PC Gamer - UK (2022-07)

A

t the end of 2020, 343
Industries completed
its long journey to
bring every mainline
Halo game (except 5 )
to PC. It was a tremendous feat, but
not the end of The Master Chief
Collection’s journey by far, with
season after season of thematic
updates bringing new cosmetics,
modes, and entire new maps to
shooters that hadn’t otherwise seen
updates in over a decade.

Halo Infinite’s release may have
called time on these massive seasonal
drops. But as the latest update proves,
343 is far from done tinkering with
the venerable FPS collection.
The Master Chief Collection’s April
update is headlined by an
unseasonably spooky rework of
Firefight, Halo’s PVE horde mode.
Flood Firefight lets the green mist
descend over New Mombasa’s streets
as the Flood hordes invade Halo 3:
ODST as a new enemy type. But
you’re not Master Chief in ODST, and
you might find dealing with the
Flood to be harder than before.
Halo 3: ODST’s Flood keep all
their tricks and forms from Halo 3
proper, with special spider forms that

scurry up walls and transform into all

manner of nasties. But they’ve also

picked back up their Halo 2 talents

for driving vehicles and mounting

turrets, and will occasionally give the

Orbital Drop Shock Troops a taste of

their own medicine by spawning in

from the sky via dispersal pods.

But the nastiest trick up the

Flood’s shroomy sleeves is the ability

to bring back fallen players as

ramblin’, shamblin’ zombies. If a

teammate is packing a spicy loadout,

be prepared to have it turned against

you when they die.

Adding zombies to a horde mode

is a no-brainer, but it’s emblematic of

The Master Chief’s Collection’s unique

position as a live, ongoing

recontextualisation of a series of

shooters. Sometimes it’s not so great,

shoehorning in clashing armour

cosmetics. But when 343 is asking

questions like, “What if we put the

Flood in Firefight?” its role as

fans-turned-developer really pays off.

SKULL-SHOT

This playfulness extends beyond

turning Firefight into a mushroom

buffet, mind. April’s update also

added multiple new Skulls (modifiers

that dramatically change core game

mechanics) across Halo 2, 3 and

ODST. There are Skulls that forbid

you from picking up alien weaponry,

Skulls that randomly disable HUD

elements, Skulls that cause brutes to

explode like bombs. There’s even a

Skull that gives you near unlimited

flight, which should make grabbing

Halo 2’s scarab gun a lot easier.

Particularly neat is the addition of

two new co-op Skulls for Halo 3.

Bonded Pair gives one player a

massive damage boost when the

other dies, while Master Blaster sees

one player unarmed but heavily

shielded while the other gets infinite

ammo with zero shields.

But the best thing to come out of

The Master Chief Collection’s PC

release has been mods. Halo: CE had

a thriving modding scene back in the

early 2000s, one that gave us

everything from the series’ best

deathmatch arenas to playable

shitposts that pit Master Chief

against Goku. While still not quite

complete, bringing those same tools

to games like Halo 2 and 3 has been

utterly transformative.

The April update adds some neat

new tools to Halo’s built-in Forge

editor, but the more exciting news is

the rollout of mod support. The plan

is to bring Steam Workshop support

to the entire collection.

Because while 343 still has

updates in store (more cosmetics,

better accessibility features and more

secret collectables), eventually The

Master Chief Collection will be

content complete as the developer

focuses fully on Halo Infinite.

The MCC is a true

accomplishment, and the best place

343 can leave it is in the hands of fans

• fans who will, if precedence
  teaches us anything, spend the next
  decade or more remixing and
  remaking a collection of all-time FPS
  greats in ways neither 343 nor Bungie
  could ever foresee.

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASED

2019

PUBLISHER

Xbox Game Studios

DEVELOPER

343 Industries

LINK

halowaypoint.com

HALO: THE MASTER

CHIEF COLLECTION

Flying skulls and flood invasions prove the fight isn’t over. By Nat Clayton

THE MORE

EXCITING NEWS

IS THE ROLLOUT OF

MOD SUPPORT

FUNGAL IN THE JUNGLE

These undead shrooms aren’t safe to eat

SPORE

Sure, they burst like

balloons, but ignore

them and they’ll

bring fallen warriors

back from the dead.

INFECTED

Basic zombie. Aim

for the head, or

literally disarm them

to render them

totally ’armless.

CARRIER

When this walking

broccoli pops, it’ll

explode into dozens

of spores that’ll

quickly overwhelm.

TANK

‘Pure’ Flood can

scurry around in

various forms, the

most dangerous

being this brawler.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE BIGGEST GAMES

UPDATE