After years of waiting, the complete Halo Master Chief Collection is at last coming to PC, beginning with the last game in the series developed by franchise creators Bungie – Halo Reach. The first beta testing for Halo Reach on PC has finally kicked off this weekend, and while small in scope it’s the next step towards the series returning to PC – beginning with Halo Reach and all its features.

Well, almost all. While PC owners of Halo Reach on PC can expect the full campaign, playable single-player or co-op, all the game’s multiplayer modes – not to mention features such as proper mouse and keyboard support, customisable keybinds, FOV sliders, and ultrawide resolutions – two features from the original game will not be making the jump, at least at the game’s launch.

It has now been confirmed in a recent development update that Halo Reach’s Forge and Theater modes will not be coming to the PC version when it launches sometime this year. This is despite the team confirming that both modes will ship with the Xbox One version of Reach when it gets added to the Master Chief Collection at the same time.

Forge mode is the way players can make, play, and share their own multiplayer maps for the game – which first made its appearance in Halo Reach in very basic form. A more recent version of Forge is incidentally the only way PC owners can currently experience Halo 5: Guardians on PC at the present time. Theater mode allows players to record and review footage of their gameplay from different angles, and has been a popular part of the series since Halo 3.

Michael Fahrny, Lead Producer on Halo MCC on PC, explains the reason for the delay in the update. “We need to properly give both features enough time,” he says, “so they are a true PC first experience… We’re investigating what the best solution is for both Forge and Theater on PC.” He goes on to say that the team’s main focus right now is in getting Halo Reach to PC. He adds that it will take “a very lengthy amount of time” to tailor these modes for PC and create “the best experience for PC players.”

When asked when PC players should expect to receive these modes, Fahrny says that “our goal is to get them out as quickly as possible with each title. While I can’t commit to a timeline right now, the underlying goal is a high-quality experience that it will empower PC players to create the content they want to.”

In other words, Theater and Forge will be ready when they’re ready, which seems to be the motto of the Halo PC team. Still, the team seem to be taking their time to ensure that all aspects of the Halo Reach experience on PC are up the quality that PC players expect. That can take some time, of course.



Posted: Jul 01, 2019 8:00 am
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.pcgamesn.com/halo-the-master-chief-collection/halo-reach-forge-theater