Halo: The Master Chief Collection Available for Download Now!

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has gone Gold and is available for Pre-Order and Pre-Loading on Xbox One now!

Buy Halo: The Master Chief Collection Digital Version and begin pre-loading today and comes with Boom Skull for Halo 2 Anniversary’s Campaign (via Xbox Marketplace or Microsoft Store). Pre-order Bonus skulls are timed exclusive DLC and will be available to everyone eventually. https://store.xbox.com/en-CA/Xbox-One/Games/Halo-The-Master-Chief-Collection-with-Pre-Purchase-Bonus-Boom-Skull/faa8fe34-7592-461d-8d0f-f26c10f2a3fe?

Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be released on November 11 for the majority of our fans around world!

There are still a few countries that will see a slight delay due to public holidays. In Europe, Belgium will release on November 12 and France will release on November 14 as part of their typical Friday release schedule. Our fans in Japan will see a release of November 13. Given the social aspects of the experience, we were really happy to get it as close to a simultaneous worldwide release as possible so that we can all celebrate on November 11 and start playing together.

This is literally going to be the biggest Halo experience so far

That is to say, the sheer size and scope of the content. To recap, Halo: The Master Chief Collection contains four complete Halo games, every multiplayer map ever released (including DLC from console and PC) across each game, a complete remaster of Halo 2 with all-new audio and Blur’s mind-blowing cinematics, and all of this is tied together with (and enhanced by) a revolutionary user interface.

From the start, our philosophy has been to give Halo fans the best possible experience and not compromise the quality or features of the collection. The result is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection will take up almost all of the usable space of a single Blu-ray (45 GB), and we will also issue a content update at launch that is estimated to be 20 GB. You’ll be able to start playing Campaign and more as the content is installing, with some features and multiplayer content being added via the update. Yes, the update is large, but we weren’t about to cut corners to save disc space. This ensures that you are getting every bit of Halo goodness we can fit in. Our work is not done, however, as we continue to tune, tweak and optimize the online experience to ensure a smooth multiplayer launch. This will continue right up until launch day.

One caveat we wanted to share is that Spartan Ops, our episodic co-op experience from Halo 4, will now release in December. In the meantime, we’re making some technical enhancements to that experience to make sure it’s smoother and even better than before. All ten episodes will be available at the same time, so we’re working to make an event out of it with our Community teams.

Xbox Wire

Halo: The Master Chief Collection – Leaderboard, Campaign Scoring, Speedrunning Features!

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Senior Game Designer Max Szlagor guides you through some of the new Campaign Leaderboard, Rival, and Speedrunning features in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. We also get to see Halo 4 running on the Xbox One at 1080p and 60fps for the first time!

A unified campaign scoring and medal system has been added to every game within the Master Chief Collection. Now with the user interface you will be able to check all 401 achievements, totaling 4000 gamerscore, and launch yourself directly into the appropriate place to unlock the achievement. You will also be able to set other players as your Rival and see how you stack against them in campaign scoring and speed running times for each mission.

New Halo 2 Anniversary and Halo 2 Classic Gameplay!

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

IGN released more Halo 2 Anniversary and Halo 2 Classic gameplay from Halo: The Master Chief Collection. This video also shows the Hornet in Halo 2 Anniversary can indeed fire rockets!

IGN

Halo: The Master Chief Collection – Halo CE Multiplayer and Campaign Gameplay

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Halo CE Campaign and Multiplayer gameplay in 1080p and 60fps!

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: 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 – 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 – Limited & Mjolnir Editions!

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Chief Canuck

GAME UK just announced two editions for Halo: The Master Chief Collection – Limited Edition and Mjolnir Edition. The Limited Edition comes with a Limited Edition steel book case, a physical map book, and the Grunt Funeral Skull. The Mjolnir Edition comes with a 12 inch Master Chief Statue from Kotobukiya.

Pre-order the LIMITED EDITION here

Pre-order the MJOLNIR EDITION here

Check out the continually updated list to learn more about the different pre-order bonuses and editions for Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Halo: Nightfall Follows The Story of Agent Locke

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Chief Canuck

Halo: Nightfall is Ridley Scott’s a live-action Halo series. Halo Nightfall will reveal Agent Locke’s origin story and will connect the stories of Halo 4 leading us right to Halo 5: Guardians. The digital series will have 5 episodes and will release alongside the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on November 11th 2014.

Halo 5: Guardians will feature a new Spartan character, called Agent Locke. First introduced when the official title was revealed and thanks to E3 we know this character’s name.

According to Bonnie Ross, Agent Locke plays a “key role” in Halo 5 Guardians. But before Halo 5 we will get to learn about Agent Locke’s backstory and origin story through the live-action digital series Halo Nightfall – which is NOT to be confused with Stephen Spielberg’s Halo the Television Series.

Halo Nightfall is being produced by Ridley Scott – known for Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus – and the series will be directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan – known for Battlestar Galactica and Heroes.

According to HaloWaypont in the series “A strange and treacherous world exposes elite UNSC operatives to a much deeper danger”

Bonnie Ross said that “You don’t have to watch this, but knowing this will kind of tee you up for all the new things that are going on in Halo 5: Guardians.” Nightfall will connect the stories of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians and will have narrative connections to Halo: The Television Series.

Bonnie Ross informed us that Locke will be prominent in both Halo: Nightfall and Halo 5: Guardians but it is still Master Chief’s show and story. She went on to say that the Master Chief”… is human, he’s always been human, but at the end of Halo 4 he really is reflecting on who he is and why he exists. That was very deliberate because the story we want to tell on Xbox One really is an important part and the main part of his hero’s journey. It’s more about what he’s searching for versus what the UNSC is asking him to do.

Nightfall won’t be the only part of The Master Chief Collection that drops Halo 5 hints. The terminals in Halo 2 Anniversary tease the story of Halo 5, but this time from the perspective of The Arbiter. In one cinematic the Arbiter says: “How well do you know your friend, human? And what would you call me if you learned the truth of what I have done?” Also Blur Studio is producing an epilogue and prologue that will quote “leave you on the doorstep of Halo 5”.

At San Diego Comic Con this year 343 Industries will reveal more about how Halo Nightfall and Halo 5 Guardians will interact.

The goal is to align Steven Spielberg’s Halo Televisions Series with Halo 5: Guardians as this separate live-action series is planned to launch around the same time as Halo 5 – in fall 2015.

Sources:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-16-343s-master-plan-for-halo-5-guardians
http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/12/5802422/halo-5-spartan-locke-nightfall

Halo 2 Anniversary – Graphic Comparison Anniversary vs. Original

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Chief Canuck

A comparison between Halo 2 and Halo 2 Anniversary graphics. Check out these screenshots, cinematic stills, and gameplay to see the difference. Halo 2 Anniversary is only available in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection out this November. Blur is handling the re-mastering of all of the Halo 2 cutscenes, terminal videos for Halo 2 Anniversary, and they’re including brand-new prologue and epilogue cutscenes that will act as bookends that will provide some details and story elements for Halo 5: Guardians.

Also check out the recently released Halo 2 Anniversary Cinematic trailer and the cinematic comparison video I made.