Halo: Combat Evolved, one of the most important games of the early 2000s is back where it belongs, on PCs, and with the updated anniversary-edition graphics of the 2011 Xbox re-release. Other perks of the Master Chief Collection are there too, including improved matchmaking for multiplayer, full Steam integration, and it's not even that expensive. If you buy it by itself, it's just $10.
The original Xbox had a number of fantastic games on it and it did rather well considering how far the consoles have come since. One of the reasons it was able to do as well as it did, was the strength of its launch library, and Halo was a major part of that. A seminal FPS experience with a cooperative campaign, fantastic multiplayer, and a champion of the dual-stick console FPS standard, Halo was a literal game changer.
And now it's back on PCs as part of the Master Chief Collection with updated graphics, better matchmaking, and other Steam enhancements. There will be no server browser like the original release, nor will there be any mod tools, at least at launch. But that seems unlikely to stay that way for long. As PCGamer highlights, modders have already begun adding content to Halo: Reach and that was only released just before Christmas.
This end-goal was touted by 343's senior producer, Michael Fahrny, too: "I think the key is lowering the barrier of entry as much as we can to not only enable people to make mods, but also to allow less technical people to manage their mods," Fahrny said. "The current ways can be complicated and lead to people getting themselves into bad states, it’s just not good for long term modding health. More official tools, things like Steam Workshop support, etc. are the best path forward."
