Why Halo 3 Hit Detection For MCC Feels Bad And What 343 Is Doing About It

Halo: The Master Chief Collection players have been complaining for some time about hit-detection in Halo 3. In short, it doesn't feel right. Developer 343 Industries has now provided a new update on the matter, but unfortunately, a fix isn't coming soon.

In a blog post, the developer said it's aware of some viral videos that have gone around, in which fans suggest that dropping the engine to "30 ticks" would fix the hit-detection issue.

"Upon investigation, this is only half true, and it doesn't solve the actual issue that is causing shot registration to encounter problems when being played at MCC's higher tick rate," 343 said.

These issues are occurring because Halo 3 now runs at 60 FPS on Xbox One through MCC, compared to 30 FPS on the Xbox 360. Anyone who has played Halo 3 on MCC may agree that the game feels more fluid and generally enjoyable at the higher frame rate, but the hit-detection issues have proven to be a sore spot.

"The TL;DR version for those looking for a 'give it to us now' answer is, this is not a simple problem and neither is the fix for this issue," 343 said. "The devil is in the details and there's more nuanced work to be done before this fix will work for all scenarios including those where players want to adjust the game to run at 30hz, 60hz, and even 120hz."

343 said it is currently investigating a "true fix" as opposed to a Band-Aid that would "hurt other areas of the game" by dropping the frame rate back to 30.

The studio has made some changes with Halo 3 in this regard, and they will be previewed in the first beta tests for the next update, which is due out in mid-August for Halo Insider members.

It's also worth mentioning that Halo 3 in the MCC is far from unplayable--you might not have even known there were any issues at all. That being said, being a twitch-based shooter that relies on skill and precision, hit-detection issues are a big deal and many are surely hoping the problems are addressed in due course.

You can check out Microsoft's ridiculously in-depth video above to see a breakdown of the hit-detection issues in Halo 3 and why the fix isn't as simple as some might think.

In other MCC news, Microsoft is adding a long list of exciting features to the game, including crossplay, a custom game browser, and more.

In addition to MCC, 343 is working on Halo Infinite for release as a launch title for Xbox Series X this Holiday. The game's recent reveal didn't go over perfectly, as many remarked that the graphics didn't look good enough, and this spawned a new Craig the Brute meme, which Xbox boss Phil Spencer fully embraces.