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Joystiq: Halo being remade by Saber Interactive, release November 15 (rumour)

Domino Theory said:
Yeah that's my guess, too, with a reveal this E3.

And regarding this rumor: It makes sense to have some other developer handle the 'port' since 343i is churning away at the next BIG Halo title. It's relatively easy for them to oversee the project.

Day fucking one if true. Sounds sooo good. <3

I really don't think we will see anything from it before they are totally ready, which would be E3 2012. Announcing it this year, and doing a "wait 18 months suckers" will not fly well. Microsoft generally don't do that kind of stuff anymore.
 
Vinterbird said:
I really don't think we will see anything from it before they are totally ready, which would be E3 2012. Announcing it this year, and doing a "wait 18 months suckers" will not fly well. Microsoft generally don't do that kind of stuff anymore.

Uh, they did that in E3 2009 with Crackdown 2 and Halo: Reach. Announcing a big Halo title then releasing it 3 months later won't work for hype. They handled the hype and media for Halo: Reach from June 2009 to September 2010 perfectly as well as having a multiplayer beta in May 2010.

E3 2009 had Joseph Staten show off Halo 3: ODST for the first time and announce Halo: Reach at the same time. I can see Microsoft doing the same thing this year with Halo: CE and Halo 4.
 
curious to see how much they charge for this.

the Sony's God of War Collection was sold for $39.99. GOW2 looked amazing, so it wasn't just an "upscaled" version.
 
Afrikan said:
curious to see how much they charge for this.

the Sony's God of War Collection was sold for $39.99. GOW2 looked amazing, so it wasn't just an "upscaled" version.
$40 for regular and $60 for Halo 2 XBLA included. That or it will be $60 with the beta for the new Halo game included :(
 
Why are people freaking out about Sabre Interactive working on it, anyway? From the sound of it, they're just using new assets to allow Halo: CE to have amazing visuals for 2011's standards and possibly adding online co-op. It's not like they're creating a Halo game from the ground up.

This also makes sure that none of 343i's resources are being used up for CE and are being used solely for the next big Halo titles. Great news, in my book.

Not a Jellyfish said:
Where is theOuterWorldVoice to confirm or deny this? =P

I've been on GAF long enough to know that if he comes in to post the ':lol' smiley at the OP or to go off-topic within a rumor thread then it's not true. If he avoids it completely, it's true. :P
 
VGChampion said:
Surprised so many people dislike The Library to this day. That level provided some intense co-op moments with suicide runs and finding just the right corner to hide in so one partner could go out and suicide. It's not even the weakest level in the game.
343 GS
Bullsheeeeit. I maintain 343 is the best Flood-central level in the game. The buildup is good, the environment tells a myriad of implicit battles as you roam through the abandoned structure, and it's a hectic fight to the surface once the Flood make their attack.

The Library in comparison is a sheer and utter slog, set in a thrice-cloned series of boxes. The rest of the game has a fair amount of repetition, but the Library makes no attempt to rise beyond those limitations. It just wallows in its mediocrity and makes the player suffer until the last cutscene.
 
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! said:
All these prequels and remakes are saying to me that they have no idea what the hell to do with the franchise.

Nah, a game set on Reach was an obvious fan-pleaser, and a remake makes sense for the 10 year anniversary. I'd imagine by now Frankie and friends at 343 will have a pretty good idea of where they're going with the franchise too (unless he's been wasting all his time on GAF).
 
Mixed feelings. Chances of it being more of a visual overhaul? High. "Well, when we were remaking Hang 'em High there was an issue with one of the original jump spots. So we went in and improved the jump, since we couldn't change the scale of the map because of limitations, and it had a negative effect on the physics. You know, sliding, that sort of stuff. So what we did was completely revamp the entire system."

But if it is really as simple as new graphics, I'm in. $40 for online multiplayer? I've waited for this for a long time.
 
