiplayer maps, redeveloped in the multiplayer engine from Halo Reach Halo: Reach (Xbox 360) and playable over xbox live for the first time. The other major change is a big overhaul of the graphics, bringing them closer to current gen standards. They're not quite cutting edge but using the back button allows you to switch between classic and new graphics and see just how far they have come. Due to the improvements I'd consider this a worthwile remake of classic game. Perhaps not essential but well worth it.

I bought this so me and my friend could play through it on co-op as we have enjoyed all the recent halo games. Now I knew this was a remake of a 10 year old game but got his is awful. I'm sure that 10 years ago this was one hell of a game but things have moved considerably and the quality of this remake is just too poor - even the new shiny graphics aren't really up to much. In co-op the connection was poor (we both have excellent broadband connections and no problems with other games). Both times we finished the first level the game crashed. The game was very jumpy/stuttery too. If I'd have paid 400msp for this I'd have probably said it was worth it, but seriously £30 quid for this trash!? If you see this in the bargain bin for £2 and you're curious then give it a try - otherwise leave well alone keep your money. Original Halo fans - just keep your fond memories from 10 years ago and don't ruin them playing this rubbish.

I was badly disappointed with this game. I had hoped for a completely re-made "Halo: Combat Evolved" using the full "Reach" gameplay engine and interface. Instead, despite the HD up-scaling and retooling of the art I got a plodding and blocky throwback to 2001. The underlying game shows its age BADLY and the "Reach" engine was squandered to give only features and a HUD that roughly approximate the original. This is a a mistake and while objectively it is still a reasonable FPS, this Frankenstein's Monster feels heavily incongruous among a world that has moved on a very long way indeed. HOWEVER, one factor does almost redeem these failings and indeed makes the game itself nearly disposable. This is the fact you get a DLC code for a FREE 'Anniversary' map pack to download for 'Reach' online deathmatching. If bought separately from the 360 marketplace this costs £9.99... Therefore, at the end of the day for ~£15 this suddenly becomes reasonable value. £5 for a not wholly terrible wraith of a long-deceased game is... okay... value. To sum up: worth it for the free 'Reach' DLC.

Halo 1 is back and what a treat it is. I've been playing the online multiplayer for hours and the new maps are so addictive. 343 have included multiplayer maps from both Halo 1 and Halo 2 with the classic gameplay. Pistols, with scopes are back, 3 shots and your opponent is dead. Here is a complete list of the maps released so far: .Beaver Creek (Battle Canyon) .Hang 'Em High (High Noon) .Damnation (Penance) .Timberland (Ridgeline) .Prisoner (Solitary) .Headlong (Breakneck) I've already played 15 games of Big Team Battle today. It's been amazing so far. The map full of forests called Timberland is great to play, especially with capture the flag. The warthogs feel great as well. This is been the best multiplayer experience I've had since my days of playing Halo 2 on original Xbox Live. Speaking of which, the Headlong map is an exact replica of the Halo 2 version, every polygon and every texture. I can't wait to play more of it. I've been so absorbed in online multiplayer that I have yet to play the campaign. However I'm glad 343 included the option to choose the remastered visuals or the old xbox 1 visuals. Same goes with the soundtrack, either the remastered version or the classic version. The achivements look really good and it will take me alot longer than most other games to unlock them all, especially on Legendary, which is so much harder than Reach's campaign. Also like to add that inside my gamebox came 4 codes. 1 code gives you free access to the DLC to play on your hard drive. 2 codes unlock an extra skull and an avatar, plus the usual 2 day Gold trial is included too. Halo Anniversary is the best Halo game since Halo 3 was released back in 2007. 343 have already stated publically if Halo Anniversary is popular than (a) they will release more map packs from Halo 1 and 2 and (b) Halo 2 will get the full remake it deserves.

I pre-ordered this game back in August 2011, eagerly awaiting the remake of my favourite game from childhood. And to an extent, 343 have delivered. Good Points: The visual uplift is absolutely amazing. No matter what I think about the rest of the game, I simply cannot deny that 343 have achieved wonders upgrading the graphics - they have managed to retain the beauty and innovation of the original game, yet have enhanced it very well. My jaw still drops every time I play this game, 3 months on. I find this graphical upgrade best shown at the start of "Two Betrayals". Halo's control room looks like the stuff of dreams. The switching button (back button) between the original graphics and today's graphics was an absolutely excellent idea. Whoever thought of it needs a medal - bear in mind though, the switch is not instant (though it is pretty fast). I have found this out the hard way in the middle of a fight when I have died mid switch!!! The game is essentially 90% accurate to the original. I do commend 343 for their efforts - It can't have been easy to remake Bungie's masterpiece, especially with all the pressure on them to get it right. Well done 343. Bad Points: Ok, the multiplayer almost ruined this game for me. While I think it's nice they've linked it with Reach's multiplayer, personally I don't particularly like reach's multiplayer...so that didn't do it for me right from the start. I appreciate though that this is a matter of personal opinion, so if you liked Reach's multiplayer, feel free to give it a whirl - there's not a lot to do though. There is 1 firefight map - Installation 04. While it's not a bad map, its not brilliant either. (In my opinion of course). There is also a lack of maps - there is only about 5 or 6. HOWEVER. I can honestly say that Big Team Battle on Ridgeline (what was Timberland) is EPIC. unfortunately, though, 343 has committed an (in my eyes, unforgivable) crime. There is NO BLOOD GULCH. Many people will be asking "So what, its just one map?" Look up how successful Red vs Blue was, then get the original Halo 1 and have a game of capture the flag with your mates on Blood Gulch. That my friends, is true happiness. Or at least it was for me! Other issues for me - textures struggling to load getting stuck in walls numerous freezes getting stuck in walls AI covenant seems to be quite inconsistent for me (sometimes they're really good, sometimes they're really bad) getting stuck in walls. Overall: Essentially a great game, which remains true to the fundamentals of the original Halo. For me, the omission of Blood Gulch and the decision to implement the multiplayer of Halo Reach rather than standalone CE multiplayer ruined the experience. Regardless, the campaign is amazing (ignoring the moderate number of glitches) and my issues are mostly personal opinion anyway, so I would recommend this game. The main thing for me is that it didn't dazzle me in the way CE did all them years ago. But that's probably because there's a great deal more fancy tech out nowadays then there was 10 years ago. P.S - I've using the Funeral Skull (Pre order bonus) for my legendary playthrough and it makes it far too easy!!! Just a word of warning ;)

so halo combat evolved was a great game and arguably one of the best games ever. so you take CE's wonderful story, environments, weapons, music and gameplay and give it a 2011 make-over and what do you get? A simply astounding looking and sounding game that brings back all the memories that you experienced in 2001 while adding new maps and modes to the already magnificent reach multiplayer. So the most noticable change is the improved graphics which look amazing and just add so much more depth to the game, weapons and other sounds including the soundtrack sound so much more powerful and immersive and all make the game so much better. 343 did well to stay true to the original by keeping the core gameplay the same. the addition of skulls and terminals are nice as it gives you something else to do in campaign. all in all a great game made better and with the addition of the new maps and game modes its well worth the money.