I am tremendously hesitant to look a gift horse in the mouth. We’ve finally received Master Chief himself on Steam, and there should be unicorns, rainbows, and pigs flying everywhere. Yet there are some questions had, now that consumers can open the application themselves and start to poke around.
First and foremost, it bears being said in this era that the game plays. It plays well, actually, as gamers take control of Noble 6 as a part of the fabled Noble Team, destined for simultaneous greatness and tragedy in their sojourn for the title. Eliminating the Covenant has arguably never felt better, as we can finally use a keyboard and mouse to eliminate humanity’s greatest threat with utmost precision.
The launcher itself is also a thing of beauty, with reserved slots for the rest of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection whenever they may release. The atmosphere is set instantly with Halo’s legendary music compositions setting a suitable backdrop for the science-fiction thriller that spans the galaxy.
Yet before people can even experience this, they must sign-in to their Microsoft account. There’s no getting around it, either, as no amount of pressing ‘close’ will keep the window closed. The screen is like a nightmare of Microsoft pushing Windows 10, where you ultimately couldn’t opt-out of it. It’s a bit more baffling when you consider that Steam already has more than enough included inn their platform for playing with friends, and keeping tabs on everyone. It’s…redundant at best, and encroaching at worst.
Regardless, it’s ultimately Microsoft’s IP, and this is simply the time we live in. Tracking on top of tracking. The good news is that if you’ve prepared as we suggested, this part should be an absolute breeze for you.
The second part that everyone will notice is a complete lack of graphics options beyond FOV sliders. Granted, we’re all tremendously pleased that there are FOV sliders in the first place, as not having them is a one-way ticket to nausea (which some developers still don’t understand). Yet beyond that, you can choose only the ‘Performance’, ‘Classic’, or ‘Enhanced’ graphics. The names are self-explanatory, yet not being able to further tweak values does raise some concerns.
Granted, perhaps we’re being a bit too picky for a game almost a decade old; it would’ve taken an obscene amount of time to completely rework the game from the ground up with new 3d objects for everything, allowing screen-archers and enthusiasts to maximize the potential of the title.
Forewarned is forearmed, however; this may be what fans should expect for the rest of the series, with ‘Enhanced’ just piquing those that expect just a little bit more in a modern title.
