Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Current goal: Try out all the weapons in the “Crash Site” mod
Play it on: Xbox, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
Halo: The Master Chief Collection really is the best Halo experience right now. Not only does it contain the series’ best entries, with fully intact multiplayer, but the collection has received updates that’ve both preserved the old games and improved them. Recently, a combined digital archaeological effort between modders and 343 Industries is unearthing some beautiful Halo artifacts, offering up previously unplayable material from the series’ history for the first time.
The most recent result of these endeavors is “Crash Site,” a playable version of the 1999 Macworld demo from when Halo was originally slated to be a Mac exclusive. Bet ya never thought you’d get to play this!
You’ll need the Steam version and a gaming PC (and maybe a black turtleneck and a pair of blue jeans) to get access. Download the mod from Digsite’s workshop page, fire up the The Master Chief Collection with anti-cheat turned off, select Crash Site from the Halo CE campaign menu and get ready to jump into the boots of some prototype Spartan armor and wield weapons you’ve likely never seen before.
As you may know, Halo was originally slated to be an RTS, but the drivable Warthog gave then-developer Bungie the idea to turn the game into a shooter. While the “Crash Site” mod doesn’t feature the third-person gameplay that Halo was originally supposed to have, you’ll be able to get a first-person view of an assault rifle variant with a rocket launcher, a different sniper rifle model, the space Luger, and more. There’s also a really cool original soundtrack from Neo Te Aika
The mod is a brief trip through an open-world level that sees skirmishes with Covenant forces and Sentinels, leading up to a conclusion very reminiscent of scenes from Combat Evolved’s “Assault on the Control Room” level. It’s a nice little chapter of gaming history, the kind that the public rarely if ever gets access to — Claire Jackson
