Halo: MCC | Mod Spotlight: April 2023
Y’know, I still fondly remember the early days of Halo modding, back when you’d use Action Replay to load saves on console that would spawn you inside a Pelican, or play as a Grunt or Elite, and the possibilities with Halo: Custom Edition on PC opened up a universe of possibilities—letting you drive Scarabs, pilot Longswords, and countless other things that one could only otherwise dream about.
Times are quite different now, of course, as we enjoy something of a Halo modding renaissance. Ever since the MCC came to PC and support for Steam Workshop was added downloading Halo mods has never been easier.
MOD DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS
Accessing each of the links below will take you to the mod's Steam Workshop page, where the mod creators have instructions on installation, known issues and bugs, and any additional packages you may have to download separately (such as audio files, which have also been included below).
In general, these mods will require that you have the relevant game components installed. For example, if you are looking to play a mod for Halo: CE, it is best to have the Campaign and Multiplayer installed from MCC, or else you may encounter errors like infinite loading.
To play modded content, ensure that you have anti-cheat disabled, which can be selected upon launching MCC from your Steam library.
For more information on modding for MCC, including manuals and tutorials on how to create mods for each of the games, where to obtain mod tools, and how-to guides, check out our official documentation page.
CURSED HALO AGAIN
AUTHOR: InfernoPlus
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
Cursed Halo has evolved!
While this is the mod we have chosen to kick things off, it is truly difficult to know where to even begin talking about the sheer chaos that the eldritch trickster god (InfernoPlus) has managed to unleash.
Originally released in 2019, Cursed Halo threw everything you thought you knew about Halo out of the airlock. It asked new and compelling questions of the series, such as: what if the frag grenade was actually a “D20 grenade” with random effects every time you throw one? What if you could throw the iconic CE pistol like John Wick? What if the sniper rifle’s barrel... was floppy? What if the shotgun was a blunderbuss? What if the rocket launcher could only fire backwards, if the Banshee had flappy wings, if the Warthog had enough seats to be a limo...
And what if all of that was just the beginning? What if InfernoPlus was just getting started?
Cursed Halo Again allows the Master Chief to karate kick, to double jump by strapping four pistols to his feet, adds fifty new random outcomes to the D20 grenades (for a grand total of 90 possible chaotic outcomes), and... well, for the rest, you should be sure to check out InfernoPlus’s video covering it all. Words can only do it so much justice, and this is just one of those things where seeing is disbelieving.
HALO 3: COMBAT EVOLVED
AUTHOR: Kashiiera
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
ADDITIONAL AUDIO FILES
What if Halo: Combat Evolved was recreated in Halo 3?
That is the question that mod creator Kashiiera set out to investigate, and her work on this incredible passion project more than speaks for itself.
Because this mod recreates the Halo: CE missions The Truth & Reconciliation and Keyes using the Halo 3 engine, you can play through it cooperatively with up to four of your friends (and several cinematics have even been adjusted to reflect that). Some pieces of cut content have been restored, and weapons you couldn’t originally use in the first game (such as the Energy Sword) can now be wielded against the Covenant.
This mod is still a work-in-progress, but it is a true love letter to the series. For those of you who might not have played Halo: CE in a while, this is no doubt exactly how your brain thinks it remembers the game looking when you were younger.
Check out the pre-release trailer that Kashiiera dropped on her YouTube channel, subscribe to stay up-to-date on this mod as it continues to evolve, and go give it a play yourself.
HALO 2 UNCUT
AUTHOR: The Vengeful ‘Vadam
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
Halo 2’s cutting room floor is like a famous holiday destination you always hear about, and now—through the power of modding—it’s a place you can actually go and visit!
Using evidence found within the tags, map scripts, and other external media, The Vengeful ‘Vadam has aimed to accurately restore and recreate as much cut content from Halo 2 as possible. Enter Halo 2: Uncut.
