It's everything I remembered and more.
User Rating: 9.5 | Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary X360
I love revisiting old favorites. Sometimes its good fun to break out the Dreamcast and play Soul Reaver or Grandia 2. Heck, sometimes I even need(notice I said need) to get out the old NES and play Contra or Tecmo Super Bowl. And that's why despite the fact I still own the original Halo the temptation to buy Halo Anniversary was too much to bear. And I'm glad I did buy it. Halo Anniversary is everything I remember and love and then some. Same great campaign, same amazing soundtrack, same voices, same characters, SAME GAME. Except this time its graphics circa 2011. Oh what a difference 10 years has made in the gaming world. This fact becomes all the more apparent when you use the AWESOME function that allows you to switch to classic Halo graphics in real time. That's right, switch back and forth between 2001 and 2011 visuals as you play the game. This function is really only for the novelty I suppose, but its still really really cool. The difference between the two is striking. The improvements in textures, lighting, and just overall detail is stunning. In terms of gameplay this is by my estimations a 100% faithful reboot. The guns still feel great to shoot, the AI still puts up a tremendous fight, the jumping is still floaty, its all there. I'm not going to bore you with a rundown of the story because if you don't know it by now you've probably been encased in carbonite for the last 15 years. So I'll give you this: you play as Master Chief and unlock the mysteries of the Halo. 343 Studios was also smart enough to add the skulls to the game, which makes for some great unlockable fun. They also updated the terminals and added full movies that help flesh out the story really well. The movies will be most appreciated by series die hards. So they did make some worthy additions to the game without effecting overall gameplay. My only quibble with this game is that I noticed some occasional framerate stutters, tis but a minor fault.
Thoughts: A welcome revisit and refresh to what is undoubtedly a genre defining classic.
