Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary receives a surprise launch on PC

After releasing a brief teaser for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary earlier this week, Microsoft has now officially launched the iconic shooter on PC. 

Developed by 343 Industries, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary first launched in 2011 for Xbox 360, acting as a trial by fire of sorts as the new studio took the franchise reigns from Bungie. 

It remained an exclusive for Microsoft’s second platform before joining The Master Chief Collection in 2014, where players can access nearly every game in the series from one convenient place. Now, this entire package is slowly but surely making its way to PC. 

Starting with Halo Reach, 343 Industries is adding each game individually in the exact order they were released, ensuring new and existing players can experience the story in chronological order. It’s a novel approach, although the wait for each new game is a tad agonising. 

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Having sampled a handful of hours of Combat Evolved on PC last night, we can confirm it’s a really impressive yet mostly predictable port, coming with an assortment of new graphical options and other worthwhile points of customisation. 

You can now change the field of view on the fly and switch between normal and enhanced graphics, providing an extra dose of visual flair if your hardware is up to the task. Chances are it will be, since Combat Evolved Anniversary is almost ten years old at this point. 

Much like the console version, you can switch between the original and Anniversary visuals with the touch of a button. It’s super fascinating to compare and contrast how environments have changed in each mission, seeing if the art design holds up after all this time.

You can pick up Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary for £6.99 on Steam, or the entire Master Chief Collection for £29.99, which will likely safe you a couple of pennies in the long run. Maybe we’ll see all of them arrive on PC before the launch of Halo Infinite later this year?