Remember that single shot Battle Rifle from the E3 2003 demo? How about the Flood Juggernaut? The original Falcon and Mongoose, destructible Phantoms, driveable Shadows, wieldable UNSC machine guns and Covenant plasma cannons, and countless other sandbox toys from the Alpha and Beta builds of Halo 2... it’s all there waiting for you.
Take a closer look at some of the content in this mod in The Vengeful ‘Vadam’s video series, covering all the restored elements that have gone into making what feels like a true “director’s cut” of one of the most beloved games of all time.
HOMEFRONT
AUTHOR: ShmeeGrim & Sir Veyza
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
The thing I love about multiplayer maps in Halo is that they feel like genuinely lived-in spaces. I used to load up custom games and just wander around each map, filling my imagination with the endless possibilities of what might have happened in this corner of the universe—all based on the little details you might come across, from the placement of objects to sound effects.
That same level of detail can be found in the Homefront map, created by ShmeeGrim and Sir Veyza, who have brought to life this small to mid-sized BTB map set in New Mombasa (all you Halo 3: ODST fans out there will feel right at home in these city streets!)
ULTIMATE FORGE
AUTHOR: RejectedShotgun
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
ADDITIONAL AUDIO FILES
This serene alpine expanse on Installation 00 will soon be interrupted by the sounds of Scarabs, Seraph fighters, Vampires, Albatrosses, Vultures, UNSC frigates, anti-aircraft batteries, glassing beams, and countless other toys for you to play with.
When Forge originally released in Halo 3, players were more empowered than ever before to tailor existing maps to whatever they wanted them to be. Ultimate Forge is the, well, ultimate end point of that incarnation of Forge, allowing you to build your own maps with just about everything you can imagine.
HALO 4 REFLOW
AUTHOR: d3ad connection
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
SPARTAN OPS DOWNLOAD
Seeing alternate interpretations and reworks to some of your favorite experiences is often great fun, and the Halo 4 Reflow mod aims to do just that by overhauling the campaign (and Spartan Ops) experience with new visuals, a rebalanced and retuned sandbox, improved AI, restored dialogue, and additional quality of life improvements.
COMBAT REVOLVED
AUTHOR: The Combat Revolved Team
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
Halo: CE is a classic, unforgettable experience that kicked off this wild ride we’re still collectively on over two decades later—and it was accompanied by the equally fantastic novel Halo: The Fall of Reach which laid the foundation for this universe.
So... what if you could experience Halo: CE with some closer connections to the book, along with other elements of the universe? What if you could play as Linda-058 in co-op? What if ODSTs (including Fireteam Raven) appeared alongside the Marines?
These are just a few of the additions that come alongside remastered environments, remixed encounters, and exciting additions and changes to the sandbox, such as the Gauss Warthog, drivable Wraith tanks (feat. those two little turrets they have in Halo 2), Ghosts with energy shields, new Flood forms, restored Engineers, and more.
Oh, and if you kill Captain Keyes aboard the bridge of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, you will be hunted—not by a squad of invincible Marines, but by an invincible naked Elite wielding an energy sword. Good luck.
CHIRON STATION
AUTHOR: Delta 905
DOWNLOAD ON STEAM
Chiron TL-34... it’s a name that evokes many memories, a good number of which may well be thinking “Where the hell am I?” after wandering through any of the map’s many teleporters.
Well, get ready to relive that feeling again, but in Halo 2, as Chiron Station is a remake of the classic Halo: CE map aesthetically based around the familiar level geometry of Cairo Station.
In the words of Delta 905: Forget about those adjustments to your A2 scope! Grab a shotgun and prepare for chaos.
And that brings us to the end of this first showcase of community-created mod content for MCC.
We continue to be absolutely blown away by the creativity of folks who have taken the tools of Halo’s engine and turned it into a vehicle for their passion and love for the series, whether that’s by remixing old experiences, faithfully restoring the cutting room floor, remastering levels with a new coat of paint, or creating entirely new things.
This is just a small taste of the projects in the Halo mod community, so be sure to follow the links to download these stunning creations and give ‘em a go for an altogether new kind of Halo experience. And be sure to check out the MCC Steam Workshop for even more community mods.