It's Halo back on PC, finally, and it's not just CE or 2 again, it's everything up to 4 in a single game.

You will need an Xbox Live account.

I won't be talking about every game in more depth, as every game looks and feels a lot like they did on Xbox. There are things to say about the Halo CE and Halo 2 remasters, but I can't do that here like I wanted to.

Each game, in my experience, runs well and the PC support is relatively solid; FOV settings, the option to center the crosshair, proper rebinding (though the menu for it is a bit of a mess as each game has its own bind menu,) etc. It does not have all the usual graphics options you'd see in other PC titles, however. It all still feels like Halo, in fact I'd go so far as to say it feels even better being on PC with smooth frames, a mouse, and keyboard.

If you've never played the Halo games before, or want to play them again, this is the best way to experience them. All of them are among some of the best first person shooters, even Halo 4, but that said they're more on the DOOM side of the spectrum, with unique weapons, no iron sight system being present in favor of a simple crosshair, and movement being an important part of gameplay. Vehicles are also rather important, with some levels being dedicated to their use.

Halo 2 introduces dual-wielding to the formula, while Halo 3 includes deployable equipment items such as shields and trip mines. Halo 3 ODST takes a small departure, removing your energy shield as well as ability to dual-wield. Halo Reach returns the energy shield, but removes dual-wielding and equipment in favor of its armor ability system, allowing you to sprint, enter a period of invulnerability, or turn invisible. Halo 4 integrates sprint as a default mechanic while retaining the armor ability system of Reach and expanding upon it.

There's a collection-wide progression system in place, in which you earn XP to rank up and earn points to spend towards unlocking various cosmetics in the games, such as armor variations, nameplates, visor colors, and even weapon and vehicle skins.

This is done in a "season" format, with a new season being added with each game released containing all of the cosmetics for that game. I say "season" as each one has been a permanent reward track added to the game that you can progress individually, unlike the timed season norm. Now that all of the games are released, I'm not sure where this will go.

One thing of note is that you have a bit of freedom in each track, as you can pick any of the options on the furthest page of the season you have unlocked, which is a welcome change from the original implementation of a pre-defined track of rewards.

However, there are problems with the collection as a whole, the biggest of which being


The netcode is already notorious for being bad, with input delays and complete disconnections being common if you play campaign with anyone overseas. This carries over into multiplayer, though instead of input delays you will just see other players teleporting a few feet forward every few seconds while taking delayed damage, and you will die a second after getting into cover. Halo 3 seems to be most affected by this, though your mileage may vary.

On the topic of multiplayer, there is an issue with people dropping out of matches constantly, unbalancing the teams in most games or, rarely, completely stopping the game if they were the chosen host and the migration fails. I'm not sure if this is a symptom of bad netcode or not.

In the end, if you're looking to play Halo again, or for a new FPS to check out, this is definitely one you should look at.