Halo: Reacharrives on PC in less than two week, the first ofHalo: The Master Chief Collection’s sextet ofHalogames. BringingHalo: Reachto PC has been a massive effort on 343 Industries' part, as getting a near-10-year-old game built to run exclusively on Xbox 360 to PC is a complicated process, to put it lightly. As such, 343 is already acknowledging thatHalo: Reachwill have some growing pains even after launch. These points of interest were recently detailed in aHalo: Reachdev update.
Perhaps the biggest issue that 343 brought up in its November dev update is that ofHalo Reach’s frame rate issues.Halo: Reachwas originally released on Xbox 360 with a 30 fps cap, as many console games are. And much like most console games with frame caps, Bungie at the time builtHalo: Reacharound that frame cap. This is why in the previous dev update, 343 saidHalo: Reachmight launch with a 60 fps cap. But 343 heard the criticism, so while the new unlocked Variable Frame Rate may still have some issues it is confirmed to be included inHalo: Reachat launch. Expect more polish for this after launch.
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While 343 was able to put together a solution for player hoping for an uncapped frame rate, it appears that there’s no such solution forHalo: Reach’s audio issues.BringingHalo: Reachto PCrequired 343 to completely re-encode the game’s audio, leading to it sounding vastly different than it did originally. 343 has some ideas for how to improve the game’s audio and is working hard to get it working. However, these fixes won’t be ready for launch. 343 will share more information on this as it’s able.
343 addressed several other topics of concern that had been brought up duringHalo: Reach’s test flights. Servers are being upgraded and several fixes have been implemented to improve server latency and matchmaking. Mouse and keyboard should be “greatly improved” compared to previous test flights. Known V-Sync issues have been fixed, as have all manner of miscellaneous crashes and in-game bugs. Plus, 343 has also gotten push-to-talk working for launch.
Finally, 343 recapped some important topics for PC players to know before the game’s launch. As previously confirmed,Halo: Reach’s Forge and Theater modes are delayed at won’t be available at launch. These modes are planned to be implemented in 2020. To make up for it, 343 has ensured that about 6.2 million maps and modes from legacy file shares inHalo 3,4, andReachon console will be available.Halo: ReachPC players may not be able to create and share their own maps and modes, for the time being, but this should keep them busy until Forge is ready.
As ever, expect 343 Industries to remain talkative aboutHalo: ReachandHalo: The Master Chief Collection’s development on PC through launch and beyond.
Halo Reachlaunches December 3 on PC and is out now for Xbox 360.
