Huge Halo: MCC Update Adds Flood Firefight, Campaign Cross-Play For Halo 3 And ODST

Updates for Halo: The Master Chief Collection are slowing down as 343 shifts focus to Halo Infinite, but a big one out today delivers new and exciting features to the compilation package. This is a very large update, coming in at around 21.5GB on Xbox, 26.5GB on Microsoft Store app or Xbox app on PC, and about 11.2GB on Steam.

The big-ticket items for the April 11 MCC patch include a new mode, Flood Firefight, as well as co-op crossplay support added to the campaigns for Halo 3 and ODST. What’s more, MCC now has full custom game browser support, while there are a host of other updates and tweaks for the game.

The new mode is Flood Firefight, which, as its name suggests, adds the evil Flood enemies to Firefight rounds. The Flood appear in Firefight with an eerie-looking fog element that dynamically fades in and out. Additionally, Flood can get into vehicles and they have new animations and abilities.

“ODSTs can be infected and resurrected by the Flood. Beware, as you may have to fight your own resurrected allies–or even yourself!” 343 said.

Beyond that, 343 has added the ability to use the Energy Sword and Sentinel Beam in ODST for the first time, while players can now trade weapons with allies, too. What’s more, weapon racks with assault rifles and battle rifles are now in Firefight to help players take down the Flood. Some maps have Flamethrowers, too, to help you deal with the enemies.

For campaign crossplay, PC and Xbox console players can now play Halo 3 and ODST cooperatively online. 343 said it needs your help to work through any issues, so it advises players to submit bug report tickets for any issues they might encounter.

Elsewhere, the April 11 MCC patch adds weapon customization for Halo 4’s campaign. Players can assign skins to weapons so that when they pick them up, they’ll see their unique customization. The special skin even applies to Marine allies if you trade weapons with one of the NPCs.

Another notable change is for Halo 3’s medals. There are 51 new medals being added, including Headshot, Assist, Revenge, Grenade Kill, and many more. These achievements have always been tracked by Halo 3, but not always shown during matches. With this new update, players can toggle on Unified Medal Display to see all of these medals pop up in the HUD overlay. If this sounds like too much, players can select the “Original+” medal display setting to only show the original medals, as well as three of the most common new ones (Headshot, Assist, and Supercombine). There is also a new option to turn all medals off entirely.

The April 11 MCC patch also adds new features for the Custom Game Browser. Specifically, players can select “automatic” team changing. This allows a game host to avoid manual team changes, instead automatically ensuring the teams are even for each new match. This was already live in some games within MCC, but now it’s available in all of them.

The new MCC update also introduces more skulls, some of which have been labeled “experimental.” That’s because some of these new skulls may break the game, basically. 343 warned that players who use some of the new skulls run the risk of not being able to complete a given mission. Some of the new skulls for Halo 3 include “Boom” (increases explosion radius X2), “Ghost,” (AI doesn’t flinch from attacks), and “Anger” (enemies shoot more, and faster).

Beyond this update, 343 said it has a number of new features and improvements in store for MCC down the road. This includes adding mod support for more games within the MCC package, adding additional cosmetics, introducing more campaign collectibles, optimizing the post-match screens, and introducing new accessibility features like better subtitle support, controller remapping, and “additional campaign accessibility options.”

As announced previously, 343 is no longer supporting MCC on a seasonal basis, so it’s not committing to a specific timeline for when future updates will arrive, though it said it expects this work to be complete by the end of 2022. After that, 343 said it will “continue to engage with the community” and dig back into MCC for updates and support “as needed.”

You can see the full April 11 MCC patch notes below, as shared on the Halo website. 343 also continues to update and support Halo Infinite, with its Season 2: Lone Wolves launch coming up on May 3.

Halo: MCC April 11 Patch Notes

HALO 3: ODST FIREFIGHT IMPROVEMENTS AND FLOODFIGHT

• Various new settings are available when creating a Firefight session. Added scenario settings include hazards and friendly “Boons” such as additional weapons being available on the map and allies delivered via Insertion Pods.
• This update brings Elites to New Mombasa for the first time and a new Firefight game variant: Floodfight.
  • Elites and Flood enemies can also be added to other Halo 3: ODST Firefight game variants via the Wave Properties settings.
  • Flood waves will be accompanied by a fog that changes the atmosphere of classic maps and allies lost to the Flood may return to attack players.
  • Flood-themed hazards are also available in the new scenario settings. These hazards include Flood Dispersal Pods, Flood Stalkers, and Flood-controlled vehicles.

