System: Xbox 360 |
Dev: 343 Industries |
Pub: Microsoft |
Release: November 15, 2011 |
Players: 1-2 Local, 2-16 Online |
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p |
The Silent Cartographer: Evolved (TSC:E) is a ground-up re-imagining of the Halo: Combat Evolved map of the same name. The map comes with an all-new layout, a vast array of custom content, a reconstructed weapon set emphasizing improvisation and variety in tactics, and plenty of hidden secrets to discover. It is the final Halo CE project for many o. Developer Mode or 'devmode' is a feature in Halo Custom Edition (Halo PC) which allows cheats to be entered during gameplay using a console; it is commonly used to test user-created maps. Contentsshow Accessing Devmode To create a Devmode shortcut, find a shortcut to Halo Custom Edition and copy it. Then, right click the new shortcut's icon, and select Properties. A text field labeled.
Ten years ago, the first game in what is now known as a juggernaut was released under what many considered to be less-than-favorable circumstances. Some couldn't understand the concept, and many believed it couldn't be done. Gamers themselves were skeptical.
That game was Halo: Combat Evolved.
First-person shooters on consoles had had a mixed reception at that point. GoldenEye 007 was excellently received while Perfect Dark from the same developer got some mixed reviews. Halo: CE, however, would use a completely new control scheme: dual analog. Both console gamers and PC gamers alike were a bit skeptical as to whether it would actually work or not. Fast forward ten years and a few million copies sold—not to mention the many billions of hours spent in online multiplayer—and it's difficult to even identify the reason behind some of those concerns.
Fans of shooters have reason to rejoice this year, as during E3 2011 Microsoft announced that a remake of the classic shooter was being remade and will be released this fall. While most are excited about this announcement, some have given way to skepticism, and it's not without cause. This is, after all, one of the most beloved franchises in the history of gaming. So how is the effort by 343 Industries shaping up? In a word: Brilliantly.
We sat down with Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer of 343 Industries, and Dennis Reese, the Producer of Halo Anniversary, to find out what the team has been up to. They started the session by showing us what they'd been doing with Campaign, the game's main single-player career mode. Dan was quick to note that the game is undergoing a complete graphics overhaul. This means that, in every way, the game will look like a current-generation title.
The result is stunning. Alldata program free. The lighting is crisp and dynamic, and the particle effects are impressive. All of the sound effects are being handled by Skywalker Sound, and it shows. From what we heard, the sound design was very good. This was all running on the Reach engine. Sort of.
More important than the graphics, especially in a remake of a classic, is the gameplay. If it doesn't play similarly or identically to the game it's based on, most of the levels just won't work. The fans are justified in their desire that the remake be as close to the original as possible, and Dan and Reese agree with them. Thankfully, the development team set as a core development principle that the remake needed to play exactly as it did ten years ago. The way they are able to achieve this is by running two game engines simultaneously.
As a base, they laid down the original Halo code to ensure that the game felt and played like the original. In partnership with development studio Saber, they've laid down a second engine to make it look and sound like a current generation title. 'It's the best of both worlds,' says Dan. Elk crack. 'You've got a title that looks and sounds like a current generation title that plays just like Halo did ten years ago.'
Another addition that will keep the player experience in line with the original is 'Classic Mode.' At any point in the game, you can press a button that will strip off the fresh and clean current generation graphics engine to reveal what the game was like visually when it was first released. We were shown that this could be done on the fly. There appeared to be a slight delay between the button press and the result (it looked like it would freeze for a few frames) but overall, the effects were stunning. You could, according to Dan, play the whole game in this mode. Cross hatch pattern.
They're also adding terminals, a popular feature from Halo 3, that will tell the story in a way that is a bit more fleshed-out than the original. Instead of using text, though, they'll be using voiceovers to tell the story. They're also looking to plant the seeds for the story behind Halo 4 via these terminals, so those willing to explore will be rewarded for their efforts.
Achievements will be added to the original experience, and multiplayer will also be enhanced. Since the Reach engine is being used to power the multiplayer, some tweaks to the maps have been made. All in all, you can expect the same maps found in the original Halo, as well as some additional maps they haven't discussed yet.
There are a great many features that they weren't ready to announce yet and we can look forward to more later in the year. Stay tuned to Cheat Code Central as we continue to dig up the details on this remade masterpiece.
