Halo Anniversary video showcases shift between new and old graphics in-game

The sales pitch for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is getting increasingly tricky to follow, with the official line fluctuating between “We've come a long way thanks to Halo, which you know so well it's time to revisit it” and “Halo is still as fresh as it ever was, so it's time to be surprised at the game's groundbreaking newness.” It's okay to admit your game is getting a bit old and has been copied a lot! We still like it! While nobody's willing to come right out and say it, of course, this new “behind the scenes” spot offers plenty of glimpses at Halo old and new – including the title's incorporation of a feature that, really, it's embarrassing you don't see in a lot more remakes.

The sales pitch for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is getting increasingly tricky to follow, with the official line fluctuating between “We've come a long way thanks to Halo, which you know so well it's time to revisit it” and “Halo is still as fresh as it ever was, so it's time to be surprised at the game's groundbreaking newness.” It's okay to admit your game is getting a bit old and has been copied a lot! We still like it! While nobody's willing to come right out and say it, of course, this new “behind the scenes” spot offers plenty of glimpses at Halo old and new – including the title's incorporation of a feature that, really, it's embarrassing you don't see in a lot more remakes.

Here's a look at a feature Halo aficionados will surely use to drive their friends mental: the Anniversary edition offers instant switching between the original's graphics and the remake's bumped-up visuals. It's not only a (laughably trivial) history lesson, it's also a way of ensuring the honesty of new series custodians 343, who'll have to save the tinkering with the series' fundamentals for Halo 4. And yeah, you've seen it before... but not often enough. How do you like these clips of the Anniversary edition? If you haven't played Halo, does this entice? If you have, is it luring you back?

Jul 19, 2011