Halo: The Master Chief Collection released almost four years ago with a multitude of issues that prevented gamers from thoroughly enjoying it. Fortunately, unlike other HD collections with problems that were left to languish (looking at you Silent Hill HD Collection), The Master Chief Collection has been receiving some TLC from 343 Industries and today a huge update released for it that rectifies many of the issues players have been experiencing the last few years.
There’s a ton of tweaks and changes that come with the Halo Master Chief Collection update, but one of the biggest is how the game is installed now. You can start the download like any other, but now you have the option to pick and chose which games and modes you want to install. Given that the whole package weighs in at around 70 GB this new system, which 343 calls Intelligent Delivery, lets you install only the games you’re actually gonna play.
With Intelligent Delivery you can pick between the following items to install.
- Halo: Combat Evolved Campaign
- Halo: Combat Evolved Multiplayer
- Halo 2 Campaign
- Halo 2 Multiplayer (Includes Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer with forge and Halo 2 Classic multiplayer)
- Halo 3 Campaign
- Halo 3 Multiplayer + Forge
- Halo 4 Campaign
- Halo 4 Multiplayer (Includes Spartan Ops and Forge)
- Halo 3: ODST
The big Master Chief Collection update also finally adds support for Xbox One X enhancements. If you own the uprated console, you’ll get a chance to play all the games at 4K in HDR at 60 fps. I haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, but I can’t wait to see Halo‘s varied color palette pop even more now. There’s also been a UI overhaul that should make navigating through the menus a bit more intuitive.
There are also massive improvements to the matchmaking and stability. This comes ahead of the collection’s addition to the Xbox Game Pass on September 1. After years of ho-hum multiplayer, I’m hoping to see a revival in the coming months.
A whole new multiplayer option has also been added, one which will tickle longtime Halo fans. You can now play each of the games over LAN instead of being reliant on online-only. For those who remember the days of networking four OG Xbox consoles for some four TV Halo action, the ability to do the same thing on Xbox One now is sure to trigger some major nostalgia.
343 Industries isn’t done yet, though. This is the first massive update of a series of patches the studio hopes will redeem Halo Master Chief Collection in the eyes of fans. Unfortunately, 343 is still mum about whether or not the excellent Halo Reach will be added to the collection. Seeing as it’s the last pre-Xbox One title to not be in the Master Chief Collection, I hope that we’ll get some solid news on that sooner rather than later.
You can check out the full (and lengthy) Halo Master Chief Collection patch notes here.
