Halo 2: Anniversary's campaign will not run at a native 1080p resolution as many would have expected, Microsoft has confirmed.

The face-lifted rendition of the original Xbox game will run at a sub-full HD resolution of 1328x1080 at 60fps (frames per second), 343 executive producer Dan Ayoub has revealed

It will be the only game in the four-game collection that fails to hit the full 1080p/60fps benchmark. This, according to Ayoub, is due to the game having to run both the new and original sound and physics engines simultaneously.

"During development we were really pleased with the way the engine and buffer allowed us to switch instantly between classic and Anniversary engines that are running simultaneously - however that, as you might expect, put a hit on resolution," Ayoub told IGN.

"The campaign of Halo 2: Anniversary looked fantastic at 720p with the level of detail and clarity it gave us, but like every other aspect of the game and tech, we wanted to push it further."

He went on: "So in the last weeks of development, our teams were able to meet a stretch goal and the campaign of Halo 2: Anniversary now runs 60 fps at a crisp resolution of 1328x1080, which is a significant and meaningful boost in image quality we think fans are really going to appreciate. All of the other games across the entire package of The Master Chief Collection run 60 fps at 1920x1080 native."

The drop in resolution to 1328x1080 means that, while the vertical resolution remains identical to a full 1080p image, the horizontal pixel count is paired back by just over 30 per cent, and then likely upscaled to 1080p to fit the full 1080p resolution of an HD display.

The Halo: The Master Chief Collection release date is November 11 on Xbox One. It will include Halo Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4, plus guaranteed access to the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta, which will commence in December.

Halo 2 map 'Warlock' was recently confirmed as the final of the six maps to be refreshed for Halo: The Master Chief Collection..



Posted: Oct 07, 2014 10:14 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/478358/halo-2-anniversary-campaign-wont-run-at-1080p-natively/