AWKWARD ZOMBIE

More news: They confirmed that Forge and Saved Films are returning (but only for the games that already had them, sadly) and that there will be all the skulls from the original games plus some new ones, which brings the skull total up to 30.

Also I forgot to mention in my earlier post that alongside the initial news, it was revealed that Spartan Ops Missions from Halo 4 are in the collection too.

Edit: Even MORE information: the cutscenes for Halo 2 are being redone by Blur, the guys who did the cinematics for Halo Wars. You can switch between the original and revamped cutscenes the same way you switch between the graphics, with a single button press.

They remade 6 "iconic" Halo 2 multiplayer maps to replay in a more modern engine as well, which might be worth giving a try.

There's a video with an interview and showing off the first level in the video in the link I posted.

Details fresh from the 343 panel at RTX:
-The demo of the Anniversary version of Ascension ran at a solid 60 frames. They are making good on their performance promises.
-Anniversary mode maps will have added interactive bits. The Ascension map will have switches you can flip to activate a temporary energy shield in the middle. Gunshots and nades bounce off but you can walk right through.
-Aesthetic additions include a much more highly detailed Halo to look up at.
-The special Anniversary multiplayer mode will include things that weren't in Halo 2 in General. Assault rifles, Silenced SMGs, the Mongoose...
-Speaking of the Mongoose, you want one with GUNS ON IT?!?!. It'll be super awesome in the Anniversary Edition of Coagulation!! (This is just concept art though, so it may not look like that in the end.)

Also, a trailer:

More Halo News:

The Master Chief Collection has Halo-2 styled skill-based ranking.

They have announced an interactive media portal called Halo Channel, similar to Halo Waypoint. It seems to be designed as a hub for all Halo-related content. Streams of games, on-demand Halo content of all kinds...

Halo 5 Guardians has more content and info announced for it. They are emphasizing how the beta will focus on small-map 4v4 arena combat, controlling weapons on the map, and controlling the map itself. All players will have the same loadout, armor can be customized. There seem to be some new and returning weapons, including the SMG.

They actually addressed every problem I had with Halo 4, i'll have to check it out now.

I find it impressive that 343 was able to get both the Halo 2 and Anniversary edition campaigns running simultaneously at an odd still-not-1080-but-above-900p resolution as well as 60fps. Every other game will still be running at real 1080/60.

Isn't it that xbone cant even do 1080p in the first place? Or is it better now

In the campaign, they're running the graphics and audio of the original Halo 2 alongside the remastered Anniversary graphics and audio so you can hit a button and they'll switch simultaneously rather than have it take a few seconds to load like what happened with Halo 1 Anniversary. That's why it's not full 1080. The special Anniversary reimagined multiplayer maps with the same remastered audio and graphics as the campaign will run at proper 1080/60, I believe.

I was apprehensive when I saw some leaked footage of Halo 5's multiplayer, but it actually looked good when I watched a full match.

-You start out with an assault rifle and a pistol. The rest of the weapons spawn on the map. Power weapons are on a strict timer.
-Truth, a Midship remake, has a super-legendary unique energy sword in the middle called "The Prophet's Bane" that increases movement speed and lunge distance. As a power weapon, it spawns in every four minutes.
-The HUD has a shield meter and a health meter. Both regenerate. It also has a tiny little line that goes across the screen that serves as a timer for when it starts regenerating.
-You do not regenerate any shields or health while you are sprinting.
-Zooming is now called the Smart Scope. Every weapon has a Smart Scope. It does look like ADS, but 343 was quick to say there are zero movement penalties for staying in Smart Scope. You move at the same speed as you do when you're zoomed out, and when you get shot you zoom out, so you won't be spending all your time zoomed in. It doesn't look like there are any accuracy penalties; you can nail a mid-range unzoomed headshot with a DMR or Battle Rifle with ease.
-No Ordnance.
-Everyone has a thruster pack. It's sort of like the one from Halo 4. When you zoom in in midair, you hover for just a bit. You can dash as well, but only once per four-second cooldown. No double jumps. The thruster pack also has a shoulder charge. If you hit them from the front with it, it'll drop the enemy's shield. From behind, it's an instant kill. Ground pounds are an instant kill, but risky as they leave you wide open. Same with the shoulder charge if you miss. If you zoom in, you hover for a brief few seconds. That hover feature can be turned off.
-They have clambering, which is just a fancy way of saying "You can climb up and over/onto ledges now".

343 is going to be testing a free-to-play Halo game in Russia. It's going to be a closed beta.



Hopefully they stick whatever F2P mechanics they come up with into that game and that game alone and leave Halo 5 be. It's quite good the way it is, and 343i had better realize people will not be pop flyin' if they change up how multiplayer works in the mainline series.

More Halo 5 details:
-in the campaign, you will control both Spartan Locke and Master Chief. They each have their own three allies with them. Locke has Fireteam Osiris, which has two other Spartans and Buck, who upgraded to SPARTAN-IV after the events of ODST. Master Chief has his old Blue Team backing him up: Fred, Kelly, and Linda. Each fireteam member comes with their own load out and presumably respawns with it.
-4-player drop in drop out co-op. Your fireteam are AI allies and they keep things lively in the dialogue department.
-You can issue commands to your AI allies such as attacking, reviving (a new mechanic for campaign it seems. You'll most likely still respawn like usual if you die.), telling them to drive, telling them to pick up weapons, etc.

-Multiplayer: New game type called WarZone. 12 v 12, one big-booty map. First to 1000 (yes, a thousand) points wins. It's practically a MOBA in some ways. First of all, there are AI enemies that are essentially creeps. They occupy bases that you have to capture to earn the points you need. There are also bosses that spawn in and net you 200 points if your team lands the kill. Then there's Requisitions. Basically the store in the MOBA analogy. As you kill enemies and complete objectives you gain in-game requisition levels which allow you to buy higher and higher grade gear (weapons, vehicles, etc.), but you also need to acquire a currency (I forget the name of it) to buy those items.

-There's a new vehicle called the Phaeton. It's a Promethean air vehicle that is capable of air dashes, full auto heavy hard light fire, and missile salvos (I think).

Ah yes, my favorite Halo character, Fred

Halo 5 is about a month away. They decided to release a video starring Mister Chief explaining exactly how the new-fangled REQ system works.

I've played a fair amount of Halo 5. The campaign was fun, but the story could have been better. Exuberant Witness is my waifu.

The game plays really, really well. The 60fps goes a long way to making it feel so good to play. Despite the new Smart-Link aim-down-sights thing, moving around the map and maintaining control of power weapons is just as prevalent as ever. The new Competitive Skill Ranking seems decent, but maybe a bit too forgiving. I managed to get Gold Rank in Free-For-All and Platinum Rank in Slayer.

Warzone is interesting. I need to play a lot more matches to give a true opinion on it, but what I can say right now is that enemy AI Covenant and Promethean enemies need to spawn more frequently and maybe even in the middle of firefights rather than in these off-the-way areas that are similar to jungles in MOBAs.

Arena suffers from a dire lack of map variety. They're all solid maps, but there are just so few of them. They need to start introducing player-made Forge maps to the game fast. They could also put the Breakout maps in rotation in all the other Arena modes.

Over the last 8 months, 343i's done a daisies good job of delivering content updates to the game. I'm especially excited for this Wednesday when WarZone Firefight hits. There is an absolute ton of substantial content in that update. There's even a new boss in the form of the Grunt Goblin, which may very well have been fabricated with the assistance of Cortana and her new following of "Created", the human-made AI that now follow her.

Whatever 343i has planned for Halo 5's future and Halo 6, I'm excited.