THE LEGENDARY EDITION

We’ll start off with the overall appearance of the Legendary Edition package. It’s a decently sized box at 13″ long, 11″ wide and 12″ tall, and is generally free of graphics besides the Halo 3 logo and the usual game information specs on the back.

If you’re a Halo fanatic, one of the first things you’ve probably noticed is that it doesn’t resemble the image Microsoft has been showing since the announcement of the Legendary Edition. The reason behind this is simple – the black outer layer you’re seeing here is just a slip-cover. The images that have been shown repeatedly across the web are actually images of the middle box with the slip cover half pulled off. Once again, it is not a heavy cardboard two-section box.

The outside slipcover

Once you slide the outside slipcover out of the way, you come face to face with another box between you and your new toys. This middle box is made of medium grade cardboard, is removed (once the security seals have been cut) by lifting straight up and is decorated with a scene of the activation of The Ark.

The Middle Box

Once the Middle box has been lifted off, we’re greeted by the sight of our two game cases sitting in a clear plastic holder. Looking at the game packaging, something seemed off to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it at first… then it struck me… the cases for the two discs are black. I’m guessing this was done on purpose to further differentiate the Legendary Edition from the others. We’ll come back to the discs in a bit, right now I want to talk about the heart of the Legendary Edition.

Beneath that plastic holder is what we’ve all been waiting for – the Legendary Edition scale model MJOLNIR Mark VI Helmet. There’s a little surprise here though – the helmet is covered in a protective hood. After all the reports about the issues Microsoft is having with the Limited Edition, at least they had the common sense to take steps to protect the Legendary’s helmet.

The covered MJOLNIR Mark VI Helmet & Game Cases

Now the moment of truth has arrived. Lifting off the protective hood, we now get to see the slightly-larger-than cat-sized helmet in all it’s glory. I was originally worried that the helmet was going to look like a cheap piece of crap, but those fears evaporated the second I saw it. It’s nicely detailed, relatively heavy and just a joy to look at. Were it full sized, I’d almost feel like Microsoft didn’t rake me over the coals on the price of the Legendary Edition. Still, I could imagine someone selling the helmet for a decent price if it was made separately, so I really shouldn’t gripe… much.

The helmet itself sits on a base that is designed to both support it as well as house the game discs. This base is also where the Legendary Edition’s individual number is etched. To give you an idea of just how many of these were made, mine is somewhere in the neighborhood of #250,000.

The MJOLNIR Helmet and the game case/base

Front view of the MJOLNIR Helmet sitting on it’s base

Side view of the MJOLNIR Helmet on it’s base

 

Rear view of the MJOLNIR Helmet on it’s base (Serial # blacked out)

Now is where we’re going to come to one of my pet peeves regarding the Legendary Edition the care taken in putting the manuals and bonus materials in the game cases. At least in the one I received, while all three discs were securely fastened to their holders, the booklets included with the manuals looked considerably less than brand new.

Both the game’s instruction manual and the flimsy “Original Storyboard Art” book included with the “Essentials” disc were bent and looked as if they had been crammed into the case with little care for the condition they’d arrive in. While this could be forgivable with a standard game, the fact that the Legendary Edition is supposed to be a collectible as well as a game makes this situation pretty bad. (Not as bad as the public relations nightmare MS is facing over the Limited Edition “scratched discs” debacle, but bad none the less.)

As I mentioned before, both game cases are black instead of the standard clear green and even here there seems to be a little less care than one would expect. After only opening each case a few times, white stress creases have appeared on the hinges of the boxes and in the case of the “Essentials” disc, the slipcover itself was slightly bent underneath the plastic. Again, highly disappointing in a set that was marketed towards collectors.

The game’s man case features a darker version of the standard Halo 3 box art and simply includes the game and an instruction manual. Nothing much else to talk about on this one, so we’ll go right to the picture.

The game case, disc and instructions

The “Essentials” game case includes two discs, a printed book of storyboard art and a poster/controller diagram. The first of the two discs (which is also included with the Limited Edition) contains a home theater audio/video calibration tool, artwork from the series, a dashboard theme, a gamer pictures, a Halo themed mini-game and some additional bonus video features.

The second disc, which is exclusive to the Legendary Edition, includes remastered high-resolution versions of the Cinematics from Halo and Halo 2, an expanded digital version of the hardcover artbook included with the Limited Edition (don’t get me started on this one again) and The Cortana Chronicles – a machinma series made especially for the Legendary Edition.

The case also includes the storyboard art that was originally promised with the Legendary Edition. I was always under the impression that “an exclusive collection of storyboard art” was going to mean that each of the Legendary Edition boxed would contain one piece of the actual storyboard art Bungie used to create the story for Halo 3. I guess when you’re shipping out a few hundred thousand Legendary Editions, that becomes an impossibility and so we’re instead all left with a flimsy mass-produced paper book made in the same style as the instruction manual. They could have at least made it hardcover, you know?

The “Essentials” case with game discs, storyboard art book and poster

The question many will ask at this point is whether or not the Legendary Edition is worth the $129.99 that Microsoft is asking for it. I think that question is something that would be best answered by each individual gamer rather than being covered by a blanket statement.

For me, the Legendary Edition felt only slightly overpriced. The helmet is the centerpiece of the Legendary Edition, and while it truly is a thing of beauty, I can’t help but feel that between the loss of the hardcover art book and the mass produced nature of the storyboard art, the Legendary Edition could have been sold for the original $99.99 price point. (I’ve left the packaging flaws out of the equation)

If the question is “if I had it all to do again knowing what I do now, would I order the Legendary Edition?”, the answer is a resounding ” yes” – it might feel overpriced, but I do so love that helmet. I will however keep that slightly jaded feeling the Legendary Edition left me with in the back of my mind the next time Microsoft offers some super-special edition of a game.