Domino Theory said:
I've been on GAF long enough to know that if he comes in to post the ':lol' smiley at the OP or to go off-topic within a rumor thread then it's not true. If he avoids it completely, it's true. :P
Quickly lets start up rumor threads to see what they are thinking about working on! lol
 
Completely unnecessary but will generate tons of money. Halo 1 was the only game with a decent single player game. The multiplayer, however, has been long eclipsed by Halo 3 and Reach.
 
Synth_floyd said:
Completely unnecessary but will generate tons of money. Halo 1 was the only game with a decent single player game. The multiplayer, however, has been long eclipsed by Halo 3 and Reach.
No more "unnecessary" than Sony pushing for the HD remake compilations like the God of War Collection or Team Ico, or even Nintendo releasing a ROM pack of Super Mario All-Stars. And the multiplayer was only surpassed by Halo 2, which has yet to be topped in the Halo series yet.
 
Outsourced with a new engine to some random shitty developer? =\ Also, they are unsure of the multiplayer, only online co-op so far? I was more excited about this remake before. I have some faith though considering 343 is overseeing this.
 
Kibbles said:
Outsourced with a new engine to some random shitty developer? =\ Also, they are unsure of the multiplayer, only online co-op so far? I was more excited about this remake before. I have some faith though considering 343 is overseeing this.
No new engine. They are doing exactly what JAW did with Strangers Wrath and upgrading the graphics and nothing else.
 
wwm0nkey said:
No new engine. They are doing exactly what JAW did with Strangers Wrath and upgrading the graphics and nothing else.
Please tell me it runs better than SW.

Is this still being emulated or are they porting the game over and just updating graphics Perfect Dark HD style?
 
Domino Theory said:
Why are people freaking out about Sabre Interactive working on it, anyway? From the sound of it, they're just using new assets to allow Halo: CE to have amazing visuals for 2011's standards and possibly adding online co-op. It's not like they're creating a Halo game from the ground up.

This also makes sure that none of 343i's resources are being used up for CE and are being used solely for the next big Halo titles. Great news, in my book.



I've been on GAF long enough to know that if he comes in to post the ':lol' smiley at the OP or to go off-topic within a rumor thread then it's not true. If he avoids it completely, it's true. :P


Like I said on the previous page they're really only re-texturing half a game and then it's all back tracking anyway with almost no original content whatsoever. I love OG Halo but the second half of the game was a ridiculously repetitive let down compared to the mind-blowing opening sections.
 
Billychu said:
Please tell me it runs better than SW.

Is this still being emulated or are they porting the game over and just updating graphics Perfect Dark HD style?
SW was all patched up on the PC and runs at 100+FPS now on most machines. Oh also SW hasnt gotten the HD upgrade yet.
 
wwm0nkey said:
SW was all patched up on the PC and runs at 100+FPS now on most machines. Oh also SW hasnt gotten the HD upgrade yet.
Right. Haven't tried post-patch SW yet. Kudos to the devs for keeping us up to date though.
 
MrMephistoX said:
Like I said on the previous page they're really only re-texturing half a game and then it's all back tracking anyway with almost no original content whatsoever. I love OG Halo but the second half of the game was a ridiculously repetitive let down compared to the mind-blowing opening sections.
I disagree, the game (obviously) reuses the levels but has actually many new setpieces, Two Betrayals play vastly different from Assault on the Control Room.
 
_Bro said:
Mixed feelings. Chances of it being more of a visual overhaul? High. "Well, when we were remaking Hang 'em High there was an issue with one of the original jump spots. So we went in and improved the jump, since we couldn't change the scale of the map because of limitations, and it had a negative effect on the physics. You know, sliding, that sort of stuff. So what we did was completely revamp the entire system."

But if it is really as simple as new graphics, I'm in. $40 for online multiplayer? I've waited for this for a long time.

Halo PC is $20. It has online multiplayer and a fairly active community last I checked. And there's always Halo Custom Edition, with user created maps.
 
