Do you remember where you were on September 24, 2007? I do. I was waiting in line at a local mall so I could be one of the first to pick up Halo 3 when it went on sale at midnight. I played that game so much my speakers caught fire (true story). Ten years later, Microsoft wants you to relive those glory days (without dorm room fires) on Xbox One. That's right, Halo 3 (as well as Halo 3: ODST, Halo CE: Anniversary, and Halo 4) are now backwards compatible. Even better, each game's DLC is totally free.
"But wait," you say. "Doesn't Halo: The Master Chief Collection also feature improved versions of all of these games, plus a remastered Halo 2?" Well, yes. But Halo: MCC was plagued by network issues when it launched, thus causing its reputation to sour, and some swear developer 343 hasn't ironed out all the kinks. Besides, sometimes you just want the authentic experience, 30 frames per second warts and all.
The addition of these games to Microsoft's backwards compatibility list means that the entire run of Halo games released for the Xbox 360 is now playable on Xbox One. Regardless of how many people actually choose to play these versions over the MCC ones, that's some good PR. That said, the list is not yet complete.
As it stands, the only way to play any version of Halo 2 on Xbox One is via the Master Chief Collection. However, original Xbox backwards compatibility is coming to Xbox One later this year, so hopefully we get to the play the original Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 alongside these later classics all on one console sooner rather than later.
Oh, and if you want something to get you hyped for Halo 3 again, here are some of the trailers that took our breath away more than a decade ago:
Xbox boss Phil Spencer says there are "no red lines" preventing Microsoft games releasing on PlayStation, but it's too early to make decisions about Halo on PS5
Halo Infinite update rewinds time for Halo 2's birthday, throwing the FPS back 20 years with a nostalgic mode that deletes sprint and adds classic maps
