Recent Articles: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

New Releases: Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Zelda Skyward Sword, Halo Anniversary, More

Posted on November 12, 2011 by John Scalzo

Ladies and gentlemen, the biggest week of new releases has finally arrived. More games are released in the third week of November than at any other time of the year and, once again, the publishers have come through with an amazing array of titles including:

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases, which numbers close to 70 games, after the break. (more…)

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Halo Anniversary Kinect controls detailed

Posted on October 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

We always knew that Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was going to be more than a straight port. Yesterday, at the New York Comic-Con, the development team at 343 Industries detailed the game’s new Kinect functionality.

Like Mass Effect 3, Kinect users will be able to use voice commands in-game. For example, yelling “Grenade!” will chuck out a grenade while yelling “Reload!” will reload your current weapon.

The Kinect add-on will also enable an Analyze Mode within Halo Anniversary. Yelling “Analyze” will scan the surrounding area and add any enemies encountered into a database dubbed The Library. That’s neat and all, but games have been doing the beastiary thing for decades now. Why is this a Kinect-only thing?

[Source: Joystiq]

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Halo 4 is the start of the Reclaimer Trilogy; no beta codes with Halo Anniversary

Posted on August 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

While there wasn’t a new trailer, the Halo 4 panel at PAX Prime has revealed a bit more about the Master Chief’s next adventure.

Developer 343 Industries is referring to the three-part story that’ll begin with Halo 4 as The Reclaimer Trilogy. According to Creative Director Josh Holmes, the game will look deeper at the Master Chief than ever before: “It’s a little bit about getting closer to that character than we have in past games.” Part of this character study will involve John-117′s relationship with Cortana, his AI companion.

But Franchise Director Frank O’Connor assured those in attendance that discovering more about the Master Chief’s character won’t be the only exploration players experience in Halo 4. He confirmed that the game will feature more glimpses into the Forerunner civilization, including buildings and technology that “[aren't] completely dead.”

Finally, O’Connor passed along some bad news, confirming that there won’t be any Halo 4 multiplayer beta access codes included with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

[Source: GameSpot]

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New Halo: Anniversary Multiplayer Maps, Stereoscopic 3D Mode announced

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Halo Fest has been host to some announcements about Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary already. According to Major Nelson, 343 Industries announced three new maps, all of which are playable at Halo Fest. The maps are “Timberland,” “Prisoner,” and “Installation 04.” Also playable are several fan favorite maps, including “Damnation” and “Beaver Creek.”

The game will also be available in stereoscopic 3D, for those gamers fortunate and rich enough to own a 3D television. For those of you at Halo Fest, you can check it out in action this very weekend. For anyone who doesn’t already know, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be available November 15 for the Xbox 360.

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Explore the Halo Anniversary campaign in the Comic-Con trailer

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Chris Urie

It seems that Halo: Combat Evolved went on vacation to silicon valley to have some plastic surgery. A little nip here… a little tuck there… and erase some of those stretch marks to make Halo look better than ever.

The game may look different, but underneath that brand new dress of lens flare, particle physics, and HD textures beats the heart of a classic. The gameplay remains unchanged and it looks stellar. A fun feature even lets you toggle between the new game engine and the old so you can get your nostalgic kicks as you tear through the Covenant with nothing but a pistol.

To see just how close to the original the team at 343 Industries is getting, take a gander at the new “Campaign” trailer released at Comic-Con. Now you can go back to where it all began… and teabag people in HD.

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Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary to match original score

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Halo fans worrying about the handling of the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary remake can rest a bit easier. Microsoft and 343 Industries are teaming with Pyramind Studios to recreate the original score, note for note. The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Chanticleer vocal ensemble will also collaborate to recreate the orchestral pieces and famed Halo monk-like singing.

“It was a huge undertaking to transcribe, orchestrate, and produce every note from the original game soundtrack files” said Paul Lipson, Pyramind Studios COO/Audio Director. “Our team approached every aspect of the music with an immense amount of skill and care, keeping the core Halo sound while updating the production to today’s highest standards.”

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary releases for Xbox 360 on November 15, 2011.

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Halo Anniversary will include Kinect support

Posted on June 20, 2011 by John Scalzo

Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft Game Studios, sat down with GameSpot AU at E3 2011 and confirmed that Kinect support will be included in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary:

“Obviously, as a first-party, we believe that Kinect will be important to all genres of games. Be it racing games like Forza, combat games like Ryse and even games like Halo: Anniversary has Kinect integration,” Spencer said.

With confirmation out of the way, now comes the fun part… speculation on just how Kinect support will work in Halo Anniversary. We’ll have all Summer to think about it as Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is scheduled for a November 15 release on the Xbox 360.

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Halo CE Anniversary priced at $40, includes “Classic” graphics mode

Posted on June 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft’s announcement of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary may not have surprised anyone, but some of the newly announced details just might.

The good news is that Halo Anniversary won’t be sold as a full-priced game. Recognizing the fact that the majority of the Xbox 360 userbase already owns the game, Microsoft has slapped a $39.99 MSRP on the re-release. And according to Frank O’Connor, the Halo Franchise Director, the game will also include a layered graphics engine that recreates the fell of Halo: Combat Evolved while layering the high definition makeover on top of it. Players will be able to switch back and forth between the graphics filters on the fly with a single button press, as we see in the trailer above. The game will also include links to the upcoming Halo 4 in the form of unlockable motion graphics that will tell the backstory and “foreshadow new mysteries” of the fourth game in the series.

Six multiplayer maps from Halo: Combat Evolved will be remade in Halo Anniversary using the Halo: Reach engine with a seventh redesigned as a Firefight map. “Damnation” is the first confirmed map and Microsoft promises to reveal more during HaloFest at the PAX Prime this Summer.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is being developed by 343 Industries, Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity and will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on November 15.

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