When I first heard about Halo: The Master Chief Collection, it sounded like a dream come true. While the four campaigns included in the package appealed to my achievement whoring side, it was the 100+ multiplayer maps from the four core Halo games that really got me excited. For years I had been asking for this very multiplayer package and The Master Chief Collection was that longshot wish coming true.
As has been well documented elsewhere, Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been plagued by all sorts of problems. The majority of the focus, and rightly so, has been on the matchmaking issues that for many make the collection near unplayable. The wait times were, and are still, abysmal and unacceptable. And while a series of patches and updates have happened since launch, improving things to the point where the game at least sort of functions, any criticisms being levied at 343 Industries and Microsoft are fully justified.
Calling the game a disappointment because of these issues would be wholly warranted but I’m not here to pile on in regards to these issues. My disappointment in the game stems from other areas.
I’ve played a lot of Halo over the past decade, probably more than any other shooter series running, but my journey with the Halo franchise didn’t start until 2007. You see, I never owned an original Xbox and so my first experience with Halo multiplayer wasn’t until the Halo 3 beta. After playing the beta I was instantly comfortable with the flow of the game and while not immediately successful, I was able to quickly learn the nuances of the game. Better yet, even though it was a beta, I was pitted against competition that was roughly around my same skill level. I’d have my good games and my bad games, but they always seemed to be on an even flow. This obviously continued to the full retail release of Halo 3 and then eventually to its follow-ups Halo: Reach and Halo 4.
Let’s make this abundantly clear, I am a rather average shooter player. I sport close to a 1.0 kill/death ratio in most games. But Halo has always been the series where my ratio was marginally better, not much but enough that I feel confident in my Halo abilities. And yes I fully understand that the k/d ratio in a shooter isn’t a direct correlation to skill level in all shooters but it is the easy go-to stat, especially for players that play a lot of random matches like I do.
So what is my issue with Halo: The Master Chief Collection? Well, that even playing field against people of similar skill isn’t here. Matchmaking just to get into matches has been so broken that skill based matchmaking has seemingly taken a back seat and ranking is non-existent for all but the Halo 2: Anniversary playlist. Because of this I am getting annihilated in most public matches. And even worse, I’ve come to realize that I don’t really like the multiplayer that everyone seems to fawn over, that of Halo 2.
I get it, Halo 2 is the centerpiece of this collection and there is no denying that Halo 2: Anniversary, and its re-mastered maps, looks amazing. But all anyone ever wants to play are Halo 2 maps, preferably with a Battle Rifle start. And my personal belief, after hours of being forced to play Team Slayer BR on Halo 2 maps, is that Halo 2’s multiplayer is way over-rated.
At least with Halo: Combat Evolved’s multiplayer and its insanely powerful pistol and grenades everywhere, there is this nostalgic pang of early 2000s arena shooter mayhem. With Halo 2, it is a mix of frustration at either starting (in non BR starts) with an SMG that might as well shoot out popcorn for all the good it does or starting out with a Battle Rifle that makes every game into a long range sniping fest. The give and take map control battles that I fell in love with in Halo 3 is non-existent.
Some of you are probably asking, why don’t I just stick to the Halo 3 or Halo 4 playlists? Well the Halo 4 list was axed in the first week, along with SWAT and Halo: CE, amongst others. And yes Halo 3 has a playlist but wait times have been atrocious there and getting a straight slayer matchup has been near impossible. Because of this I am stuck with either playing the Halo 2: Anniversary playlist or the Slayer playlist, which means Halo 2 non-stop, probably with battle rifles, against opponents that I shouldn’t be playing against.
Nearly a month out from its release, my dream Halo release has been nothing short of a competitive multiplayer nightmare. Not only do I not want to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection, my anticipation of Halo 5 is slowly dipping. Maybe 343 Industries will get skill based matchmaking sorted out in the game. Maybe at that point I can avoid playlists with Halo 2 associated with it to get the experience I was expecting out of the package. And maybe the Halo 5: Guardians beta will blow my socks off. But that is a lot of maybes. And maybe instead of trusting in 343 Industries, I’ll just go and play some games that work as they should, like Titanfall or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
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