This is a very SAFE remake of the first game. It's basically the first game with updated graphics, cutscenes, and most importantly: the gameplay......that's it.....all done in Unreal Engine. It doesn't break anything, nor does it push the boundaries of Halo that the series has done before. At first, all of this sounds like a negative. It's not. It gives me exactly what I'd expect out of a Halo game which is to give me a fun gameplay experience from the first iteration that doesn't change too much of what made the original so great. It's not flawless though so I'll list my pros and cons down below.
Pros:
- Very satisfying gameplay loop (most important) which is what I expect out of a halo game
- much smoother gameplay imported into a Halo Combat Evolved story.
- Gorgeous visuals despite not using the traditional Slipspace engine. the main campaign levels look soooo good.
- the main story has not changed drastically
- some scenes flow better in my opinion than they did in the original
- Unlike Halo purists, I do like the change they made to the health system. I'm glad they got rid of the healthpack items and replaced it with a separate rechargeable bar that allows you to see how low your health will get before your character is dead. Rather than looking for healthpack drops allows me to enjoy and progress through the game unnecessarily interrupted. Keep in mind, healthpack systems were dropped in Halo 2 and I enjoyed that mechanic ever since. This time, it's improved so you can view your base health on the HUD rather than guessing. I hope they implement this is future titles.
- Some environments look way more improved than the original.
Cons:
- There are some glitches, primarily in the checkpoint systems, sometimes an automatic checkpoint will happen at the worst possible time leaving me stuck and having to restart the entire mission.
- The 3 bonus missions didn't do anything for me. They were kinda boring, repetitive and didn't add anything to the halo lore. If anything they changed a bit of the lore which made me kinda irate. For example: I don't understand why they felt it was necessary to diminish the brutes like that. Saying that they brutes can be controlled makes them useful. Only by destroying their chest devices unleashes their rage against allies and foes. That doesn't make any sense. The brutes in Halo were never like that at all. They had their own intelligence that made them prominent enemies in the halo lore. This change makes them look foolish.
- Let's get this out of the way: Lt Williams is a very useless character in the bonus missions, and poorly written. I get it that she is a UNSC ODST and because of that has a rivalry with Spartans, isn't enough to make her character compelling. Spoiler alert: she makes a sacrifice play at the end for the wrong reasons. She sacrifices herself and her squad because she doesn't want Master Chief to get all the glory. Compare that to Jorge's sacrifice play in the middle of Halo: Reach, where he chose to sacrifice himself because he had no other option and wanted to protect the planet he loved so much.....the comparison is night and day. One did it for compassion, the other did it for glory to prove a point, whatever that point is. It's not compelling, it's foolish writing, and makes the character unlikeable.
- The improvement to the Library mission didn't really make the mission any less annoying to play through compared to the original.....it's still a repetitive slog through waves of Flood enemies that will annoy you to no end. It does look prettier, but it's still an annoying mission. and the color palette is a bit ugly to be honest compared to the original for that mission specifically.
- NO competitive multiplayer (currently). This game regardless of being mostly a remake of the campaign should've come with at least a Slayer mode with the familiar maps players want to play in
- this game came too late honestly. I think this remake would've made a bigger impact if it had been released years ago. it should've came out around the time this was announced which was 2 years ago, meaning production of this remake would've needed to have started in 2022. Or if it had come out during that lull period between halo 5 and infinite, that would've been a better time window for sure. I know it's useless to say that now, but it's just a thought I had since this game desperately needs to make an impact
So all in all, this game does things that are great, such is giving us a solid remake of the original with updated gameplay/graphics imported into a beloved story that fans like myself or new players can enjoy time and time again.....and there are things this game where there are some mis-steps like the 3 bonus missions. I felt like most players can play this game without playing those bonus missions and feel like they lost nothing.
Regardless of any short-comings this remake provides I do think this game is a solid game to pick up for those who haven't played halo before and want to experience the story for the first time or for returning players who want to see their favorite story updated with smoother gameplay. I'd absolutely recommend this for those reasons. Now is this game worth $50?.......to be honest....NO......I think this should be a $40 game at launch because after all, this is just a SAFE remake/product with no Slayer mode and overall doesn't push halo's boundaries that we haven't seen before. But if you're a die-hard fan, this is definitely worth it for you regardless cause it is still fun. Which in my opinion is the MOST IMPORTANT thing this remake should be judged on. Does it retain that fun 30 second loop of fun spread out through the entire game? Absolutely....no question. So if you want a solid game to play, this is still it.
Side note: Cortana doesn't look that bad compared to what others are saying....she could look better, but I suspect the reason why in some scenes she looks odd is probably because the animations needed some extra cleanup. That's all I'm going to say about that.
