Many experiences in the Halo franchise are defined by multiplayer, whether it’s teaming up with others in online PvP competitions or helping guide your friend through co-op campaign missions. Other modes like Firefight are ideal places for Halo multiplayer too, but later games have diminished the series’ multiplayer somewhat, to the point of multiplayer not existing at all in Halo: Campaign Evolved. As a result, players have taken matters into their own hands, creating a modding project that elevates Halo multiplayer into a place it’s never been before.
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Mods for Halo games have existed for years, in both titles from the Bungie era of the series to the more modern entries like Halo 5: Guardians or Halo Infinite. However, the earlier Halo experiences are the ones players tend to focus on the most, not only because they are easier to modify, but also due to the greater level of nostalgia those games create. One of the most modded Halo games out there is Halo 3 for exactly this reason, as it tends to have multiplayer and campaign elements players remember incredibly fondly.
Halo 3 Has Been Changed Heavily Following The Project Reclaimer Multiplayer Modding Project
After some development time, a modding project for Halo 3 called “Project Reclaimer” has been released for PC players to download and experience. This mod aims to completely reshape the multiplayer features of Halo 3, breaking the limits of the base game and allowing truly huge competitions between players. The biggest change in the mod is that dedicated servers can now host up to 128 players at the same time, with changed settings allowing for 64 vs 64 player matches in traditional online game types. Both team and free-for-all modes are supported, creating truly chaotic battles.
This is eight times beyond the normal limits of Halo 3, but online multiplayer has also been opened up on the co-op side too. Halo 3‘s campaign can be played with up to 16 players in Project Reclaimer, more than the usual four the game typically allows. Once again, this comes from players hosting their own servers, going back to local LAN meet-ups for Halo 3 that were a staple of the game in the past. Furthermore, other mods for Halo 3‘s campaign are easily accessed now through Project Reclaimer, which compiles Halo: The Master Chief Collection mods into a menu that’s easier to organize. Players can put together modded co-op runs with friends without as many issues, coordinating which ones everyone has active before jumping into a mission.
Dedicated servers give this huge multiplayer expansion a safe place to exist in, with the mod providing its own communication features to help manage the larger interactions in bigger battles. Playlist voting and editing systems also help to prevent this mod from getting out of hand, with scripted game modes and ways for players to make their own. Anti-cheat features and bans that stick combine with server management to give the mod much-needed support, ensuring that Project Reclaimer feels legitimate as well. With its own menu and clients too, players have all the instruction they need to enjoy the mod to its fullest.
Massive 128 Players Battles Combine With Larger Co-Op Campaign Features On Dedicated Servers
Despite the insane premise of 128 player matches, the UI/UX of Project Reclaimer doesn’t make multiplayer too difficult to understand. At the same time, the co-op campaign features of the mod are more extensive than players might think, as Project Reclaimer fully supports split screen play too. Players can join up on a single PC running Halo 3, and use however amount of controllers it takes to play together in the same location. Mouse and keyboard can also be part of that coordination, but only for groups that are willing to put up with that strange kind of team-up.
The campaign mode of Project Reclaimer also saves player IDs, giving players a chance to customize their character look and keep their progress saved on the same accounts. For example, the player who set up the split screen can add a number of players to their profile to represent others they play with locally. Those additional players count as their own person, rather than temporary accounts you might be forced to make if you tried to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection locally on a home console. The 16 player co-op could have four different PCs set up with four players each, crafting a unique type of local LAN that even the original days of Halo 3 never saw.
Other Features Within The Mod Remove Halo 3’s Natural Restrictions In Other Modes
The extensions to multiplayer aren’t the only features in Project Reclaimer, as the mod fundamentally changes Halo 3‘s Forge mode in the process. Project Reclaimer drastically unlocks the limitations in Forge, such as increasing the object limit within it to expand the scale of maps players can build. Small tweaks to Halo 3 AI help support these changes too, with some objects also receiving an unexpected “patch” to line up with the new multiplayer support. Map boundaries have almost been removed entirely too, giving players ways to create truly massive battlegrounds, which would help contain 128 player matches.
Players also gain access to more details and customization options specifically for Halo 3 in Project Reclaimer, more so than they get in Master Chief Collection. Players can adjust their Spartan’s armor through individual pieces, similar to the many options present in Halo: Reach at the end of the Bungie era. For campaign missions, players in Project Reclaimer can even play as an Elite they customize, reflecting The Arbiter and his allies’ roles in the story of Halo 3. To continue with the new multiplayer features, Project Reclaimer also streamlines how players can view one another, with easier systems tied to viewing player ranks, EXP, skill levels, service records, and other stats.
More features are planned to arrive for the modding project as it gets new support, especially in regards to the stat viewing systems mentioned. A dedicated Discord server also answers many player questions, making the mod almost feel like official DLC content for Halo 3 years after its release. As far as Halo fan projects go, this one is among the most impressive ever made, and is a much-needed breath of fresh air while Halo‘s future is uncertain following Xbox’s internal changes.
What do you think about the Project Reclaimer modding project? Let us know in the comments below!
