Halo Anniversary footage shows off Silent Cartographer

by Richard Mitchell on Jul 22nd 2011 6:00PM

As a special Comic-Con treat, Microsoft has unveiled more than four minutes of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary footage. Narrated by 343's Dan Ayoub, the video shows off the beloved "Silent Cartographer" level, which we saw earlier this year at E3.

There's a lot to see, most notably the game's ability to switch between the original and remastered graphics on the fly. Oh and, lest we forget, the mighty pistol is in there too.

Tags: 343-Industries, bungie, halo, halo-combat-evolved-anniversary, microsoft, sdcc-2011, xbox

Reader Comments (57)

Absolutely beautiful.

@Eclipse Agreed, can't wait to go back when halo was awesome

@Sled

Play Reach, silly.

@A Sandwich Or just pop Halo CE into the disc tray.

@A Sandwich
Not nearly as good.

@einhanderkiller

The criteria was "awesome". I think Reach is pretty awesome. Therefore it fits the criteria.

@Eclipse: I think, with my nostalgia goggles off, that Halo: Reach is a better all around game than Halo: CE. Of course, CE was where the magic all started for me, and my fondest memories in the Halo franchise nearly all belong to it, but I'm definitely playing Reach way more than CE. And it will be that way for a while, aside from my yearly Halo marathons (hehe) where I run through all five campaigns.

@A Sandwich
Except for, you know, that Reach had the second worse campaign after ODST. Reach also had one of the worst female characters in recent memory. I don't know anybody that liked Kat. Halo 1 and 3 are where it's at.

@soniccar

Erm, sorry to burst your bubble in which no opinions differ from your own, but I think Reach had the best campaign in the series.

@Sled Halo was and is always awesome

@soniccar

I know, right? Strong, ass-kicking female characters that don't need cleavage to keep your interest are the worst. It's like, get off the battlefield, get back in the kitchen, and REACH for a rolling pin, amirite?! I'd much rather focus on the sausage-fest adventures of Master Chief and the Arbiter as they quest through space in their search for trust, brotherhood, and incredibly hard laser swords, attempting to hold back the Flood lest it spurt all over every living thing in the galaxy, finding solace and companionship only in each other.

@A Sandwich I think I'm in love with you...

@blackangel209

So what are you so afraid of?

@A Sandwich
Being a huge metagame fan, from a competitive stand point Reach is severly lacking when compared to all the previous entries.
Which to clarify I'm not saying that Reach isn't fun or can't/shouldn't be played on a competitive level, but from a spectators stand point I would rather watch any of the Halo games that came before it.

@A Sandwich
It had nothing to do with what she was wearing or even her gender. She was an irritating character. You knew what was going to happen in Reach, all of the enemies became annoying(not just the brutes anymore), and it's hard to care about characters that you know are all going to die at the end of the game. Horrible game.

@soniccar

Uh ... your words were "worst female character", thus emphasizing her gender. If there's a misunderstanding there it doesn't stem from me.

Anyway, if you don't like Reach, fine. But the point of the game was to make a story around a heroic sacrifice and we all knew that going in. It sounds like you have a problem with the concept of prequels. I preferred that approach to the against-all-odds-but-somehow-not-really-all-that-suspenseful approach of the other games in the franchise. By your logic, I knew that Master Chief would emerge victorious, ergo - since I knew - the story was garbage. However, in my opinion, Reach had the best story in the franchise, mostly due to the lack of Flood.

@Eclipse As soon as I saw Classic Mode I got tears in my eyes.

I wonder what the Achievements will be like.....

Lan Party 100G
System link 4 consoles & play with 16 players

10 years ago I would of been able to get that unlocked, now-a-days it wouldn't be that easy.

@CollapseTheControl
Another achievement, very difficult to get....

50G - Have fun playing The Library

@Super Nintendo Chalmers

*unpopular opinion away!*
I actually loved The Library. It was a tad repetitive, but I found the frenetic action rewarding. Granted, I'm a keyboard+mouse native and played it first in Halo CE: PC: WRC: MTG: BBQ: POTATO, but I'd imagine a controller-centric individual could have an equivalently fun experience.

Though one of the Arbiter levels in Halo 2 seemed to mimic the overall Library design, and I found it obnoxious and tedious - though completely playable if I simply jumped and ran past all the flood. Perhaps my nostalgia goggles are in full effect RE: The Library...

...Click on the video and I JIZZ IN MY PANTS.

Anyone else having trouble getting it to go fullscreen?

@blackangel209

Yes. Click the video itself and view it on viddler's site for fullscreen.

@WiredKnight Awesome thanks. This game looks gorgeous.

OMG stop talking I want to hear the sound effects.

I get it, it's the same but shinier. We don't need to hear that twenty times through a four minute clip.

That said, it's looking great and I can't wait. I have to say though, I'm a bit disappointed that all they're doing is revamping the graphics. I was hoping they would improve some of the level designs, i.e. the Library level that's just hours of slogging through Flood in the same environment over and over. Oh well, should still be fun.

