When Microsoft announced Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo fans were ecstatic. The Master Chief Collection would allow them to play several of Xbox's most iconic games on Xbox One, where they'd be given a visual upgrade. It would also give fans something to play until Halo 5: Guardians is released later this year.

Sadly, the release of the Master Chief Collection didn't go as expected. At launch, the games were hit with matchmaking issues that made it incredibly difficult for players to join an online lobby. MCC launched in November, but it wasn't until last month that 343 Industries released a giant matchmaking patch, finally fixing these problems.

With Master Chief Collection's matchmaking issues solved, 343 is now looking to add more gameplay content. In an announcement on the Halo Waypoint blog, the developer detailed their plans to release the Relic map for Halo 2: Anniversary along with the complete Halo 3: ODST campaign.

Halo 3: ODST is being added to the collection as an apology for its troubled launch. A spin-off of the main Halo series, players play as a Orbital Drop Shock Trooper called 'the Rookie' as he looks to find his missing teammates. Players can tackle the campaign levels in any order, allowing gamers the freedom to conduct this search in any way that they want. The game is open-world and set in the Kenyan city of Mombasa (it's called New Mombasa in the game); the game's high rises and long stretches of road should look much more vibrant with a fresh coat of current-gen paint.

Halo 3: ODST's campaign offers a break from Master Chief's tired-and-true gameplay mechanics, too. Unlike Master Chief, ODSTs can't jump 30 feet into the air, they can't wield two weapons at once, and they don't have a damage absorbing shield. That makes them a little more vulnerable than Master Chief, but provides a welcome challenge to players who have completed the other four Halo games included in the Master Chief Collection.

Meanwhile, Halo 2: Anniversary's Relic map is set on a giant island with a massive Forerunner structure in the middle. That structure features a two-way teleporter in the basement, which is brilliant if players want to plan a surprise attack. The map is also a dream for snipers, featuring a Deployable sniper tower complete with a Beam Rifle at its base. However, the tower can be knocked down with explosives and vehicles, so snipers may only have a limited window in which to use it. Since Relic is most suited to Capture The Flag matches, the sniper tower and the teleporter can also be pretty useful in protecting the flag carrier.

343 Industries says that these will be added to the Master Chief Collection in April, with some server side improvements being released in between. The developer says that this is the first of many improvements as they want people to play these games for years; that's certainly good news for those planning to buy the recently announced Halo: Master Chief Collection Xbox One bundle.

Source: Halo Waypoint