Halo coming back to PC

And it doesn’t have the decency to be an Epic Store exclusive! Pfft!

Additionally, “Halo: Reach” is being added to “Halo: The Master Chief Collection” on Xbox One and PC, which means the volume will now officially include “Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary,” “Halo 2,” “Halo 3,” “Halo 4,” and “Halo 3: ODST.” It’s still missing “Halo 5: Guardians,” curiously, but that could potentially be added at a later date, at least players hope so.

For Xbox One, “Halo: Reach” will be playable in 4K/HDR and at 60 FPS. It will also automatically include its multiplayer Forge and Theater modes. Both its Campaign and Firefight components will be available as add-ons for an additional price.

MCC FOR PC**
Later this year, these classic Halo experiences will start to arrive on PC via the Microsoft Store and, for the first time in the series - on Steam. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to bring the Halo Universe and Master Chief’s story to a new audience and to offer PC gamers a chance to step into the franchise on the PC platform of their choice.

The Master Chief’s arrival on PC will happen in stages with each title releasing one by one over time - giving the development teams the ability to ensure each one is right , while giving players a chance to jump in right away, rather than having to wait for the entire suite of games to be completed. Our current plan is for this journey to begin with the launch of Halo: Reach – the fictional beginnings of Master Chief’s saga – with the rest of the titles following in chronological order thereafter. Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST (Campaign), and Halo 4 will each be available for individual purchase within MCC as they become available. And each game will evolve and grow over time with community input.

For the team at 343 Industries, the most important and critical element of this project is ensuring that MCC delivers a true “first class” experience on PC. We’re embarking on a journey with our community to build a real PC experience that delivers on PC gamer expectations. The team is passionately committed to ensuring that all the features, bells, and whistles expected in a modern PC title are included with MCC. These features may vary somewhat by title, and we won’t get everything in there all at once – this is a product and an experience that will grow and evolve over time. We are laying the groundwork for PC native features such as excellent mouse and keyboard controls, support for multiple resolutions and aspect ratios, field-of-view sliders, and adjustable framerates, to name but a few. And yes, there will be support for Xbox gamepads and other PC controllers.

REMEMBER REACH
Along with “bring MCC to PC!” the next loudest refrain from Halo fans has been to “add Reach to MCC!” and we’re excited to make good on both requests later this year. As part of MCC, the prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved looks and plays better than ever and will arrive in slightly different ways depending on your platform of choice.

MCC’s “Intelligent Delivery” feature on Xbox One allows players to pick and choose to install campaign and/or multiplayer content and Reach will be offered in the same way. On Xbox One specifically, Halo: Reach’s multiplayer content (which includes Forge and the Theater) will be automatically included for everyone who owns MCC while Halo: Reach’s Campaign and Firefight experiences will be offered together as a premium digital add-on. Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have access to the entirety of Halo: Reach within MCC as part of their subscription. Just like the rest of the titles in MCC, Halo: Reach is silky-smooth at 60FPS and visually stunning in 4K/HDR on compatible hardware.

Halo: Reach will look and play just as great when it lands on the Microsoft Store and Steam and include PC-specific features and options. Campaign, Multiplayer, and Firefight will come packaged together for purchase as the first step in this PC journey.

Why would it be curious that Halo 5 isn’t part of the MCC? It was an Xbox One release, none of the others were.

Whut?

Probably like ODST, it’s technically DLC. But the base multiplayer may just be integrated into existing MCC multiplayer.

Right. My question is more along the lines of why are Xbox players having to buy Reach’s campaign and Firefight, while brand new PC players get it all for the one price?

Some of these Xbox One players have stuck with this game since 2014 and were instrumental in getting the networking fixed.

We still don’t know the price for the PC version. We will see. We also have to see how exactly the staggered release will work.

I don’t follow you - were you expecting MCC players to get Reach for free? I think they did that for early adopters and ODST, but even still that’s pretty cheap, just $5.

It would be amazing if each release were the full $60.

For some definitions of ‘amazing’, sure :P

Serious question: As a single player PC gamer with no history with the series is there any reason at all I should care?

I wouldn’t expect it to be too pricy.

On X1, it’s a 40$ for MCC & another 5 for the ODST campaign. Goes on sale for half.

PC exclusive gamer, long standing fan of shooters. I thought Halo 1 campaign was very good. Not perfect of course, the guns were clearly designed for consoles (in a time where console players still weren’t very familiar with FPS) and there was repetition in the levels, but still it was a memorable experience.

I thought it was worth it as a history lesson.

I had barely any experience with the series when I picked it up in an Xbox bundle, and finally got around to playing the first game months ago. It was very surprising - the gameplay didn’t feel almost 20 years old. I think if younger me had played it back then I would’ve had a much different gaming library.

My first experience with a Halo-ish shooter was Duke Nukem Forever. I’m still not into shooters much, but 3 & Reach were very, very good.

Not a ton? Some people swear by the moment to moment gunplay, and the lore is kinda cool if not explored in any depth in the games I have experience with, but I don’t think they stand out against a backdrop of all the awesome shooters that have been on PC. Honestly, I’d sooner recommend Bungie’s earlier franchise, Marathon, which I think is more ambitious and interesting even now that it’s very old indeed.

Yay, I’ll finally get to play a Halo game!

What? You didn’t play Halo Wars either? ;)

Nope, I’ve played none of them.

Reminder to myself that I hardly like any linear shooters, and I shouldn’t play games like this even though I often forget later when they’re on sale or free.

Well I will be gosh darned. That is awful nice of them. And Vin I played the first 2-3 but I did really love the first one. And some neat sci fi backstory. Plus aliens. And guns. And hopeless odds.

I’ve never played any of these either. Do they hold up? Are these fantastic, must-play games, or fodder for nostalgia?