New Content Incoming, Prepare to Drop!

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Christmas is just around the corner (no peeking now) and rather than going cold turkey on us over the holidays 343i delivered some news gift wrapped to get us in the festive spirit.

Following the lacklustre launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection many of us were left feeling that the game felt rushed and that 343 had once again 'gone done a goof'. Fortunately although the game is far from a perfect state currently with custom games having persisting issues with high player counts, poor hit detection in Halo 2 Classic and long matchmaking wait times, the game is in a far better state than at launch and continues to see weekly improvements with 343 showing true dedication to ensure everything is functioning as it should as soon as they possibly can.

However 'fixing' TMCC is not the only thing on the cards with the recent announcement that all players whom have played the game between launch and the 19th of December will receive a substantial wealth of new content to enhance the game along with a month of Xbox Live, free of charge to compensate valued customers for the persisting issues at launch.

The headline addition coming to TMCC is the Halo 3: ODST campaign (no firefight unfortunately).

If you haven't played it before ODST is a unique Halo experience taking place in between Halo 2 & 3 that has you free roaming New Mombasa under the cover of darkness trying to find what remains of your squad, reliving their outcomes in a series of flashbacks making up for the game's main missions. With the lack of the BR and focus on small arms weapons, ODST promotes a more stealthy approach to covenant engagements. The campaign offers an excellent 4 player co-op experience and will be a blast to play with friends online remastered in 1080p, 60fps.

The second item in 343's compensation package is a Halo 2 Anniversary remake of the map Relic (pictured below).

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Relic was a Halo 2 DLC map and can be currently found in TMCC's 'Big Team Battle' playlist. The map excels in asymmetrical gametypes such as 1 Flag CTF and is considered by many to be the best BTB map in Halo 2 alongside Terminal. This and Turf are my personal favourite maps from Halo 2 so I am really looking forward to getting some games in on this one. The island theme of this map could also make for an interesting forge canvas.

Additionally, all those that qualify for this compensation package will get an exclusive nameplate that only players at launch will ever receive. No word on what this might be though at this time.

So when will we be getting all these goodies? Well the free month of Xbox Live and nameplate look as if they are coming to us late January with ODST and Relic coming later into the spring.

Edit: 343 have delivered us with a selection of nameplates and avatars as part of the compensation package early, they are as follows;

Avatars:

• H2 Chief
• H2A Chief
• Frankie Janitor
• Mister Chief XBL Avatar
• Mister Chief Doodle

Nameplates:

• Gold Chief Helmet (silver)
• HCS PRO (silver)
• MVP (silver)
• UNSC (silver)
• 1th (silver)

So with more fixes and additional content on the horizon, what are you looking forward to most?
Sound off in the comments below to join the discussion.​

 

umm... The matchmaking wait times have improved (somewhat), but I agree their not perfect yet and the hit detection is still a issue.

 

Oh sweet Jesus.

lacklustre

2british4me

 

Good guys 343 for admitting they dun goofed and for fixing it (slowly, mind you). Perhaps there is hope that they will not fuck up Halo 5

 

Uhm, how should that thing with the gold membership work?

 

umm... The matchmaking wait times have improved (somewhat), but I agree their not perfect yet and the hit detection is still a issue.

Matchmaking times are vastly improved when searching for select playlists solo (team slayer seems to work the best) searching with a party though is troublesome still and can take a seeming eternity to find a game, especially in the Big Team Battle playlist.

Hopefully these wait times will be improved soon. Personally I'd love it if player counts were added to playlists with an estimated wait time calculated against each one.

Oh sweet Jesus.

*Oh sweat Jesus.

Uhm, how should that thing with the gold membership work?

You don't have to lift a finger, 1 month of Xbox Live will automatically added to your account late January. The verification process being used is simply a gamertag log of people whom have played TMCC between launch and 19/12/14, unlocking said content and extending the Xbox Live membership to those that qualify.

 

I like this. Good from 343.

It does raise the question of Halo: Reach, in for a penny and all that.