All Articles: Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo fans worrying about the handling of the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary remake can rest a bit easier. Microsoft and 343 Industries are teaming with Pyramind Studios to recreate the original score, note for note. The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Chanticleer vocal ensemble will also collaborate to recreate the orchestral pieces and famed Halo monk-like singing.

“It was a huge undertaking to transcribe, orchestrate, and produce every note from the original game soundtrack files” said Paul Lipson, Pyramind Studios COO/Audio Director. “Our team approached every aspect of the music with an immense amount of skill and care, keeping the core Halo sound while updating the production to today’s highest standards.”

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary releases for Xbox 360 on November 15, 2011.

Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft Game Studios, sat down with GameSpot AU at E3 2011 and confirmed that Kinect support will be included in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary:

“Obviously, as a first-party, we believe that Kinect will be important to all genres of games. Be it racing games like Forza, combat games like Ryse and even games like Halo: Anniversary has Kinect integration,” Spencer said.

With confirmation out of the way, now comes the fun part… speculation on just how Kinect support will work in Halo Anniversary. We’ll have all Summer to think about it as Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is scheduled for a November 15 release on the Xbox 360.

In an act of miraculous prescience, Joystiq is claiming to have learned that some kind of “sort of full remake, but not really” is underway for Halo: Combat Evolved. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the franchise, New Jersey native (woo!) and developer of TimeShift (boo!) Saber Interactive is executing the project. Features claimed to be hashed out include 1080p, 3D television support, more modern control configurations, and the series’ trademark online co-op. The unannounced remake even supposedly has an unannounced release date: November 15, 2011.

The game will be more than just an HD upgrade, with all new art assets but created with an different engine from the one used in Halo: Reach. The audio is expected to remain unaltered, and I have no idea why.

It’s good to see Microsoft finally getting on the HD-remake bandwagon, and there’s certainly no better time to do it for their flagship franchise than its 10th anniversary. Still, this is essentially the fourth Halo game in a span of three years.