Halo’s PC Destiny

From its debut at MacWorld 1999, Halo was originally intended for a personal computer. This is not where most people first played Halo though, as Microsoft bought developer Bungie following the game’s unveiling and turned it into Xbox’s flagship launch game in 2001.

It took two years for Halo to come to Windows (and Mac), with the PC version ported by future Borderlands maker Gearbox.

The PC port is fascinating, with a handful of changes and omissions that are outweighed by the positives. For one, the resolution and frame rate are both increased (provided you have the hardware to achieve it). Halo looks and feels great on Xbox, but is like a full remaster on PC.

What adds to the improved feel for me are the control options. Halo PC, as one would hope, added keyboard and mouse controls. Despite playing a whole lot of Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, and Halo on consoles, I’ve always preferred first person shooters with KBM controls. Halo is incredible on a controller, but aiming with a mouse will always feel more natural and precise to me.

Finally, Halo PC added to the multiplayer experience, including new maps and, most notably, the ability to play online. Halo on consoles wouldn’t get proper online play until the second game in 2004 (although some fans found ways to make it happen). While I have always preferred local multiplayer (LAN parties forever), it was clear in the early 2000s that online multiplayer was the future, so this was a desired addition to the PC port of Halo.

After spending some time with Halo on my Windows XP PC I wanted more, so I hopped over to my modern PC and loaded up The Master Chief Collection on Steam.

Released five years after the messy launch of the Xbox One version, MCC on PC is a remarkable value and the primary way I enjoy Halo in the modern age. I started a new game of Halo: Combat Evolved on Heroic difficulty and fell right back into the game’s rhythm, using KBM controls the whole time.

Halo may have been the game to define Microsoft’s console(s), but as foretold by Steve Jobs in 1999, it feels just as much at home on a personal computer.