Halo: The Master Chief Collection

this is a really fun, amazing game, can keep you distracted for hours on end

Can't play the game that I payed for because It can't sign in to microsoft. Why can't I just play the game I own?

I simply cannot recommend buying this on PC when there isn't crossplay functionality for all the campaigns in 2025... from a AAA studio. That should literally be a standard feature even in 2019.

Your challenge: play the game. Difficulty: impossible. Solo runs fine, try to play co-op and the nightmare begins, Assuming you're permitted to actually load into the level without a participant being booted back to the menu, anyone other than host will be subject to the most abysmal input lag one could possibly suffer through. 343 knows about the issue but CANNOT be bothered to lift their greasy fingers for longer than a picosecond to attempt to apply one solitary brain cell towards fixing it. Abysmal dog shit.

Why do I have to resort to mods for split screen?
It's a basic feature with support in the game source code.
If modders can enable it why can't the developers?

Stop making me sign in to 12 million things just to play a game. Everyone else likes steam, let's keep it at just that mircrosoft.

I am at my last straw with this utterly useless profile function this game has.

• Do you live in a house with a shared lounge computer? Well, you're screwed.
  
• Do you have a computer that occasionally has a different person using it to play Halo? Well, you're screwed.
  
• Did you switch Steam account so you could play Halo on your profile? It doesn't work, the last user that signed into Microsoft will persist like a virus and will spit the dummy and break your game if you switch. (Have fun with the potential to reinstall game or even reinstall your OS to play)
  

Account changing is completely broken.

It does not work!

Oh, you though I was finished?

• Change profile with controller? Doesn't work, can't select the top right profile banner, get a KB+M
  
• You changed profile? Well great, you bricked your game with "Fatal Error". Steam verify will not work
  
• You were able to log out? Great, well the login screen won't load.
  
[*]Reinstalled the game? Great, no one want's to play after screwing around for an hour.

If you want to play with your housemates, you're screwed. You're not gonna play because account switch issues and the inability to switch accounts without reinstalling the game or reinstalling your OS. (Yes, that's one fix I've had to do)

I've tested and tried this on 4x different computers and devices (W11 & W10) and this game will royally screw it self up because apparently you'd never EVER need to change profile.


Hey, Microsoft, fix your account switching system. It's broken

Maybe I'd be able to recommend it if I was able to play the damn game and not spend hours pissing about because I need to be connected to xbox live to play single player Halo

Playing this game on PC is a terrible experience. No matter how many times I reinstall, verify file integrity etc the game CONSTANTLY crashes and then I get banned from matchmaking. It is not my computers fault as many people have this issue and the game actually runs very smoothly when it works. I still play it because I like Halo but there is a huge bug in the software. Never had this problem in an app before. Just an MCC issue.

I like the whole game series, maybe not too much on the people yk..

I spent 4 hours trying to get past the opening screen. I have been playing comp games since 1982, so yes, I'm getting old. BUT I am not that stupid. I want a full refund please. Doubt I'll get it.

Imagine you go to play the game and than you cant because you have to sign in, than you sign but it doesnt let you so you have to send a code to your phone so you do that and than it wont let you sign in until you send a code to your email but i doesnt send a code so than you go to contact support but they are closed yeah that basically sums up ever single time you open this game.

Once you get into the games, it's that rinse-and-repeat action you remember. But my gawd, the interface around the whole package is terribly buggy and slow. Why on earth does it take longer to load Halo CE than it did back in the day on an OG Xbox. And why bother playing music during loading if it won't play without stuttering every second. And don't get me started on the buried menu you have to locate just to install something.

I'd heard the package had had a buggy launch, but here we are in 2025 and it seems much of this nonsense persists.

Games: Thumbs Up
Everything Else: Very Much Thumbs Down

Used to play halo 3 a lot at my friends place and we used to just do 1 v 1 for fun really nice memories.

Fun fact: I was born in the releasing year of the first Halo game

Halo: Reach my overall favourite

Buggy main UI / launcher -- how do you screw up something this simple? God help you on a multi-monitor setup as it spends 30+ seconds blinking in/out + resizing windows before settling down.

And the fun part? You launch it, maybe alt+tab... and it's gone! Running in the background. So, Task Manager -> End Task, and if you're lucky it will work and end it. If you're unlucky, you get to power cycle your machine.

Games work fine when they launch -- but it's a good 5-10 minute ordeal to get in and play. You often have to reboot for that to work... I normally don't reboot for MONTHS on end, and I have too for this piece of shit?