CUSTOM GAME BROWSER (CGB) IMPROVEMENTS

• In addition to several menu improvements, all titles in the Master Chief Collection are now available for use in Custom Game Browser sessions.
• A “Quick Match” option has been added to the Custom Game Browser menu. This will allow players and their party members to enter a match that fits their selected Filter options without browsing the full list of available sessions.

CROSS-PLATFORM CO-OP FOR HALO 3 AND HALO 3: ODST (EXPERIMENTAL)

• Players on PCs and Xbox consoles can now play these campaigns cooperatively online.
• This feature has been tested internally, but the team requires additional insight from real players with different networking setups. Please submit Bug Report tickets if you encounter any issues in-game and share your feedback on this feature in the Halo Waypoint forums.

CAMPAIGN CUSTOMIZATION FOR HALO 4

• When starting a Halo 4 mission, enable the Campaign Customization option to see equipped weapon skins in-game.

NEW SKULLS ADDED TO HALO 2: ANNIVERSARY, HALO 3, AND HALO 3: ODST

• The Acrophobia Skull has been added to Halo 2: Anniversary’s campaign.
• 16 new Skulls have been added to Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. Use the expandable box below for a full list of newly added campaign Skulls.

Full list of new campaign Skulls in Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST

NEW MEDALS IN HALO 3 AND ORIGINAL+ MEDALS OPTION

• Several new medals have been introduced to Halo 3 multiplayer via the Unified Medal Display setting. These new medals will always count towards level progression but will only be visible in gameplay when the Unified Medal Display setting is set to On.
• The new Original+ option for the Unified Medal Display setting will show Halo 3’s original multiplayer medals with their original artwork and three of the newly added medals: Headshot, Assist, and Supercombine.

Full list of new Unified Medals for Halo 3 Multiplayer

HALO 3: ODST MOD TOOLS

Mod tools are now available for Halo 3: ODST. You can download these tools on Steam. Within the Steam app, set your Library filter to include “Tools,” locate “Halo 3: ODST Mod Tools” and install.

To learn more about the Steam mod tools and discuss them with other players, visit the mod forums on Steam.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS UPDATE

For additional insight on these new features and 2022 development plans for MCC, see the new Halo Waypoint update blog.

Join the Halo Insider program for the chance to see new features before they’re released publicly and, if you’ve encountered a bug in-game, submit a Halo Support ticket so that the development team can investigate the issue. Thank you to all Halo Insiders and ticket submitters for their bug reports and feedback!

Some of the improvements in this update required us to invalidate past Theater films and Campaign saves. If you have films you would like to save, please record them using a digital recording tool.

Many platforms automatically update games. See Updating Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC for detailed instructions for how to manually update your game on Steam or the Microsoft Store app.

We have a range of player guides and other support articles for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, including:

RESOLVED ISSUES AND BUG FIXES

Many improvements, especially those related to Floodfight in Halo 3: ODST, come from Halo Insider and Halo Support tickets submitted by our community. Thank you for participating and please keep submitting tickets!

GLOBAL

• Loading screens will now display the correct names for custom maps.
• Improvements to the functionality of the “Save Settings” pop-up that appears after changing options in the Settings menu.
• Improvements to the playback of main menu audio to reduce skipping and distortion.
• Title-specific menu backgrounds will now appear more consistently.
• Improvements to the usability of the Server Region section of the Settings menu.
• Binding a key for one title no longer results in that key becoming unbound for other titles.
• The “Change Profile” button now results in the sign-in menu appearing as expected.
• The text chat window on Xbox consoles now has a blurred background like on PC, not a black background.
• The “Jumper Jumper” option is now in the Controls tab of the Settings menu to reflect that it works on both gamepad and keyboard.
• Selecting a suggested word using the Windows On-Screen Keyboard no longer closes the text chat window.
• Clarified unlock descriptions for various nameplates.
• The following cinematic missions can now be played in co-op campaign:
  • Halo: Reach
  • Halo 3
  • Halo 3: ODST
  • Halo 4
• Audio settings that were previously only available on PC are now available on Xbox consoles.
• The text chat availability setting no longer reverts recently made changes.
• The in-game link to Halo Waypoint’s credits now works as expected.
• The “Set for all games” button in the keybinding settings menu will no longer unbind actions that don’t exist in all titles.
• Terminal cutscenes now align to the game’s color blindness setting rather than the user interface (UI) color blindness setting.
• Quality of life improvements to the Customization menu including increased visibility of equipped items in a collapsible list.
• Added new tooltips throughout the menus.
• A “Use at your own risk” disclaimer will appear when activating certain Skulls in the Campaign menus.
• Various icons throughout the menus have been updated. Some of the new icons can be found in the following menus:
  • Career
  • Player ID
  • Pause menu
  • Active Skulls

