Halo: Anniversary isn't a George Lucas-style Remake
Halo: Combat Evolved was essentially the entry point into the world of first-person shooters for hundreds of thousands of console gamers. It's been documented countless times over how Bungie's genre-refining masterpiece was single-handedly responsible for establishing the original Xbox console as a viable competitor for Sony's world-conquering PlayStation 2, and certainly those opening moments aboard the Pillar of Autumn were likely the first FPS footsteps taken by a number of new gamers who'd previously never laid hands on a keyboard and mouse.
So naturally the diehard Halo fanbase is highly protective of the game's legacy, in much the same way that Star Wars fans are prone to (largely justifiable) fits of rage each time George Lucas clumsily renovates his original trilogy. Thankfully, 343 Industries isn't about to take a CGI-soaked dump upon everything you hold dear.
"I can't pretend to know George Lucas' mind but it seems to me like he's changed things in Star Wars that were already okay," says O'Connor.
"That's not what we're doing with Halo; our philosophy is to add things, but not just pile them on top of the game – they're layered. So for example in [the re-imagined] Beaver Creek there are new corridors for you to run through because you're using the sprint move from Reach, but in the classic mode those corridors are still blocked off."
"So to use an appropriate analogy – yes, Greedo shoots first but we also have a version where Greedo doesn't shoot first and Han Solo is still cool, right? And that was our philosophy to make sure that we were respectful of what was originally there, and layering and embroidering into that rather than just painting over it. We want to give people the choice, basically," says O'Connor.
Thus you can switch back and forth between the overhauled Halo: Anniversary visuals and the original game engine at any time with a press of the Back button – although this 'classic view' isn't exactly the same as the game you remember, since it's presented in 16:9 and upscaled to around 720p. Still, the differences between the old and new game engines are stark, and the feature is excellent – if only George Lucas had included an option like this on the recent Star Wars blu-ray release to allow the viewer to revert to the original audio and skip the Vader's ridiculous "Nooooo" in the revamped Return of the Jedi.
O'Connor and his team treated both the positives and the negatives of Halo with equal respect. Although it is in no uncertain terms a hugely revered and influential classic in the history of console gaming, the original Halo wasn't exactly perfect.
"There are things about the original Halo that are broken, and that aren't intended to be the way they are, but people like them anyway," states O'Connor.
"So we've tried where we can to make sure that they're in there and sort of ring-fence them in ways that doesn't make it unpleasant for the player. The three-shot pistol is a good example - in multiplayer the three-shot pistol makes all the other weapons in the whole game completely redundant. I mean the sniper rifle in some ways is not as powerful as the three-shot pistol, because the sniper rifle is harder to aim," continues O'Connor.
"But we knew that people would want the pistol so it's in there and you'll choose that via matchmaking. You'll know before a match whether there's going to be the three-shot pistol in it, which may not be the most balanced or fair weapon in the world but it is still incredibly fun. And people will adapt to it," concludes O'Connor.
It's clear that 343 Industries recreation of one of the landmark videogames in the history of the industry has been a labour of love. This is a Halo remake made by Halo fans, and what with all of the extra hidden terminals, the completely overhauled visuals, the re-recorded soundtrack handled by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra (hopefully George Lucas wasn't present), and the option to instantly jump backwards and forwards ten years in time via the Back button, we can't wait to jump into the Chief's space boots and relive the masterpiece that has informed a swathe of game design fundamentals in the decade since its release.
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