Halo Anniversary
- Thread starter Rangers
- Start date
I'm really not too sure what to think about this. Loved Halo 1, if it had feature parity with today's Halo games it would probably be my #1 game in the series. Easily put in over 100 hours playing co-op with my best friend, when we had nothing better to do we just threw in Halo on legendary and always had a blast.
However if this rumor turns out to be true, which is likely, then that means 3 halo games in 3 years (4 if you count Halo Wars). MS risk running franchise fatigue for those who aren't already tired of the series. Also they delayed Gears 3 to the holiday period, putting these two games within the same quarter is a huge mistake and missed opportunity IMO. Wanting to release the game on the 10th year anniversary as the original Halo CE is cute, but I think it would be better to delay it until next spring.
Multiplayer is also another factor that isn't clear. Do they want to release another MP Halo game so soon after Reach? Will the unbalanced weapons *cough* pistol *cough* stay the same?
The info in the article is also kind of questionable IMO. Have no problem with Saber, I think they can do the remake well, but not using the Reach engine? There is a reason why Halo games have a look, feel, and level layout of their own. I'm not too sure you can replicate everything the Halo engine does with just any engine. Furthermore, what does 1080p "support" mean? Every 360 game supports 1080p, if it runs at 1080p natively, then that's a detail worth mentioning. Don't care about 3D and I don't expect anything to really change with the level design. I would be highly disappointed if it didn't have online co-op, that's for sure.
So I guess consider me cautiously optimistic?
However if this rumor turns out to be true, which is likely, then that means 3 halo games in 3 years (4 if you count Halo Wars). MS risk running franchise fatigue for those who aren't already tired of the series. Also they delayed Gears 3 to the holiday period, putting these two games within the same quarter is a huge mistake and missed opportunity IMO. Wanting to release the game on the 10th year anniversary as the original Halo CE is cute, but I think it would be better to delay it until next spring.
Multiplayer is also another factor that isn't clear. Do they want to release another MP Halo game so soon after Reach? Will the unbalanced weapons *cough* pistol *cough* stay the same?
The info in the article is also kind of questionable IMO. Have no problem with Saber, I think they can do the remake well, but not using the Reach engine? There is a reason why Halo games have a look, feel, and level layout of their own. I'm not too sure you can replicate everything the Halo engine does with just any engine. Furthermore, what does 1080p "support" mean? Every 360 game supports 1080p, if it runs at 1080p natively, then that's a detail worth mentioning. Don't care about 3D and I don't expect anything to really change with the level design. I would be highly disappointed if it didn't have online co-op, that's for sure.
So I guess consider me cautiously optimistic?
Halo 1 is 10 years old, there's a good chance about half the people playing the games today haven't seen it and are interested to see the first adventure of the characters. Sure the game itself won't be that much but at half price or lower and with contemporary graphics, I'd get it just to have a complete collection on the 360 (and replay it, considering I had a very small SDTV for the first one).
It's probably not going to look as good as Reach, but way better than playing the original via backwards compatibility, and 3D could add a bit to the gameplay (there are some very large vistas there). So it's a good offer for half price or so, especially via digital download. But for $60 it really is a bad joke I'd say.
It's probably not going to look as good as Reach, but way better than playing the original via backwards compatibility, and 3D could add a bit to the gameplay (there are some very large vistas there). So it's a good offer for half price or so, especially via digital download. But for $60 it really is a bad joke I'd say.
I pretty much agree with all your points regarding the engine, 1080p etc.
If this is true, MS would have 3 games for the back half of 011 (Gears 3, Forza 4, Halo Remake) and that's not bad. It's the first half thats been lacking all along.
It's interesting Rein originally tweeted that Gears 3 had been pushed back to September at the time of the delay, before removing it presumably because the date wasnt supposed to be revealed. So at least there would be some temporal separation between Gears 3 and Ce Remake...
I dont get why people welcome the God of War remakes, Team Ico collection, Splinter Cell, etc etc etc but a Halo remake is "milking it" and "franchise fatigue"?
The question to me basically is "would I rather have the remake or not" and the answer is, of course. The more games the better.
I'd welcome a remake, the only reason why I said cautiously optimistic is due to the lack of concrete info which makes me hesitate to get my hopes too high.
I welcome a great remake of any great game, last gen REmake was one of my favorite games.
My point about franchise fatigue was more geared towards the marketing side and the kind of impact annual releases can make going forward. IMO we don't need a new Halo every year, it's not healthy for the series when Reach is already trailing being Halo 3 in sales.