Vinterbird said:
I really wish that 343 was not doing Halo 4, but just doing Halo. Something new removed form the current story arch and world. But seeing where they will go is going to be extremely interesting, especially with the Legendary ending in mind, and what they are gonna do with it, since the general consensus was that it would connect to Marathon.
Indeed it was... AMONG CRAZY PEOPLE.

Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! said:
All these prequels and remakes are saying to me that they have no idea what the hell to do with the franchise.
The latest novel tells me that they have many ideas for what to do with the franchise. And all of them are totally crazy.
 
MrMephistoX said:
Like I said on the previous page they're really only re-texturing half a game and then it's all back tracking anyway with almost no original content whatsoever. I love OG Halo but the second half of the game was a ridiculously repetitive let down compared to the mind-blowing opening sections.

So it's going to be a cheap port? That's no fun. Nostalgia can only take you so far before you realize your playing the same old game with a new coat of paint.
 
rar said:
NO

the only things that should happen:

- fix the framerate
- add online support, including co-op
- put in some more controller options
- include the stuff from the pc version (maps, features, etc)
- add the decent maps from the other ones (lockout, midship, etc)
- possibly add some new maps (if you can find a competent designer)
- add theatre, forge, firefight
- after all that, upscale the resolution or w/e, just don't mess the look up like with the other games

DON'T TOUCH:

- graphics
- gameplay
- physics
- weapons
- maps
- campaign (except maybe the library, but i still dont trust anyone with that)
- everything that made it the best halo game by a million miles

don't add kinect, 3d, etc, and don't mess with the fov ffs!

IF THEY CAN'T FOLLOW THIS PLAN, THEY SHOULDN'T EVEN ATTEMPT TO REMAKE HALO 1

This x 9000.

You hit on every single thing that would matter to me. XBL MP and a Forge type tool are my two biggies.

~telengard
 
Ajemsuhgao said:
Halo PC is $20. It has online multiplayer and a fairly active community last I checked. And there's always Halo Custom Edition, with user created maps.
There is something about Halo PC that doesn't sit well with me. Something just doesn't feel right when I'm playing it.

I also like to pretend it doesn't exist because it's just not fun without a controller and I don't like to play FPS games on my PC with a controller. Much rather have Halo on my xbox.


Flipyap said:
Indeed it was... AMONG CRAZY PEOPLE.
Halo 3's legendary ending is very a good beginning for Marathon, if you knew the beginning of Marathon, that is.

mmm, marathon
 
Domino Theory said:
I've been on GAF long enough to know that if he comes in to post the ':lol' smiley at the OP or to go off-topic within a rumor thread then it's not true. If he avoids it completely, it's true. :P
He's also been on GAF long enough to know that we know that, so we can never know if he's mixing things up. :p
 
Domino Theory said:
I've been on GAF long enough to know that if he comes in to post the ':lol' smiley at the OP or to go off-topic within a rumor thread then it's not true. If he avoids it completely, it's true. :P
What if the :lol smiley no longer exists?!
 
Afrikan said:
curious to see how much they charge for this.

the Sony's God of War Collection was sold for $39.99. GOW2 looked amazing, so it wasn't just an "upscaled" version.
GOW2 was just bumped up to 720p and had AA added. The overlays may have been redrawn in a higher res too, but thats about it. The art assets from GOW2 look just as good on PCSX2.

Heres a DF article about it: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/god-of-war-collection-article

...this shot emphasises the sheer quality increase that can be attained from a simple resolution bump, with the emulation proving that the detail was there in the original assets, as opposed to being added for the God of War Collection.

That being said, the GOW games could pass with just a simple bump in resolution because they are zoomed out and have a fixed camera. And the time between the release of GOW2 and the GOW collection was only 2.5 years, and 4.5 years since GOW1. If this Halo rumour is true, its going to have been 10 years, which is a really long time. Those graphics won't hold up at all, so they'll have to redo the art assets unless they plan to sell this for $10 on XBLA.
 