@Theneverendingsoda

Uh, what? Pretty sure the whole point of the video is showing how the engine is pretty much exactly the same as it was before. They've just upgraded the graphics a ton. If you feel *that* strongly about the original, go play the original.

@Theneverendingsoda

Did you watch a different video?

Just got goosebumps, can't wait to play this game all over again.

Cool feature, switching between graphics modes on the fly. The original Halo didn't look all that bad!

Glad they're keeping the original feel intact. While I love the newer Halos just fine, the original had such a perfect simplicity and balance to it that got kind of lost.

I love the technical talk in the video because it shows that they do realize who they are talking to with this.

I'm really looking forward to playing Halo: CE for the first time.

I wish it was Halo 1 multiplayer :\

Seriously. Not including it is one of the dumbest things ever. I wonder if there's still co-op, would also be nice if it expanded to four players.

@Vcize: It would be nice of 343 to throw you guys a bone and make CE's code playable online. I know there is a strong many that prefer the original's multiplayer.

@MGTrey Even having it offline-only would make me happy. Feels like Conker L&R all over again. Great singleplayer remake, brilliant new multiplayer mode, but they cut the original's also-brilliant multiplayer.

@Epoque: I'm pretty sure they do have seven offline CE maps you can play local with CE's code. I recall reading something of that sort.

@MGTrey
The 7 maps use the Reach multiplayer engine

@Vcize
..Do I really have to go over this again... *Sigh*, I'll go find the post and Copy it here

*5 Minutes Later*
Sadly you wrong also. On the 343 Sparkcast, Episode 3 (latest one) they talk alot about Halo CEA, such as multiplayer.

Halo CEA will come with 2 disks, Campaign, and multiplayer. The Campaign disk will have Campaign and some other stuff (maybe theatre?).

The multiplayer disk is a completely different game from Reach. on the multiplayer disk is ONLY those 7 maps from CE. Only the people playing on the CEA disk can play with people playing on the CEA disk. it has had some variables changed to make weapons the same power as they are in CE with the addition of some of the aspects from reach... such as Assassinations, Weapon Assassinations, and I think Sprint, Dive and Jetpack.

On top of this, the game comes with a code that will allow you to add the 7 maps to Halo Reach, so you can play them on Halo Reach if you like reaches mechanics better.

Just pre-ordered this today. Cant wait!

Looks wonderful. I'm itching to play through this all over again. I like the one button graphics switch, and it really will be neat to flip it throughout the campaign. Can't wait for this!

Only if this had multiplayer...

If BXR and Double-Shots come back I'll buy a 360 just for this :)

I guess trimming down "The Library" is a no-go.

The ability to swap between graphical displays mid game is absolutely genius.

Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition does this. The game is running on the original engine underneath, and by pressing a button you can switch between the two.

Shame this won't be coming out for the pc.

And did anyone else notice how choppy the video was? I hope this is a beta issue, and the final game won't be choppy.

I wouldn't doubt a PC version, it's just not going to come out until 2013.

@Epoque
At this rate, more like 2103. :p

You know, this level has always been one of my favorite levels in the series for some reason. I always enjoyed driving out in the ocean.

Well if they really care about the core Halo fans I hope they are nice to my wallet

@XFactor it's only $39 and you can preorder at newegg right now for $29, just add promo code EMCYTZT622 to your cart. You're welcome.

Memories

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Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Halo Anniversary footage shows off Silent Cartographer

Reader Comments (57)

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:01PM Eclipse said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:07PM Sled said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:15PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:18PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:20PM einhanderkiller said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:32PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:59PM MGTrey said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:23PM soniccar said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:35PM TheyDidItFirst said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:42PM Tommy758 said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:46PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 8:05PM blackangel209 said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 8:40PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2011 3:55AM mcnichoj said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2011 9:36AM soniccar said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2011 2:19PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Jul 24th 2011 6:17AM Miranda Lawson said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:09PM CollapseTheControl said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:56PM Super Nintendo Chalmers said

Posted: Jul 24th 2011 1:00PM TheBrainninja said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:13PM Burnflare said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:15PM blackangel209 said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:17PM WiredKnight said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:26PM blackangel209 said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:16PM WiredKnight said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:19PM WiredKnight said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:19PM Ordeith said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:20PM kmcroc said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:25PM Gooblechev said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:31PM chuckharms said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:43PM Vcize said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:56PM Epoque said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:02PM MGTrey said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:08PM Epoque said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:13PM MGTrey said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:58PM Super Nintendo Chalmers said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 11:50PM killer rin said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:43PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:43PM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:46PM phizzle said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 6:59PM Slomoshun said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:03PM Siphillis said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:06PM MGTrey said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:10PM Drakkenfyre said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 7:23PM Epoque said

Posted: Jul 24th 2011 12:08AM StClair said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 8:11PM lawsmar said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 8:19PM XFactor said

Posted: Jul 23rd 2011 1:31PM laserboyjc said

Posted: Jul 22nd 2011 9:25PM Mr Hett said

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Info

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