Master Chief and The Revival of Halo

Las Vegas 2007, and Final Boss demolish Carbon 6-0 in the MLG national championships. Walshy, Strongside and the Ogre brothers top off their Halo 2 domination by clinching victory and proving themselves to be the best in the world.

Something to Aspire toThis was my first taste of E-sports and the first time I even thought about the prospect of video games being a serious competitive sport. I knew then that this was something I just had to be a part of. So, as I had many times before, I booted up Halo 2. This time though I wanted to emulate what I had just seen. I used to pretend to be Alan Shearer or Michael Owen kicking a ball around at the local park, but now I wanted to be Walshy BXRing in the close quarters of Midship or Karma no scoping cross map on Lockout.

The Best Ever?Thousands and thousands of hours of gaming later and the launch of Halo 3 really kicked the competitive scene in to gear. MLG picked it up at its main title and for 3 years it dominated. Each passing year new players and teams entered the tournaments, prize pools grew and the viewers flocked. Fan favourites Final Boss had their highs and lows and St8 Rippin topped the pile for a while. Snipedown seemingly changed the game with the weapon of his namesake, and Roy and Lunchbox fought the Ogres for brotherly bragging rights. It was exciting, gripping, fascinating, everything you could want as a spectator and it solidified Halo 3 as the best competitive shooter of the time and arguably, of all time.

In DeclineUnfortunately all good things must come to an end. Halo Reach tried to keep competitors and viewers interested, but it was lack lustre. The slight engine changes, the lack of any true competitive maps, the DMR. The magic was lost for me and many others. MLG, which had backed Halo for so many years, dropped it entirely and by the time Halo 4 came around an era had ended. Halo was branded as a dead game.  

And so we come to The Master Chief collection. There was a definite buzz of excitement when it was announced at E3, but will The Master Chief Collection revive the franchise? Are people still interested in Red vs. Blue? These are questions only time can answer, but I for one certainly hope so.

The Possibilities...The prospect of the 100 original maps, with 6 more brand new to console, original gameplay, bugs and glitches excluded (fingers crossed), familiar weapons, sounds and the glorious music of the main menu seems so enticing. The possibility of having Damnation, Midship, Lockout, The Pit, Narrows, Onslaught and Construct together is amazing. Haven and Solace have the chance to show off how well designed they were. What's more, Oddball and King of the Hill will once again provide strategic variation at the top level, something which is lacking in other titles.  This is 343’s chance to redeem itself, 1080p, 60fps re-skinned classics will be the back drop to this Sci-Fi epic's revival and I for one relish the opportunity to pump thousands upon thousands of hours into this series once again. November can’t come quickly enough...

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Author: Forrest Deeks (@Msidasurc)

About the Author: "I currently work as a manager of a GAME store in London and games are obviously a hobby of mine. My real passion however is E-sports. I have a huge desire for it grow in the UK as well as globally and I'll do anything I can to help that happen. Halo 2 was the game that got me in to competitive gaming and while I was not great at it by the time Halo 3 came out I had honed my skills and took the leap from spectator to competitor. My team and I went to as many local events as we could in the east coast of America, did fairly well and eventually went in to the open bracket qualifying for MLG events in 2011. After returning to London I have hosted/organised Fifa, Street Fighter and Halo events for both GAME and XBOX and now follow Dota religiously"