If they put the Halo PC levels in this I may bite. Those are still the best levels out of any Halo game and they aren't even made by bungie.

CTF on Halo PC = god tier.
 
Sp3eD said:
If they put the Halo PC levels in this I may bite. Those are still the best levels out of any Halo game and they aren't even made by bungie.

CTF on Halo PC = god tier.

I dunno about best of any Halo game. But Gephyrophobia, Infinity, and Danger Canyon were amazing. Death Island was pretty good, and Timberland wasn't bad.
 
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! said:
All these prequels and remakes are saying to me that they have no idea what the hell to do with the franchise.

I was thinking the same, but if they slap "Halo" on the box, I'm probably going to buy it.
 
_Bro said:
There is something about Halo PC that doesn't sit well with me. Something just doesn't feel right when I'm playing it.

I also like to pretend it doesn't exist because it's just not fun without a controller

That's crazy talk.
 
I thought TimeShift was pretty solid and well-made.

If this remake is true than I hope it's not just a straight remake but they add more surprises to it, like Metroid Zero Mission was to the original Metroid.
 
TheFLYINGManga_Ka said:
I thought TimeShift was pretty solid and well-made.

If this remake is true than I hope it's not just a straight remake but they add more surprises to it, like Metroid Zero Mission was to the original Metroid.

I honestly hope this rumor isn't true. I'm holding out for Bungie to release their next game(which will most like being an FPS) on PC, and have the Halo modding community pick it up and remake Halo 1. At least they're sure to get it right. I have very little faith in some random company that made an okay shooter picking up something big like this, and getting everything right...
 
Ajemsuhgao said:
I honestly hope this rumor isn't true. I'm holding out for Bungie to release their next game(which will most like being an FPS) on PC, and have the Halo modding community pick it up and remake Halo 1. At least they're sure to get it right. I have very little faith in some random company that made an okay shooter picking up something big like this, and getting everything right...

Remaiking Halo 1 for today would just be doing new textures and make online work. And Bungies new game will be for PC, PS3 and 360 (but can people mod MMO's?)
 
Vinterbird said:
Remaiking Halo 1 for today would just be doing new textures and make online work. And Bungies new game will be for PC, PS3 and 360 (but can people mod MMO's?)

If they seriously were to just redo textures and rerelease it, I'd be pissed. If you're going to remake a game, at least put some damn effort into it. That's the whole reason I lost respect for Nintendo. Rereleasing OoT/Star Fox, with barely anything changed(graphics, I mean).


Remaking Halo 1 for today would not just be adding new textures and online support. You can quadruple the resolution of the textures, but that won't make a huge difference. The models are still pretty low poly(modern RTS games have higher poly models). On top of that, animations aren't exactly great either. If someone is going to remake Halo 1, they should at least bring it up to Reach standards.


Also, as far as I know Bungie hasn't said anything about their next project. I don't know where you're getting MMO from.
 
Ajemsuhgao said:
If they seriously were to just redo textures and rerelease it, I'd be pissed. If you're going to remake a game, at least put some damn effort into it. That's the whole reason I lost respect for Nintendo. Rereleasing OoT/Star Fox, with barely anything changed(graphics, I mean).


Remaking Halo 1 for today would not just be adding new textures and online support. You can quadruple the resolution of the textures, but that won't make a huge difference. The models are still pretty low poly(modern RTS games have higher poly models). On top of that, animations aren't exactly great either. If someone is going to remake Halo 1, they should at least bring it up to Reach standards.

Also, as far as I know Bungie hasn't said anything about their next project. I don't know where you're getting MMO from.

But if they started tinkering with Halo 1, everyone would go ballistic since they would be tampering with a classic, and I think many people would prefer it to just stay the same in terms of the fundamental gameplayexperience but prettier.

They publicly said what platforms it would be on several times, even the press release says so. MMO part is me jumping to the natural conclusion when signing a ten year deal with a publisher. You don't do that unless you have an MMO, expansions and an server to maintain. Plus comments from Bungie people have pointed in the same direction.
 
