The wait for the Halo 3: ODST re-release on the Xbox One is finally over. 343 Industries and Microsoft pushed out a content update to Halo: The Master Chief Collection early Saturday morning that enables the addition of the campaign and the free “Remnant” multiplayer map. It also comes with a number of other fixes to the collection’s multiplayer and single-player campaigns.
Those who played The Master Chief Collection between November 11 and December 19, 2014 are eligible to receive Halo 3: ODST for free and should have received an Xbox LIVE message from Microsoft containing a download code for the campaign. The code can be redeemed on the Xbox Store through June 30, 2015 and it is an 8.1 GB download.
Codes for the Halo 3: ODST campaign have begun rolling out to those who qualify. Details: http://t.co/nw5SlSBvA4 pic.twitter.com/ZpZNDDsWHp
— Halo (@Halo) May 30, 2015
Those who are not eligible to receive Halo 3: ODST for free will have the opportunity to purchase it from the Xbox Store for $4.99.
Halo 3: ODST will be available to play from the Halo 3 campaigns menu. Note that the Firefight mode from the original Xbox 360 release is not included. It does add another 100 achievements to The Master Chief Collection worth 1,000 points though. The long list of achievements can be checked out either in this Halo Waypoint blog or in the Xbox One Achievements app.
Meanwhile, the “Remnant” remake is free for everyone and is included as part of the content update. This is a 1080p and 60 frames per second (fps) remake of the “Relic” map from Halo 2 and will show up in Halo 2: Anniversary playlists.
Naturally, you still need to own a copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to enjoy both the ODST campaign and “Remnant” multiplayer map.
Our latest content update, which adds Remnant, File Share search, & more, is now live. Notes: http://t.co/Q7fmHg7OCs pic.twitter.com/UnNu8w7fK5
— Halo (@Halo) May 30, 2015
There were concerns that 343 Industries was not going to be able to get Halo 3: ODST and the “Remnant” multiplayer map out in April as previously promised. The studio was able to get a rare Saturday release of a content update, so that it could fulfill its apology for the broken state that The Master Chief Collection was released last November.
The Master Chief Collection continues to be tweaked and improved as well. In addition to matchmaking fixes and fixes to the individual campaigns, players can now search the file share by Gamertag to download maps and modes created by others in Forge mode. This can be performed through the following steps after the content update has been downloaded.
- At the main menu, press “X” to bring up the roster. Next, select yourself by pressing “A” on your Gamertag. (Not the game session)
- You’ll see “Find Player” under the menu, which will allow you to lookup any player.
- Enter the gamertag of the player you are looking for.
- You’ll then be directed to the “Player Details” page for this player.
- Select File Share, and proceed to grab the files you’re looking for.
The following is the full list of updates made to Halo: The Master Chief Collection with the release of this new update.
New Features and Contnt
- Remnant [Remake of the Halo 2 Classic multiplayer map Relic ] is now available for all users.
- 100 New Achievements added for ODST and Remnant. To see the list, head here .
- Players can now search for Gamertags and access file share, by selecting their own Gamertag in the Active Roster. To learn how, head here.
- Enables DLC addition of Halo 3: ODST campaign (available separately via the Xbox Store). For more information on Halo 3: ODST campaign, go here.
Ranking
- Improved skill matchmaking for parties in ranked playlists
- Made an update to ensure that parties are no longer separated onto different teams in ranked playlists
- Improved rank stability to prevent ranks from incorrectly resetting
Quit and Loss Penalties
- Quit and loss penalties are now applied immediately in matchmaking
Halo: CE
- Resolved Assault Rifle and Shotgun registration issues
- Fixed an issue with vehicle audio in split-screen
- Reduced occurrences of players falling out of map
- Improved stability while title is in “suspend” mode
- Improved music playback for Campaign
Halo 2 Classic
- Fixed an issue where playlist scores posted to Leaderboards incorrectly
- Improved host migration handling in for peer-to-peer custom game matches
Halo 3
- Added UI support for Halo 3 voice chat in matchmaking
- Improved Campaign stability
- Fixed an issue where the scoring HUD would not display in Campaign
- Fixed an issue where some players could experience a delayed spawn into a matchmade game
Halo 4
- Fixed an issue where the scoring HUD would not display in Campaign
Parties & Roster
- Added support for displaying parties as a group in the roster
- Improved handling of dedicated servers
- Team colors are preserved after every match in custom games
- Fixed a host migration issue for Custom Games
- Improved handling of player joinability and leader promotions through Active Roster
- Improved stability of 16 player parties
Forge
- Improved Forge Stability with large number of players on high budget maps
- Added support for Infection within Halo 3 Forge maps
- Fixed an issue where “Place at Start” did not function correctly in Halo 3
- Fixed an issue where controller settings were not respected in Halo 2: Anniversary
Achievements
- Improvements to achievement unlocking throughout title
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Blast Can achievements from unlocking in matchmaking
UI, Stability, & Misc
- Made improvements to stat tracking for all titles
- Improved functionality of unlock notifications
- Improved voice chat functionality throughout all titles
- Improved PGCR stats/details and stat uploading reliability
- Fixed issues where local & shared files may not appear under “My Files”
- Improved Stability of Co-op play in Campaign Playlists
- UI now sorts achievements, nameplates, and avatars based on what you have unlocked
- Improved Scoring functionality during Co-Op Campaign sessions
- Improved Spartan Ops performance
- Improvements made to mission progression in Campaign Playlists
- Improved Rival functionality in Campaign Playlists
- Improved stability for Halo 2: Anniversary map loading in matchmaking
- Final scoreboard is now displayed during outro loading screen after a match
[Images via Halo Waypoint ]
[Update: Halo 3: ODST is now available to purchase from the Xbox Store. Added link.]