Hey everyone, wanted to do a quick write up because it doesn't seem like anyone is really talking about this. With the latest patch on steam for MCC Season 7, a lot of original Xbox assets have returned to C.E. Meaning a lot of things people complained about due to Gearabox's PC port being the base for CE anniversary edition as far back as the 360 release are fixed. But for some reason, no one is really talking about this. I did just skim through the steam update notes but I'm pretty sure there is no mention of the graphic changes. Other then having a keen eye, seems like the only source of info for this was in a letter sent to Halo Insiders (the beta program for mcc where you can get exclusive beta builds) detailing the graphic changes that could be seen in the latest insider builds. If you want to see the changes in motion and with comparisons, there appears to be a good YouTube video from all the way back in May showcasing this insider build:
And It appears as of the latest patch, these fixes are now in the main version of MCC. I started up a new game of CE last night and I could easily see the change, with Keyes in particular, right away. Additionally, I noticed some other updates and tweaks (mainly towards frame rate and animations) that have also been implemented since MCC's initial PC release. When Master Chief Collection initially hit PC's with just the campaign and multiplayer for Halo: Reach, it was in dour shape to say the least. When Combat Evolved arrived after that, it was definitely a much smoother release than Reach but it wasn't perfect. Technically, the game let you run at higher refresh rates than 60hz but a lot of key animations like reloading were locked at 30fps for some reason. These issues also appear to be fixed as well and it feels so good to play CE at a locked in 144hz with mouse and keyboard. It's a pretty unique experience since I'm so used to playing Halo as a console shooter. What surprised me the most though is that I now prefer the originals over the anniversaries graphics.
Look at that dude and those square ass corners. Hell yeah. Obviously the anniversary graphics looked, and still look quite good, but the work 343 has done really makes the original experience shine again. Before, I couldn't see a reason to play through CE without the anniversary graphics. Something about the original setting with gearbox's port just felt hallow, like riding on Space Mountain with the lights turned on. But now in comparison to the updated original graphics, the anniversary mode is almost too much.
That's not to say anniversary graphics didn't add anything to the game. They took the time to add some cool nods to the lore like this status screen for John and Linda who appears to be 'unavailable' But it seems like most of the work went into changing entire backgrounds to have more visual esthetics. The choice of which is better is up to you but the changes aren't so much like a traditional remaster but more of a reimagining. The newest update to MCC allows for a more traditional remaster featuring many elements from the original Xbox release presented in today's resolutions and high refresh rates. Also, one other thing I never knew is the cut scenes will use original models if you never tab back to the anniversary graphics. It's pretty cool to see the MCC in a state like this. It's obviously had a pretty troubled dev cycle (for xbox and pc) but it seems like they have really put in the work for both multi and single player over the years. And the world is better for it. After all: This Is Halo, right?
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