It's been 10 years since the Halo franchise burst onto Microsoft's original black block, and with that comes the inevitable High Definition rehash of the shooter that transformed Bungie into superstars and Master Chief into an icon. While it's easy to peg the tsunami of re-jigs in 2011 as nothing more than a series of eyebrow raising cash-ins, Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary has undoubtedly been a genuine labour of love for developers, Saber Interactive and 343 Industries.
While the campaign, level layout and enemy AI has been left completely untouched in a bid to recreate the original's experience, the action itself is nestled inside the Halo Reach game engine. The end result is a genuine eye-opener - the original's drab textures and lack of detail in the distance all but vanished.
Interestingly, you can revert to the original graphics at any point in the campaign (except cut-scenes) and see for yourself just how much finesse has been injected into the revamp, that's clearly aimed at the Halo purists desperate for something to tide them over until the inevitable arrival of Halo 4. That said, if it passed by you or you stepped into the Master Chief's space boots much later in their life, then Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary is absolutely worth a look.