Halo: Combat Evolved extended cut on the way from 343

Halo: The Master Chief Collection wasn't exactly the barn-storming return to the past that 343 Industries wanted it to be. We've also had Halo Infinite which landed with a bang and petered off, leaving us harking for the glory days. 

Sure, it's nice to have many of these games in the same place and accessible via the Game Pass, but the remastering of the classic games led to a lot of aesthetic and atmospheric changes that sapped the series of its joy and intrigue.

For a game boasting to be the ultimate way to play the classic Halo titles, it doesn't do a good job of showing off exactly why those games were so special. But that could be about to change.

Halo: Combat Evolved is getting cut content restored

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343 Industries has taken the initiative to work alongside some dedicated modders to bring to life some of the cut content that was supposed to appear first in the original Halo: Combat Evolved.

PCGamesN were the first to spot that the mod team at Digsite, who have been dedicated to Halo for some time, have been working with 343 Industries over the past year. They've been taking a look at feedback notes from Bungie, tags and source data from scrapped multiplayer maps, seemingly in an attempt to bring them back to life.

It's notable that 343 Industries is attached to this, as it means that there's a chance that this modder effort could see some further launches in the official Halo titles that are active right now.

What is 343 Industries up to?

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While 343 Industries is still trying to convince fans that Halo Infinite is the best Halo experience that players can have, there could be a chance here that the team are making an attempt to work with these modders to bring their findings to a future season of the game.

Others are hoping that the teams could be working on a full director's cut of the first title. There's no evidence for this just yet, so there's still a chance that this is just input from 343 Industries out of the goodness of their hearts.

We'll have to wait to see how it all turns out, but we'll take what we can from the Haloverse. Combat Evolved is an icon of the gaming world, so seeing Bungie's original plan for it come to life is a big win. Maybe a return to Combat Evolved is just what we need.