Halo CE vs Halo 2 Original Graphics

[chewbachman]

Been playing MCC recently... and when playing with the original graphics Halo CE looks MUCH better than Halo 2. I remember having a similar opinion when Halo 2 originally came out but I was told I was crazy and Halo 2 was the much better looking game. Heck, I remember on the original console it would take up to 15 seconds to load textures fully on occasion. Am I the only one who thinks this? I keep hearing CE has aged badly but I honestly think the aesthetic is great and textures are excellent for the time. At least compared to Halo 2 that is.

[Detached Vector]

Halo 2 makes use of more assets and more dynamic environments than CE. They have to make tradeoffs somewhere with the limited resource pool.

[Eekiki]

The textures for CE were even better in the original XBox version, which made excellent use of the Unreal engine trick of swapping in higher resolution textures when a player gets close to them, thus making them appear less blurred/pixelated. Sadly this feature hasn't carried over to MCC.

[The Rizzler]

Originally posted by Eekiki 🦊:

The textures for CE were even better in the original XBox version, which made excellent use of the Unreal engine trick of swapping in higher resolution textures when a player gets close to them, thus making them appear less blurred/pixelated. Sadly this feature hasn't carried over to MCC.

yes halo1 was on the Unreal engine

[chewbachman]

Yeah, Halo 2 was more ambitious but its presentation was hurt. Halo CE had this nice reflective sheen on metallic objects with some degree of bump mapping in the flooring and amazing open vistas. I remember being in awe of the floors of the covenant ships when it originally came out. Halo 2's environments look kinda... flat.

[BigB0iii J0nes]

I actually agree and feel and think this 100% I always thought CE looked a 100% better then Halo 2 graphically. I think a lot of it has to do with the aesthetic. Halo CE just has a bright and almost cartoony yet realistic look at the time it was quite odd and the vast and open levels were truly amazing for the time Halo 2 definitely took a more corridor and linear approach to gameplay and level design to. I think Halo 2 looks to brown and grey and that is part of the problem but I feel Halo 2 did less graphically the bitmaps and translucent textures are a lot worse on Halo 2 compared to CE textures end up looking more muddy on Halo 2 because of this.

[chewbachman]

Originally posted by Punished Enclave:

Yeah comparing halo 2 classic to halo 2 anniversary really makes you realise how basic the textures and geometry were back then
And how much better ce looks

Yeah, I actually prefer and can play Halo CE in its original graphics (Gearbox PC version downgrade aside) and be happy as a clam. Playing Halo 2 it is anniversary graphics all the way. It keeps to the aesthetic while making everything look MUCH better.

Halo CE Anniversary strayed too far from the original atmosphere. Doesn't ... feel right

[solidap]

I don't agree that Halo 2 Anniversary keeps with the aesthetic. The Covenant are completley redesigned and they're ugly as hell, even their architecture and vehicles. Fluid curves and alien materials were replaced by bulky block shaped helmets and matte human-like materials. They even changed a lot of the trademark Covenant Purple color. Technically it does look great but I can't stand 343's rebooted Covenant designs.

As for the original, it was supposed to look way better (and it did). It was going to have a real time dynamic lighting system that you can see footage of on YouTube, but something happened during development and they had to restart from scratch on an even tighter deadline and they couldn't pull it off. Halo 2 had a lot of compromises

[Detached Vector]

Originally posted by chewbachman:

Originally posted by Punished Enclave:

Yeah comparing halo 2 classic to halo 2 anniversary really makes you realise how basic the textures and geometry were back then
And how much better ce looks

Yeah, I actually prefer and can play Halo CE in its original graphics (Gearbox PC version downgrade aside) and be happy as a clam. Playing Halo 2 it is anniversary graphics all the way. It keeps to the aesthetic while making everything look MUCH better.

Halo CE Anniversary strayed too far from the original atmosphere. Doesn't ... feel right

Halo: Cartoon Edition Advanced instead of Halo: Cameron's Embodied Aliens.