Microsoft’s revamp of the original Halo will add a control feature Bungie never dreamed of at launch.
Players of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, 343 Industries’ revamp of Bungie’s first Halo game, might not all be tethered to their chairs. In abnormal fashion for the typical FPS gamer, some might be bopping about the room too. Microsoft has revealed that in addition to a total visual overhaul, Halo: Anniversary will also be getting Kinect support.
While talking about Kinect, Microsoft Game Studios’ Phil Spencer told GameSpot: “Even games like Halo Anniversary have Kinect integration.” Pretty cut and dry right there.
He didn’t elaborate, so there aren’t any details about what we’ll be able to do in Halo: Anniversary with the help of Kinect. Development on the feature may still be early. It’ll be interesting to see if a game like Halo can be fully controlled, accurately, simply with Kinect, or if it’ll just be used as a way to throw grenades and jump.
343 responded to the announcement with a post on Halo Waypoint forums, assuring players that Kinect support would be fully optional. “Just to let everybody know, the Kinect features we’re exploring with Halo: Anniversary are optional and won’t affect your core gameplay experience,” the post says.
Kinect’s ability to deliver in a hardcore experience like Halo remains questionable, but come late 2011 we may know what it can do. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be released on November 15.
