Rumor: Microsoft Working on Halo: CE Remake

[John Funk]

Rumor: Microsoft Working on Halo: CE Remake

343 Industries' first take on the Halo franchise may see the Master Chief following some very familiar steps.

Bungie may have bid adieu to the Halo series with the Microsoft's internal Halo department 343 Industries [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8101-Review-Halo-Reach], but rumor has it that the studio isn't ready to fly on its own quite yet.

According to "industry chatter" reported in the Games Master Magazine, reports CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=278410], 343's first project is a current-gen remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved. The update of the game that started it all is rumored to run on the Reach engine, and would be a way for 343 to dip its feet in the Halo pool before taking a stab at a true Halo 3 sequel.

If true, it's easy to imagine that a game like this would be perfectly suited for release next November - the series' tenth anniversary.

Assuming that this is true, it's an interesting idea. On the one hand, a ten-year-old game does seem a bit too recent to remake - especially given how fondly the original is remembered by millions of gamers. Any missteps here that interfere with gamers' nostalgia could sour people on 343's Halo games from here on out. On the other hand, for a studio that has effectively been handed a blockbuster ball and told to run with it, starting with familiar ground might not be a bad idea. Most of the design work has already been done, and it would let 343 focus on the execution thereof.

It would also let Microsoft step more in line with the lucrative annual release schedule of Call of Duty, which it openly envies [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103695-Microsoft-Jealous-of-Call-of-Duty-Release-Schedule].

When asked, Microsoft's UK Xbox mastermind Stephen McGill seemed positive on the idea of a Halo remake: "I imagine it's a good idea ... I think some people want to go back to older games and see them revisited and I think a lot of developers want to see that too."

I'd be down with a remake as long as they didn't touch "Silent Cartographer," and as long as they fixed "The Library." Sweet baby Jesus, did I ever hate that level.

(Via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=278410])

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[vrbtny]

343, If you screw this up, you will be infected by the Flood, with updated graphics. A truly disgusting fate, and even worse in HD.

 

[Chrono212]

No. Please No.

I'm a fan of Halo but I don't want or need it in HD!
I'm also playing through Beyond Good and Evil at the moment and that is still awesome even without 7th Generation graphics!!

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I'm okay with this, update the graphics, fix some bugs, repackage and sell for around 1200 msp.

Good introduction for the 343 crew before they take on any of their own ventures.

 

[unacomn]

Halo 1 remake? Do they have so few ideas for Halo that they've started making remakes?
I've heard console games tend to have a shorter lifespan, but this is ridiculous.
Then again, the Xbox hasn't been around for that long, so it is probably one of the best remake candidates.

 

[JaredXE]

Umm, they are remaking a game that is less than a decade old? WHY?! That is so retarded. The problem is, it WILL make money. Piles of money because the average young Halo fan is a moron with too much disposable income from their parents.


If you are going to remake a game less than 10 years old, how about one that wasn't insanely popular and sold millions of copies and instead do a remake of a game that was good but didn't sell well do to marketing, timing or corporate douchbaggery.

Examples:
Beyond Good and Evil
Advent Rising
KotOR 2
Enter the Matrix
*coughAlphaProtocolcough*

 

[teh_Canape]

hope they make it right

and for fuck's sake, make it for pc too

and dont they dare modify the campaign to make it like the later Halo games

 

[jbigboote]

will it really be a remake so much as an update though? I am imagining something like the PS3 God of War collection.

 

[Amnestic]

Halo 1 is *last generation*. Considering the Kinect came out just now and MS are banking on it being successful I can almost guarantee the 360 is going to be here to stay for a while. How on earth can you justify making a remake of a game which came out last generation, which I can still find retail copies for on the shelves?

Reach was an exceptional ending to Bungie's "era" of Halo games. Were I 343 I would be taking the story elsewhere, far and away from the Master Chief.

But eh, that's just my view on it. Still seems a waste of a debut game to rehash Halo 1. If you're going to do that, rehash a level or two and shove it in your actual game as an Easter Egg. Less chance of ruining it and more chance of getting favourable nostalgic praise.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

If you are going to remake a game less than 10 years old, how about one that wasn't insanely popular and sold millions of copies and instead do a remake of a game that was good but didn't sell well do to marketing, timing or corporate douchbaggery

I'm sorry but did you even read what you put?

I mean I agree... for the most part... they should definitely remake some of the sleeper hits we have seen.

But still there's nothing wrong with remaking Halo 1, maybe with multiplayer support? /hopeful face

 

[Deleted]

I still play Halo CE to this day. A reboot would be awesome AS LONG AS THEY KEEP IT THE SAME.

 

[Jonny49]

I'd be down with a remake as long as they didn't touch "Silent Cartographer," and as long as they fixed "The Library." Sweet baby Jesus, did I ever hate that level.

I'd be down with it if they fixed the whole game. Halo has some of the most repetitive and boring levels ever.

And...really? It's only been 10 years! At least wait till the 15th anniversary or something.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

if they add firefight and bring back the original guns and maps (EX: 60-shot Assault Rifle and 12-shot awesome pistol), ill shell out 40 dollars for it, max.

ill pay more for it if they reboot the flood and make them less bullet-sponge space zombies and more of an enemy that is interesting to fight

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I think this is a rehash of an earlier, discredited rumour already denied by 343 Industries last month... in any case, I wouldn't count on this very much.

Frankly, I don't want a remake and I'm a raving fan of the series. I can still play Halo on my Xbox any time I want, and even those who never owned a first-generation Xbox can buy the game as a digital download [http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-CA/Product/Halo-Combat-Evolved/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d53084c?cid=search] in the XBL Marketplace right now. I just don't see the point, either artistically or commercially, of a rehash.

-- Steve

 

[lemby117]

here's an idea 343 take the best halo missions ever(internet poll to decide) and let us play them using reach's game engine and vehicles use our nobel 6 character and have 6player co-op

 

[Covarr]

Nobody complained when the first three Super Mario Bros games were remade in All-Stars merely eight years after the SMB and only five years after SMB3. Nobody complained when Super Mario 64 was remade for the DS eight years later. Castlevania: SotN was remade for the PSP just about exactly ten years later. People complained when Sonic Adventure was remade for the gamecube, but only because the remake was crappy and buggy.

Really, some people will complain about anything. I, for one, support this decision. I'm sure console owners would love to have online in Halo 1 without needing the PC version.

P.S. Thanks

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Yeah, hooray, why make new games and expand the universe when we can just set old games on that one new engine we made?

Come on. Yes, I admit, I did not play Combat Evolved. But, if I really wanted to, I would go get it. There is already a game called Combat Evolved out there. It came out only a decade ago. It's not Pong. Hell, some people still play it.

Does it need to be remade, really? Do you want cash that much?

343, if you made Reach 1.5, you would've made me so much happier.

However, as it stands right now... not excited.

P.S. This is all assuming the rumor is true. If it's not, disregard all of this.

 

[Legion]

If they can make it identical but with upgraded graphics/physics/sound then I like the sound of it, but if they change anything else then it will piss me off, and that includes the AI, the Elites in Reach were annoying, not fun and exciting to fight, they'd just run and hide to re-generate their shields whenever you shot them.

 

[Vrex360]

I said it already but I'll say it again:

I see no real point, after all that game was solid enough to be a classic. The only thought for how it could be improved would be adding more weapons and enemy types to it and possibly making more reference to Thel Vadam, but even then it was solid enough.
If we are to make more Halo games, let's just make new ones, not merely continue walking in the footsteps of the past.

 

[luvd1]

Ok. I can see this. Fek, the library might be worth going through this time round.