The Halo MCC Xbox Series X upgrades have finally been announced. This collection of games including Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 can run at 120 FPS on the Xbox Series S and X, but there is a lot of information that is not yet known.
Earlier today, the official Xbox Twitter detailed that Halo: The Master Chief Collection would be “fully optimized” on the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X. The tweet highlights that the six games in the collection can reach “up to” 4K on the Xbox Series X — and that vagueness leaves players with a lot of unanswered questions.
The Halo MCC Xbox Series X improvements are still a mystery
One issue with the Halo MCC Xbox Series X upgrades is that this is a collection of six different games. Each game is different and some of them debuted on different consoles. For example, the first two Halo games originally launched on the first Xbox console, but Halo 3 was released for the Xbox 360. The differences between the games mean that players might not experience the same improvements across all four titles.
There’s also the issue with the phrase “up to 4K.” If the developer is promising 120 FPS across the board, then why would the resolution be “up to 4K” in this case? There are several possibilities here — not all Halo games might be able to reach 4K/120 FPS, and it’s also possible that multiplayer and/or split-screen multiplayer may require a lower resolution.
Finally, there are the differences between the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X to consider. The Xbox Series X can load some previous-generation games as much as 82% faster (and the Xbox Series X is no slouch with loading times, either), but there are still marked power differences between the consoles. The final possibility is that Halo: The Master Chief Collection might not be able to hit 4K on the Xbox Series S at all.
The Xbox Series S can reach 1440p on average, so it’s reasonable to assume that players will still experience an improvement in resolution on the cheaper version of Microsoft’s next-gen console. There is not yet any concrete information on how the six games in The Master Chief Collection will run on both of Microsoft’s next-gen consoles. 343 industries might give players more details at a later date; if not, they may have to wait for the game to arrive when the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X launches next month.
It's time to dust off the ol' Needler.
✅ Fully Optimized on Series X|S
✅ 120 FPS in Campaign & Multiplayer
✅ Split-screen improvements & up to 4K on Series X
✅ Available for free to existing owners or those with @XboxGamePass on November 17 pic.twitter.com/Ufusdsyd8C— Xbox (@Xbox) October 20, 2020