Vinterbird said:
But if they started tinkering with Halo 1, everyone would go ballistic since they would be tampering with a classic, and I think many people would prefer it to just stay the same in terms of the fundamental gameplayexperience but prettier.

They publicly said what platforms it would be on several times, even the press release says so. MMO part is me jumping to the natural conclusion when signing a ten year deal with a publisher. You don't do that unless you have an MMO, expansions and an server to maintain. Plus comments from Bungie people have pointed in the same direction.


I'm not talking gameplay tweaks at all. But there's a lot more to graphical upgrades than just remaking textures. Updating models, animations, shaders, lighting, etc. would not change gameplay at all. Halo 1 is pretty ugly by today's standards.


And just for fun:

Halo 1 Elite model poly count: ~5,400
Halo 3 Elite model poly count: ~12,000

Halo 1 Spartan model(Mark V): ~2,000
Halo 3 Spartan model(Mark VI): ~11,500

and I'm sure Reach's models are even higher.
 
Jtwo said:
Hmmm.. A Halo 4 could be interesting. MC is in the perfect position to have the same sense of isolation/lone soldier feel of the first one.
This is something that I have wanted since Halo 1. ODST did pretty well in this department during the city exploration sections.
 
This is something that I have wanted since Halo 1. ODST did pretty well in this department during the city exploration sections.

Yes. This is what I've missed the most from Halo 1. Halo 2/3/Reach you nearly always have AI teammates sitting there to hold your hand. Even if they don't get any kills, they're still there and it makes it feel easier somehow. That, and I hate how much of a tank they made Spartans out to be in Halo 2/3.
 
Ajemsuhgao said:
I'm not talking gameplay tweaks at all. But there's a lot more to graphical upgrades than just remaking textures. Updating models, animations, shaders, lighting, etc. would not change gameplay at all. Halo 1 is pretty ugly by today's standards.


And just for fun:

Halo 1 Elite model poly count: ~5,400
Halo 3 Elite model poly count: ~12,000

Halo 1 Spartan model(Mark V): ~2,000
Halo 3 Spartan model(Mark VI): ~11,500

and I'm sure Reach's models are even higher.

Not forgetting that they probably have even higher poly models than those for Halo 3 that were used to bake the normal maps.
 
Plasma said:
Not forgetting that they probably have even higher poly models than those for Halo 3 that were used to bake the normal maps.

Well yeah, but I see no reason to include those. I'm just comparing in game models.

Halo 1 didn't even support normal maps on moving objects.
 
Ajemsuhgao said:
Halo is better with the controller than it is with a mouse/keyboard, somehow. That's...the only game I would ever say that about.

Not saying that it isn't, but claiming it's not fun with a mouse and a keyboard is taking it way too far. I had a lot of fun playing it that way.
 
Smallish update:
Nate Walpole said:
:: "You sure that's a good idea?" - Cortana, Smiling ironically, when 343 Guilty Spark wanted to purge her. http://aol.it/eosf4R #halo #343i
Nate use to work for Bungie as senior animator, but now works at 343.

His resume:
Experience
343i | microsoft game studios..
2008-2010 undisclosed halo project

Senior animator
  • hand keyed character animation
  • conceptual animation created to further identify game features and
    design viability
  • conceptual cinematic animation created to proof malleable concept
    and project direction
  • character rigging to assist in proof of concept while rigging staff was
    yet to be hired
  • experience researching various game engines, including but not limited
    to Unreal tech
  • as 343i transitions to take the Halo mantle from Bungie, I provided a
    keystone of Halo information encompassing previous development
    and best practices with regards to animation, character, gameplay,
    design, etc. in the Halo universe
His website also has a test video for a unannounced property (I think it migth be related to a Bungie game).
 
For those concerned about the dev doing the port:

Microsoft would never release a crappy version, of their most important game for their platform. Halo is why the Xbox was a success.
 
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