If you're looking to relive nostalgia by playing co-op campaign online like I was, do not buy. They did very little to make it an enjoyable experience. There's no crossplay at all. PC to Xbox? No. Steam deck to a PC running Steam? Also no. Allegedly multiplayer runs well crossplay so they know how to they just refuse to release a fully functional game.

You cant even log into the game. I am really sick of different email account requirements. I bought the game, i paid money for, I DONT WANT TO USE ANY OUTLOOK OR MICROSOFT ACCOUNT TO PLAY THE GAME. This game is requiring you to enter your details, type your backup email, enter the code from there, change your password, log in with the new password and than BOOM you have to log in again. WASTE OF TIME. Its just a game, let me have fun!!!

“I think Halo is a pretty gool guy. Eh kills aliens and doesn’t afraid of anything.”
-John Halo fan
[hr][/hr]

Halo MCC is such a wide array of games developed at various points in time that it feels strange reviewing all at once.

Let me preface that while I have non nostalgia since I first played Halo in 2025, to its defense the early 00’s were still an experimental phase and this series seemed to be hit by the full burnt of bad gameplay decision choices early on.

X-Factor

At the time it was the fresh, hip new console on the block spotting a game made to showcase its graphics with a “cleaner” mix of military shooter and sci-fi ahestetics as well as one of the very first titles with multiplayer mode in mind.

Another nice touch in Halo 1 and 2 is that you can switch between original graphics and updated ones on the fly.

Also nostalgia…
A big amount of nostalgia that I unfortunately didn’t have going into the games.

Gameplay

In most if not all game campaigns feature a series of connected arena combats strung together by a semi-linear open world.

You have a recharging health bar meaning the use of cover is essential instead of just running in the open to easily gun down every enemy you see.

Combat is very “static” early on due to slow moving speeds and lack of good environmental design but both movement and arenas get better with almost every installation.

Story

In the main saga you follow the adventures of Master Chief, and the many times he saved the universe by being the right man at the right place.

ODST and Reach feature lesser military figures who still struggle for the survival of the human race, fighting against the alien menace.

Downsides

Halo 1 and 2 have some of the worst combat I’ve seen in a shooter, 3 fixes that by having a faster movement speed and more furnished arenas to use as temporary covers while moving, ODST and Reach take a step back from this but not a big one while 4 does it right.

Vice versa story seems to be more interesting in games with worse gameplay, being an interesting duality of two empires clashing in 2 and a universal threat in 1 and then devolving into just what feels like your generic military shooter with Reach, OSDT and the early parts of 3.

The games also require a Microsoft account, and while this isn’t intrusive as other 3rd party apps I still find the requirement to make an account to play an offline campaign quite dubious.
[hr][/hr]


While the games aren’t stellar in any given aspect, besides graphics for the times they were released in, they serve a chiefly important historical purpose to understand how this series shaped the videogame and pop culture landscape leading up to this day.

At the end of the day Halo is a very mediocre series but I still recommend the Master Chief Collection it because it has a great amount of content for the price and frequent discounts mean you’ll be able to grab 6 games for 10 dollars or less.

A Trip Back to the Golden Age of Gaming

For context, I have most, if not all, the single-player achievements and have beaten all of the games included in Halo MCC. I played this collection after many patches and only had a few issues with crashes and freezing in Halo 4.

The games are some of the best in gaming history, with each offering something of value. They can frequently be picked up for dirt cheap during sales, so they are worth a buy even if, like me, you only play single-player primarily. Whether you are defending Reach, helping Master Chief survive against impossible odds, going feet first into hell or putting the Gravemind in its place underfoot, The Halo MCC Collection has something to offer anybody who likes games in the FPS genre.

That said, like many studios these days, it is unfortunate that the community management team continues to needlessly politicize every event they can against community wishes. It warms my heart that the community manager who banned me for stating that as a gamer with a disability, I do not appreciate being tokenized with a nameplate is no longer employed. I asked to be unbanned, and my request was refused.

It is not nearly as bad as Infinite, but that game shows how even the greatest of franchises can fall flat if made for the modern audience. The other thing is the requirement for a 3rd party login, which should not be necessary when playing on Steam.

Overall, Halo MCC has some great games, but it has terrible community management that likes to virtue signal and censor people and an unnecessary 3rd party login. Buy it if you want to experience gaming history before all these modern woke games, but be warned that putting the wrong opinion in forums or on announcements can get you banned. You also need a Microsoft account.

Goodness gracious. What a game. Porting every single Xbox and Xbox 360 Halo title to PC, including all their unique multiplayer modes, is an astounding accomplishment. Yes, the launch was a bit rocky and a few annoying bugs persist, but this remains the best deal in gaming right now.

