Halo HD Has Kinect Integration, Won't Affect Regular Gameplay

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition will have support for the Kinect sensor, with Microsoft, its publisher, confirming that the first person shooter will see new features added through the use of the device, while the regular gameplay won't be affected.

Microsoft is pushing for more and more games to be made for its Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360 (and more recently the PC, through the release of a SDK) as well as for the introduction of Kinect support in regular Xbox 360 titles, like Mass Effect 3 or Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Now, it seems that the upcoming high definition remake of the first Halo: Combat Evolved title will also have support for Kinect when it will be released at the end of the year.

The confirmation arrived from Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer yesterday, while talking about first party Microsoft games and Kinect.

"As a first party we believe that Kinect will be important to all genres of games," he told Gamespot. "Be it racing games with Forza, combat games like Ryse, even games like Halo Anniversary has Kinect integration."

As you can imagine, this caused a bit of debate in the midst of Halo fans, who were wondering how will Kinect affect the classic Halo experience.

In order to avoid any speculation, Microsoft quickly released a statement to Kotaku, confirming the Kinect support in Halo 1 HD, while emphasizing that it won't alter the core experience.

"It's no surprise we're exploring ways Kinect can enhance game experiences in authentic and meaningful ways. The Kinect features we're exploring with 'Halo: Anniversary' are additive and will not affect the core gameplay experience or alter our mission of delivering a faithful recreation of the original game. That said we have nothing else to share just yet."

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition will commemorate the classic game that kicked off the massively popular Halo franchise by bringing it to the current generation Xbox 360 console, with improved textures, better graphics and an upgraded multiplayer based on the engine of last year's Halo: Reach.

Now, it seems that Kinect will be another improvement the teams at 343 Industries, Certain Affinity and Saber, the developers, will add to the classic Halo title.