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[JareBear: Remastered]

Alex from DF breaks down Halo 2 AE, recently ported over to PC's Master Chief Collection

Fortunes have been mixed with the PC conversions of Halo Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved - so how does the latest release fare? Alex Battaglia revisits Halo 2, the Anniversary Edition improvements and rates the technical proficiency of this new PC port.

Halo 2 on PC is the best Master Chief Collection port yet

A mere 13 years on from its initial release, Halo 2 has been re-released on PC as part of The Master Chief Collection -…

www.eurogamer.net

Added effects/visuals

Saber Interactive give directional lighting a huge push with real-time shadow maps, while generally increasing the contrast across the entire image. Also helping is the use of screen-space ambient occlusion to give shadowed areas more diversity, while the Anniversary graphics also use baked light maps that include global illumination. On top of this, other effects are added - like parallax occlusion mapped textures that give the ground and wall surfaces more detail, or parallax mapped bullet decals when you shoot ballistic weapons at metal walls. On top of the generally more vibrant colours scheme, there are also some really nice lens flares from the sun or plasma effects, along with impressive particle effects that receive lighting and shadowing information. Where the original Halo 2 felt a little flat, the Anniversary edition adds vibrancy and consistency

Framerate

High frame-rate gaming is an essential feature, especially for an FPS. Halo: Combat Evolved supported frame-rates above 60fps with some screen elements like screen-shakes, antennae movement and plasma shots only animating at half-rate 30fps. Meanwhile, Halo Reach had a completely broken high frame-rate option where 120fps looked and felt worse than 60fps, with obvious pacing problems in mouse movement and animation. Looking back it really was dreadful. Halo 2 is a big improvement but it isn't quite perfect.

Scalability

Performance-wise, Halo 2 checks out just fine, as you would hope. Mainstream GPUs like Nvidia's GTX 1060 and AMD's RX 580 deliver decent 1440p experiences when the Anniversary graphics are active and by our reckoning, cards like GTX 1660 Super or GTX 1070 would be needed for similar 4K play. In common with prior Master Chief games, PC users can also enjoy enhanced visual settings that go beyond what the title delivers on Xbox One and Xbox One X.

Hitches

One aspect of performance does baffle me though: while playing cooperatively with a friend, I noticed some odd hitching on the Delta Halo level. I had observed one or two hitches prior to that, but here, the game was constantly stuttering for prolonged periods of time, while my co-op partner had the exact same thing happening in their game as well. Thinking it might be a network issue, I double-checked on another PC and the same effect kicked in with a similar level of severity. It's not a pretty sight - we're dealing with 100ms, 200ms and even 400ms stutters in relatively rapid succession. The game genuinely felt pretty poor to play in such areas and differences in hardware did not seem to matter: the issue kicked in on Ryzen 9 and Core i5 systems, and I also checked using both NVMe and SATA SSDs which were both equally impacted.

 

[grfunkulus]

Definitely a good port overall. Performing above Xbox one x levels with a GTX 1060 is a win imo.

And people complaining about not being able to maintain 4k60fps on a 1080 in the previous thread must have something else going on because that seems nuts.

 

[Codes 208]

My 580 am happy

 

[ruvikx]

Definitely a good port overall. Performing above Xbox one x levels with a GTX 1060 is a win imo.

And people complaining about not being able to maintain 4k60fps on a 1080 in the previous thread must have something else going on because that seems nuts.

The Xbox One X version is currently plagued with serious framerate issues & has been so since Reach was released in the Master Chief Collection. I wish people (like Digital Foundry) would address this sort of issue. IMO it's currently unplayable on the One X, certainly when compared to the buttery smooth Halo Reach & 4.

 

[grfunkulus]

The Xbox One X version is currently plagued with serious framerate issues & has been so since Reach was released in the Master Chief Collection. I wish people (like Digital Foundry) would address this sort of issue. IMO it's currently unplayable on the One X, certainly when compared to the buttery smooth Halo Reach & 4.

Yeah I noticed that the last time I played but it never held a consistent 60, even when the game was first released. I was always a little disappointed because the graphical upgrade was huge and far more consistent than the 360 Halo CE remake. Shame they couldn't just use either a dynamic resolution or something more like 1800p which would definitely be a near locked 60 (except in some odd CPU bound scenarios).

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

At least the audio seems fine, compared to Reach and CE ports, right? I haven't noticed the same tinny issues, unless I am just used to them by now

 

[Phase]

I wish the OG H2 servers were still online, because the multiplayer portion of mcc has been trash ever since its release. Glad I was able to get a refund after playing their H2 pc release. Even H3 is barely playable on xbox atm since the last update. I should have listened to myself years ago and just let nostalgia be nostalgia.

 

[Andodalf]

The Xbox One X version is currently plagued with serious framerate issues & has been so since Reach was released in the Master Chief Collection. I wish people (like Digital Foundry) would address this sort of issue. IMO it's currently unplayable on the One X, certainly when compared to the buttery smooth Halo Reach & 4.

They address it in this very video.

 

[Mochilador]

Since we are talking about Halo 2, does anyone else have problems with crushed blacks while using the remastered version?
There were parts where the game was too dark and I had to switch to the classic version.

 

[H4ze]

God bless Digital Foundry

 

[pawel86ck]

Very detailed analysis. I think people hate Alex only because he knows too much .