Custom Game Browser (CGB)

• Text size on the Select Game Variant and Select Map Variant menus has been increased to improve legibility.
• When playing with a mouse and keyboard, Session and Variant Names can now be confirmed using the numpad’s Enter key.
• Attempting to leave a CGB session as the host ends the current game will no longer result in the leaving player being unable to leave the session.
• A Session Description can now be set when creating a new CGB session. This description and game variant details are visible to joining players in the Session Details menu.
• On Xbox consoles, the Game Transcription feature will better narrate the CGB menus.
• Names on the Select Game Variant menu, Browse menu, and Create menu will display more characters before being truncated.
• Players who block User Generated Content (UGC) in their Xbox profile settings will no longer be able to join Custom Game Browser sessions that utilize UGC.
• The Page Up and Page Down keys now function as expected in the CGB’s Browse menu.
• Improvements to the accuracy of game variant names when joining an in-progress Custom Game Browser session.
• Improvements to text rendering in the Session Details menu when playing in Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, or Chinese (Simplified).
• The “All” option for selecting titles in the CGB’s Filter menu now functions consistently.
• The Roster menu will now show the correct map name for players in a CGB session.
• Recent changes to selected Map or Game Variants will now be reflected correctly on the Create menu.

HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED

• When playing campaign with Remastered graphics enabled, performance has been improved for Xbox One consoles in solo sessions and Xbox Series X consoles in both solo and co-op sessions.
• Reduced audio reverb in the Battle Creek multiplayer map.
• Resolved multiple audio issues affecting dialogue audio in campaign, music in the mission The Maw, and the Remastered audio’s shield charging sound effect.
• The correct medal is now awarded in the Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR) and the Career menu’s Medal Chest for sniper rifle kills in multiplayer.
• Multiple improvements to campaign’s chapter titles including text size and letterboxing behavior in some aspect ratios.
• The Rocket Warthog’s wheels now animate correctly when the “Field Medic” skin is equipped.
• Weapon sway animation has been improved for high framerates.
• Projectiles fired by the Covenant’s Spirit dropship and Stationary Gun now appear correctly.
• Crosshair position will now default to Centered for new or guest profiles. This option can be changed at any time in the Gameplay tab of the Settings menu.
• The Flamethrower’s screen now appears correctly when a skin is equipped.
• The reload timer for the Scorpion and Rocket Warthog are no longer offset into the crosshair.

HALO 2

• In campaign, nearby dialogue audio will now transition to radio chatter when players move away from the character who is speaking.
• Various visual improvements to Classic graphics throughout campaign, including but not limited to:
  • Explosions, smoke, and other visual effects are now consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
  • Some texture issues have been resolved, notably in the mission Sacred Icon.
  • Heads-up Display (HUD) elements such as the co-op partner indicator and shield damage animation are now consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
• Resolved a visual issue affecting the overheat indicators on the Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle in the mission The Oracle with Remastered graphics enabled.
• Active Camo now consistently applies to first-person player models in co-op sessions while Remastered graphics are enabled.
• Scoring and Timing HUD elements are now consistently visible when playing the mission Cairo Station in co-op.
• Increased stability of online co-op sessions during loading and extended play sessions.
• Destroyed mounted turrets are now consistently inoperable in Classic multiplayer.
• Secondary armor color is now reflected in team-based Halo 2 Classic multiplayer modes.
• The correct medal is now awarded in the Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR) and the Career menu’s Medal Chest for sniper rifle kills in Classic multiplayer.
• Voice Chat indicators in both Classic and Anniversary Multiplayer now work as expected.
• Multiple improvements to Halo 2 Anniversary Multiplayer armor including first-person view models now reflecting the equipped armor set.
• Escalation Slayer’s weapon counter will now consistently appear in sessions with multiple rounds.
• Added team support for Kill Volumes and Safe Volumes in Forge mode for Halo 2: Anniversary. Kill Volumes owned by a team kill everyone not on that team. Safe Volumes owned by a team protect everyone on that team.
• Object Color and Team Color no longer conflict with one another in Forge for Halo 2: Anniversary.

