Understanding Halo: The Master Chief Collection (FAQ) — playlists, Forge, control schemes, and more

Four first-person shooters and they all have different features, control schemes, maps, playlists, weapons, and so on and so on. And Microsoft Studios wants to update them all and mash them up into a single do-everything disc? Good luck with that. (Seriously — because I plan on playing this one a lot.)

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a compilation of all the games in the Halo series that the titular Spartan warrior has appeared in. It’s an all-in-one disc, coming out for the Xbox One on November 11, but it’s a little confusing to dissect. What features are we getting exactly? How will the various tweaks over the years affect older products? What’s the difference between Halo 2 and Halo 2 Anniversary (they’re kind of separate products here)? I had a little trouble understanding how this was all going to work, so I talked to three different sources at developer 343 Industries to get detailed clarifications.