It would be easy to dismiss these titles as generic shooters, yet they offer so much more: rich lore, empowering characters, a haunting soundtrack, and impeccably tight gameplay that delivers pure fun. With campaign co-op included, the potential for both single-player and multiplayer enjoyment is boundless. While it does pain me that the PC release doesn’t include split-screen co-op, I’m still delighted we ultimately got these games on Steam.

I can honestly trace some of my happiest moments back to these titles—from watching my brother play Halo 1 and 2, to countless hours playing Halo 3 with my neighbors, and even to today when I experienced this release with my friend. On that basis alone, I highly recommend The Master Chief Collection.

I need a refund for The Master Chief Collection. It has been installing/downloading for over 8 hours and is still only at 20%. I requested a refund on 3/28 and it was denied. Steam claims I have exceeded 2 hours of game play and cannot process my refund. To be clear, I have played 0 hours of this game as it has been downloading for close to 12 hours. Please assist in processing a refund.

I download the game, for reasons of my own I turn off the connection, games requires (REQUIRES) an account to play. Not just online, the ENTIRE game. And then I got in, assuming I could finally play and no game is installed. 30 Gb and it tells me I don't have said content installed. Wat.

This bullshit of assuming everyone should be connected to the internet 24/7 has to stop. If only there was some solution like, letting you play the game as any other game without any checklists, and ONLY when you wanna get to online features (multiplayer, profiles, what have you) you pop up a window making the user make a microsoft account and the required internet connection. Damn I'm smart, it's like I've seen that shit in older games or something. But that can be it, it would mean the newer games and those big companies would be being deliberately obtuse trying to get accounts, data, and trying to make dependent on them.

I'm gonna pirate games from now on, at least I know the game will be playable from the start. It's fucking embarrassing this is the state of games these days.

As a massive Halo fan who grew up with these legendary games, I can confidently say this is one of the best FPS series ever made. Having sunk hundreds of hours into these games during the Xbox 360 era, the Master Chief Collection is an absolute must-have for both long-time fans and newcomers to the series.

What makes Halo truly special is its incredible combination of epic storytelling, unparalleled musical score, and groundbreaking gameplay. The collection brings together the main Halo titles up to Halo 4, completely remastered and optimized for PC. Whether you're reliving nostalgic memories or experiencing these games for the first time, there's something here for everyone.

The ability to switch between original and remastered graphics is a fantastic touch of nostalgia, allowing you to appreciate how far the series has come. Multiplayer is robust, with numerous maps, game modes, and cross-platform play that keeps the experience fresh and exciting. The customization options for your multiplayer character and emblem add a personal touch that fans will love.

For those who haven't experienced the Halo universe, this collection is the perfect entry point. The rich lore, memorable characters, and innovative gameplay have set a standard in the FPS genre that few games have matched.

Pros:
Comprehensive collection of Halo games
Stunning remastered graphics
Cross-platform multiplayer
Incredible storytelling and music
Tons of replay value

Cons:
Requires Xbox account login
Hackers in Multiplayer
Multiplayer can be region-dependent

Whether you're a longtime fan or a curious newcomer, the Halo: Master Chief Collection is an essential addition to any PC gamer's library.

Requires a Microsoft account even for playing the offline campaign.

I jumped through the hoops and created an account just to play the offline campaign, but the next day Microsoft banned it without saying the reason, losing all my progress. I created another account, played for another day, and then Microsoft banned it as well, losing the progress again.

The only solution is to create an account, login, and then disable the WiFi before launching the game.

Hostile software, not worth a dime.

these games have the best story and the best music and the best gameplay and the most graphics and the best controls and the okay multiplayer. It's like the dark knight trilogy if it was games. And then christopher nolan made the dark knight prequel which is also amazing. Then christopher nolan got killed and replaced with evil circ and made halo 4 and its not as good.

Play the fuckin games right nowp

[quote]Follow my curator page for more recommendations![/quote]
This collection frequently goes on sale for a measly $10 for all 6 games, highly recommended for that price whether you've played the series before or not, if you like FPS' and/or co-op this is a must-own.

Halo CE's campaign hasn't aged particularly well, a lot of levels drag on far longer than they should and copy/paste the same handful of rooms ad nauseam, and there's a few too many times the game goes, "Hey remember that level you played earlier? Now do it again!" For a first-time playthrough this isn't a big deal, but on replays you'll be very tempted to just skip half of the campaign. However that other half is really good, there are some excellent moments in the campaign that it's still worth revisiting occasionally.

