Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – review roundup

Tomorrow sees the release of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 exclusive Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

The game is an HD reworking of 2011 Xbox title sorts new visuals and new features, but is at core the very same game that established Halo as a gaming mega-brand ten years ago tomorrow.

This is a game about the arc of a perfectly thrown grenade, a game about tense games of cat-and-mouse with foes as powerful as you, a game about constant improvisation with the tools at your disposal,” Edge noted, scoring it 9/10.

It’s a game that always feels tactical, and a game that – even now – has the capacity to surprise. Allegedly, Bungie resisted the subtitle, but it’s as true now as it was then. It might be older, it might look younger, but this is stillCombat Evolved.”

Official Xbox Magazine also went for 9/10, adding: The love that’s gone into this HD remake makes it more than worth its budget price. If you’ve never checked out this series, don’t get bogged down by details: Halo is about a big bloke shooting cool guns at cool aliens in cool places. Ten years later, that’s still enough.”

Eurogamer opted for 8/10, concluding: This is no longer Bungie’s Halo, though much of what made the original so successful is here and intact. It’s an awkward reinvention that manages to be at once faithful and a little wide of the mark. But such is the strength of Combat Evolved, this is still an Anniversary that’s worth celebrating.”

VideoGamer concurred with Eurogamer’s score, saying: Bungie’s iconic title was clearly an ambitious project, and this modern remastering sufficiently highlights what it was that made the original Halo: Combat Evolved such a landmark gaming moment to begin with. With Halo 4 perched on the horizon, now is a perfect time to look back before the series heads forwards.”