On top of that, there is also the other issues I mentioned concerning MP. If I were them, I'd recreate all of Halo 1's MP maps in the Reach engine and offer it as a massive DLC on Live for Reach while also including all of Reach's MP maps in this rumored CE remake. That way both parties are catered to and the player base isn't split.
I find the art asset issue somewhat amusing considering just how much could actually be recycled from the work done in Halo 3 and Reach:
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The mention of both 1080p and 3D just seems too at odds with what I'd expect from Microsoft. I would have expected useful updates being pimped like online co-op or theater mode or multiplayer plans.
So... eh. I'll believe it when it becomes official.
- Forerunner architecture textures
- Returning weapons (AR, Pistol, Plasma Rifle, Needler etc) & effects
- Vehicles
- Pillar of Autumn exterior, Keyes, the brief cameo of a spartan & Mark V suit in cryostasis
- The Flood & Covenant models (including those covenant purple crates )
- And then there's the couple of level setpieces that are recreations of Halo CE locations - the control room, the rooms leading to Silent Cartographer.
. The mention of both 1080p and 3D just seems too at odds with what I'd expect from Microsoft. I would have expected useful updates being pimped like online co-op or theater mode or multiplayer plans.
So... eh. I'll believe it when it becomes official.
Well, it's not that simple, although I imagine Microsoft has mad a proper contract with Bungie to gain access to their assets. Still, if the engines are different enough, it may take significant effort to convert stuff like shaders or transfer animations.
I still think it's a good idea in many ways. The game design is fully in place so there's no need to experiment and not much to playtest. Art designs are in place and the gameplay shouldn't be so demanding that upgrading the engine would cause too much of a problem.
And we've seen that the GOW remake selled rather well, so there's certainly enough demand for it, especially if you compare GOW's sales to those of the Halo franchise. Also, if it's a success, they can move on to Halo 2 straight away.
I still think it's a good idea in many ways. The game design is fully in place so there's no need to experiment and not much to playtest. Art designs are in place and the gameplay shouldn't be so demanding that upgrading the engine would cause too much of a problem.
And we've seen that the GOW remake selled rather well, so there's certainly enough demand for it, especially if you compare GOW's sales to those of the Halo franchise. Also, if it's a success, they can move on to Halo 2 straight away.
Since MS owns the Halo IP, don't they also hold ownership over all the aspects related to it? Meaning don't they own the Halo engines, assets, etc.?
dragonelite
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(((interference)))
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Hmm, Saber Interactive - I remember Timeshift, not good memories, would be better if someone like Gearbox were doing it (they did they original PC port).
I don't mind what they do too much as long as they keep the original multiplayer intact, weapon balance and all we don't need them to nerf the pistol and make it like the rest of the series.
They should really use the Reach engine though, can't see why they wouldn't unless MS does not have access to the engine?
I don't mind what they do too much as long as they keep the original multiplayer intact, weapon balance and all we don't need them to nerf the pistol and make it like the rest of the series.
They should really use the Reach engine though, can't see why they wouldn't unless MS does not have access to the engine?
The Reach engine would be proprietary software really, so it should fully belong to Bungie. Handing over the engine is one thing. Saber would have to learn all the tools and receive technical support from Bungie. It'd be less of a hassle for Saber to handle production internally.
(((interference)))
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True, I wonder if they will just port the Halo 1 engine ala the Perfect Dark HD remake and up the texture resolution and polycounts. Wouldn't look too bad if its running at 1080p with some AA and AF.
I wouldn't call Saber scrubs. Besides, they may not need to touch anything concerning the gameplay, just the graphics. Similar to how 4J handled Perfect Dark on XBLA
I see, thanks guys. Where I was confused is it seems that Activision and Tecmo own the engines developed by IW and Team Ninja. So I wasn't sure if ownership of the IP also included ownership of the tech as well.
Yeah I was thinking of this same thing over the weekend. They may not be using the Reach engine because they are just porting over and updating the original Halo CE engine.
All I know is they better add online co-op or I'll just stick with the original since I have no issue how it runs on BC.
Original Halo holds up very well. The graphics today appear rough around the edges but the presentation is still top notch. It'd be interesting to see simply a 720p60 port with enabled online play with some improvements here and there (akine to Beyond Good & Evil HD), fully fledged remake on the Reach engine could mess up too many things.