Halo: Combat Evolved PC is Coming, but Can it Succeed in Competitive Play?
Halo CE will be available on PC after the holidays and it needs to appease competitive gamers. | Source: Shutterstock.com
- Halo: Combat Evolved will be the next PC build released on the Steam Marketplace.
- Halo Community Director says Halo: CE will start flighting “after the holiday”.
- The PC variant of the game will have a very minor margin for error to hold up to current competitive standards.
The March 2019 announcement that legacy franchise Halo was making its way to PC this year kicked up a flurry of excitement around its arrival – and now, we’ve got word Halo: CE is next to follow.
Halo: Reach was slated as the first of four titles included in the Master Chief Collection to hit the Steam Marketplace with its official launch falling on December 3, Microsoft has confirmed. While the order in which each title would release for public access is unknown, a PCGamesN interview with Halo Community Director Brian Jarrard revealed Halo: Combat Evolved would be the next PC build to ship .
Jarrad stated:
Once Reach comes out next month, after the holiday, we will start to reset, and we’ll start to flight Halo CE.
The golden game
Each edition of Halo has brought its own unique set of competitive intricacies – and interestingly enough, the game’s first installment is widely considered to be the most complex. Sharp gunplay, tactical positioning, engine manipulation, and an elaborate spawn system has afforded Halo: CE a seemingly infinite skill ceiling.
Despite the first-person shooter celebrating its 18th birthday this past week, the title still boasts a vigorously fierce group of competitive players. However, there are some caveats.
Strict competitive guidelines
Halo: CE has seen a remaster for the Xbox One as well as a PC port released many years ago , although, neither are able to stand up to playing on the original Xbox. Both the Xbox One and original PC variants of Halo: CE has failed to mirror the game one-for-one. For this reason, there’s one way, and one way only, to play Halo: CE to its true competitive standards.
By utilizing Neutral Host Edition (NHE) – an Xbox mod that allows for a dedicated host – Local Area Network and a clunky CRT, Halo: CE can achieve its most optimal play field. These requirements have been formed over the course of nearly two decades, with Halo: CE tournament organizers such as Beach LAN and its fanbase instituting these mandates as a necessity with anything less delivering a noticeably subpar experience.
If Halo: CE’s Steam release is anything like the beta for Halo: Reach, it won’t come perfect. While it’s impossible to say anything concrete prior to its official release, it’ll be difficult to forge something exactly equal to that of the original game, especially with its aftermarket elements.
