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Feet first into hell; Halo: ODST coming to the Master Chief Collection soon

By Salehuddin Bin Husin - on 22 Apr 2015, 12:51pm

Feet first into hell; Halo: ODST coming to the Master Chief Collection soon

 Halo 3: ODST is one of only two games (the other being Halo Wars) in the series that doesn't have you playing as a Spartan.

When Microsoft launched Halo: The Master Chief Collection last year, it not only released one of the best compilations ever made, but also one of the buggiest. There were a host of problems, ranging from matchmaking issues to crashes, that made it to the retail version. So much so that gamers who bought the game on day one found a 20GB patch waiting for them to download once they loaded the game. To be fair, some of it was data for the multiplayer and other elements, but there were also bug fixes and the like. It wasn't the only patch the Master Chief Collection (MCC) will see, not by a long shot.

After multiple patches that slowly improved things, 343 Industries decided to give those who bought the collection freebies as compensation for their troubles, one of which is a remastered Halo 3: ODST. It has taken months, but Halo 3: ODST is almost here. If all goes to plan, 343 Industries plans to release the free campaign next month, as part of the regular monthly updates/ patches the MCC receives. That's the good news.

Here comes the bad news. The Halo 3: ODST campaign is free, but only to early adopters of the MCC. If you just got the game through the IT Show 2015 deal we recommended, we're afraid you're out of luck. The cutoff date for eligibility was Dec 19, 2014.

So what happens if you want to play ODST and aren't an early adopter? As of right now, the official line is that you can't. When the announcement was made that Halo 3: ODST was coming for free, 343 Industries also released a FAQ with eligibility details and such. In it, they mention that they may release Halo 3: ODST as paid DLC but with no details at the moment. That hasn't changed, as there's still no word on when the campaign will be paid DLC or how much it'll cost.

For those who did play and are eligible, the campaign will be downloaded automatically as part of next month's regular patch so you don't have to do anything extra. Halo 3: ODST is currently slated to have all the improvements the other titles in the MCC got, including a native 1080p resolution and 60 fps gameplay. The Firefight component will be missing though, as 343 Industries is only porting over the campaign. Unless plans have changed since 343 Industries issued the FAQ, Firefight coming to the MCC isn't on the cards, at least in the immediate future. Of course it's entirely possible that 343 Industries could have been working on the sly on Firefight alongside the main ODST campaign and release it as a surprise next month, but don't hold your breath.

Source: 343 Industries

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