11/8/2021: Time has allowed change, and with it, gave an abundance of updates, fixes, and even improvements, needless to say most of my complaints in the past have been reduced into nothing but history of what the game USED to be until now, and in addition, have also been provided additional content for games we never thought they'd push updates in on, and on top of all that, a dessert if not sprinkles on this refined gem, we have been provided with additional modding that to an extent upon many possibilities change up the sandbox and even the landscape's "world" as we knew about Halo, something else also occurred during one of these updates, one that the community hasn't expected for a very long time despite finding many references to it, only we couldn't properly utilize it:

"AI pathfinding", with this tool provided in the official modding tools by 343, not only are we more than capable of exporting completely custom maps using other external applications such as blender, but in a manner of speaking we can even create our own custom campaigns and even co-op adventures using these tools.

And here's the thing, we haven't even gotten the modding tools for ODST, 4, and Reach just yet, but as soon as that happens, the original idea of "potential" we conceptualized in the past, would only go much further, to infinity and beyond if I may.

By the time this game is also provided with workshop support, this game would be an absolute no-brainer to obtain, as if it weren't enough already.

I conclude this updated review by putting my paste grievances to rest, as they no longer exist at this point, and I only look forward to what 343 may be able to provide even further for the community of Halo in general.

You know, I still remember hearing the news about the increased player cap, if that becomes a reality instead of a fever dream like we once had about modding Halo 3 on such an immense scale, perhaps we can have an even bigger big team battle, or absolute free for all chaos on a much bigger landscape.

I look forward to the future.


8/24/2020: Review will be re-evaluated since the game has has a handful of updates.

Original post:
I honestly can't recommend this game to anyone at all, not even during a sale, as it also still leaves a LOT to be desired when the modding community has to pick this game up themselves and actually fix the problems the devs are actively attempting to REFUSE to work on.

First off, you will be REQUIRED to sign in with an Xbox Live account to play the game regardless of what it is, even if it's just playing solo or a single player campaign, which basically means you are ALWAYS required to have an Internet connection before you can even play this game.

Your username in-game is used from your Xbox gamertag, not your Steam username, this is terrible and unwanted since even the original releases ALLOW you to pick your own username.

The community mods that actually fix this game's broken port are deemed as "hacking/cheating" by EAC, yes, Easy-Anti Cheat, the very thing that doesn't know how to discern itself from the ease of gameplay to actual cheating/hacking.

There are no server browsers at all, you can use, "custom/private lobbies" but those still use Microshaft's own servers as opposed to hosting your own.

Multiplayer is entirely relied on matchmaking, what? You want to play something else other than snipers and zombies? You're going to be spending several hours stuck in the searching matchmaking loop then because people don't like playing anything else than the trendy/popular gametypes that not everyone plays in the first place.

Co-op connections through campaign use only P2P and it is a VERY laggy mess, they mentioned they're aware of this issue, but have since then announced that they won't do anything about it to fix the problem.
Besides maybe making it so that the connection is through a server, be it their own, or just the host itself instead of P2P, but apparently it's not that simple despite many games having already done it.

There is no setting to adjust your viewmodel in-game, you have to do this by modifying the config file and even so it only applies on Reach so far, and does NOT apply in real-time, you WILL have to reboot the game before you can see the changes take effect.
What makes this even WORSE is the fact that they have enforced an arbitrary draconian limitation to this, so even if you feel like the weapon is still taking up WAY too much space on your screen, and want to stick to playing with centered crosshairs, 343 is just going to flip you the bird and move on because that's too much work that only a modding team can do to fix this fine mess.

Mouse controls are still a fixed sensitivity/sluggish mess to a point you even see many players run past certain vehicles due to how it handicaps their aim more than it benefits them, adjusting your mouse sensitivity will not fix this issue at all and only a mod for the game fixes this, but EAC doesn't like it because it's "cheating".

There are NO ADVANCED GRAPHICS/VISUAL SETTINGS, for some reason the developers in their bright mind figured the best way to deliver this game under the PC platform is preset visuals, (You also cannot disable TAA either, as it's forced on by default) ah, just like the console version where multiplayer is reliant on matchmaking only with no servers to browse from like traditional multiplayer PC games such as even Team Fortress 2.
There is also no option to disable more certain annoying certain features such as post processing, screen shaking, and even bloom, so unless you can find an app that does allow you to disable these eye-scorching "features" that isn't flagged by EAC as a "cheat" unless you're playing alone, good luck.

Forge is still not available as of 5/13/2020 despite the modding community already finding playable access to it, and if you want to play multiplayer with Forge on EAC will just give you the finger instead and still force you to play alone, no you still cannot host your own servers either.

I have more to report on the many issues this game has been honestly until then this game is better off to be swiped away instead of looking into until 343 starts becoming more competent and put in fixes that the mod community already has done a long time ago with Halo Custom Edition, Halo 2 Project Cartographer, and even Eldewrito.

Farewell, my sweet prince, I had high hopes for you, but like the titanic you still come crashing down yet again thanks to company and corporate incompetence.

11/8/2021: Time has allowed change, and with it, gave an abundance of updates, fixes, and even improvements, needless to say most of my complaints in the past have been reduced into nothing but history of what the game USED to be until now, and in addition, have also been provided additional content for games we never thought they'd push updates in on, and on top of all that, a dessert if not sprinkles on this refined gem, we have been provided with additional modding that to an extent upon many possibilities change up the sandbox and even the landscape's "world" as we knew about Halo, something else also occurred during one of these updates, one that the community hasn't expected for a very long time despite finding many references to it, only we couldn't properly utilize it: "AI pathfinding", with this tool provided in the official modding tools by 343, not only are we more than capable of exporting completely custom maps using other external applications such as blender, but in a manner of speaking we can even create our own custom campaigns and even co-op adventures using these tools. And here's the thing, we haven't even gotten the modding tools for ODST, 4, and Reach just yet, but as soon as that happens, the original idea of "potential" we conceptualized in the past, would only go much further, to infinity and beyond if I may. By the time this game is also provided with workshop support, this game would be an absolute no-brainer to obtain, as if it weren't enough already. I conclude this updated review by putting my paste grievances to rest, as they no longer exist at this point, and I only look forward to what 343 may be able to provide even further for the community of Halo in general. You know, I still remember hearing the news about the increased player cap, if that becomes a reality instead of a fever dream like we once had about modding Halo 3 on such an immense scale, perhaps we can have an even bigger big team battle, or absolute free for all chaos on a much bigger landscape. I look forward to the future. 8/24/2020: Review will be re-evaluated since the game has has a handful of updates. Original post: I honestly can't recommend this game to anyone at all, not even during a sale, as it also still leaves a LOT to be desired when the modding community has to pick this game up themselves and actually fix the problems the devs are actively attempting to REFUSE to work on. First off, you will be REQUIRED to sign in with an Xbox Live account to play the game regardless of what it is, even if it's just playing solo or a single player campaign, which basically means you are ALWAYS required to have an Internet connection before you can even play this game. Your username in-game is used from your Xbox gamertag, not your Steam username, this is terrible and unwanted since even the original releases ALLOW you to pick your own username. The community mods that actually fix this game's broken port are deemed as "hacking/cheating" by EAC, yes, Easy-Anti Cheat, the very thing that doesn't know how to discern itself from the ease of gameplay to actual cheating/hacking. There are no server browsers at all, you can use, "custom/private lobbies" but those still use Microshaft's own servers as opposed to hosting your own. Multiplayer is entirely relied on matchmaking, what? You want to play something else other than snipers and zombies? You're going to be spending several hours stuck in the searching matchmaking loop then because people don't like playing anything else than the trendy/popular gametypes that not everyone plays in the first place. Co-op connections through campaign use only P2P and it is a VERY laggy mess, they mentioned they're aware of this issue, but have since then announced that they won't do anything about it to fix the problem. Besides maybe making it so that the connection is through a server, be it their own, or just the host itself instead of P2P, but apparently it's not that simple despite many games having already done it. There is no setting to adjust your viewmodel in-game, you have to do this by modifying the config file and even so it only applies on Reach so far, and does NOT apply in real-time, you WILL have to reboot the game before you can see the changes take effect. What makes this even WORSE is the fact that they have enforced an arbitrary draconian limitation to this, so even if you feel like the weapon is still taking up WAY too much space on your screen, and want to stick to playing with centered crosshairs, 343 is just going to flip you the bird and move on because that's too much work that only a modding team can do to fix this fine mess. Mouse controls are still a fixed sensitivity/sluggish mess to a point you even see many players run past certain vehicles due to how it handicaps their aim more than it benefits them, adjusting your mouse sensitivity will not fix this issue at all and only a mod for the game fixes this, but EAC doesn't like it because it's "cheating". There are NO ADVANCED GRAPHICS/VISUAL SETTINGS, for some reason the developers in their bright mind figured the best way to deliver this game under the PC platform is preset visuals, (You also cannot disable TAA either, as it's forced on by default) ah, just like the console version where multiplayer is reliant on matchmaking only with no servers to browse from like traditional multiplayer PC games such as even Team Fortress 2. There is also no option to disable more certain annoying certain features such as post processing, screen shaking, and even bloom, so unless you can find an app that does allow you to disable these eye-scorching "features" that isn't flagged by EAC as a "cheat" unless you're playing alone, good luck. Forge is still not available as of 5/13/2020 despite the modding community already finding playable access to it, and if you want to play multiplayer with Forge on EAC will just give you the finger instead and still force you to play alone, no you still cannot host your own servers either. I have more to report on the many issues this game has been honestly until then this game is better off to be swiped away instead of looking into until 343 starts becoming more competent and put in fixes that the mod community already has done a long time ago with Halo Custom Edition, Halo 2 Project Cartographer, and even Eldewrito. Farewell, my sweet prince, I had high hopes for you, but like the titanic you still come crashing down yet again thanks to company and corporate incompetence.