Also if it's your first time playing Halo CE, please for the love of God don't use the ugly, unfaithful Anniversary remaster graphics. Toggle to them occasionally if you want to see how horribly they ruined the tone and atmosphere of the original, but don't use it as your primary graphic mode.

I've made a few comparison shots of Halo CE Anniversary if you're curious to see how bad it is:
https://imgsli.com/MzYyMDkz
https://imgsli.com/MzYyMDg5
https://imgsli.com/MzYyMDkw
https://imgsli.com/MzYyMDkx

On the other hand Halo 2, 3, Reach, and ODST's campaigns have aged phenomenally, their campaigns have plenty of variety and the good levels far outweigh the bad. Their multiplayer modes are also still very active and just as fun as they were many years ago.

Even the black sheep of the series, Halo 4, is still worth playing through because it has some very fun levels and set pieces.

It's a shame Halo 5 was never added (or ported to PC to begin with) because while it has arguably more issues than 4, it'd still be nice to have the entire series playable on PC, and Halo 5 had a pretty good multiplayer.

Game is terrible and won't even allow you into the main menu. I had to disable a key in my control panel settings just to access the game. When finally in through so BS backdoor tactics the games will not download. 343 has murdered this franchise

It could be great, but Microsoft is ruining it. Played for 2.3h then got a message that my account has been locked because I violated the terms of service. And to unlock it, I'd have to give them my phone number.
I didn't do anything besides play the game! How could I have violated their terms of service!?
And no I'm not just giving away my number!
It's simple extortion!

So let me say this as politly as I can: "Fuck you Microsoft!"

(edit created a new account to see wether or not this was a fluke, it wasn't account got banned all the same. They clearly do this shit on purpose!)

careful if you play reach campaign multiplayer your teammate kills you at the end

YES!!

This game is great!!

Specially because I only paid $10 for it while it was on sale!!

DEFINITELY would say ALL this content, is AMAZING for the price! <3

Good Campaign, Got banned for Leaving the Matchmaking session, im so addicted to halo 3

I've played all of the campaigns on normal mode, and I am almost finished with them on Heroic mode. The Halo games are my favorite franchise now by far. 9.5/10, would recommend.

Gun go "brrrr"
music go "augh augh augh augh augh"
Adrenaline go "yippee"
plot goes hard
emotional roller coaster goes in a "loop de loop"
Explosions go "booooooooom"
PC fan barely runs (game is very optimized)
In other words.
Its quite good.

"Halo Studios" will not fix bugs that have been here for years. I just wanted to play a couple missions with my wife before we went to bed for work in the morning. Lost 2 hours just trying to play one mission bc everything is broken. Showing up on the wrong monitor, no mouse constraint, excessively difficult to find friends, etc. I JUST wanted to play Halo. Fix it.

locked out of my games because it uses outlook email login which, Microsoft automatically flags your email accounts as compromised if not logged in for a long period of time (because I try not to use shit from Microsoft.
Due to outlook/hotmail's horrible account recovery system that are brain tumor inducing, this shit is impossible so I have to sign up and lose all my progress and stats and bonuses all the way back to 2019.

be wary if you're buying this collection to keep an eye on your account's accessibility

get this on xbox...because i simply can NOT get multiplayer to work, it is pathetic

i don't particularly like being forced to make a microsoft account to access this game IN SINGLEPLAYER MODE.


also i got completely softlocked from playing since the stupid microsoft login screen never loads and just shows a black box.

Truth is, i have never actually played a Halo game in my life before until now, and now that i have thanks to the MCC all the hype is 100% justifiable. You are doing a huge disservice to yourself not playing any of the Halo games (Yes, even the "bad" ones) espacially if you are a big PVP/Co-op fanatic like me that also can't help himself but spend hundred of hours fooling around on Community servers if i get the chance. So suffice to say, yeah Halo is freaking sweet.

Words can't describe the beauty of Halo games, the lore, amazing story and characters, music. No other single-player game will make you feel this kind of feeling. Must try, can't recommend Halo games enough.

Unable to fix the xbox login failure. No help has been provided and by the look of reddit, this problem has been happening for years with no fix. Id take my money back if i could.

The graphics are stellar, especially for the older remakes. However, you HAVE to log in with an account AND there is no split screen! How is this even a halo game without split screen? The game play is great, graphics are great, but I cannot look past the login requirement nor the lack of split screen multiplayer/co-op

It's extremely fucking frustrating having to put up with how this collection gets updated, seeing as even the most minor patches are gigabytes in size and almost always result in mods being completely unplayable. AKA, the whole damn reason I even play MCC on PC to begin with, being made unplayable. This is made even worse with how Steam loves to shove updates down your throat, even if you've disabled the automatic option, which is what happened to my game. Great. So what's the solution? Force every single mod author to have to manually update their content to make up for it, which is just ridiculous to expect, especially for older mods that obviously aren't going to get that kind of attention months, if not years after they've been published on an individual basis. I don't understand how a game with Steam workshop support can be this blatantly archaic with how it's own mods are supported. Christ, at this point I might as well stick with Custom Edition.

