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We remember in HD. That's the thing high-definition remakes are constantly having to compete against - the fact that, the way our minds would have it, past games that we love enough to conjure back into existence have always looked pin-sharp, beautifully lit, and on a par with their reconstructed, modernised selves. "Remembrance of things past," wrote Marcel Proust, "is not necessarily remembrance of things as they were."While there's a good chance Proust wasn't talking specifically about Halo: The Master Chief Collection, he would (probably) have been fascinated by one feature of the game in particular: the extraordinary ability, in the Anniversary editions of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, to switch between the original and remastered visuals at the press of a button. It is an inexhaustible stream of misremembered revelation and disjointed expectations.
But let's back up and take an overview of what's here. The Master Chief Collection includes Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4. Each game runs at 1080p (except Halo 2 Anniversary Edition, which is capped at 1328x1080, probably to enable that Proustian switching) and 60 fps, a big jump for the original Xbox games and a meaningful, noticeable improvement for 360 titles Halo 3 and 4. Each game comes with its original multiplayer component, and Halo 2 gets a separate and additional Anniversary multiplayer mode featuring six maps remade with gorgeous textures and geometrical tinkering.
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