Few people around the super-secret base that is Big Shiny Robot HQ know more about Halo than our web-programmer guy, Chris. No doubt his ears and eyes have been peeled for all things Halo at E3 which kicked off today. He’s here with some details that were revealed about the remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved:
The long rumored remake of the original Halo has finally been revealed at E3. We don’t know all the details yet, but we do know enough to get hyped about it!
The remake is called Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversaryand it drops November 15 of this year, which is exactly 10 years from the original’s release date and will cost $39.99. Anniversary features all new art assets, but keeps the underlying physics and mechanics as they were. This is good news and means that the game will play as we remember it, but will look great.
Don’t like the new assets or wish to experience the originals? The game also ships with the classic graphics with a way to switch between them at a press of a button (confirmed by 343i’s David Ellis). I assume (and hope) this means full widescreen finally [Edit: It does]!
Anniversaryis being developed in conjunction by Timeshift developer Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity, with oversight from 343 Industries. 343 is over-seeing everything Halo these days, as the transition from Bungie is nearly complete. You may remember Certain Affinity from the most recent Halo: Reach map pack as well as Halo 2 map packs and former Bungie developers. I am guessing Saber is doing the backend/heavy lifting while Certain Affinity is creating the art assets as well as the new maps.
With this update we also get 7 new Classic multiplayer maps. Those wanting the original multiplayer experience will be saddened as the maps look to be for Halo: Reach. The graphics, player models, and animations all confirm this. The maps shown in the trailer were Hang ’em High, Damnation, and Battle Creek. It is assumed that Anniversary will ship similar to ODST, which had 2 discs. We’ll most likely see 1 disc for the remake and 1 disc with the full Reach multiplayer experience and the new maps. If so, I am glad to see actual remakes instead of blocky-gray Forge maps. While all parties may not agree on this, it really is the best approach so as not to split the player base, and give Reach new life a year after its release date. This will also make for a clean break when Halo 4 (also announced!) comes out in late 2012.
Halo Waypoint has some goodies to checkout:
Halo: Anniversary Exclusive (343 discussion)
Also watch for a new Sparkast to drop today on Halo Waypoint to discuss both Anniversary and Halo 4!