The ultimate Halo collection has been released in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Compiling 5 games into one (4 out of box, one DLC), Halo: The Master Chief Collection aims to please Halo fans who’ve stuck with the franchise since the first entry’s release on the original Xbox , as well as introduce itself to those who are new to the franchise. As far as the latter is concerned it succeeds, however some issues have provided woes for those of the former.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an 2014 action shooter, it is developed by 343 Industries, and published by Microsoft Studios. It is available exclusively on Xbox One.

All of the main console games are present, minus Reach.

As someone who was introduced to Halo randomly in a video game club at my old high school, I was completely unaware of why many held the franchise in such high regard. After playing Halo 2 in said club, I started to get why people enjoyed Halo, however it wasn’t until I obtain an Xbox 360 that I was able to truly find joy with the series. The melee, vehicles, and story all provide some fun experiences that at the time was rare for FPS, and even now the most recent entries into the franchise still provides this same fun after more than a decade since its introduction.

Halo’s beautiful scenery in HD.

THE GOOD: The Master Chief Collection provides dozens of hours for dedicated Halo fans to enjoy, not only through multiplayer, but also through the combined playtime of the 5 campaigns included in the collection. And with the possibility of Reach being added in as DLC as well, that adds another 6 or so campaign hours. If you can get into an online match, then that’s even more hours of fun.

Red vs Blue.

THE BAD: Online matchmaking was spotty, but thankfully 343 got things working. The huge download size was also an major annoyance.

5 games in one mighty collection.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Halo: The Master Chief Collection provides both loyal fans and welcomed newcomers multiple hours of content in time for Halo 5: Guardian. The up scaled graphics and HD scenery provides the past entries with an all new look, and the fun gameplay we’ve ocme to love is still there. Match making was an issue that took quite awhile to fix, but things eventually got sorted out.  And the download size is a major pain, especially considering owners of an 500 gig Xbox One, however those problems aside. Halo: The Master Chief Collection brings Xbox One owners a ton of content that shouldn’t be missed out on if they’re looking to start the next installment into the long-running franchise.