HALO 3

• The “Steaktacular” medal can now be earned in Halo 3 multiplayer matchmaking. It is awarded after winning a match by at least 20 kills.
• “Triple Double” medals earned in multiplayer will now appear in the Career menu’s Medal Chest.
• The correct medal is now awarded in the Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR) and the Career menu’s Medal Chest for sniper rifle kills in multiplayer.
• Resolved instability caused by pressing Alt+Tab while playing Halo 3.
• Multiple visual issues resolved on the multiplayer map Waterfall.
• Customization skins now consistently appear on Transport Warthogs.
• Lighting effects now appear correctly in split-screen multiplayer on Xbox consoles.
• Hand textures on multiple Techsuits have been improved.
• When New Skins are enabled, the first-person hand models for Gen 1 and Gen 2 Techsuits have been improved.
• Visor colors in the Customization menu now better reflect their in-game appearance.
• Multiple improvements to level geometry in the multiplayer map Icebox.
• Changing the audio output device in the Settings menu now works as expected.
• Animated visors in the Exchange menu now consistently appear correctly.
• Speaker icons now appear during the pre- and post-game scoreboards in multiplayer matches.
• Lighting now appears correctly on the Fronkbox back accessory.
• In split-screen, the New Customization toggle now reflects the primary player’s selection.
• A Moa collectible on the mission Floodgate will now only appear if it counts towards a Challenge’s progress.
• Multiple armor sets now better reflect their color selection in-game.
• The stun duration for Sentinels is now consistent with the original release of Halo 3.
• Explosives like Fusion Coils no longer appear as “unknown” kills in the Post-Game Carnage Report (PGCR).
• Kills are now attributed to the correct weapon when two players kill one another at the same time with melee weapons.

HALO 3: ODST

• Players in online Firefight missions will no longer experience unintended movements after using the Gravity Hammer.
• All players in online Firefight missions can now view enemies on the VISR map, regardless of whether they are alive or waiting to respawn.
• Resolved an issue that caused enemies on the Crater (Night) map to walk through a closed door and prevented players from damaging enemies on the other side of the door.
• Changing the audio output device in the Settings menu now works as expected.
• To prevent players from accidentally blocking progress, the Phantom at the start of the Bonus Round on the Rally Point (Day) mission can no longer be destroyed.
• The pause menu and Theater lobby now display the correct level information for the Rally Point Firefight mission.
• Optimized network usage for AI actions in Firefight. This may result in some players seeing AI actions more reliably or quicker as well as a reduction in network bandwidth being consumed while playing Firefight online.
• On the Alpha Site Firefight mission, remaining enemies from the previous wave no longer become stuck in the player spawn rooms and will now correctly follow the player.
• When playing a custom Firefight variant on the Alpha Site Firefight mission, the doors on the elevator platforms are disabled to ensure that spawning enemies do not become stuck.

Floodfight

The following improvements are based on feedback and Halo Support tickets from a Halo Insider flight in September 2021.

• New enemies introduced in Floodfight, such as the Flood and Elites, now have full audio.
• Flood carriers and Flood Tanks will now navigate Firefight maps as expected
• Resolved issues that caused enemies to become stuck outside of the playable space or waves to not transition as expected.
• Flood Infection Forms are now visible for all players in online missions, including when in a reanimated Combat Form’s chest.
• Flood enemies now appear correctly for all players in cross-platform sessions.
• Headshots on Flood enemies now reward headshot medals and deal critical damage. Headshots on Combat Forms will result in immediate kills.
• Flood Infection Forms are now highlighted when VISR mode is activated.
• Covenant Engineers will no longer shield Flood enemies.
• Reanimated Flood Combat Forms now behave correctly for all players in online missions.
• All Flood and Elite enemies will now aggressively seek out the players.

