5) Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Remaking anything that’s beloved and fondly remembered by millions is always a double-edged sword. For every ecstatic fan that eagerly awaits a modern revival of a beloved memory, there’s another who believes the original can never be topped and even attempting to do so is a lesson in futility.
Two extremely different crowds with equally understandable (extremists on either side excluded) viewpoints, pandering to both is never easy. Make too many changes to the original formula, and the latter camp will inevitably bemoan the fact that the remake diverges too much from the source material; don’t change enough, and it comes under fire for not justifying the ‘remake’ tag. Put simply, developers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
I imagine the folks at 343 Industries had the same concerns while working on a remake of Halo, an unenviable amount of pressure that was no doubt compounded by the burden of having to follow in the series creator’s footsteps. Since then, of course, the adoptive parent of Master Chief and Co. has firmly cemented itself as a worthy successor to Bungie, not just by way of original sequels to the first trilogy, but with one of the best remakes ever.
Rather than recreate absolutely everything from the ground up, 343 decided instead, to drape its all-new textures and visual assets over the 2001 version, allowing it to flit back and forth between its own overhaul and the legacy left behind by Bungie. The ability to magically transition from old to new (and vice versa) made it into the retail launch as a means to show players that, despite the new lick of paint, what they were, in fact, playing, was the original, wart(hogs) and all.
In a perfect world, this is how all remakes would be handled, but then again, not every much-loved relic from years gone by has stood the test of time as well as Halo. It’s certainly telling of Bungie’s talent that all Halo needed was a little aesthetic spruce to bring it up to date. Perfect.