Halo and The Master Chief Collection....

It's not been that long since I loaded up an old save and played the original Halo on an original Xbox. It's also not long since I messed about with the original PC demo for it as well(yes it still works). That demo is the same as the (OG)console version in look and feel. The nostalgia is real!

As the Master Chief Collection is free with the Xbox Ultimate pass for PC I loaded it up to see what they changed.

Playing about with both it and the old demo I can't help but be all about the nostalgia rather than new textures. That's the short of it. I'd rather play the original versions than the new 'remastered' Master Chief Collection.

Across the Xbox generations I've gotten and played the second and third Halo games when they came out; Yet I've never had an interest with the rest of the franchise. So if the original game, remastered, does nothing for me then it's safe to say the rest of the collection isn't for me either. I'm glad I never tried to look into it before now....

I really don't like the remastered look of the uniforms/character model changes. The little tweaks and changes make a difference. Look what they did with the Sarge! New on the left - Old on the right.

That's not to say there aren't modern quality of life improvements, the kind you take for granted. Also not to say that the original Halo didn't have options; It had them out the wazoo especially on PC. But this remaster feels like it takes away from the game rather than adds to it. What it does well was already something that worked well in the originals.

The stats of the Xbox achievements I unlocked are of interest considering the MCC was released on Xbox in 2014! 80% of players completed a campaign or match in multiplayer but only 41% of players finished the first mission.... So a 50% split between PvE and PvP players in the game.

But still only 41% of players finished the first mission.....

Nice to see and be back for more in the older versions. As is the Chief collection it does nothing for me... It just doesn't. I've already uninstalled it. Maybe if I'd never played the franchise previously I'd be into this collection. Like I said what works well, works well because it always has. My nostalgia is critiquing hard.

Here's some PC footage of the old Demo and the (re)released MCC -

The original demo:

The Collection: