Halo MCC/Infinite/general Griefing thread - Six months, two maps, no refunds

[King Dead]

Not to mention they were all just lazy reskins of the humans weapons but glowing orange. 343 seems to be allergic to unique and interesting weapon sandboxes.

The problem is that they were trying to add a third weapon type to a system that really only needed two. Energy weapons are stronger against shields, while kinetic weapons are stronger against health. This made it useful to have one of each on hand, and why the plasma pistol + precision weapon combo worked so well for basically every campaign, outside of times where a heavy weapon would come in handy. Hard light weapons were just kind of this weird middle ground where they didn't really do anything particularly well, and thus felt like reskins of better weapons. There was at least a little creativity with the alternate firing modes (charging up the boltshot for a one-hit kill, the light rifle switching between bursts and single bullets depending on if you were ADSing), but mostly it just felt like unnecessary additions without something for them to be specifically good at.

I will say this, though: the incineration cannon is damn satisfying to shoot.

 

[Inco G. Nito]

Like honestly, I don't entirely get the hate for Halo 1 and 2 Anniversary. Halo 2 Anniversary obviously did a better job than 1 but I feel like a lot of complaints people made about Halo 1 A were kind of autistic.

Because H1A was very lazy. Opting to directly port existing assets from Halo Reach that have dramatically different designs to their original Halo 1 visions. What's the point of having a button to switch the graphics back when there's nothing to compare because it's all been 're-imagined'? It's so lazy to the degree that the Wraith was ported over so directly from Reach without any modification and it still has the completely non functional gunner turret on it. The lighting and particles are also terrible and makes everything look like a cartoon/amateur Unreal game. And on top of all of this the sounds in original H1A were only the anniversary sounds, you could not go back to classic sounds like you can now. (Though the sound design of H1A is quite good, as it actually tries to remaster the existing sounds.)
H2A was similarly terrible with glaring graphical and optimization issues. Most vehicles feature open geometry when damaged, holes you can see through the model with. The wraith in particular is especially schizophrenic with random parts disappearing with damage, then reappearing afterwards with more damage. And the sound design suffers from the same generic sci-fi pews/tin can gun noises that Halo 4 suffered from, seemingly shunning sounds that have been iconic to the franchise since the beginning. Everything had to be 're-imagined'. Not remastered. It was no longer Halo 2. It is now 343's Halo 2. Beam rifle? Halo 4 design. Warthog? Halo 4. Wraith? It's got the vent on the rear without any of the associated gameplay mechanics. Elites? Totally redesigned. Bungie had a certain approach to sci-fi. They didn't push the trope of aliens being beyond 'human squabbles'. Elites were people, the covenant was a society. Even the forerunners had internal conflicts, politics, and disagreements. Elites were very presentable as humanized characters, their design was elegant to match their intelligence and honor. Brutes- while monsters- still had a lot of character and weren't just drooling snarling animals. I thought Reach purposefully redesigned Elites to make them look like monsters, stylistically to the plot and tone of the game. But I guess 343 thought otherwise. It just ain't Bungie. It isn't a good remaster.

 

[Gog & Magog]

This is what passion sounds like. Developers Jason Jones, Joe Staten, and Marty O’Donnell reminiscing together.

 

[RA-5C Vigilante]

But I guess 343 thought otherwise. It just ain't Bungie. It isn't a good remaster.

I'm thankful that they actually allow you to switch between the original and the remaster, you know that nowadays they'd force you to take the anniversary version only and charge you for the privilege. I've always played the OG's on MCC, CEA is just abysmal. 2 is much better, but only for the cutscenes. The rest of it sucks, and a lot of people gives it an unfairly earned pass.

 

[Dynamite Bean]

I really wish the anniversary graphics for 2 were an optional download because that shit(29GB) when combined with the base mcc size(15GB) adds up and takes a long ass time to install if you dare not have super fast internet because devs forget not everyone is privileged to have access to high speed internet that downloads 50GB in under 10 mins and I just want to play OG halo 2 I don't care about the fancy graphics and I would of gladly had it separate
i fucking detest modern gaming so much

 

[Bob Barbas]

H2A was similarly terrible with glaring graphical and optimization issues.

Don't really care to argue the rest since a lot of it is taste and opinion but I can't make any excuses for that.
Halo 1 Anniversary runs just fine on my machine but Halo 2 Anniversary runs like hot ass even on the lowest settings and they're probably never gonna fix it either.

They also both have that glitch where the shadows look all dotted and fucked up if you set a certain setting too high.
For H1A if you set your shadows to anything above "Normal" it happens and for H2A if you set your Post Processing to anything higher than "Low" it happens. I'm not an expert but someone else said the issue is because the ambient occlusion's resolution doesn't scale properly on the MCC version. 343 ain't gonna fix it though, fuck that.
And again H2A still runs like dogshit even on low settings which is absolutely ridiculous. I know a few games that look even better than H2A and don't run that badly.

 

[Spectre Saren]

They technically tried that with Fireteam Raven. Since the whole "alpha base" thing wasn't even in the original combat evolved. Though the clashing artstyles of Halo Wars, CEA, H2A, and Reach, to the point of actually bringing FORGE WORLD into the story was jarring and really killed any storytelling they were trying to do.

I meant in regards of vibes. GK is not really an action show, but a road trip with fucked up retards. I can see that dynamic totally playing out with classic Halo marines. Picture like five dudes on a campfire saying dumb shit with the Halo ring rising behind them.

 

[Gog & Magog]

Found this while browsing the MCC community hub on Steam. lmao
Frank O' Connor & Bonnie Ross

"Got this at outpost in 2019. By Vie"

 

[Logoden]

I'm thankful that they actually allow you to switch between the original and the remaster, you know that nowadays they'd force you to take the anniversary version only and charge you for the privilege. I've always played the OG's on MCC, CEA is just abysmal. 2 is much better, but only for the cutscenes. The rest of it sucks, and a lot of people gives it an unfairly earned pass.

H2A is weird. I find it better than the HCA too but both feels very like bad overdone graphic mods. CEA also has this weird flashiness and the floods levels do not have the same dark ambiance anymore.

That's probably a nitpick but I find the remastered soundtracks of both to be not great somehow. Maybe it is my nostalgia speaking or maybe there is realy something off with both compared to the originals.

343 ain't gonna fix it though, fuck that.

Modders will do it or it will be never done at this point.

 

[RA-5C Vigilante]

H2A is weird. I find it better than the HCA too but both feels very like bad overdone graphic mods. CEA also has this weird flashiness and the floods levels do not have the same dark ambiance anymore.

That's probably a nitpick but I find the remastered soundtracks of both to be not great somehow. Maybe it is my nostalgia speaking or maybe there is realy something off with both compared to the originals.

Hard agree on all points. Both Anniversary versions are so bright, it's actually obnoxious, and for the library, it killed the mood entirely. And the remixed music is pretty forgettable, in fact it took one of my friends an hour before he realized they did anything with the music.

 

[Trans Fat 41g]

The problem with the Anniversary soundtracks is they try too hard to modernize what worked with very specific instruments and synthesizers, and are still "modern", when you get very specifically done GOOD music you get very tryhard results with recreating them.

 

[Soggy Floppa]

The Anniversary soundtracks didn't even contact Marty or Salvatori, apparently Microsoft refused to let them do it even though Marty said he would help. They didn't even get the original files or sheet music so it was all remade by ear. The new tracks are just louder and have more sounds instead of better, take this comparison:

The Marty and Salvatori stuff has a very minimalist approach to the sound, its not over processed and each sound stands on its own instead of overpowering you. It's something that is missing a lot today. This style sort of carried over to Destiny 1's vanilla soundtrack when Marty was still working on it, but with each DLC release they strayed more into the overpowering cacophony of noises, so I have to assume it was Marty pushing for that style instead of Salvatori, but there are a couple Destiny tracks done by just Salvatori that have the minimalist sound.

 

[Gypsy Corner]

Damn, so that's why we didn't get breaking benjamin in the remaster

The Anniversary soundtracks didn't even contact Marty or Salvatori, apparently Microsoft refused to let them do it even though Marty said he would help. They didn't even get the original files or sheet music so it was all remade by ear. The new tracks are just louder and have more sounds instead of better, take this comparison:

 

[Mac Monster]

Damn, so that's why we didn't get breaking benjamin in the remaster

They also took away Follow, the song that plays during the Arbiter's banshee segment. It's a shame since the Blow Me Away segment was one of the most memorable and badass moments in the game. There's a reason why that song became such a staple of 2000s YouTube AMVs.

 

[#lurker]

They also took away Follow, the song that plays during the Arbiter's banshee segment. It's a shame since the Blow Me Away segment was one of the most memorable and badass moments in the game. There's a reason why that song became such a staple of 2000s YouTube AMVs.

You can still hear them in the remaster if you switch to classic graphics. Not ideal, but they aren't gone forever.

 

[Inco G. Nito]

The Marty and Salvatori stuff has a very minimalist approach to the sound, its not over processed and each sound stands on its own instead of overpowering you. It's something that is missing a lot today.

Don't worry, people tell the difference. And Marty knows it too, judging by his comment on this video.

 

[Nameless One]

Should I make a full edit? (With ODST footage)

 

[The Last Stand]

There are reports of players being falsely banned from MCC because of hackers taking over their gamertags during online play.

 

[King Dead]

There are reports of players being falsely banned from MCC because of hackers taking over their gamertags during online play.

Oh it's bad, it's very bad. Mint Blitz did a highlight reel of various streamers coming into contact with these hackers:

It's not just one thing, it's many. It's simple things like making an opposing player force quit and incur matchmaking timeouts or cheaters flying around the map, to making the guns that are on the ground fire at random or force opponents to keep swapping weapons so they can't actually attack, to absolute bullshit like spoofing sniper headshots from random players when they aren't even looking at anyone and making others think they're cheating, or making players instantly suicide when they respawn. At this point they might as well strip EAC out of the game since it's clear it's doing jackshit to prevent cheaters.

I advise anyone still playing MCC to steer clear of competitive entirely, though reports from the Reddit thread linked in the article say that they're also crashing custom game lobbies for shits and gigs too, so it doesn't seem anywhere is entirely safe. Anecdotally, I've played about 40 social multiplayer games this week without issue, but whether I've just been lucky enough to avoid them or they don't bother with social games as much, I couldn't say. The response of "we will determine what is feasible for us to commit to" does not bode well for any kind of fix, pretty much confirming they have nobody actually working on MCC anymore and the problem may very well get a lot worse.

 

[The Last Stand]

I advise anyone still playing MCC to steer clear of competitive entirely, though reports from the Reddit thread linked in the article say that they're also crashing custom game lobbies for shits and gigs too, so it doesn't seem anywhere is entirely safe. Anecdotally, I've played about 40 social multiplayer games this week without issue, but whether I've just been lucky enough to avoid them or they don't bother with social games as much, I couldn't say. The response of "we will determine what is feasible for us to commit to" does not bode well for any kind of fix, pretty much confirming they have nobody actually working on MCC anymore and the problem may very well get a lot worse.

I would just stop playing entirely to err on the side of caution. 343 said they are aware of it, but they left MCC out to dry after ten years, presumably for the next Halo.