Halo 3: Legendary Box disc 2 question

[The Clown Prince]

I didn't ask this question in the regular Halo 3 talkback because I haven't played it yet and don't want to be spoiled by reading something.

I picked up the Legendary version today, but have not opened yet. The helmut is pretty cool (saw it on display at Gamestop) but the main reason I really bought this version was for the "remasterd Halo and Halo 2 cinematics." I read this part of IGN's review and was disappointed by what I read...


The second disc is exclusive to the Legendary Edition and, frankly, it's pretty disappointing. The DVD displays only in 4:3 and features some terrible video compression.

The DVD is shown only in 4:3 and looks terrible on a hi-def or standard-def TV. With Bungie's dedication towards technical excellence, it's a bit of a surprise to see a DVD included in a $130 set that is so subpar. The Legenary box promises "remastered, hi-res versions of Halo and Halo 2 cinematics."

This is complete bunk. The cinematics are not in hi-res and, in fact, are so poorly compressed, they look worse than the original games. Though the 136 minute-long series of cut-scenes offers a complete replay of the stories of Halo 1 and 2, it could not have been handled any more poorly. This is not what you should get after spending so much on a special edition set.


So, for those of you who have opened it, and have viewed the redone cinematics, are they as bad as IGN is making them out to be? Do they look as good as the Halo 3 cinematics? Because I was under the impression from the start that that is what we would get.

If they are that bad, then I just exchange it for a regular version and apply the extra money for pre-orders for Assasins Creed and Mario Galaxy.

The Clown Prince

[Kinel Ozoa]

Their just a remastered version of the origional cinimatics. Little bit clearer, good sound, but otherwise just the same really, with a litte bit of sped up gameplay between each mini cutscene. I guess to make it all more coherent. I didn't expect them to redo every cutscene, that would have been a neat addition.

Edit: And you got the commentaries too, which I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for commentaries.

[SNS]

Yeah they aren't remastered at all, in fact it looks like someone just recorded a full run of the games then did tons of time cuts (leaving in the game footage, they find interesting). For example you will see various moments where "Checkpoint done" or the mission objective will appear on screen. Other gameplay examples include footage of a pelican dropping a warthog & some fighting with Elites. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaing about that footage but it seems kind of odd in something that is about cutscenes.

[The Clown Prince]

Thanks for your impressions guys! Boy, that does sound a little disappointing.:sad: I've got a decision to make here then.

I know if I swap it out for the single disc regular $60.00 version, I'm tempted to open my game right there in the store to see if it's scratched like I keep reading about. I know I keep hearing about it with the Collector's Edition, but about the regular version?

The Clown Prince

[SNS]

The problem with the Limited Edition is because of the case it comes in. The regular edition just comes in a standard case (just like it does when you get the Legendary Edition), so I don't see how it can have any problems.

[The Clown Prince]

Bungie responds to consumer complaints about "remastered" cut cinematics from Halo 1 and Halo 2!

From IGN (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/823/823249p1.html)...


It is likely that hundreds of thousands of people bought the Halo Legendary Edition on September 25. Many were happy to get the replica Master Chief helmet and, of course, the game itself. But many fans who checked out the second bonus DVD included with the $129.99 set were left disappointed.

The Legendary set includes all cinematics from Halo 1 and 2. While the back of the Legendary box claims the movies are "completely remastered, hi-res versions," this doesn't appear to be the case. The cinematics are poorly compressed, with washed out colors and considerable artifacting. It wasn't long before irate fans who were expecting something better were on the Internet complaining.

Today, Bungie Writing Lead Frank O'Connor responded to the concerns:

"The cutscenes were remastered, the pop-in reduced and they were output as as high resolution TIFFs one frame at a time to improve the quality over the originals

They were not, contrary to popular internets remastered in "HD" and this was always advertised as a DVD disc, which obviously can't play HD content anyway.

Apologies to folks feeling ripped off, but the false advertising claims are well, false.

Watch the remastered ones side by side with the originals to see how much they've been improved.

And hopefully folks can see past our old school graphics and listen to the commentary, which is the important part of that content anyway."

The issue, however, is not that people were expecting HD-quality graphics, but an overall improvement in the video quality. It is true that there is less pop-in in Halo 2 cut-scenes, but this is negated by the generally poor quality of the compression.

We ran both Halo and Halo 2 side-by-side with the videos and, while there are some improvements to the remastered cinematics, there are also many new issues. Overall, the visual quality of the Legendary Edition is, in our opinion, inferior to the originals.

It should be noted that the two-disc set offers a number of top-notch features. It is only the set of remastered cut-scenes that have displeased consumers.


The Clown Prince

[Robin2099]

Didn't really have any problem with the movies. Overall I would say keep it, cause the helmet is just too damn cool to get rid of.

[Bird Boy]

It sounds like their main complaint is the compression, which has to happen on a DVD. The reason the originals looked less compressed was because they were rendered by the game. Once you start compressing video like that, it's not hard to see why it got a bit ugly.

-BB