PC Theory will release Master Chief Collector edition for PC.
PC Theory will release Master Chief Collector edition for PC.
Includes Halo CE Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary (identical to Halo CE Anniversary), Halo 3 and Halo 4 on a single disc.
I would purchase it for a PC. I've always enjoyed Halo, but I never owned an Xbox.
Really, I just hope they make a separate remastered campaign for Halo 2 with online co-op available on the 360. It feels odd how I can enjoy all my Halo titles on the 360 with a friend across the country, except for Halo 2. When Halo 2 Anniversary was still just a rumor, we intended to play every Halo game in co-op, starting with Reach. But that won’t happen now since I don’t own an Xbox 1. It’s a bit frustrating on Microsoft’s end... but maybe they’re focused too much on promoting the Xbone lineup.
1. Halo CE and 2 have both come out to PC. 2. Oh yeah, huge fanbase. But very little community. 3. Been playing Halo CE on PC since it's release in 2003. I still play to this day. Yes, I know, semantics semantics. I used to play Halo on the original Xbox and 360 as well, but Halo 4 left a very bad taste in my mouth and MANY others. I dropped the game completely and went full PC, it's almost been 2 years since. I, and a lot of other people, would love to "Finish the Fight" on PC. The Master Chief Collection will do great on Xbox(if you have a Xbone), but I can see in a year or so when the hype dies down and people will just be playing Halo 2 instead of Halo 5(because we all know that Halo 5 is going to be a flop in the long run, and if they don't mess up Halo 2's remake). I personally won't be buying a Xbone just for this, because I don't like Microsoft and I don't feel like plopping down $400 for something that should have been release on PC years ago. However, I know many pro players will pick it up just for Halo 2 and if the developers keep their promise that they won't touch Halo 2 other than for the graphics, then competitive Halo can come back and thrive, making it a long lasting community again. If Halo 2's remake is a flop, then maybe Halo 3 will work, but I doubt it. Halo 5 will sell well, but it won't be a game we play for years until a sequel is made just like in the old days. Halo is dead currently, no one is playing it except a select few that can't accept that. This can revive it and hopefully if Microsoft were smart about it, they would release it for PC as well where it can live forever, just like how Halo CE is currently. Still a thriving community.
You're picking up some useful insights today. The question about the CE population on PC is relevant, and your analogy about playing Halo on 360 is a great way to think about performance limitations.
I’m not able to check the current numbers right now since I’m out of state on vacation. However, when I was there last time, there were roughly 2,000 to 3,000 people online. It’s unclear if this includes both Halo: Combat Evolved and Custom Edition—it should be. Not many players, but considering the game is over ten years old and only got a minor update recently, it feels quite solid. Halo 2 also had a large player base, though I couldn’t play it because the keyboard and mouse were really bad. A 360 pad would have made a big difference, otherwise you’d end up in an uncomfortable setup all the time. That’s why I really want this game to be released for PC so we can enjoy better controls. Of course, Halo CE has decent controls, but Halo 2 is faster and demands more precision.
For the experience to work well on PC, the axes and sensitivity must feel natural, supporting direct input without any smoothing or acceleration. The main issue was the poor control setup—bad bindings that didn’t allow easy rebinding.
Basically, from what I recall, there wasn’t another option you could use. There might have been a bit of mouse movement, but it’s been a while since I played. I’m sure this was one of the reasons I didn’t play it—most games don’t treat me that way. If I were at home, I’d try to open it and play single-player, but I only have a HP Compaq 6910p available.
I recently picked up Halo Reach just to relive some memories a few weeks back, and there were roughly 15,000 players online at that time. I played a handful of Halo 3 games, with about 10,000 participants. You're correct, though—Halo 4 didn’t appeal to many people. When this happens, you often see a big shift in player bases. I used to enjoy a lot of Halo before switching to Battlefield. I never bought Halo 4 myself. I only played around 50 matches when my nephew lent me the game; he’s about ten years old and prefers Reach over Halo 4. Halo 4 really split the Halo community from Bungie fans. It turns out there were fewer genuine Halo enthusiasts than we thought.