New Halo 2 Anniversary Campaign Cinematics!

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Chief Canuck

IGN just announced that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be the IGN First game for the month of October. They’ll be revealing footage of all 4 games within the collection and revealing the 6^th and last remastered map for Halo 2 Anniversary – which is rumoured to be Warlock. IGN’s coverage will begin on October 6^th with content every weekday and on Oct 22nd they will have a livestream with Halo 2’s original multiplayer lead designer Max Hoberman.

Along with this announcement IGN posted a trailer which had a few seconds of new remastered cinematics for Halo 2 Anniversary.

We get to briefly see Sergeant Johnson delivering the scorpion tank during the Metropolis mission, followed by Tartarus using his Fist of Rukt gravity hammer to capture 343 Guilty Spark after Arby killed the Heretic, and then finally Master Chief running outside of the temple after killing the Prophet of Regret as a Covenant fleet fires upon the temple.

Now Blur Studios is in charge of remastering Halo 2 Anniversary’s cinematics for the Master Chief Collection. The remastered cinematics won’t be a 1 for 1 recreation of the originals but that’s because Blur has added their own tiny spin to them and they’ve been extended bringing the total length of the cutscenes to around 1 hour. There will also be brand-new prologue and epilogue cutscenes that will act as bookends and these will provide some details and story elements for Halo 5: Guardians.

Blur Studio has worked with Halo in the past, producing Halo 4’s Scanned Trailer and the cinematics for Halo Wars.

Now when you pick up Halo: The Master Chief Collection and go to play Halo 2 Anniversary’s Campaign you will have to make a choice of which cinematics you want to experience – original or remastered – so choose wisely as you won’t be able to switch between them on the fly like you can with the graphics and sound.

Source: http://ca.ign.com/articles/2014/10/03/the-ign-first-game-for-october-ishalo-the-master-chief-collection

Halo: CE – Master Chief Collection, Maps, Fuel Rod Gun, Flamethrower!

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Chief Canuck

These 2 new screenshots come from this week’s bulletin. One from the map Battle Creek, and the other from the map Chill Out.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen inquiries from those of you who want to see and hear about Halo: Combat Evolved within Halo: The Master Chief Collection. While we don’t have footage just yet (that is on the way, friends), we’ve got some in-game screenshots from Halo: Combat Evolved running on Xbox One, made them into fancy wallpapers, and also answered a few frequently asked questions.

From these frequently asked questions we learned that

All of the game types and custom game type options from Halo: CE will be available in the custom games menu.
For Halo CE you’ll be able to find games with radar enabled and disabled in separate specific playlists. Options like these apply for all games within Halo: The Master Chief Collection, as there will be a variety of experiences in Matchmaking that cater to a variety of playstyles.
Once again, it was confirmed that all PC exclusive maps for Halo CE and Halo 2 will be available in both custom games and matchmaking
343 then confirmed that the Fuel Rod Gun and Flamethrower from the PC version of Halo: CE will be available as well. You will have the ability to select your weapon set in Halo: CE from a brand new list of weapon sets, including “classic,” which will not include the Flamethrower or Fuel Rod Gun if you so choose.

Even though Halo CE Anniversary is being used for the Master Chief Collection, the multiplayer will feature the original experience and not the Anniversary/Reach multiplayer. This means that Halo CE’s multiplayer will be playable on Xbox Live for the first time ever on November 11^th thanks for the Master Chief Collection.

Warlock Remastered for Halo 2 Anniversary

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Chief Canuck

It appears that Warlock will be the 6th and final remastered map for Halo 2 Anniversary. A leaked photo surfaced today apparently from the Tokyo Games Show convention – which just wrapped up – showing a section of the Halo 2 Anniversary Custom Games menu screen; and in the list of maps the concept art for Coagulation appears on the left, Shrine – the remastered Sanctuary on the right, and in the middle we see an image which can be the for map Warlock – now with the new name of Warlord. You can see Warlock’s iconic ramps and circular center structure in this tiny map image.

This would be the 3rd rendition of the map – first appearing in Halo CE under the name of Wizard and then remade in Halo 2 as part of the Bonus Map Pack in 2005.

The Tokyo Games Show has just wrapped up and I would expect that 343 Industries will have the official announcement and reveal for the remastered Warlock very soon – perhaps at EuroGamer Expo, now known as EGX, which kicks off September 25th.

If this is true, which it appears like it really is – Warlord, the remastered Warlock will be the 6th and final remastered map for Halo 2 Anniversary. Joining alongside Ascension (now called Zenith), Coagulation, Zanzibar, Sanctuary (now called Shrine), and Lockout (now called Lockdown).

Of course all of Halo 2’s original maps will be playable in Halo 2 classic multiplayer in the Master Chief Collection. In terms of Halo 2 Anniversary maps we’ve yet to hear the remastered names for Coagulation and Zanzibar – and we’ve only seen concept art of the remastered Coagulation.

