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[Digital Foundry] Halo Reach PC/Xbox One Review: It's Good - But There Are Issues

Bullet Club

Member



Alex Battaglia goes in-depth on Halo Reach's port for Xbox One S, Xbox One X and of course, PC. Find out where this conversion excels and where it falls short in this extended, deep-dive analysis.

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They explain frame pacing thoroughly and effectively in this vid.

Also get in depth regarding the enhanced mode and some things that don’t seem to be where they should (bloom, DoF, motion blur, etc)

apparently you have to force AF to 16x in your control panel as the game wont do it on its own

they also compare the sound mix and something is clearly off in the new release
 
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Evilms

Banned
Summary:

  • It's a very good port but far from perfect.
  • The MCC version targets 60fps on all platforms (XB1, XB1 X, PC) and everything is synchronized correctly.
  • Loss of detail can also occur at less than 60fps.
  • The original game was running as a sub-hd on Xbox 360 (1152x720p with TAA).
  • On XB1 the game now runs in 1080p, on XB1 X in 2160p complete with a standard AA post process. No TAA solution here.
  • The PC version supports 21:9 well in game but during cutscenes it comes back in 16:9.
  • All versions have low anisotropic filtering, but on PC this can be corrected by forcing AF using your GPU control panel.
  • The XB1/X do not have the "Enhanced" graphics settings of the PC version, so LoD... etc. are the same as on the original opus released on Xbox 360.
  • On the PC, the improved graphic setting pushes the LoD away so you don't have any visible loss or objects.
  • Real-time shadows also benefit from better resolution.
  • Post-processing scale (SSAO, Bloom, DoF... etc) with system resolution.
  • A higher resolution can eliminate the artistic effects of DOF. The same goes for the SSAO and Bloom.
  • The higher resolution of the PC/XB1/X makes the SSAO almost invisible at short distance.
  • The Bloom effect is medium and poses some problems, DF noted that the higher the resolution, the less impact the post-process effects have.
  • The motion blur is completely disabled on the MCC version.
  • The audio mix for firearms is also not correct. The sound is too muffled and of lower volume with different reverberations.
  • The game suffers from some crashes.
  • The X version runs at 60fps with only a few drops in the areas where the game loads.
  • Same thing on XB1, unlike on zones with loading/streaming it can drop to 40-45fps. The XB1 has trouble maintaining the 60fps.
  • Co-op input latency is also mentioned.
  • On PC, most configurations should be able to run it easily at 60fps with only a few drops at checkpoints.
  • Running the game above 60fps on PC is useless for the moment because all animations are locked at 60fps.
  • A simple Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 is enough to enjoy the 4K game on PC.
  • At 120fps, the mouse also has non-linear motion problems. You will have a better input latency, but it will not be correct.
  • The same applies to character animations.
  • DF does not recommend playing above 60fps on PC for now.
 

CyberPanda

Banned
Summary:

  • It's a very good port but far from perfect.
  • The MCC version targets 60fps on all platforms (XB1, XB1 X, PC) and everything is synchronized correctly.
  • Loss of detail can also occur at less than 60fps.
  • The original game was running as a sub-hd on Xbox 360 (1152x720p with TAA).
  • On XB1 the game now runs in 1080p, on XB1 X in 2160p complete with a standard AA post process. No TAA solution here.
  • The PC version supports 21:9 well in game but during cutscenes it comes back in 16:9.
  • All versions have low anisotropic filtering, but on PC this can be corrected by forcing AF using your GPU control panel.
  • The XB1/X do not have the "Enhanced" graphics settings of the PC version, so LoD... etc. are the same as on the original opus released on Xbox 360.
  • On the PC, the improved graphic setting pushes the LoD away so you don't have any visible loss or objects.
  • Real-time shadows also benefit from better resolution.
  • Post-processing scale (SSAO, Bloom, DoF... etc) with system resolution.
  • A higher resolution can eliminate the artistic effects of DOF. The same goes for the SSAO and Bloom.
  • The higher resolution of the PC/XB1/X makes the SSAO almost invisible at short distance.
  • The Bloom effect is medium and poses some problems, DF noted that the higher the resolution, the less impact the post-process effects have.
  • The motion blur is completely disabled on the MCC version.
  • The audio mix for firearms is also not correct. The sound is too muffled and of lower volume with different reverberations.
  • The game suffers from some crashes.
  • The X version runs at 60fps with only a few drops in the areas where the game loads.
  • Same thing on XB1, unlike on zones with loading/streaming it can drop to 40-45fps. The XB1 has trouble maintaining the 60fps.
  • Co-op input latency is also mentioned.
  • On PC, most configurations should be able to run it easily at 60fps with only a few drops at checkpoints.
  • Running the game above 60fps on PC is useless for the moment because all animations are locked at 60fps.
  • A simple Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 is enough to enjoy the 4K game on PC.
  • At 120fps, the mouse also has non-linear motion problems. You will have a better input latency, but it will not be correct.
  • The same applies to character animations.
  • DF does not recommend playing above 60fps on PC for now.
Thanks for the breakdown.
 