"Our duty as soldiers is to protect humanity, whatever the cost" - Master Chief

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run Paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☑ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Replayability }---
☐ Baldur's Gate 3
☐ Lots of different ways to play
☐ Good for a few runs
☐ For collectables, sure
☑ Multiplayer / Coop
☐ Don't even play it once

---{ Story }---
☐ No story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee (<5h)
☐ Short (5 - 10h)
☐ Average (10-30h)
☐ Long (30 - 60h)
☑ To infinity and beyond (>60h)

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

I have never played the Halo games, and since I got this collection on Christmas, I wanted to try them out. Thank you for the gift!

Buying the collection, you will get every main Halo title up until Halo 4, with reworked graphics for Halo: CE Anniversary and Halo 2: Anniversary, which you can even change to the original graphics settings too. It’s a good thing that you don’t have to download all games at once, since all of them listed as DLCs you can choose which one you want to download. There is also cross-platform multiplayer for them, even for co-op, and there is also a map editor which is a great addition, although it is not usable for CE and ODST. Multiplayer active for most of the titles, which I will explain more in their specific reviews. You can also make your multiplayer emblem, customize your character model. Also, there are multiple leaderboards for achievements, different types of playlists for campaigns which all add to the replayability and to improve your results in the games.

I talk about each game’s multiplayer state in their reviews, but in general I can tell that this game is more active in the US region, so if you play from outside of the US, expect to play multiplayer mostly in the active hours of the US. Latency did not feel bad, although it depended on your connection. You can occasionally find servers and a few players in the EU, but it’s not really common. Also, I was not able to find any game for the competitive game modes, so I suggest using the server browser to find matches to join.

The collection has its own launcher, which you download first when you launch the game and it will need a XBOX account to login before doing anything. This additional DRM is not in the liking for some people, but personally I don’t really mind it. Also, none of the game has split screen capability, which could be an issue for some, especially since this was a well known feature in any Halo game.

Still, in my opinion the collection in theory is pretty good, especially for those who have not played these games yet. I will list here my other reviews related to all of the Halo games in the collection, listing them in a chronological order:

Halo: Reach
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Halo 2: Anniversary
Halo 3
Halo 3: ODST
Halo 4

For those who are interested in the Halo universe and have never played any of these games, I think this collection can be a very good deal for them. For those who are interested in FPS games I can also recommend, as in my opinion Halo is providing an unique experience which can be enjoyed for most players. It’s also good for relieving these games on PC if you know the series, but it depends if you are fine buying all of the games in the collection. I can definitely recommend buying the collection, but wait until a sale to get them all.

This game is absolutely worst. first f all there are first 3 halo games which are absoultely worst because they have at least one mission which is so hard to nevigate and complete. whole map is just bunch of repetable enviroment and you dont know whether you are going ahead or back in mission. then there is odst. i was enjoying the game so far untill i encountered a game breaking bug whare one of my fellow died on his own for no reason and i was locked out of mission. this became so frustrating that i decided to post this review and not play this game ever. also forget about requirement to log in with microsoft account which i had to make just for this third class game. i wish i had an option to get refund even if steam keep my money but i dont want them to keep my money for this trauma. aso all memes you see on social media are bunch of cheep marketing and this game is terrible.

Halo is one of if not the best franchises out there from the campaigns and story to the multiplayer and co-op. call it glazing liberals, but all of these games have stood the test of time

This collection can keep you entertained for weeks, with absolute banger campaigns. Halo 3 ODST in particular always having a special place in my heart throughout my childhood.

Really fun game to play with friends in multiplayer. So many maps and gamemodes to choose from!

Bad news every Halo player the stupid MCC update is now not showing many mods now even with anti cheat disabled! :(
This needs to be fixed.
Thumbs up because I love Halo of cause but it would be thumbs down because of this update.
And if the update did not exist then every Halo fan out there would still be happy playing the game normally & playing with mods as with friends as well.

Games great but be warned about multiplayer tho. Its full of try hards not that i blame them tho. I mean nobody plays ranked so they have to play with the casuals. Also the game still crashes sometimes for me when playing custom games. I wish 343 would update this game man. Kinda crazy how the studio abandoned the community here.