By Patriel Manning
CCC Contributing Writer
CCC Contributing Writer
Game Features:
Halo Pc Cheat Codes
System: Xbox 360 | |
Dev: 343 Industries | |
Pub: Microsoft | |
Release: November 15, 2011 | |
Players: 1-2 Local, 2-16 Online | |
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p | Blood and Gore, Violence |
343 Industries Steps Into The Ring
by Josh Wirtanen
by Josh Wirtanen
The world was a very different place in 2001. Call of Duty hadn't been released yet, Medal of Honor was good, and fans of first-person shooters were still searching for health packs instead of waiting for their health to regenerate automatically. And then Halo came out to completely change the landscape, not only of the first-person shooter, but of gaming in general.
Ten years later, there's probably not a gamer in the States who hasn't heard of Halo. The image of Master Chief has become synonymous with Microsoft's consoles, and perhaps even of gaming itself. But with recent additions in the series, like Reach and ODST, the original tale that started this phenomenon is becoming a rapidly fading memory from a past generation. 343 Industries wants to change this, throwing players back in the shoes of Master Chief himself and letting them re-experience the story of Combat Evolved in HD.
Now, calling this game a remake is almost doing it a disservice. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was completely rebuilt from the ground up, with new textures and character models (though several of the character models may have been imported from Reach.) But is there room for a ten-year-old title on your shelf alongside all the great games that have come out this year?
The answer to that depends on what type of person you are. If you've never played a Halo game and are looking for a good jumping in point, then CE Anniversary is a must-buy. If you're absolutely in love with the CE story and want to play through it again in glorious HD, again, this is a must-own title. If you're the kind of player who won't even touch a single-player campaign but will spend dozens of hours in online multiplayer, then this title is a strong 'maybe.' But for you, there is a second option. More on that later.
The most important thing to know about CE Anniversary is that it's the exact same campaign you played back in 2001, right down to the positions of the enemies. Only it's been given an exhaustive graphical makeover to the point you might not even recognize screenshots of it as being from CE. The muddy, blurry textures that were so prevalent at the beginning of the original Xbox's lifespan have been removed, replaced with much more highly detailed ones. To top it off, bland landscapes have been filled with ferns and other sundry types of vegetation, giving you the impression that this is a world that lives and breathes. Character models have been given an overhaul as well; the Covenant, Flood, and even the Marines have new life, and the grunts in particular look suspiciously like those found in Reach.
Now, the reason the aesthetic is so important here is that, ten years ago, Halo completely blew us away with its atmosphere. The fact that we weren't on Earth was apparent everywhere we looked, from the strange ring shape of the world itself—which we could see extending off into space—to the alien architecture that dotted the landscape.
Now, in my opinion, Halo will always be at its best when it's contrasting the extremely organic, natural landscapes with the bizarre metal structures that were obviously built by some sort of sentient beings with remarkable technology. With the overhauled visuals, this contrast becomes even starker. Driving a Warthog on the beach in the beginning of 'The Silent Cartographer' is a great example of where this dichotomy works brilliantly. Another example, and perhaps my favorite, is the downed Pillar of Autumn in the middle of the desert in the game's final chapter.
The graphics aren't the only new addition though. Every mission has a hidden terminal to discover, which will show you a video that gives you a deeper look at some of the lore. I originally expected these to be simple blocks of text, but they are actually full videos done with a mix of CGI and painting-style animations. They look incredible, and are well worth the effort of searching for them all. Also, Skulls, which weren't originally implemented until Halo 2, have been hidden in some obscure places, and finding them allows you to tweak your gameplay experience. Generally, Skulls make the game more difficult, doing things like increasing enemy health or lowering the amount of ammo you gain from drops. And, of course, there is a full list of achievements to help you bolster your GamerScore.
If you are a complete purist and want to experience the exact game you did back in 2001, you can use the back button at any time to toggle the graphics back to the 2001 original. There is an option to toggle the audio back to the non-remastered version as well.
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And speaking of the audio, it's as great here as it's always been, only now it's been remastered for a higher quality overall experience. As I mentioned earlier, it's the contrast between the organic and the alien that makes Halo such a standout experience, and the score emphasizes this. With its monastic chants layered with synthesized string sounds, or tribal beats played on electronic drums and punctuated with electric guitar riffs, Halo manages to sound both ancient and modern at the same time.
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However, as beautiful as the game looks and sounds now, it still shows its age. The character models may have been given extraordinary amounts of detail, but the low polygon counts of objects in the environment don't always lend themselves to the incredibly rich textures that have been applied to them. However, purists of the Halo mythos won't find complaint with this, as every last bend in every last rock is in the exact spot as it was in the original game.