Microsoft made it official: Xbox One owners will get a new Halo game in 2014. In fact, they’ll get four of them, as the oft-rumored Master Chief Collection was confirmed during Microsoft’s E3 2014 press conference. The company also announced the Master Chief Collection release date as Nov. 11.
November 11 has long held a special place in Halo fans’ hearts, and if early indications are correct, the Master Chief Collection will be equally welcomed with a Flood of emotion and open arms. As of 10 minutes ago, the $60 compilation is live on Amazon and Xbox One owners can pre-order Master Chief Collection
The Halo Master Chief Collection is a completely remastered compendium of the core Halo games to date. All told it includes the original Halo: Combat Evolved, a tenth-anniversary edition of Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4. The Master Chief Collection is more than just HD visual upgrades, although people who find themselves embroiled in “1080p” and “60 frames-per-second” arguments will revel in Microsoft’s announcement that all the Halo games on this single Xbox One disc will run in full 1080p and at 60 frames per second.
With that said, a host of non-visual updates and upgrades are included in The Master Chief Collection for Xbox One. For instance, gamers will once again have the ability to switch between new and original visuals with the tap of a button, much as we saw in Halo: CE Anniversary. That anniversary game is also included on the disc, FYI.
The most notable change we’ll see on the Master Chief Collection release date, though, is the incorporation of dedicated servers. All four games — whose campaigns and multiplayer modes are all accessed from a single main menu — support online competitive and cooperative play. It’s important to note that the upgraded Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 will both support two player co-op, while Halo 3 and Halo 4 support up to four players.
When it comes to competitive multiplayer, things get really exciting. All four games will use dedicated servers for their multiplayer modes. That’s a far more-responsive method than has been used in the Xbox and Xbox 360 games, and apparently it’s the sole reason we’ll be able to play Halo CE online multiplayer on Xbox One when we weren’t able to in the CE Anniversary edition. (It was billed at the time as too cumbersome, whereas dedicated servers make for a much more fluid experience.)
For those who care more about the Halo series’ narrative, 343 Industries is apparently adding some new cinematics that tease the events of Halo 5: Guardians, which will release in 2015. Anyone want to put money on a Halo 5 release date of Nov. 11, 2015? In addition, the developers are using the Master Chief Collection to grant Xbox One owners full access to Ridley Scott’s Halo: Nightfall episodic series.
All of this remastered 1080p, 60fps and online-multiplayer Halo goodness will set Xbox One owners back $60, the standard rate for a next-gen game. You can pre-order Master Chief Collection