The injection of high definition graphics and greater detail does sometimes take away from the intended mood of an area like the visibility being greater in the icy areas, but you don’t have to pick or choose between the graphics as you can press a button and in an instant switch between the original Xbox release’s graphics and the Xbox 360’s updated look. Halo: Combat Evolved – Anniversary gives the game’s campaign mode a big graphical overhaul, adding plenty of detail, light, and color to areas that were sometimes grey hallways or harsh polygonal cliffs in the original game. On the other hand, the remaster has some interesting ideas when it comes how to brush up other elements of the experience. The customizable modes like Slayer where it’s a competition to get the most kills or King of the Hill where you need to hold a position for longer than other players can still are enjoyable to play in these maps, but the authenticity as a remaster is certainly compromised by this unusual choice in which levels should be brought back for multiplayer. ![]() Leaving out the iconic Blood Gulch multiplayer map is baffling, but Beaver Creek’s two base style makes it a good fit for Capture the Flag still and each of the game’s six maps comes with a classic variant where aspects of it like hallways are blocked off to better imitate the old style of gameplay. Rather than remastering the levels from the original Xbox release, it takes a smattering of levels from older Halo games and throws in a new one called Firefight with its own unique mode where you fight off AI opponents. While the batch of maps featured in this remake are rather good for their intended purpose, Halo: Combat Evolved – Anniversary takes a strange approach to the levels it chooses to include. Movement and weapon choice can definitely impact your ability to keep up in competitive matches, especially since the shield system can make skirmishes last a bit longer than the usual player versus player encounter in an FPS. Their overall scope is somewhat small, but this allows for more encounters with enemies and many areas have multiple sight lines to better allow bigger multiplayer matches to have plenty of crossfire chaos. ![]() Multiplayer maps tend to play into the mobility focus of Halo’s action. Jumping plays a rather large role in navigation though as it can make you harder to target and makes some already rather speedy traversal go by faster if used correctly. While the original game was released before cover systems were in vogue, there’s still a focus on moving around the environment to find those areas you can regenerate your shield. Health is not easy to come by and some weapons or vehicles can blast through both health and shields at once, but the layer of regenerating health in addition to the true health that allows for permanent damage means Halo is able to have a mix of encouraging aggression but many ways to punish or leaving lasting marks if the player doesn’t respect the power of an enemy’s weapons. ![]() The first is a shield that can regenerate if you avoid damage for a short period of time, but if the shield is completely depleted, any further damage you take until it can recover is applied to a health bar. When you’re playing as the armored soldier Maser Chief, your health actually comes in two layers. The gameplay mechanics of Halo: Combat Evolved are definitely an important part of its success. Halo: Combat Evolved – Anniversary is simply the remaster that brought this original smash hit to the Xbox’s successor the Xbox 360, with changes both expected and unexpected. Games trying to copy its success were often billed as “Halo killers” though few would really be able to live up to such a title, but it was clear that Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels were a definitive part of the console generation of their release and their influence can still be felt in how many shooters are designed today. ![]() It propelled the console up to being a legitimate contender with the other systems of the time, it reinvigorated the first person shooter genre and popularized ideas like regenerating health, and its sequel lead to a big push towards online multiplayer being a feature in any game that had multiplayer. It’s hard to overstate how much of a phenomenon this science fiction first-person shooter was when it released on the original Xbox.
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