 

[grfunkulus]

Since we are talking about Halo 2, does anyone else have problems with crushed blacks while using the remastered version?
There were parts where the game was too dark and I had to switch to the classic version.

I see it majorly in multiplayer but not as much in campaign. The dynamic range and black levels in that have been pretty spot on for me.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Since we are talking about Halo 2, does anyone else have problems with crushed blacks while using the remastered version?
There were parts where the game was too dark and I had to switch to the classic version.

Console or PC?

 

[Mochilador]

Console or PC?

Console. And I only have problems when using the remastered graphics.
Sometimes the difference is like day and night, literally. It goes from "I can't see shit" to "okay, now everything is clear".

 

[kingbean]

Playing at 4K at 120FPS feels pretty great.

Only goddamn problem is Legendary is so fucking unbalanced compared to the rest of the series. I will beat it though.

 

[Phase]

Playing at 4K at 120FPS feels pretty great.

Only goddamn problem is Legendary is so fucking unbalanced compared to the rest of the series. I will beat it though.

Gotta quick-scope the jackals lol

 

[kingbean]

Gotta quick-scope the jackals lol

Yes, this is correct.

Sniper jackals and vehicle sections are the only problem. One banshee can take out a tank in 3 seconds.

 

[Stuart360]

Playing at 4K at 120FPS feels pretty great.

Only goddamn problem is Legendary is so fucking unbalanced compared to the rest of the series. I will beat it though.

I watched a stream where two streamers co-oped the game on Legendary with almost all the skulls. It took them nearly 24 hours lol.

 

[HE1NZ]

Surprised to see them completely ignore multiplayer, which is on separate engine and have some serious issues.

 

[Sorne]

I wish the OG H2 servers were still online, because the multiplayer portion of mcc has been trash ever since its release. Glad I was able to get a refund after playing their H2 pc release. Even H3 is barely playable on xbox atm since the last update. I should have listened to myself years ago and just let nostalgia be nostalgia.

What are you talking about ? Multiplayer has worked fine for a long time now.
Stop spreading false statements.

 

[Phase]

What are you talking about ? Multiplayer has worked fine for a long time now.
Stop spreading false statements.

I'm glad it works well for you. I get periods of good gameplay, intertwined with connection problems like blanks and no shield indicators visuals/sounds when getting shot. Blank melees and bloodshots galore, and my internet is great. I'm sure many others experience this daily.

 

[Nikana]

Playing at 4K at 120FPS feels pretty great.

Only goddamn problem is Legendary is so fucking unbalanced compared to the rest of the series. I will beat it though.

I did this with a friend and it was two long days of pure agony. All for a dumb helmet in h5. Worth it!

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Watching this video now.

Played thru the PC game recently and it was much more enjoyable compared to playing it on Xbox One X.

Then I went back to Reach as always lol. Just beat it on legendary. Going for all the data packs now.

 

[ruvikx]

Watching this video now.

Played thru the PC game recently and it was much more enjoyable compared to playing it on Xbox One X.

Then I went back to Reach as always lol. Just beat it on legendary. Going for all the data packs now.

Reach is the best. I also just replayed it on Legendary & it's still just as good. Highlight missions being Nightfall & Long Night of Solace (although that one has a serious difficulty spike during the space battle). The rest is all manageable as long as the player chooses the right tool aka weapon for the job.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Reach is the best. I also just replayed it on Legendary & it's still just as good. Highlight missions being Nightfall & Long Night of Solace (although that one has a serious difficulty spike during the space battle). The rest is all manageable as long as the player chooses the right tool aka weapon for the job.

Yeah Saber mission was the worst part. I won’t be replaying that in the future. But the game feels good on legendary otherwise imo.

 

[Sorne]

I'm glad it works well for you. I get periods of good gameplay, intertwined with connection problems like blanks and no shield indicators visuals/sounds when getting shot. Blank melees and bloodshots galore, and my internet is great. I'm sure many others experience this daily.

Well that sucks. I just haven't heard any of those issues before so sounded a little BS to me. Neither of my friends experience it either

 

[manfestival]

the sound bugs in reach always threw me off. I am really enjoying Halo 2 right now.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

The Xbox One X version is currently plagued with serious framerate issues & has been so since Reach was released in the Master Chief Collection. I wish people (like Digital Foundry) would address this sort of issue. IMO it's currently unplayable on the One X, certainly when compared to the buttery smooth Halo Reach & 4.

Man, that MCC has not been fixed yet?

I have been hesitant to buy it on PC because these kind of comments keep popping up... and I don't do FPS on consoles (unless it's only available on console, even then... chances are I will skip it).

 

[ruvikx]

Man, that MCC has not been fixed yet?

I have been hesitant to buy it on PC because these kind of comments keep popping up... and I don't do FPS on consoles (unless it's only available on console, even then... chances are I will skip it).

It was apparently broken again when they released Reach & hasn't been fixed since.

I'm talking specifically about the Halo Combat Evolved & 2 Anniversary story campaigns. In the very first level when the Covenant attack the station in 2, it begins chugging along like hell & I even get input lag as well (on the One X). It's weird because Halo 4 & Reach perform near perfectly (4 especially has great graphics, ergo there's got to be a funky reason "why" Halo 2 has these problems, especially if it's related to Reach's inclusion in the MCC).

In any case, they need to fix it (& let's see whether the Series X can brute force a stable framerate in November because if not...).