888

Member
So far outside of the graphics I have gameplay issues. By default rolling the mouse wheel doesn’t swap weapons. The punch and grenade keys are too far apart for comfort. I haven’t tried to change them yet. Only played a few games and it felt very weird. Will rebind them later.
 
So far outside of the graphics I have gameplay issues. By default rolling the mouse wheel doesn’t swap weapons. The punch and grenade keys are too far apart for comfort. I haven’t tried to change them yet. Only played a few games and it felt very weird. Will rebind them later.

yeah I had to rebind melee, night vision,
zoom, grenade, and weapon switch, mostly to mouse buttons
 
Summary:

  • It's a very good port but far from perfect.
  • The MCC version targets 60fps on all platforms (XB1, XB1 X, PC) and everything is synchronized correctly.
  • Loss of detail can also occur at less than 60fps.
  • The original game was running as a sub-hd on Xbox 360 (1152x720p with TAA).
  • On XB1 the game now runs in 1080p, on XB1 X in 2160p complete with a standard AA post process. No TAA solution here.
  • The PC version supports 21:9 well in game but during cutscenes it comes back in 16:9.
  • All versions have low anisotropic filtering, but on PC this can be corrected by forcing AF using your GPU control panel.
  • The XB1/X do not have the "Enhanced" graphics settings of the PC version, so LoD... etc. are the same as on the original opus released on Xbox 360.
  • On the PC, the improved graphic setting pushes the LoD away so you don't have any visible loss or objects.
  • Real-time shadows also benefit from better resolution.
  • Post-processing scale (SSAO, Bloom, DoF... etc) with system resolution.
  • A higher resolution can eliminate the artistic effects of DOF. The same goes for the SSAO and Bloom.
  • The higher resolution of the PC/XB1/X makes the SSAO almost invisible at short distance.
  • The Bloom effect is medium and poses some problems, DF noted that the higher the resolution, the less impact the post-process effects have.
  • The motion blur is completely disabled on the MCC version.
  • The audio mix for firearms is also not correct. The sound is too muffled and of lower volume with different reverberations.
  • The game suffers from some crashes.
  • The X version runs at 60fps with only a few drops in the areas where the game loads.
  • Same thing on XB1, unlike on zones with loading/streaming it can drop to 40-45fps. The XB1 has trouble maintaining the 60fps.
  • Co-op input latency is also mentioned.
  • On PC, most configurations should be able to run it easily at 60fps with only a few drops at checkpoints.
  • Running the game above 60fps on PC is useless for the moment because all animations are locked at 60fps.
  • A simple Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 is enough to enjoy the 4K game on PC.
  • At 120fps, the mouse also has non-linear motion problems. You will have a better input latency, but it will not be correct.
  • The same applies to character animations.
  • DF does not recommend playing above 60fps on PC for now.

Ive been playing with 60fps cap since launch and wonder if that’s why I haven’t seen quite as many hiccups as some others
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
They’re small issues, but being halfway through the video, and watching how 343 has screwed up reproducing visual effects, sound, even possibly the stability the original release had, just has me facepalming.

To be clear, it’s no original MCC disaster. The game works, and you can live with these minor things, and likely have a fantastic experience.

That said, there shouldn’t be compromises. This should be an improvement in every way, full-stop, as we see with other remasters. It just doesn’t improve my opinion of them as the stewards of the Halo franchise.

Can’t continue it properly, can’t remake it properly, can’t port it properly...
 

H4ze

Member
Great video, games works fine for me, just the sounds of the weapons are a bit.. well.. crappy, makes them feel worse to shoot
 

Zimmy68

Member
Dumb question. I'm sure really dumb.
I installed Halo MCC on my PC via GamePass.
The only game that it let's me select is Halo Reach.
Is that because it is the only game available?
It doesn't make much sense, why list all the games if you can't play them.
I thought there was something wrong with my keyboard.
 

HelpYouFall

Member
Best story in any Halo game. I'll pick this up on Gamepass for sure to run through it again with the 'hyper lethal vector' named Noble-6 :messenger_sunglasses:
 
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