Halo: Master Chief Collection Patch Adds Halo 4 Spartan Ops Mode

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Microsoft continues its work to improve Xbox One game Halo: The Master Chief Collection, on Monday releasing a new patch, which, among other things, finally adds Halo 4's Spartan Ops mode.

Spartan Ops is a multi-mission, episodic co-op mode for Halo 4. Microsoft announced in October that the mode wasn't going to be available at launch in November, saying it would be released in December so that developer 343 Industries could make "technical enhancements."

In addition to adding Spartan Ops, today's Master Chief Collection introduces more improvements to the game's matchmaking system, and should bolster overall stability. The patch notes are below, courtesy of 343.

343 also attempted to clear up some confusion about The Master Chief Collection's utilization of dedicated servers. The developer says while the "vast majority" of games are played on dedicated servers, if players cannot connect to a dedicated server, everyone in the lobby stays together and the match is played on a peer-to-peer connection.

"Please be aware that you may connect to the dedicated server quickly enough that you won't see the 'connecting to dedicated server' dialog," 343 said. "The absence of that dialog doesn't mean that you’re not playing on a dedicated server."

 

Last week, Microsoft outlined its plans to make up for The Master Chief Collection's launch woes. Among other things, players will receive a free copy of Halo 3: ODST on Xbox One.

The Master Chief Collection December 22 Patch Notes:

Spartan Ops:

• Added the entirety of Halo 4's Spartan Ops mode

Matchmaking:

• Made an update to make sure a match only starts when teams are even.
• Players will now receive a 'loss' when disconnecting before a round has ended.
• Made an update to include all split screen players in vote tally.
• Resolved an issue that caused players to become stuck "Joining Session."
• Resolved an issue where players could be dropped from matchmaking after disconnecting their controller.

General Multiplayer Updates:

• Made additional improvements to Halo: CE hit registration.
• Made an update to the Halo 2: Anniversary Career Progress page to ensure achievements are correctly tracked.
• Fixed an issue where it took a long time to join players that are in a Multiplayer lobby.

General UI/Menu Updates:

• Made additional improvements to Roster update times.
• Fixed Halo 3 game type text when viewing saved data in My Files.

Halo 2: Anniversary Campaign:

• Fixed an issue where the 'Black Eye Skull' incorrectly prevented players from reaching checkpoints.

Campaign Playlists:

• Fixed an issue where cross-game playlists could fail to progress to the next level.
• Made several fixes to Campaign Playlist Carnage Reports.
• Fixed an issue where Halo 3 Cooperative Playlist progress would not save correctly when completing a mission.
• Made changes to ensure that Competitive Scoring and Timing are tracked correctly in Halo CE and Halo 2 Campaign Playlists.

Stats & Medals:

• Made updates to improve stat tracking.
• Fixed an issue where the 'Steaktacular' medal would not be correctly awarded in Halo 3.
• Fixed an issue where the 'Supercombine' medal would be incorrectly awarded in the Halo 4 Campaign.

Achievements:

• Made an update to ensure that the 'Flaming Ninja Anniversary' achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met.

Control Layouts:

• Updated the Halo 2 'Boxer' Button Layout.
• Updated the Halo 4 'Legacy' Thumbstick Layout.

General Stability:

• Made several updates to improve overall game stability.