What do you guys think of having Warlock as, most likely, the final remastered map for Halo 2 Anniversary? Leave your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Halo: The Master Chief Collection – Halo 3 Campaign Demo 1080p!

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer at 343 Industries sat down and discussed the improvements to the graphics in Halo 3 and Halo 4 in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Master Chief Collection brings the entire Master Chief storyline to the Xbox One and slight improvements have been made to Halo 3 and Halo 4 to get them to run at 1080p and 60 frames-per-second.

Halo 2 Anniversary – Cairo Station and Delta Halo Campaign Gameplay

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Check out the new gameplay footage of the Cairo Station and Delta Halo missions from Halo 2 Anniversary’s Campaign. Halo 2’s campaign is receiving the Anniversary treatment this November 11th as part of the Master Chief Collection. It will feature remastered graphics, remastered weapon sounds, a remastered soundtrack, and will run at 1080p and 60fps. Of course you’ll be able to instantly switch to classic mode and relive the campaign as it was 10 years ago – but this time in 1080p and 60fps. Enjoy!

Also a few new screenshots from the remastered campaign have been released!

Halo 2 Anniversary – Remastered Zanzibar and Gungoose Gameplay!

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Check out the gameplay reveal of the remastered Zanzibar for Halo 2 Anniversary. We also have our first glimpse of the highly anticipated Gungoose, a new mongoose with guns!

343 Industries also released eight new screenshots for the remastered Zanzibar.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection at Pax Prime 2014

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Frank O’Connor, Dan Ayoub, Kiki Wolfkill, Paul Libson and Max Hoberman hosted the Halo panel at this years Pax Prime.

They unveiled a new ViDoc for Halo: Nightfall, talked about the Halo Channel, the remastered soundtrack for Halo 2 Anniversary, the remastered weapons sounds, broke down the design concepts for Lockout and it’s newly remastered version Lockdown for Halo 2 Anniversary, and showed off a demo of Halo 3 running on Xbox One at 1080p and 60 fps.

343 Industries talks about the setting and challenges Agent Locke will face in Halo: Nightfall, a new digital series launching in November and comes with Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

343 Industries showed us the classic and remastered weapon sounds in Halo 2 and Halo 2 Anniversary at Pax Prime 2014

Get a first look and some tips for the remastered Lockout for Halo 2: Anniversary, part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, from Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky.

Here’s the first look at Halo 3 campaign running on Xbox One from the Halo: The Master Chief Collection at Pax Prime 2014.

Halo 2 Anniversary Lockout Remastered

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Chief Canuck

GameSpot and 343 Industries just announced that Lockout will be one the six remastered maps in Halo 2 Anniversary. Lockout joins Ascension (now called Zenith), Coagulation, Zanzibar, and Sanctuary (now called Shrine). The 6th map is still unknown.

The remastered Lockout is now called Lockdown and was playable at Pax Prime 2014. The map features 3 stalactites that can drop down after a few bullets and kill any enemies in the area. They’re located on Battle rifle tower, top mid, and behind sniper rifle tower. The glass in the center is also breakable and can allow players to drop down. The glass takes a lot before it can break, about 4 grenades, and eventually respawns after a certain amount of time. The stalactites do not respawn.

Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta Trailer Breakdown – Midship, Weapons, Armor, Dates!

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Chief Canuck

A breakdown of the Halo: 5 Guardians Multiplayer Beta First Look trailer from Gamescom 2014. The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta will have:

7 maps, one of them is Midship from Halo 2
3 Game types
4v4 Arena focus
No loadouts, “fair start”
7 armor sets
- Aviator-like
- Defender-like
- Armor resembling that of Fred Spartan-104
- A blurry blue spartan with an EVA-like helmet
11 sandbox weapons
- Energy Sword (seen on Midship map)
- SMG
- Assault Rifle
- Battle Rifle
- DMR
- Rocket Launcher like weapon
- Sniper
- 4 Unknown
Unlockable item(s) that will carry over to Halo 5: Guardians

Halo: The Master Chief Collection arrives November 11th, 2014.

Continue reading →

Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta First Look

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Chief Canuck

343 Industries presents the first details of the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta available in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The beta will focus on 4 vs. 4 arena-style gameplay, giving players their first taste of the next generation of Halo multiplayer.

The Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta will have:

7 maps, one of them is Midship from Halo 2
3 Game types
4v4 Arena focus
No loadouts, “fair start”
7 armor sets
11 sandbox weapons
- Energy Sword (seen on Midship map)
- SMG
- Assault Rifle
- Battle Rifle
- DMR
- Rocket Launcher like weapon
- Sniper
- 4 Unknown