343 Industries was at the annual Rooster Teeth Expo on Saturday to reveal more details about the Halo 2 Anniversary remake that is packaged with Halo: The Master Chief Collection for the Xbox One. The nearly hour-long panel featured developers Dennis Ries, Max Szlagor, Max Hoberman, David Mertz, and former MLG professional gamer Andy “Bravo” Dydunsky serving as moderator. The panel revealed many of the new features and changes that will be available when it launches this November.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 2 Anniversary , which come with HD remakes of the original Xbox titles plus Halo 3 and Halo 4 with improved resolution. All four games run at 1080p and 60 frames per second, but 343 Industries previously confirmed that the Halo 2 campaign might not be 1080p because it is running two graphics engines simultaneously to allow players to switch between the original and new visuals. The studio is going to see what it can do to optimize the game over the next few months before launch.
The entire Halo: The Master Chief Collection will feature music in the menus from each specific game and will allow controller options to be applied to every Halo title in the collection with one press of the button. Additionally, all of the original Halo 2 skulls will be in the same place they were originally alongside new skulls that will only be present in the Anniversary edition.
The Halo 2 Anniversary version of the Ascension map will include a large Energy Shield in the middle of the map. It can be activated from three different points on the map and provide a relative safe haven for whoever controls it. However, battles between both teams inside the Energy Shield was described as a bit like the Thunderdome from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome .
The most impressive feature of the map may be the skybox though that features a to scale Halo ring that is rotating (see image at top).
Game types for Halo 2 Anniversary will feature old favorites like Capture the Flag, 1 Flag CTF, Assault (Multi-bomb, single bomb and neutral bomb), Territories, Juggernaut and more. However, 343 Industries is also adding Ricochet, Race, SWAT, Infection and other unannounced gametypes for the HD remake.
Race, Infection, Swat…” @0IAH : Halo 2: Anniversary Game Types! pic.twitter.com/OgIjkhsfUD ”
— Halo (@Halo) July 5, 2014
Weapon and vehicle additions and changes include the inclusion of the Assault Rifle in Halo 2 Anniversary as well as silenced SMGs. This is just putting more toys into the sandbox so it will be interesting to see how well they are balanced in addition to the Magnum pistol receiving increased damage. There will also be what sounds like a Speed Boost power up that can be picked up on the maps.
One completely new addition is slapping M67 LAW guns on the Mongoose and calling it a Gungoose. This should setup interesting game modes featuring a fleet of Mongeese riders zooming around maps.
Coagulation was another Halo 2 map that will be remastered for Halo 2 Anniversary as part of the six maps being remastered for The Master Chief Collection . Details on what special features it will receive are currently lacking as only concept art was shown.
Other tidbits include:
- Halo 2 Anniversary will not feature button combos but the original Halo 2 multiplayer will
- The Terminals in Halo 2 Anniversary will feature the Arbiter’s story leading into Halo 5: Guardians .
- Forge will return and allow players to use canvases from Halo 3 , Halo 4 and Halo 2 Anniversary .
Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be released to the Xbox One on November 11.
[Images via Halo Waypoint , RTX Twitch Livestream ]