Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Halo: The Master Chief Collection was, upon its release in November 2014, the most ambitious collection in the history of console shooters - it bundled remastered Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2 Anniversary, Halo 3, and Halo 4 into a single package with reworked graphics, a unified menu, and combined multiplayer featuring over a hundred maps. Players could switch on the fly between the original graphics from the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles and newly created high-resolution models, which for Halo 2 Anniversary meant completely redone cutscenes by studio Blur. The campaigns of all four games could be played in online and local co-op with up to four players, across all difficulties including the legendary Legendary.

The collection also offered playlists compiled across the individual games, such as a sequence of vehicle missions or a showcase of the series' toughest moments, and a challenge system that gave the old campaigns a reason for repeat playthroughs. However, the launch was plagued by notorious server infrastructure problems that essentially paralyzed multiplayer for months, earning 343 Industries a public apology and a subsequent free content expansion as compensation.

Over the years, though, MCC became one of the generation's most supported titles: it gained mod support, cross-platform play with PC, 4K textures for Xbox One X, improved controls, and the additional Halo 3: ODST, including its campaign and Firefight mode. For a generation of players who never played the original titles on older hardware, the collection represented the only reasonable way to experience the entire arc of Master Chief's story, from the fall of Reach to the fight against the Didact, in a single package for the price of one full game. Today it stands as a model of how classic series should be cared for, and at the same time as a reminder that not even the best intentions can save a launch that goes technically wrong.