Last month, the Halo: The Master Chief Collection was playable at the Digital Nationz expo in New Zealand. Halo 2’s multiplayer mode is looking great.
Sadly, only the multiplayer from Halo 2 was showcased for Halo: The Master Chief Collection at the expo. Still, I managed to play a few good rounds of the game and it plays quite well. Even though it has been 10 years since Halo 2 came out, the new improvements that have been made to the game are very noticeable.
The first thing I noticed while playing Halo 2 in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection is that the framerate makes the gameplay smoother than ever. Playing the game at 60fps makes the experience very fast and smooth. You will notice the difference right away when you first play the game. It just felt smoother than playing the previous Halo games on the older Xbox consoles.
The map I played was the popular Halo 2 favorite, “Lockout”. I played with 7 other people in a “Free for All” mode so it was every person for themselves. I haven’t played a Halo game since Halo Reach came out in 2010 so I was a bit rusty at the start. Once I found my groove, I found the game to be very enjoyable.
This might be a personal thing, but I feel Halo 2 is enjoyable mainly because it keeps things simple yet fun. I recently played Destiny in its “Crucible”‘ mode and didn’t like it at all. Other players had better weapons than me and were basically “owning” me. It wasn’t a fun experience, although I have to admit I’m not that great at FPS games.
With Halo 2 however, the multiplayer experience was more enjoyable and fun. All of the usual weapons were there, and I managed to get at least 15 kills in a 10 minute game. I only came in fifth place as most of the other players notched up over 20 kills or more. Nevertheless, it was still fun and easy to just pick up and play.
In terms of visuals, Halo 2 in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection looks shinier and prettier as expected. 343 Industries did a good job of remaking the level making it look better, but still retained the overall feel of the maps like you remembered them from 10 years ago. If you were sad the day the Halo 2 servers went offline, you will feel right at home reliving those days again when you get Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
If you are a Halo fan, Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Xbox One is shaping up to be huge fun. The multiplayer is just pure entertainment and will put a smile on the faces of those that grew up playing the Halo franchise. Not to mention you are getting four great games all for the price of one. Also, the Halo 5: Guardians beta is also an incentive to get the game as well.