HALO 4

• Swinging the Energy Sword no longer results in seeing through the player’s arm at high field-of-view (FOV) values.
• In Spartan Ops cutscenes, Elites now have subtitles when speaking Sangheili.
• Escalation Slayer’s weapon counter will now consistently appear in sessions with multiple rounds.
• Improved heads-up display (HUD) and cinematic letterbox scaling in multiple aspect ratios.
• Armor from the Champions Bundle (Mark V, Prefect, and ODST) now appears correctly in first-person.
• The Inclement Weather armor effect no longer appears cut off in-game.
• The Spartan Ops menu now correctly reflects completed missions.
• Changing the audio output device in the Settings menu now works as expected.
• ODST leg armor now appears correctly in-game.
• Object Color and Team Color no longer conflict with one another in Forge.
• Armor effects are now visible in Spartan Ops.
• Improved clarity of Heads-Up Display (HUD) text in Polish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean.
• Resolved an issue that caused players to not receive a weapon in Escalation Slayer after killing multiple enemies at once with the Incineration Cannon.
• Text size of chapter titles and skip prompts are now consistent with the original release of Halo 4.
• Added support for weapon skins in game modes with loadouts disabled (such as Fiesta and Escalation Slayer).
• The Suppressor MCN and RFC weapon skins now appear correctly in gametypes with Map or Game Loadouts.
• Added team support for Kill Volumes and Safe Volumes. Kill Volumes owned by a team kill everyone not on that team. Safe Volumes owned by a team protect everyone on that team.

HALO: REACH

• Improved heads-up display (HUD) scaling in multiple aspect ratios.
• Tactical Recon chest armor, prosthetic arms, and visors now appear correctly in campaign cutscenes.
• Changing the audio output device in the Settings menu now works as expected.
• Field-of-view (FOV) for the Seraph and Sabre now correctly responds to the Vehicle FOV setting.
• Object Color and Team Color no longer conflict with one another in Forge.
• Resolved an issue which resulted in Object Colors disappearing between rounds.
• The New Customization setting now functions correctly in Spartan-only game variants for players who have set their preferred species to Elite.
• The Blackguard Carrion Crow helmet now better reflects the selected armor color in-game.
• In split-screen, the New Customization toggle now reflects the primary player’s selection.
• All players in online Firefight matches can now trade weapons with friendly marines on the Installation 04 mission.
• Sirens now play while attacking objectives in Invasion on Ridgeline.
• Added team support for Kill Volumes and Safe Volumes. Kill Volumes owned by a team kill everyone not on that team. Safe Volumes owned by a team protect everyone on that team.
• The Target Locator battery now consistently syncs between players and resets at the start of new rounds in multiplayer matches.
• Improved stability when playing Rocketfight in an online Firefight mission.

KNOWN ISSUES

With this update, the team has added eleven new issues to our Known Issues list:

• When playing with Remastered graphics in Halo: Combat Evolved, gamepad button prompts are missing their backgrounds.
• In Halo: Combat Evolved, gamepad look sensitivity when using the “Classic” aim setting is slower than expected.
• On Xbox consoles, changes made to the Game Volume options in the Audio Settings menu are not reflected in Halo: Combat Evolved gameplay. Audio volume in Halo: Combat Evolved will instead reflect the default value of 100%.
• When playing split-screen on an Xbox console, disconnecting a controller may result in the joining player’s account being signed out without a notification.
• The Customization menu may experience framerate drops on Xbox One X consoles.
• When joining a Custom Game Browser session using the Quick Match feature, party members may see the incorrect filters listed in the user interface (UI). The party leader’s selected filters will be used as expected.
• The Game Categories in the Custom Game Browser’s Filter menu lists modes that may not align with expected game variants in all titles. For example, Grifball in Halo 3 is an Assault game variant and Race is a VIP game variant, so the Grifball and Race game categories in the Custom Game Browser will not populate with those lobbies when searched.
• Players may see their Halo 3 game and map variants or Halo 3: ODST Firefight game variants appearing as ‘corrupted’ in-game. These variants will not be available for use in Custom Games.
  • While these files may appear to be corrupted, the issue is not due to the files themselves. A future update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection will restore the game’s ability to read these files correctly.
• Map Variants and Game Variants uploaded via the Private Files menu will display an incorrect file size in the Shared Files menu and when downloaded. This does not affect files uploaded via the Temporary Files menu.
• After saving then editing a Trusted file from the My Files menu, the edited file will be shown as Trusted when it should display Untrusted. The correct status will be reflected after backing out to the Main Menu and then re-entering the Private Files menu.
• When playing with a high Field-of-View (FOV) value and the effects quality option set to Low, some visual effects on the Halo 3 multiplayer map Waterfall may not appear.

For a full list of known issues in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, go to our Known Issues section.

FURTHER RESOURCES

• If you experience problems with your Xbox console or Game Pass, Xbox Support can help you.
• If you have problems with your account, Microsoft or Xbox purchases, Microsoft Support can help you.
• If you have problems with other purchases, please contact the retailer you purchased your game from.
• If you experience a problem in Steam that is not an in-game issue, please contact Steam Support.
• If you want a chance to participate in future MCC flights, sign up for the Halo Insider Program.