All Articles: Halo 3: ODST

Halo: The Master Chief Collection got a little bigger yesterday when Microsoft added the Halo 3: ODST single-player campaign and the Halo 2 Anniversary “Remnant” map as downloadable options.

Halo 3: ODST is set between Halo 2 and Halo 3 and follows a team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) in the aftermath of the New Mombasa invasion. Featuring upgraded graphics, the Halo 3: ODST campaign is available as a free download if you played Halo: The Master Chief Collection between November 11, 2014 and December 19, 2014. However, if you’re new to the compilation, the campaign can be download for $4.99. Max Szlagor, a Senior Game Designer at 343 Industries, and Joseph Staten, a developer on the original Xbox 360 version of Halo 3: ODST, discuss the game in the video above.

Meanwhile, the “Remnant” map is based on Halo 2’s “Relic” map, and is available as a free content update for everyone. According to Microsoft, the “Remnant” maps features “a towering and iconic Forerunner megalith, weathered over untold millennia. The map’s asymmetric layout and the artifact’s elevated, yet embedded, position, make it perfect for classic Slayer, Assault, and 1-Flag CTF game types.” A detailed look at the “Remnant” map, part of The Halo Channel’s “Breaking Down the Map” series, can be found after the break. (more…)

Microsoft and 343 Industries are still working on a patch to fix the matchmaking problems found in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. As a way of apologizing for these issues, the publisher and developer will offer players who purchased the game before December 19 a free month of Xbox Live Gold service and a series of free content updates over the next week:

• All ten Halo 4: Spartan Ops episodes
• Exclusive In-Game Nameplate
• Exclusive In-Game Avatar

Finally, Microsoft will add “Relic,” a remastered Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer map, and the popular Halo 3: ODST campaign to Halo: The Master Chief Collection sometime in the future. According to Xbox Wire, development has just begun on both, so it might be a while before they’re available. But as with the Spartan Ops episodes, both will be available for free for Master Chief Collection owners who purchased the game before December 19.

Presumably, both downloadable additions will be available for everyone, but no announcement has been made as of yet.