Cleaner, yes - Master Chief looks like an action figure or a character in a Pixar film. I prefer the slightly more real look of Reach. Everything appears to have more polygons and better, deeper textures. The art direction subject is kind of different, but I agree with you that a lot of the campaign levels lack color variation and could have been more bold. And I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to hopefully more forerunner and covenant structures - the human stuff has always been less appealing (which is one big reason I never liked Headlong as much as many people seemed to - it's just not a pretty map). [br][/br]Edited by merge: Oh yes. I played the campaign probably four times through and ran a LAN party weekly for about two years. CE is one of my all-time favorite games, so I hold nothing against it. I just felt that the Anniversary edition ended up seeming a bit like a cash grab to me, what with the graphics not as stunningly great as promised; and on balance I would have been happier just buying the remade maps, I think.
I'm with Nutduster on this one. Over, you make like the art style more, fair enough, but the sheer detail is just less than Reach.
Im of the opinion that graphics do not matter too much. Sure it is nice to have a great looking game, but I think gameplay is much more important. I think this is where Reach was a slight (only slight) letdown from previous Halo games. Halo CE has been my all time favourite game since the day it came out. I think its been really refreshing to be able to play it again with decent graphics. Id love a Halo 2 anniversary.
Of course Reach is technically more impressive. Anniversary was done in (less than?) a year and all they had to work with outdated geometry and models. They also had to run two engines at the same time. Reach just seems so boring and bland in terms of color diversity and environment variety. The added grain filter doesn't help either. It can look beautiful at times but overall I like the look of the previous Halo games a lot more.
It does when you're charging $40 for a campaign where the ONLY selling point is updated graphics (because it's otherwise identical to the original) plus a map pack. Personally I like nice graphics but they don't make or break a game for me necessarily... but I wouldn't have bought Anniversary on release day if I had realized that the graphics were going to be kind of cut-rate, because I think for that particular release, graphics are what they were hanging their hat on.
I think that Halo Reach's graphics are central to the story as bland as they may look. Some moments introduced very bland areas to symbolise sad moments. For example, the mission New Alexandria was about the remnants of the UNSC evacuating and doing the best they could to survive. This mission is the beginning of the fall of reach and makes you feel as if this is a fight that you will certainately lose. In this aspect, i feel as if they did extremely well on the art for this mission. Not just this mission, but the entire game was created to feel a bit dull to add the the feel of the situation. Besides, whenever have you seen a human structure that is used for industry with bright colours and shiny surfaces? Maybe the covenant is an example of this but they have already been catered to in terms of graphics like this. Personally, i think they did an amazing job of defining the environment of Reach. Concerning the graphics for CEA, i feel that they raised the bar for FPS graphics. I might not have been a gamer when Halo first came out but it has remained one of my favourites since i played it. When CEA came out, i loved the graphic design primarily. Even if i'm going on the Anniversary Playlist, i will insert the CEA disc just for the spectacular intro to the campaign menu. As for multiplayer graphics, 343i put Bungie to absolute shame and delivered a vibrant, beautiful and relevant graphic touch unseen in the Reach engine. It still maintained the grit from the Reach Campaign but brought it into a whole new light. For this, i applaude them. Finally, on the case of a Halo 2 Anniversary, i think one game is enough. However, it would be an interest to me for them to release campaign add-ons to anniversary and even CEA multiplayer map packs which when combined in full would make a Halo 2 anniversary. But releasing a full game for a Halo 2 anniversary might just be taking it a bit too far. Albeit, the game would look and feel stunning if it were to happen and i would certainately buy it.
If they made an Anniversary, they would be soliciting their dignity. I'd say maybe a Halo 2 map pack could be in order, but a whole new game is just a bit much.